Pooping problems in baby - PLEASE help!! (doc's advice #22)

[greeny]

History

Baby just turned 10 months old.

She started solids around 8 months. Refused spoon-feeding. Only wanted finger foods. Started gradually eating little pieces of cooked broccoli florets, small green peas (cooked), asparagus (cooked), potato & sweet potato. Dislikes fruits (mostly because of the texture - doesn't like to touch them!). Originally she also ate little pieces of waffles or bread, homemade.

Drinks nothing but breastmilk straight from the tap.

Breastmilk is probably about 90 - 95% of her diet. (Right now, actually, it's 100% because we stopped ALL solids till we decide what to do.)

Prior to starting solids, was a once-every-10-days-or-so pooper. Normal for breastfeeding, but once she started solids, she seemed to keep this same pattern. When she would poop, it would be VERY compacted and dense, though not rock hard, just too big to comfortably pass.

She SCREAMS and pushes for hours (off and on, not the whole time), but it is VERY traumatic.

We went to the doc several weeks ago. He told us to cut out all grains. We did.

We have tried suppositories, but she just poops them out, and they have no effect.

Current situation

Last Thursday we had the worse pooping situation yet. I seriously felt like I was coaching someone through labor. She was screaming and pushing, and got all red and inflamed, and for hours was in pain (off and on). She was shaking and crying.

I CANNOT let her go through this again, so I stopped ALL solids, and she is exclusively breastfeeding right now.

Questions

What "safe" foods can I give her that will not constipate her and will pass easily or even help with pooping?

What foods should we avoid? (We are already avoiding all grains.)

We have a doc appointment on Thursday. What questions should I ask?

What other advice do you have for me??

[sapientia]

pureed prunes, peaches, some other fruit? It sounds like maybe some water would help-along with the breastmilk, of course. I think maybe more liquid.

I would also think there are some digestive enzymes needed...any kind of thrush thing going on? If there isn't enough good bacteria, food is hard to digest, can cause elimination problems.

Sorry I'm not more help.

[texmati]

this is probably a long shot, but along with the food suggestions above, have you considered putting her on a baby potty? we use the bjorn smart potty and I think the positioning makes it easier for DS to go.

Also, I agree with giving her fruit-- melons, watermelons, mango are all 'go' foods. We also do lentils and rice cooked with a lot of water (these are considered poop neutral in our house). Foods that back you up-- high fiber/lo water foods like carrots, sweet potato, and banana.

ETA: our son is 9 and half months old.

[texmati]

I also wanted to suggest prune juice in a bottle if it get's really bad. I hate doing juices, but it does really work.

[greeny]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the suggestions! This is such a struggle for us. The older two kids just started eating and pooping and it was no big deal. This time, it's another story. *sigh*

pureed prunes, peaches, some other fruit? It sounds like maybe some water would help-along with the breastmilk, of course. I think maybe more liquid.

The problem is that she refuses to eat from a spoon. She only wants finger-foods (from the very beginning). I have given her pureed prunes in a bowl and given her a spoon, but literally NOTHING ended up in her mouth!

She also won't drink anything except breastmilk from the breast.

I would also think there are some digestive enzymes needed...any kind of thrush thing going on? If there isn't enough good bacteria, food is hard to digest, can cause elimination problems.

As far as I know, no thrush. There would be symptoms, I assume, and I don't think there is any problem. I take probiotics daily - would any pass through the breastmilk, or should I try to give her some directly?

this is probably a long shot, but along with the food suggestions above, have you considered putting her on a baby potty? we use the bjorn smart potty and I think the positioning makes it easier for DS to go.

Great idea! I will try this next time she is straining!

Also, I agree with giving her fruit-- melons, watermelons, mango are all 'go' foods. We also do lentils and rice cooked with a lot of water (these are considered poop neutral in our house). Foods that back you up-- high fiber/lo water foods like carrots, sweet potato, and banana.

I actually let her try watermelon last week, and she LOVED it. It's good to know that having more of it wouldn't hurt (and might help!).

