Constipation

Can someone tell me what are the pros and cons of letting pedi go in and get poop out vs laxitives or juices (other methods)? Babies poop rock hard and sometimes there is a spray but no poop.It's been almost a week for one with no poop.This started happening when they started solids...now I wonder if I can stop the solids after starting them.(might have been too soon) i'm guessing.Also what is it called when pedi go in and get poop?Also, nutritionist tells me one thing and pedi tells me another...that's why im looking for other advice from moms.

 

Sure. Or you can change what you are giving them and see if that helps. Are you giving them rice cereal, applesauce, or bananas? Those foods tend to be constipating, so I would cut those for now, for sure.

I don't have much experience with constipation, but I think I would try juice or pears(they have a laxative effect), before going to more extreme measures. Oatmeal and prunes are also on the list for providing laxative effects.

 

Hmm...I've never heard of that. We didn't have constipation issues but know that juice is usually tried first.

 

I agree with all of this. I would definitely adjust their diet & try some juice (pear or prune usually works well) before moving on to more extreme measures.

 

I would try water or pear juice along with prunes and pears (purees). At 3 months my DD had a constipation problem and the doctor said she could have 3 ounces total of juice a day (she was about 13 pounds). I opted for pear but if I had to do it all over again I would have offered water. Rice cereal (which has iron)and bananas (a bulking food that's great for when babies have diarrhea) can be really constipating. Maybe offer less solid food or cut it out all together until the problem has fixed itself. At your babies' age formula or breast milk really does contain everything they need for good nutrition. Also how much are they "moving?" Are they in a bouncy seat or swing most of the day? I notice my babies can't poop for a couple of days after long car rides and just being in the floor playing helps. Maybe let them roll or lie on the floor so they can move and stretch as much as they are able. Try sneaking in an ounce of water here and there and see what happens. If the doctor has to help them with their problem, it would fix it but it might be good to know on your own what caused it and how to fix it if it happens again. Good luck!

 

Thanks...so far I have cut back to 3 ozs. of apple juice a day, I also give them 3 ozs. of water a day.I was debating on the 1st step foods to continue until they turn 6 mths.I was thinking either the rice cereal, prunes, applesauce,pears. I was thinking to hold off on the bannanas until 6 mths.Also maybe I should do the prune juice and add part wtr, to it...instead of the prunes (because they are sorta thick). If I would have known what I know now I think that I would wait until 6 mths before introducing them to solids.They started drinking their Similac sensitive formula (4ozs. sometimes 3 ozs,) every 2-3 hrs around the clock...sometimes they would drink again in less than hr. n half. Even through the night drinking on schedule.I thought about weaning them off the nights to get a little sleep for myself but could not.(I was seriously deprived of sleep [doing this with no help])So....I thought that maybe they were ready for some solids.I was told by pedi. 1st step foods were okay.The milk has never caused us a problem(so it was;nt the milk in my opinion)This constipation started when the solids began.I've read that because a child eats as much as mine did...did'nt nessasarily mean that they were ready for solids but that they may have been going through a growth spurt.When I had taken my child to the pedi.(he had'nt pooped in almost 5 days or so...and the last time that I remember he did it was dry and only a little...so she took her finger greaseed with something.. and went in and pulled out about 3 days of poop and he finally passed a long dry turd...later that night he finally pooped on his own and the next day he also pooped.I don't ever want my child to experience that again and hopefully because of my experience another mom that is thinking of starting solids before 6 mths. seriously think about it because if I can do it again I'd rather loose sleep than constipate my child.Thanks for all the advise.oh the other child was also constipated but he passed a huge rock turd on his own with blood (they both cried) after he passed about 2 rock turds on his own the next day he had a diaper full of soft poop after my giving him water.So he excaped the pedi's finger.(He had no clue).

 

Ugh, we had a nightmare of a night in the emergency room due to my little Andy's constipation once. He had just been home from the NICU for almost a week and he hadn't pooped since he had been home. After 3 days of no poop I called our pedi, she said to try an ounce or two of juice not watered down. Tried that, no luck. 2 days later she said to try Karo syrup, again no luck. So on day 6, or rather night 6 of no pooping, I took Andy's temperature with one of those quick read rectal thermometers and it read 100.7. I called the emergency line for our pedi and the nurse said to take him to the emergency room right away. That was the longest night of my life. I was stuck in an emergency room full of sick, coughing, puking kids (there had to be at least 30 kids there, no exaggeration) and here I was hiding in a corner with my 5 lb. little preemie that had just gotten out of the NICU after several weeks of careful watch and care. After 4 hours of waiting, we finally got into a room and the tests began. They drew blood, they checked his vitals, they took his temperature (which was perfectly normal then), they put a catheter in him for a 'sterile specimen.' My poor little baby was poked and proded for 2 hours. Finally at 3 o'clock in the morning, the doctors pranced in to say that they couldn't find anything wrong with him and we could take our poor backed-up baby home.

