7 MO not pooping, allergies???

[mommaklo]

my ds is just over 7 months old and his bowel movements are, to me, infrequent. Once a week or so. It has been 8 days today and I attemted to give him a mild enema with an aspirator and very little came back out. Even of the water, as if he was dehyrated..? He nurses all the time, at least every two hours and pees alot, but when he does poop he blows out his diaper. He also has dry skin and are pending an allergy blood test from his dr, but how common, even if he DOES have allergies, is not pooping???? I guess that is my biggest question. Oh, I do give him solids, but maybe every couple days if at all, so its not just breastmilk in him tummy, Ive given him squash, sweet potatoes, peas, avacado, and banana in the past. I spaced them out to make sure he didnt react specifically to each thing, but have all but given up on solids bc I dont want to make his bowels even more sluggish. If anyone has experienced this, what do you do? I give him probiotics, and I drink aloe vera juice, which I guess can cross to the milk, and his drs just say give him prune juice. That seems to me to not be a good solution. I dont know, maybe it is? Just seems like Im forcing something...?????

[rhesp1212]

From my experience, avacado was extremely constipating for my son even whe he was getting breastmilk still...his poop would be hard pebbles and very uncomfortable passing it. Later we discovered that he was hypersensative to it as well. Bananas can also be constipating for some babies...others do fine with it though.

If your baby is still peeing alot, then he's not dehydrated, that's good and it means that he's getting plenty of fluids. Did your baby poop normally before you started giving any solids??

[rhesp1212]

When he does finally poop, what is the consistancy of it?? Is it like normal baby poop, or hard?? It is normal for some EBF babies to only poop once a week. As long as they are not acting uncomfortable and their tummy isn't bloated he might be just fine.

[mommaklo]

its like thick peanut butter when he goes. And he hasnt had avacado or banana in wks.......?

[deditus]

I would start with a dairy free bifidus supplement. You can get Natren Life Start, SolarRay Babylife, Kirkman Labs Bifido Complex, etc. And I would cut dairy, all of it, every last speck.

[True Blue]

Our Dr told me it was normal for BF babies to do that, too....but I really don't think it is!! DD2 was like that, hardly pooped, hated to do it, and by the time she was a year it took 4 dipes for her to go bc she hated it and tried to hold it in. What helped that was sitting her on the potty to go, at least she went in one swoop that way. That said, she has had a lot of trouble her whole life with pooping, going 1-2 a week at best. I now have her off soy and gluten, but I haven't seen a whole lot of improvement from that. We are doing probiotics now, and magnesium (orally and in epsom salts bath) and she has gone 3 days in a row so far, which is like a miracle. I personally think it is a sign of some underlying issue, be it allergies or something else.

[rhesp1212]

Thick like peanut butter and being EBF is not normal at all. If your babe is getting some solids then it would be considered normal to be that consistancy. Since it's not hard, then it's not likely a dehydration or true constipation issue as opposed to a very slow moving gut. I agree magnesium might help get things moving.

Any other symptoms?? Reflux, poor sleep, behavior problems, rashes, etc.?

[mommaklo]

he did get solids once a wk or so. Before that his bms were super runny, the way I imagine they should be. I dont even give him solids anymore because of all this. He does also have poor sleep and wakes at least 4-6 times per night. And hes fussy in the day time, I cant leave him alone for more than a couple minutes, playing on the floor, in his jumper, etc without him screaming. Hes even fussy when Im holding him sometimes.

[rhesp1212]

Because he's also having sleep issues and being fussy all the time, he could very well be reacting to something in your diet through your breastmilk. It would be worth it to start keeping a food journal and see if you notice any patterns. Look at things that you are eating on a daily basis (dairy, coffee, etc.) and consider pulling some of them out of your diet completely to see if you notice any improvements. Some people recommend automatically eliminating dairy and soy from your diet, as those are the most common triggers. Some people pull the top 7 allergens plus corn and see if they can get to a baseline and then add some of them back in. If he's reacting to something in your breastmilk, it can cause inflammation of the gut, which in turn can cause it to move very slowly (delayed gastric emptying) leading to the problems you are seeing. It may not be the actual solid food causing the problem, but it compounds an already existing problem...make sense? My son had this issue, except with his actual stomach emptying....everything would sit in his stomach for hours on end until he eventually spit it up. It was because of the inflammation in his stomach and gut from food sensativities.

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by deditus

I would start with a dairy free bifidus supplement. You can get Natren Life Start, SolarRay Babylife, Kirkman Labs Bifido Complex, etc.

Ditto, if he is taking a lot of acidophilus it can contribute to constipation at this age.

[Snapdragon]

I don't know about the allergies thing but my baby is also 7 months old and not pooping very often either! I also brought him to the doctor and they said prune juice, which I am trying but not super hopeful about. I figured for us it was that I fed him too much solids from 6-7 months. Right now I am laying off solids and going with EBF till he hopefully regulates. We had to give him a few glycerine suppositories- which worked- but in the last 16 or so days he has only pooped 3 times and all of those were from suppositories- we gave him the first after an 8 day stretch of no poop, the second after some really intense crying from belly ache likely, and the third 2 days ago when he was so so hurting and clearly in pain- and once he pooped he was so much happier. No more suppositories over here though, we don't want to do that! But the doctor could only suggest prune juice or a really strong laxative if that doesn't work. I am really hoping his body regulates itself from lots of nursing and laying off solids. Also, we do EC so I am hoping that isn't making him try to hold in his poop.

[mommaklo]

I got ds food allergy report back about a week and a half ago or so now. He showed somwhat response to wheat, peanuts, dairy, eggs, soy, and fish. I have removed all from my diet and within just a few days, he pooped three times in one day. I would have never guessed all those foods, and am glad I had a blood test done, but it was OBVIOUSLY related. His dr told me prune juice too and I finally gave in and gave it to him, but after the second dose he didnt even go, so we stopped and then he started doing it on his own once I stopped eating those foods. It sucks, its hard. We went out of town and we packed a cooler because I didnt think I could eat anything anywhere (I was pretty much right) but its all worth it for my sweet sweet baby. Id rather starve than know hes suffering.

[mommaklo]

also, I was told that fish oil would help move the bowels and had actually bought a bottle to start adding to a little bit of food. So glad I didnt since thats one of his trigger foods.

[deditus]

I'm so glad it is helping! It is hard but sooo worth it to have them happy and healthy! We pack our food with us, too. I even took a cooler home with me this summer, from MN to MI, so I would have safe meat to eat. Our food takes up more room than our clothes when we travel.