I also wanted to suggest prune juice in a bottle if it get's really bad. I hate doing juices, but it does really work.

If she would take a bottle, I would definitely do this. Or in a sippy or anything, but she refuses to drink anything not from the breast. When things were really bad a few weeks ago, I squirted prune juice into her mouth with a medicine dropper, and she was so, so mad. I felt bad.

[QuestionGal]

If she won't take peaches/pears/prunes in juice or spoon fed how about fruits that contain LOTS of water or fruits that are canned in a light syrup: besides melons: Grapes, mandarin orange segments, canned peaches/pears, Raisins

Would she take water or juice: ice cold? from a straw? from a different type of sippy cup? from a regular cup?

If it's really that bad (which it sounds like right now it kinda is) you might need to use infant laxative drops to get her cleaned out and incorporate diet changes to help her stay regular.

Good Luck, i've been there with the pooping problems and it just plain stinks (no pun intended)

[texmati]

I'd also keep trying with the purees. My son like one thing one day, and something else another day.

Also, I saw a tip on here about dusting fruit chunks with something-- I think cherioo dust (I"m sure you could use any crushed cereal, rice puff, ect), to make it easier for the baby to pick up and eat. That may change the texture enough that she doesnt mind picking it up.

oh-- and watemelon is great (it's even suggest for pp mama's). If you can get some of that in her, I"m sure you'll be fine.

[texmati]

and last post-- promise.

DS makes an awful racket when he goes. You know in the movies where bruce willlis lifts a car off a person and grunts? It's just like that. The first few times we were really alarmed, I was down on the floor giving him a massage, his face would go red. After a while, we realized it was just him. he's noisy when he goes. We use it to our advantage-- at the first grunt, we put him on the potty.

It sound like your dd is in pain, but don't be surprised if the noise doesn't go away.

[SAmama]

Sounds like she needs some probiotics. I think struggling to poop when she is mainly breastfed is a symptom of having something off in her gut. There are definitely threads on this on the allergy boards. JaneS would know, and Panserbjorne.
If you want to go this way, you want to find a probiotic that is for breastfed babes. We use Pharmax. I know some other moms do as well. If you are willing to use dairy before a year, think about giving her kefir.

[Hannah'sMommy]

Have you tried water or juice in sippy cup? What about ice cubes or something in a mesh feeder? It took our DD (also 10 months) a while a get the hang of a sippy cup, but she loves it now. I'm sure every baby reacts differently, but our DD can't do lentils right now, they just stop her right up. With her solids right now, we have to give her daily prunes, or prune juice mixed with oatmeal, also water/diluted juice in a sippy to help with constipation. She still poops pellets like a rabbit sometimes though... of course, she probably also eats more solids than she should, but she loves them, gobbles them down, and always gets BM first.

[mouso]

Water water water.
I would work real hard on getting more water into her. My DS (10 months too) gets crazy constipated (screaming and everything) if he doesn't have enough water.
He doesn't like sippy cups either. Well, he will drink out of one that has the valve removed so I hold it and he gulps. And he loves to drink out of my water bottle with a sport top. Even a regular cup.
If I am not diligent about the water even if he's eating all fruit/veggies he is still constipated. But, yes, watermelon is the most helpful, I've found.

Good luck!

[MadiMamacita]

yogurt, refried beans (i make mine from pinto beans mashed with some chicken stock) .. those work at our house. but neither are finger foods really. would she take yogurt if you froze it in an ice cube tray with a stick in it? like a little popsicle?

no bananas or cheese!

[Chamomile Girl]

I had this exact same situation and (not to be too scary) my kid ended up in the hospital.

We tried everything, and I let it go on too long. He never pooped right after starting solids (6mo). First it was about every week and then ten days, then I needed to give a suppository to get him to go (the hard glycerine ones are useless...babies just push them out...you have to use the liquid glycerin pedi-lax ones). We re-hydrated dried prunes and he loved them (this is a good trick because babies can feed themselves)...was eating two to three a day. But that didn't work. He drinks tons of breastmilk and water. No dice. Eventually he stopped being able to go at all...even with a suppository and started having these weird seizure-like spells and I finally was able to get my Ped to take it seriously. He was 11 months old by that point, so this lasted 5 months.

