Painful BM's....Help!

[MRubio]

I started food with my LO at 9 months, he wasn't ready any earlier, he is now almost 12 months.  We have had really painful, hard and crying BM's about every 8-10 days.  I am very conservative with the food, make it all myself and all organic, pureed, only fruits and veggies.  After the first event, I cut back on the carbs (and had to cut out oatmeal completely) and he only gets rice or sweet potatoes every 2-3 days.  Veggies and fruits are the basics.   I tried cruciferous veggies but backed off those too bc of the hard BM's.  Tonight was the worst one yet...he was crying so hard and it was bigger than my own fist out of his little 19lb body.  My ped recommended Mirilax and I gave him that yesterday and today.  It did seem to soften it but I am anti drug and don't want to have to use that to help him .   I was so upset and know there has to be a better way to help him through this.  Any suggestions, thoughts, comments would be greatly appreciated!

[100%mom]

Diluted apple juice? Prune juice? Raisens?

[MRubio]

Tried apple juice first per pedi. I give him pureed prunes 2-3 times a week. Haven't tried raisins...not sure he could handle them.  might try. thanks!

[MRubio]

also give him all the "P's" (pear, peaches, prunes, plums) to help digestion....

[100%mom]

What about making a smoothie with spinach, lettuce, apple's and other frozen berries? I add water for the liquid and just blend it up in the blender.

[Zirconia]

My 14-month old has the same problem and has for several months.  In addition to the "P" foods mentioned above, we also give her flax oil every day.  I think it's about 1/2 tsp, but the pharmacist helped me calculate dosage based on her weight, and gave us a little syringe to administer it.  Since doing this, the stools aren't much softer, but well, they slide out really easily - that's helped so much because she had started holding it to avoid the pain.  Now she goes with no fuss, but man are they still huge!

Also Epsom salt baths (baby can absorb small amounts of magnesium through his skin, which can help).  We also use a homeopathic constipation remedy - I don't know if it helps, but DH and I tried it first to see what it tasted like, and we ran to the bathroom for the next 24 hours.  :)

[pek64]

Magnesium helps with constipation. Red raspberry leaf tea is a good source of magnesium. Use it when cooking vegs. Also, coconut water and concord grape juice. A little each day should keep things softer and moving. Also, barley helps. Cascadian Farms had an O's cereal with barley that works well. Or you can cook barley yourself. Make sure he is hydrated, too. If he is breastfeeding and you are drinking plenty, he should be. Otherwise, maybe add liquids to his diet.

[MRubio]

Just checked Dr Sears website yesterday and got the flax oil (he rec 1 tbsp in a bottle) and also flax seed meal which I put in his cereal last night....waiting to see.  He also rec barley cereal which I am still looking for or I may try cooking it myself as pek64 suggested.  He is getting as much fluid as I can get in him.  He is still nursing 5-6 times a day and he is getting about 4 oz of water daily.  I gonna try prune juice too as per Dr Sears.

I called our pedi and she wanted me to give him Mirilax in water.  I did the research and was appalled at what I found out.  Anyone have experience with that?  I found another thread elsewhere and the Mama's said it caused ticks and shaking hands (neurological issues) and renal problems for their little ones.  I can't believe these pedi's want people to use a drug that is not approved by FDA or drug maker for anyone under 17.  What are they thinking?!  NY Times had an article last May that noted 75% of pedi's are using this stuff....unreal.

[pek64]

Magnesium and sugars (hence fruits) are hydroscopic, so they attract water to the stool. Rice is balancing, but there is the arsenic concern. I'm not sure how barley works, but it worked well for my son.