straining to poo

[blumooned]

Hi - I hope someone can help me with this:
DS is 7.5 months; EBF until 6 months then added solid foods. Started with rice cereal (Dr. advice) then switched to fruit & veggie purees. He always had pretty regular poos until a few weeks ago. Now, they are solid and he is straining to push them out. Sometimes he pushes a lot and there is nothing in the diaper or just a tiny bit. He was crying each time he had to go, but doesn't cry now.
I introduced prunes, hoping that would help. After the first time he ate them, had a mixed solid/loose poop. Since then, back to all solid & straining. Does he need to eat prunes everyday? at every meal? Any other suggestions?
Other maybe pertinent info:
DS has always been gassy and sometimes cries with gas pain. Around 5 months he started having really smelly gas & poo. I was taking probiotics at the time hoping to pass it to him through breast milk - don't know if that caused smell change. I stopped taking them soon after.
I realize that solid foods = solid poos, but he shouldn't be straining should he? Any advice would be appreciated.

[quantumleap]

nak...
are you giving him water too?

[blumooned]

His Dr said not to give him water this young as it would upset the electrolyte balance if he drank too much. I did think it was odd to have solids with no liquid to balance it out. Maybe I will just start giving him water.

[dachshund mom]

DD gets constipated easily and I've had to break out the prune puree a few times and it does seem to help. I've also taken her in the deep tub with me to help her relax. It's upsetting when they're crying and straining and you want to fix it that second. I gave her 2oz prune juice once when it got really bad. That flushed her out and gave us her first blow out, poo covered clothes and boppy, run to the bathtub moment.

I've found that if I limit the common constipators of bananas, sweet potatoes, rice, or applesauce to once a day (one of them per day), she doesn't have too many problems anymore.

Don't give him a bottle of water, but a sippy with a few ounces of water or sips from your glass through the day is good, imo.

[blumooned]

I will give him water in his sippy cup. I didn't know sweet potatoes were constipaters, but that makes sense. I knew to avoid too much of the BRAT foods.
We haven't had that big of a blow-out yet - doesn't sound fun!
Thank you for your help!

[Teddy'sMom]

defintely give water with solids. i was always worried about this...thinking they would get so much water and not want to nurse, but DS2 had problems with constipation until I started giving him a sippy with a soft top to drink from during meals. He loves it and I can tell he really isn't getting all that much. I would think he would have to drink a real lot in order to mess up balances. I was trying to stay away from the consipating foods, but now that I have been giving water i find he can really eat any of those in moderation. I make my own prune puree and freeze it in very small cubes, that way I can add just a little to yogert, another fruit, etc... so he gets some cleaning help, but doesn't have big blow outs. I try to give him a little bit from prunes every day or 2.