Constipation is the #1 thing that pediatricians hear about, so they tend to blow you off. In the case of my kid he had some intestinal blockage from undigested food that he couldn't easily pass, and this was determined by doing an x-ray. They hospitalized him and dosed him up with super laxatives and eventually had to give him an enema to get his intestines clear. It was really traumatic and sucked. Get your Ped to take you seriously and you can avoid all this!

My kid is now on mirilax for the forseeable future and he poops every day. Yeah skippy. I am not a fan of the mirilax, and I will wean him off of it once I am convinced his intestines have shrunk back to normal. He is also off all crapfood (white flour especially) and eats lots of fruit (helps that we have an apricot tree).

So...some things you can try are the soaked prunes and the liquid glycerin. Your Ped will probably recommend mirilax which I believe softens stool so that may actually be a good thing in your situation. I do not believe it is addictive like a senna-based laxative

I hope your baby feels better soon. Seeing a baby try so hard to do something that we think should be easy is .

[myjo]

Magnesium. Have you ever seen Calm magnesium powder for babies? It works wonderfully. But she would have to drink it, which you have stated is a problem.

Beets are also great, and she can pick them up and eat them.

I know how awful this is, my son nearly died of infant botulism and after he was released from the hospital he had the worst constipation I've ever seen. He would scream and cry, had horrible anal fissures.

At one point we were so desperate that we took him to a Mexican lady who does traditional medicine. She gave him a tablespoon of olive oil on an empty stomach, them massaged his belly, then gave him a Mexican remedy called Estomaquil, which is mainly magnesium. She also gave him a few spoons of Cascara Sagrada. It was the first time he pooped without a suppository or enema in a very long time. Weirdly, the poops were coated with undigested olive oil.

After that, I gave him magnesium when he needed it, stayed away from wheat, which he's allergic to, and started using homeopathy. Calc. Carb. really turned him around.

[Katie T]

It is messy and since she is picky with textures may not like it but I with my kids (who also didn't like to be fed) I would put a dolop of yogurt, oatmeal, whatever on the tray and offer a baby spoon, Sometimes they just used their hands but sometimes they used the spoon and they would feed themselves. Maybe it would work for her and you could thicken prunes or give her yogurt that way.

Good luck pooping problems are no fun for anyone

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by texmati

Also, I agree with giving her fruit-- melons, watermelons, mango are all 'go' foods. We also do lentils and rice cooked with a lot of water (these are considered poop neutral in our house). Foods that back you up-- high fiber/lo water foods like carrots, sweet potato, and banana.

Rice is a binder actually. That's why it's on the BRAT diet for diarrhea. Have you tried cutting dairy out of your own diet? and hers if she's getting any? Just curious since that's the #1 food intolerance. And it can cause constipation.

[myjo]

Have you tried cutting dairy out of your own diet? and hers if she's getting any? Just curious since that's the #1 food intolerance. And it can cause constipation.

True! My ds was allergic to wheat and I had to keep it out of my diet so that he wouldn't get any in the breast milk. You might try experimenting with your own diet to see if changes might help her.

[greeny]

I had this exact same situation and (not to be too scary) my kid ended up in the hospital.

We tried everything, and I let it go on too long. He never pooped right after starting solids (6mo). First it was about every week and then ten days, then I needed to give a suppository to get him to go (the hard glycerine ones are useless...babies just push them out...you have to use the liquid glycerin pedi-lax ones). We re-hydrated dried prunes and he loved them (this is a good trick because babies can feed themselves)...was eating two to three a day. But that didn't work. He drinks tons of breastmilk and water. No dice. Eventually he stopped being able to go at all...even with a suppository and started having these weird seizure-like spells and I finally was able to get my Ped to take it seriously. He was 11 months old by that point, so this lasted 5 months.

