constipation | Imamother

imanut

Tue, Nov 23 2004, 5:10 pm

about a month ago I started my baby on solids and now she is so constipated! her ped. said to give her prune juice but it's hard to get her to drink enough to make a difference. she is starting to get diaper rash. what can I try?

Tefila

Tue, Nov 23 2004, 5:33 pm

My ped of babies 2004 told me

Quote:

I could use One - Two teaspoon (not Tablespoon) of brown sugar with 4oz-6oz of bottled water

, since they've been only on formula till lately Wink

They have been constipated, it worked.
Happy babies makes happy mama Very Happy

la di da

rydys

Tue, Nov 23 2004, 6:08 pm

Be careful how you define constipation. Infrequent stools and straining is not a problem, only very hard stools. Often the problem is just that when they start solids they take less liquid, so giving more of any liquid, including water, can help. If you want to give juice, apple juice works just as well as prune. You can also buy baby food jars of prunes if she likes it. Try to keep track of which solids are causing the problem in a diary, see if there is a pattern. Does she have hard stools after rice cereal but not applesauce? eliminate the cereal, problem solved.

Rochel Leah

Tue, Nov 23 2004, 6:46 pm

My son was constiopated for the first few months of his life. his stools were very hard and it was so sad to see him make, his whole body went red. I would lift his legs up towards his chest to help him. I tried corn syrup with the formula, molasses, prune juice and it didnt work. there was a time that the ped in south africa 9when we were visiting) gave us a medicine ( forgot the name) to put in the bottle, but we couldnt use it so often cause you dont want them to get used to that it helped alittle when I gave him baby prune food from the jars.he wasnt a big eater and wheneve he wanted his bottle I would give him formula so he would get what he needed. but that was the cause of the constipation because now he is finished formula and it has stopped. My ped here suggested using a cutip and vaseline and sticking it up alittle as a suppository. but ith him it didnt help..maybe it could help with you.

But now he doesnt make very often, so I give him raisins or corn and that helps.

imanut

Wed, Nov 24 2004, 6:12 am

her stools are not infrequent, just very hard. I'm trying to cut back on rice cereal to see if that helps.

freilich-the problem with water is the same as with juice. she's never had a bottle and doesn't drink much from the sippy cup either. she sucks once, gets startled when liquid comes out, and then turns her head away from it.

ForeverYoung
Guest

Wed, Nov 24 2004, 9:50 pm

my kids get terribly constipated from bananas.

also, if your kid is in pain, forget about cutting - cut it out!!

If she is under 1, get her low-iron formula & stop solids untill she's comfortable again, and then begin solids 1 per week, so you will be able to figure out what constipates her.

An afterthought - iron in formula + iron in sereal could = constipation

PS my baby threw up the brown sugar all over me, herself & my bed - watch out!!! Wink

ForeverYoung
Guest

Wed, Nov 24 2004, 10:27 pm

ps when my son was badly constipated (in terrible pain) our doc advised us to put him in to the bathtub filled w/ warm water - it worked, even though I had to wash the bathtub afterwards

imanut

Thu, Nov 25 2004, 9:32 am

my baby loves bananas!! I hope that's not it!

I think iron can cause constipation. at least, that's what they told me after I gave birth and I was enemic b/c of hemorrhage so I had to take iron supplements for awhile.

but my baby nurses-she has never had formula. breast milk doesn't have alot of iron, right?

rydys

Thu, Nov 25 2004, 10:29 am

Iron can cause constipation in large amounts, like when taking supplements, but not in the concentrations in formula. Consult with your doctor before switching to low-iron formula bec. babies need iron to grow and develop properly. Using low iron formula can have health consequences.

ForeverYoung
Guest

Thu, Nov 25 2004, 11:10 am

my babies always got constipated by regular formular.
I mixed it 50/50 w/ regular formula.

Also, I ment that in this case low iron should be used untill the condition passes

ForeverYoung
Guest

Fri, Nov 26 2004, 7:31 am

if you nurse - keep on doing it, that was my response to rydys.
I had to suppliment a lot with my 1st one,so he got 50/50. My other babies get formula once in a while, so I just give them low iron
Pls, note: I do not rely on the formula as main (or even secondary) source of food - once in a while - like when I'm away or not feeling well & don't have engoug milk. Wh

Actually, you can try to avoid those food s for a while too

How is she doing now???

Yael

Mon, Nov 29 2004, 1:10 pm

make sure she is getting enough liquid, b/c naturally when you replace nursing with solids her liquid intake goes down so you must give water or juice. unless you want to try nursing more often. and cutting back on all solids. but make sure you have enough milk before you cut back on solids. with levi I cut back on solids to help his constipation and it didnt help b/c I didnt have enough milk to begin with. he would not have been constipated if he had received enough milk. with dovi I nursed throughout his solid eating days and I had enough milk and he was never constipated. the breast milk naturally produces soft stools. even when eating solids it should look darker and firmer than as a newborn but still soft and yellowish brownish. if this is not the case then seriously check how much milk you give her in a feeding either by pumping yourself dry to measure the full amount, or if pumping doesnt work for you then go to the doctor and weigh her before and after a feeding to see how many ounces she got.

micki

Mon, Nov 29 2004, 6:54 pm

nursing is all your baby needs. its also better for your baby since formula is constipating. if the nursing is going well, please don''t even consider formula!!!! formula is constipating and there is NO NEED to add it if the nursing is going well!
good that you took her off rice- see if that helps, and are you giving her other liqueds- like juices and such ? from a bottle or sippy cup- makes no difference as long as she gets it in!!!

ForeverYoung
Guest

Mon, Nov 29 2004, 8:34 pm

I suggested formula only after Yael mentioned htat she had a problem w/ milk supply in a similar situation - if a child is constipated, not enough fluids will just aggrivate the condition.

Pickle Lady

Mon, Nov 29 2004, 8:41 pm

your milk supply is fine unless your PREGNANT..then maybe your milk supply will dip and lower..DON'T consider formula. nursing is the BEST for your baby is should be his main source of nutrition now anyway.