A Lesson in Laxitives

We got home yesterday afternoon, and Isaiah is so much happier! We are really only waiting for one test result to come back, the blood work for Celiac, and if that come back fine, which we are expecting it will, then he probably just has plain ole' functional constipation and we just need to find the right combination of laxatives to control it temporarily until his colon has a chance to heal, at which point we can wean him from the laxatives and let his body function on its own.
I have learned a bit about laxatives in the past couple of days. Apparently laxatives come in three types- stimulant laxatives, non-stimulant laxatives and herbal laxatives.
For children, you want to avoid if at all possible both stimulant laxatives and herbal laxatives due to the way they work- apparently these two types work by causing the tummy to contract and squeeze in order to move the stool down and through. All this squeezing and contracting can be painful and is not what we want a three year old's belly to do.
What we want is the non-stimulant type of laxative, which works by drawing water into the stool and thus causing it to soften and be easy(ier) to pass. Because it doesn't force the tummy to contract and cramp, this is the type we want to stick with if, at all possible. Hoping it works and that we can get his belly regulated. I'll post when we hear about the Celiac, but we really aren't expecting it to come back positive. Goodness, I hope not. I can't imagine trying to implement that Celiac diet at our house. I don't want to have to be the parent that says "Here's your gluten-free birthday cake!" We'll see though...