Constipation is the #1 thing that pediatricians hear about, so they tend to blow you off. In the case of my kid he had some intestinal blockage from undigested food that he couldn't easily pass, and this was determined by doing an x-ray. They hospitalized him and dosed him up with super laxatives and eventually had to give him an enema to get his intestines clear. It was really traumatic and sucked. Get your Ped to take you seriously and you can avoid all this!

My kid is now on mirilax for the forseeable future and he poops every day. Yeah skippy. I am not a fan of the mirilax, and I will wean him off of it once I am convinced his intestines have shrunk back to normal. He is also off all crapfood (white flour especially) and eats lots of fruit (helps that we have an apricot tree).

So...some things you can try are the soaked prunes and the liquid glycerin. Your Ped will probably recommend mirilax which I believe softens stool so that may actually be a good thing in your situation. I do not believe it is addictive like a senna-based laxative

I hope your baby feels better soon. Seeing a baby try so hard to do something that we think should be easy is .

Oh my GOSH, that is so scary! I'm glad he's doing better, though is on the Miralax.

I am definitely worried that the ped (tomorrow!) will not really take me seriously, but I will not leave with a concrete plan and written-down answers or things to try. The amount of pain she was in and the difficult she was having + the fact that the solids she's eating are minimal and still she's not pooping mean that this needs to be taken seriously. Really. I am good at insisting on answers, especially when it comes to my kids!

[greeny]

Have you tried cutting dairy out of your own diet? and hers if she's getting any? Just curious since that's the #1 food intolerance. And it can cause constipation.

I actually was off all dairy and wheat when she was first born because she was having some green poops, and they went away and I stayed off dairy till she was about 6 months old. Added it back and all was fine. But I may go off again and see if it helps.

[greeny]

Originally Posted by Katie T

It is messy and since she is picky with textures may not like it but I with my kids (who also didn't like to be fed) I would put a dolop of yogurt, oatmeal, whatever on the tray and offer a baby spoon, Sometimes they just used their hands but sometimes they used the spoon and they would feed themselves. Maybe it would work for her and you could thicken prunes or give her yogurt that way.

Good luck pooping problems are no fun for anyone

I am going to try this today! I've tried in the past with no luck, but it's been a few weeks.

Originally Posted by myjo

Magnesium. Have you ever seen Calm magnesium powder for babies? It works wonderfully. But she would have to drink it, which you have stated is a problem.

Beets are also great, and she can pick them up and eat them.

I know how awful this is, my son nearly died of infant botulism and after he was released from the hospital he had the worst constipation I've ever seen. He would scream and cry, had horrible anal fissures.

Where can I get Calm magnesium powder for babies? Whole Foods?

I will try beets.

And how scary about your son!!! I'm glad he is okay.

Originally Posted by MadiMamacita

yogurt, refried beans (i make mine from pinto beans mashed with some chicken stock) .. those work at our house. but neither are finger foods really. would she take yogurt if you froze it in an ice cube tray with a stick in it? like a little popsicle?

no bananas or cheese!

Making a popsicle with yogurt is something I should try! But is dairy okay for her? (I know yogurt is different because it's fermented, but it's still dairy, no?)

Originally Posted by mouso

Water water water.
I would work real hard on getting more water into her. My DS (10 months too) gets crazy constipated (screaming and everything) if he doesn't have enough water.
He doesn't like sippy cups either. Well, he will drink out of one that has the valve removed so I hold it and he gulps. And he loves to drink out of my water bottle with a sport top. Even a regular cup.
If I am not diligent about the water even if he's eating all fruit/veggies he is still constipated. But, yes, watermelon is the most helpful, I've found.

Good luck!

I will work on the water. I tried a regular straw yesterday, and she just wanted to play with it. I'll try the sippy without the valve in in a little bit.

Thanks, everyone, for so much great advice! This is so stressful and sad and scary. It really helps to have people to talk to about this!