Turns out those stupid fast read thermometers are some of the most unreliable pieces of junk out there. Andy never had a fever and we went through all of that horrible stuff for nothing. I took Andy back to the pedi the next day and we had to see another doc in the pediatric group as Andy's regular pedi was out. He was an older doc with what seemed like lots of years of experience behind him. I told him the whole long exhausting story, and he just nodded his head the whole time. He then slipped on a glove, put a little vasoline on his pinky and boom, the poop gates opened. :shok: I did not know so much poop could be in such a little baby. He said that if this happened again, just to do the same thing at home. I had tried the q-tip trick trying to do the same thing at home before the whole ER fiasco, but the old doc said that the pinky usually does the trick every time. Thank goodness we only had to do that with Andy maybe 2 or 3 times shortly after that. It's no fun...not only for where you have to put your finger, but trying to prepare for how much poop will come out and how far it can go.

I have tried the Karo syrup again from time to time, and that or a little straight juice seems to work now. Good luck and I certainly hope that you don't have to plant any digits where we've had to anytime soon.

 

When the dr goes in to remove the poop it is called disimpaction(sp?) It would be better for them if they didn't have to have this done. That being said sometimes there is no choice. The girls have given some really good suggestions regarding the foods and liquids that help. Have you ever tried suppositories? sometimes I had to give them to my boys until the pears kicked in so that the poop wouldn't get to the point where it was so hard it wouldn't come out without someone digging it out. Also if it is really bad you could talk to your pedi about lactulos or whatever your pedi's like to use there which is an oral laxitive that they sometimes give to children. Best of luck

 

Thanks.For some reason she did not want to do the suppositories.I wish that she would have given me a choice because I would have chosen to at least try that.Maybe it had been too long before I noticed that they were constipatedSo now on out I keep a close eye on their bowel movements.Also, it is wisw to have a good diet going from start.Correct fluids and foods.

 

I'm going to ditto the suppositories, but I prefer the liquid glycerin rather than the hard ones.

Both of my dd's have constipation issues from formula. So from a young age I add karo syrup to their bottles daily (per my ped's suggestion). I squirt it right into the formula/water when I mix it up, so they are getting some in each and every bottle.

It's kept them very regular. Occassionally I will have to use a liquid suppository if they are having lots of trouble (constant crying and grunting/trying to push) and within 15 mins the supp works and they are feeling much better.

If I back off the karo they start having troubles again. My oldest dd is now 3 and I have to add benefiber to her juice daily, she still has constipation problems if I don't. And doing a supp on a 3 yr old is NO FUN for both mommy and little girl!

 

I don't know why pediatricians are so anti-suppository these days. Our pedi cautioned us against them too and said we should let our son go a week before resorting to that. No way! Not when he is crying and grunting and feeling totally miserable. We used to have such horrible constipation issues when they first left the NICU. Actually, it wasn't really constipation then because it wasn't pebble like, it was technically just "infrequent stools." Anyway, our favorite NICU nurse told us that is the #1 call back they get after parents take their babies home from the NICU. So I called this NICU nurse when Colin was having another ongoing poop problem because the pedi had me convinced it would be awful to give him a suppository. The NICU nurse said that was crazy, that a little suppository every now and then wouldn't hurt them (they regularly give babies in the NICU a suppository if they go longer than a day or two with no poop). She said their intestines wouldn't become dependent on the suppositories at all, that as they grow their intestines and abdominal muscles will grow too and they'll be able to poop easier in the near future. After that I would give our babies a suppository any time they went more than 2 or 3 days and were obviously uncomfortable. And now they rarely ever have problems pooping, so I think our NICU nurse was right. I haven't had to give them a suppository since they were 3 months old.

 

I am not a doctor but why couldn't you stop solids? It does sound to me like their digestive systems were just not developed enough yet to handle solids. Perhaps going back to just BM or formula would be best. Hope they feel better soon.

 

Yes.I'm cutting back to the formula.I had to give them apple juice to get the bowels moving and unstopped.So far now I'm doing little prunes and 3oz. of apple juice along with 3 oz. of wtr. a day.

 

The pedi that I originally wanted for my sons was no longer accepting patients...so we went with the 2nd best choice (on my list) She had 12 years experience as a neonatalist (she worked for yrs. in the NICU) and started her own practice...the dr. that attended to my sons in the hospital she's his children pedi also.So I felt that she knew her stuff.Some times I feel myself questioning her tactics...but all the other mothers who've been with her for yrs. love her.