First foods that do not constipate?

[bettyjones]

My dd2 is 7 1/2 months old. She loves to eat! I started her on solids after 6 months of ebfing. But 2 x now she's had pretty bad constipation- grunting & pushing all night poor thing! The last time she'd eaten lots of applesauce, bananas & rice cereal. I gave her prune juice and oatmeal but it didn't help. Finally I switched back to just breast milk. She got better. Then I tried foods again. She was ok with sweet potatoes but when I gave her pears, a tiny bit of banana, avocado and squash she's all plugged up again. She's just such an. Enthusiastic eater. She cries for more food. I'm not sure what to give or how much or how to cure the constipation! Poor baby! Any tips appreciated.

[purplerose]

bananas can def. be constipating! i read that rice can, also. apples and peaches usually aren't and may actually help relieve constipation.

[bettyjones]

Yeah, I keep hearing mixed things about applesauce. Maybe I'll try peaches.

[purplerose]

occasionally my daughter will go longer than i'm comfy with and seem uncomfortable, and i give apples or peaches...BLOWOUT! i wonder if the hard time they have is just more that they are getting used to having actual poops and not just breastmilk poops. i had one who would go once a week(was normal for her, no solids yet) but none of my others did that. if they don't go in 24 hours i tend to quietly worry.

[bettyjones]

When constipated this last time, she went but after much grunting & crying just little poops.

[purplerose]

are they hard, solid ones? if so, i would really cut back on the solids! or give only ones that i knew did not do that!

[bettyjones]

They were pretty had & accompanied by a bad rash. I have switched back to nursing only. Once the diaper rash heals I thinks I'll just reintroduce everything slowly& no banana which is a bummer b/c it is so easy to prepare!

[MN BabyDust]

After starting solids, my DD went 5 days without pooping. The doctor said it takes time for their systems to adjust to solids. Bananas and rice are both very constipating. Fruits with starting with P are good (prunes, pears, aPricots) I ended up giving her prune juice which did the trick. After about a month of being careful with foods, she can eat pretty much anything and poops fine.  Maybe just stick to the ones that are most unlikely to constipate for a while?

[Ratchet]

I would also avoid the rice cereal- as far as I can tell it is basically just iron supplement with fiber-free filler, which sounds like pure constipation to me.  You could also consider offering the breast first then foods after so she won't eat as much and won't be as hungry for more. 

[Katie8681]

I mix breast milk into the rice cereal and that seems to counteract the constipation.

[CookAMH]

Rash plus constipation means she isn't digesting the foods properly, ime. There is an imbalance in her gut flora. There is a host of information I can direct you to online if you're interested.

In the meantime, the most easily digested foods is squash (vs sweet potatoes), well cooked carrots and onions, avocado, egg yolk and cooked apples. Since she's reacting, you'll need to take her time. Get back to baseline with nursing only, with no rash, like you've done, then try one food at 1T at the most, and wait two days to see what it does to her BMs. If clear, then you can give her a little more and see how that does.

Also, something I need to remember for my own infant is giving water with food to avoid constipation. You could use a syring or help her learn to drink from a tiny cup (like a shot glass).