constipation

just curious how you know when your LO has strayed into constipated territory? i know it doesn't have to do with the frequency of bowel movements but with their firmness. it seems like R's poops are getting firmer, but i don't know if that's just a natural consequence of eating solids now or if it's something to be concerned about. although, i think the only reason i'm even questioning it is because her poops are firmer than D's - if i didn't have them to compare i probably wouldn't have thought twice about it. the joys of twins!

 

If it's like firm pellets or firm small amounts. The main thing the ped told me is pain....I knew mine were constipated when they were straining (which is normal) but also crying when they did it (definitely not normal). I added a teaspoon of dark karo syrup to 2-3 of their bottles a day. One has a BM daily, but the other goes every 2-3 days with the syrup since starting it. It helps soften things and acts as a mild laxative. HTH!

Allison

 

QUOTE(twinboymommy @ Feb 20 2009, 01:18 AM) [snapback]1197065[/snapback]
If it's like firm pellets or firm small amounts. The main thing the ped told me is pain....I knew mine were constipated when they were straining (which is normal) but also crying when they did it (definitely not normal). I added a teaspoon of dark karo syrup to 2-3 of their bottles a day. One has a BM daily, but the other goes every 2-3 days with the syrup since starting it. It helps soften things and acts as a mild laxative. HTH!

Allison


Same here. DD would cry in pain when straining. Solids has definitely changed the consistency. I find the fruit puree and drinking more liquid helps keep them soft.

 

If you think things are a little too firm, here is a good article at wholesomebabyfood.com that tells you what foods to add to get things 'moving'.

Constipation

 

They would usually strain and cry when they were pooping and that's how I knew it was bothering them. Starting solids has actually helped tremendously, especially the fruits, and I haven't had the constipation problem in a long time.

 

thanks for the info! we've definitely got a little bit of straining going on, but no crying, so i'll just keep an eye on her & maybe try some of those ideas from wholesome baby food (love that website!) & see if that helps.

 

Mine poop regularly once [maybe twice] a day. If they don't poop for one day, I start to pay close attention. On the second day if I see them grunting a lot and maybe producing a small, hard poop [what we call.. ball poop] then I turn to the juice; and wait. We've had a couple times when they were crying while trying to poop, it was heartbreaking. And one time there was actually some blood in the stool I felt so bad, I wanted to cry with my poor baby.

Thankfully we haven't had a constipation issue since we switched from rice cereal to baby oatmeal. I found the oatmeal doesn't constipate them AND it has a little more flavor than the rice cereal. Double benefit! ^_^

 

My DS suffers from constipation and he will scream and cry when he is trying to go, that is how we know. It's awful! I feel so bad when he goes through it. Usually we will give him some prune juice and water or some of the baby food prunes and that usually does the trick for him.