Worried Mama Here....

Looking for some input to help ease my worries. Our DD is constipated for the second time in a week and it seems to be getting worse. Almost one week ago, she got all bound up and cried in pain as she passed a mountain of super hard, dark pellets. She pushed so hard she irritated her bottom and gave herself what looked to be a tiny hemmorroid. We eliminated known constipation foods from her diet since then but she's going on 3.5 days without pooping again. I think she may be afraid to go now.

We spoke to our pedi on Friday and she said we could give her a small amount of Miralax in some juice. It didn't help unfortunately. We also stopped feeding her cereal for the time being and have added prune juice to her fruits and veggies. Aside from giving her warm baths, doing the bicycle with her legs, and massaging her tummy, we're not sure what else to do.

Any advice is very much appreciated. Tomorrow morning can get here fast enough for me to call the pedi again.

Hearing her howl in pain is tearing right through me. My heart aches for her right now.

 

:hug: hugs mommma! Sounds like you're doing everything you can! When mine get constipated we do prune apple juice and lots of water! It seems to work. I hope someone has some better advice for you.

 

Poor, poor baby!! Try pear juice, my Amber suffered very painful constipation and pear juice was so very effective for her. Big :hug: to you i know how hard it is seeing your baby suffer in such away.

 

:hug: I know it is hard, but it sounds like you are doing everything perfectly. I have heard a bit of baking soda in a warm bath can help relax muscles, I haven't tried it myself but it can't hurt.

 

It sounds like she's not dealing with the solids well. My boys got constipated a got when the first started getting solids.

What kind of liquid is she getting? It's ok to given them a couple ounces of water at this age. I'm not sure what percent of the diet is breastmilk/formula, but an increase in formula could also be the problem.

Can you be specific about what fruits and veges she's getting? Here are some no-no's carrots, apples, bananas, rice. All of those will constipate a baby. I'd focus on pears, peaches, peas, prunes, avacados, and sweet potatoes. Oatmeal and barely cereal are supposed to relieve constipation. You can also try to make sure the solids are watered down a lot.

 

Our girls are exclusively breastfed and have been on solids since 5 and a half months old. They are BF 4 times per day and are up to 3 solid meals of cereal with a fruit or a veggie. They typically get barely or oatmeal for their cereal, and fruits/veggies mainly consist of pears, peaches, mango, apple sauce, limited bananas, apricot, prunes, peas, green beans, squash, sweet potato, and avocado. We read foods like rice cereal and bananas can contribute to constipation so we feed those only on occasion. We mix the cereal with water (and prune juice sometimes) until a paste-like consistency. They're not quite ready for finger foods just yet.

We did introduce baby yogurt and gerber puffs about two weeks ago so we stopped in case that was causing the problem. I've been trying to give them more liquids during the day (water or pear juice) in between feedings in hopes that helps too.

I was unaware carrots and apples cause constipation so we'll hold back on those too. Thanks for the tip!

 

Get that girl a glycerin suppository! It will soften up any compacted stool that's blocking her up and help get it out. You can buy them over the counter, just make sure to get the child's version. You will need to cut it length-wise. Call your pedi to ask about it to be sure, but it should provide some great relief.

 

poor girl! my DS has terrible problems with constipation too. the only thing that i have found to work, besides glycerine suppositories, which he absolutely hates, is feeding a stage one container of prunes every morning. if i slack off on the prunes for a couple of days, he pays the price, but with the prunes everything is great.

good luck, and i hope you find something that works, it is horrible to have a constipated baby!

 

Sorry for all of the typos in the last message--I was running out the door, and wanted to respond.

Ok, that's very helpful. It sounds like your DD is going through exactly the same thing my boys went through. They were never constipated until they started getting solids, and it didn't happen right away. They weren't proficient with solids until 6.5-7 months, and for the 2-3 months after that they had constipation or borderline constipation unless I was very careful. A lot of breastfed babies have this happen; breastmilk is the ideal food, so it's very easily digestible, but when they get solids, it can be like a shock to their system. In the short run, I think you should probably get your doctor to give you the suppository, so she can go and get relief.

Here's a few ideas:

1. I think they are probably getting too much of their diet as solids. Your son has a stronger stomach or might be a better nurser or might even eating less solids. I'd add another breastfeeding, and try to cut down on her amount of solids per each solid feeding. My boys stopped nursing around that age, and I gave them EBM, and formula, but they were still eating 7 times a day. You might want to go over the breastfeeding forum, and ask some other moms who were exclusively BF at 8 months how many times a day their kids nursed at that age. I'm pretty convinced that they need more liquid, and that's causing her trouble. The water and pear juice will help some

2. I mixed foods anytime they got things like apples, bananas, carrots; I mixed it with a nonconstipating food. So if they got apples they got it mixed with oatmeal. Carrots I mixed with barely. On the whole, I never fed them more than one constipating food in a day.

3. What I'd do with the yogurt, is mix it with both fruit and cereal. (I still do that BTW; the boys love it, and it's like a full meal.) For example, they would get pears, with plain whole milk yogurt and oatmeal. You can make the mix mostly fruit and cereal int he beginning, and then slowly even it out to 1/3 yogurt, 1/3 fruit, and 1/3 cereal.

4. I wouldn't follow that three day rule--you know the one that says give them a new food three days in a row. Because if it constipates her, then she's gonna be really bound up. I did the go slow technique, and I waited to give them rice and bananas again around 11-12 months. Apples weren't too bad for my guys.

This link is very helpful.

Good luck!!

 

Ditto the suppositories except get the liquid glycerin supps not the hard ones. Much easier on baby and on your. It's like a tiny enema, you just put the tip in and shoot the liquid in. Usually works within minutes.

Both my dd's have constipation issues and our ped said it's fine to use it as often as needed (even if it's every day). You can also mix up some dark karo syrup in a small bottle of water to give to her daily which will help keep her regular.

Once my older dd get off the bottle we had to add benefiber to her milk or juice to help keep her regular, she'll be 3 in september and we still have to add it several times a week!

 

My pedi advised some dark Karo syrup in warm water and I think we did a teaspoon of Karo in two ounces of water. We also did a glycerin suppository (child version). That worked for us. We also added in prunes daily until things got regulated, and started giving sippies of water that they could sip on all day.

I hope your baby gets some relief soon!!!

 

I forgot about the dark karo...we did that too. It also helped fatten up my little IUGR baby :lol:

ETA: we put the karon in her bottles.