Terrible constipation

[jennifer08]

Hi,

My baby (almost 9 months) has had terrible constipation since she started solids.  I have tried everything to remedy the problem:  prunes/pears/juice/etc.  Stopped food completely and just nursed, given probiotics, flaxseed oil, belly massage.  I've had to use Miralax along the way a few times to get her some relief.  It works, but I do not like to have to use it.  About a month ago, she was back to normal with the help of Miralax.  At that time I was just feeding her prunes and pears and then weaned her off the MIralax.  I slowly reintroduced veggies, and the whole cycle started again.  Is there anything else I can try?  She never had any issues until we started solids.

[Jenni1894]

Give her peaches or berries!

My ODD had a harder time with solids also.  She was EBF and we started solids and she got all stopped up.   Prunes, peaches and now at 16 mos black/raspberries get her going again.  

I always made sure I would give her peaches or prunes w/almost every meal to keep her regular.  also a bottle of formula would get her to poop also.   I just would make sure the fruit was mized w/yogurt or cereal or something to give her a variety.

[Schae]

it sounds like you've tried the usual remedies. do you offer water/diluted fruit juice with meals? My so gets very constipated by solids too. We do flaxseed oil once a day, diluted fruit juice (grape really helps). We also don't offer any of the binding foods as solids, so no white rice, no bread, no banana, no potatoes etc. Green beans seem to get him going too. We've had most success with flaxseed oil though

[QuestionGal]

I second the water idea. It's more water than you'd imagine. I think I read somewhere that when just starting out they should get 2-4oz of water per day and go up from there. Since your LO is 9 months they probably need more than that.  DD gets a sippy cup of water every meal and drinks about 1/2 (so a minimum of 6oz of water per day).  I've noticed that if she's not getting enough water then she quickly becomes constipated.

Also, about the miralax, I think (just my experience) that it kind of upsets their stomachs. As horrible as it sounds I actually prefer those glycerin suppositories. Since they say for ages 2+ we only use a little bit. But sometimes just inserting something *there* will stimulate a bowel movement. The suppositories are quick and don't cause gas/pain. (but that's only used in RARE circumstances, I try everything else (juice, water, massage, baths, etc first). 

[PatioGardener]

I third the water. Once my DS started solids he needed additional water. Nursing more often just didn't do the same thing.

[jennifer08]

Thanks.  She does get water, and I try to push it, but sometimes the cup is just a toy.  She mostly likes to spit it out.  I've offered her a bottle of water, but she's never taken a bottle, so it was really a toy.  I give her ice to suck on in her mesh feeder.  That works pretty well.  Flaxseed oil doesn't help her at all.  I use the glycerin suppositories occasionally, but they don't really help that much.  Just a little bit comes out!  Belly massage doesn't help much either.  Just get a tiny bit out then too.  We've done peaches too, to no avail.  I haven't offered her straight juice, so I'll try that.  Maybe she won't spit that out.

[BabyDoops]

My DD has the same problem.

Have you tried apricots?

Also, I make my own purees and freeze them into cubes. Try pear or apricot ice cubes in the mesh feeder with lots of water, however you can get it in her.

Did you try ground flax meal? I've heard it works better than the oil. We use it occasionally too.

[jennifer08]

Great idea!  I'll have to try that.  Thanks.

[Dot-to-Dot]

Do you have health insurance?  If so, your little one might be covered for a few chiropractor visits.  I just took my 7wk old in to a chiropractor (for different reasons) and she said that the baby would probably poop enough to fill 3 diapers and then conk out.  She did!  She wasn't even constipated, but whatever was in there quickly made it's way right out!  Adjustments for babies are very gentle - not the crackle and pop you think of with an adult adjustment.  They just lay there with the chiro's hands under their back and neck and they can very gently move their bones.  Works VERY well for all kinds of ailments, especially constipation and there's no harm in trying!

[Schae]

Dot-to-Dot - what a good idea, will try that too.

OP, I must say that we do diluted juice as water didn't really have an impact but the juice does. I offer grape and pear juice.

The thing with constipation is that the poop/waste sits inside for so long that the water inside it is reabsorbed into the body and it's more difficult to pass (i read that description recently, and although I knew all that, this explanation made more sense to me?)

eta: when i say 'makes an impact', i don't mean normal bowel movements, i mean less hard and painful to pass

[sacridote]

This sounds very much like my DS. We tried everything... diet, then flax seed, juice, etc and eventually had to use miralax, and when we forgot the miralax poor DS would be stopped up for 3 days or longer. For us, I quit eating dairy... and he's normal now. No miralax. Just might be something you could try...