Your child is constipated and stayed in the hospital for a clean-out of their intestines. It's very important to continue treatment at home so the poop doesn't get backed up again. It can take many months of treatment to get your child's intestines working normally. Use these instructions to care for your child.

• Continue treatment at home:
  • Give your child the prescribed stool softeners and laxatives for as long as directed by the health care provider. When your child's intestines are working normally, medicines can be stopped slowly, over a few weeks to months.
  • Help your child add fiber to the diet. High-fiber foods include bran cereal, apples, pears, strawberries, prunes, beans (such as pinto, kidney, black, or lima), sweet potatoes, and chia seeds.
  • Make sure your child drinks plenty of water. Drinking juices (like prune, pear, or apple) may help too.
  • Make any other diet changes that your health care provider recommended.
  • Help your child to exercise regularly. Regular exercise can help kids with constipation.
  • Have your child sit on the toilet for 5 to 10 minutes once or twice a day. (For younger kids you can offer a small reward like a sticker.) Sitting on the toilet and trying to poop regularly helps your child get back the feeling and control of pooping normally.
• Talk to the health care provider before giving your child any supplements or herbs. 
• If your child is toilet training, you may need to take a break. You can try again when your child is no longer constipated.
• If your child tries to hold in poop, teach them that it's important to go to the toilet as soon as they feel the need. This way, poop won't build up in the colon and rectum.
• Follow up as recommended by your health care provider.

Your child:

• continues to have hard poops or doesn't poop within 2 days of getting home from the hospital
• has new or worse belly pain
• has diarrhea (watery poop)
• begins vomiting (throwing up)
• has a swollen belly
• has a lot of blood on the toilet paper, in the toilet, or on the poop
• gets better, then gets constipated again

• Your child has severe belly pain.

How does fiber help constipation? Fiber increases the size of the poop and softens it. This makes it easier for the poop to pass through the intestines. Fiber works best when it can absorb water, so it's important for your child to drink lots of water.

How do the clean-out medicines work? There are a few kinds of clean-out medicines. They work in different ways:

• Stool softeners are taken by mouth. They work by pulling water into the poop, making it softer and easier to pass.
• Laxatives are medicines taken by mouth to help "push" out the poop. 
• An enema is a liquid medicine that is put into the rectum. It softens the poop and cleans out the rectum.