what ever happened to good old water for constpation. poor little guy
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darkstar
darkstar
Apple juice for four week old baby?!?
My nephew is four weeks old and has been formula-fed from the beginning (breastfeeding isn't her "style"
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: ), and has had a lot of problems with it. He didn't have his first poop for two weeks, and has only pooped a couple of times since. He also is still a pound below his birth weight, and even though he seems really hungry to me (crying, rooting, sucking fists), SIL says the ped told her not to feed him more than 3 ounces every three hours. His formula has been switched several times due to allergic reactions/constipation/spitting up. He's now on some kind of soy formula.
Anyway, now the ped is telling them to give the little guy bottles of apple juice for his constipation. Is this normal advice. I wish the ped would have just told her to BREASTFEED, then maybe all of this torture could have been avoided.
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ETA: Nephew was 11lb 3 oz at birth.
Anyway, now the ped is telling them to give the little guy bottles of apple juice for his constipation. Is this normal advice. I wish the ped would have just told her to BREASTFEED, then maybe all of this torture could have been avoided.
ETA: Nephew was 11lb 3 oz at birth.
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My ped was all about apple juice and PRUNE juice (ick! For an itty bitty baby!) My twins are breastfed, but he thought that my DS's reluctance to poo (I think he was just scared that he had stuff coming out both ends!) was because he was constipated, and so prescribed juice, 1oz for every month of age or something like that.
So, it's normal advice. (DH wanted me to add--it's not necessarily GOOD advice!
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How horrible, everything that your little nephew is going through. I have a nephew going through similar issues after a course of antibiotics (he is nearly 6 months). I hope your nephew feels much better soon, so he can grow, grow, grow!
So, it's normal advice. (DH wanted me to add--it's not necessarily GOOD advice!
How horrible, everything that your little nephew is going through. I have a nephew going through similar issues after a course of antibiotics (he is nearly 6 months). I hope your nephew feels much better soon, so he can grow, grow, grow!
Yikes!
I can only imagine what he is going through.
The reason for the constipation is most likely the iron in the formula. Not the lactose. (lactose most likely makes you go more than you really want to if you are allergic to it. I found out the hard way
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Here are some things that have worked for my kids
1. Fennel Tea. It can be added to the bottle instead of plain water. Just boil some Fennel seeds in Water and then let cool. Mix with formula or give straight. Can be kept in Thermos for a day. This also works very well against gas. (this is safe for babies of all ages)
2. Warm water bottle on the tummy. (rubber bottles that you can fill with warm water are being sold in drug stores) Or use a cherrie pit pillow that can be warmed up carefully in the oven. You can find them online.
3. Massage the tummy from the top to the bottom. Or have him lay on his back in front of you (her) take his legs and carefully bend his legs toward his tummy. Repeat a few times at every diaper change.
Hope this helps
Cinnamon
I can only imagine what he is going through.
The reason for the constipation is most likely the iron in the formula. Not the lactose. (lactose most likely makes you go more than you really want to if you are allergic to it. I found out the hard way
Here are some things that have worked for my kids
1. Fennel Tea. It can be added to the bottle instead of plain water. Just boil some Fennel seeds in Water and then let cool. Mix with formula or give straight. Can be kept in Thermos for a day. This also works very well against gas. (this is safe for babies of all ages)
2. Warm water bottle on the tummy. (rubber bottles that you can fill with warm water are being sold in drug stores) Or use a cherrie pit pillow that can be warmed up carefully in the oven. You can find them online.
3. Massage the tummy from the top to the bottom. Or have him lay on his back in front of you (her) take his legs and carefully bend his legs toward his tummy. Repeat a few times at every diaper change.
Hope this helps
Cinnamon
What purpose is the 3 oz every 3 hrs? Since he's ff anyway and not at his birth weight, it seems like he should be fed on demand.
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Holly
ETA: She should definitly look into the low iron formulas. My brother & I were both ff babies and both needed to be on the low iron otherwise we were VERY constipated. To this day iron supplements bother me!
Holly
ETA: She should definitly look into the low iron formulas. My brother & I were both ff babies and both needed to be on the low iron otherwise we were VERY constipated. To this day iron supplements bother me!
Maybe the poor guy isn't getting enough to eat so poo's infrequently
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Poor baby. My daughter and I had major bfing troubles and was supplemented at 2 and 3 weeks with ebm and formula. When she was on formula at 3 weeks she ate 4ozs every 1.5 hours. I just fed her when she was hungry. Thankfully she hasn't had any formula since she was 3 weeks and some odd days old.
I hope they start feeding him more. And apple juice for constipation in a newborn seems very odd indeed.
I hope they start feeding him more. And apple juice for constipation in a newborn seems very odd indeed.
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Yes, I agree. It doesn't make sense to me either. Especially considering how big he was at birth, it just seems obvious that he needs to eat more, especially with the spitting up all the time.
I'm considering suggesting to SIL that it's still not too late to change her mind about the breastfeeding.
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(It isn't, is it? I really don't know anything about re-lactating...which I guess this wouldn't be anyway. What would you call it? Delayed lactating?)) It just seems to me that this could all be easily fixed if he were breastfed on demand instead of ff on a wonky schedule (that isn't working!)
Originally Posted by janerose What purpose is the 3 oz every 3 hrs? Since he's ff anyway and not at his birth weight, it seems like he should be fed on demand. |
I'm considering suggesting to SIL that it's still not too late to change her mind about the breastfeeding.
No advice, just
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Though I agree about ff feeding on demand, if bf is out of the picture. 3oz every 3 hours sounds like administering medicine, not eating food! I wonder if the ped gave that to her as a GUIDELINE, but she took it as a RULE. After reading your TAO thread about this particular issue, seems like a reasonable assumption to make about this mama.
-Melissa
Though I agree about ff feeding on demand, if bf is out of the picture. 3oz every 3 hours sounds like administering medicine, not eating food! I wonder if the ped gave that to her as a GUIDELINE, but she took it as a RULE. After reading your TAO thread about this particular issue, seems like a reasonable assumption to make about this mama.
-Melissa
i had to start Willow on formula at 4 weeks, and she's always been fed on demand. there's no way a ped. can predict what each individual baby will want to eat! also, pear juice is milder (less acidic) and you only need a little bit in water for it to work. but tummy massage, leg bicycling, warm baths, all that stuff should be tried first. Willow went 4 days one time which was really unusual for her (she's always been a poop-a-day baby) and she was in pain, i gave her 2 oz. of water with 1/2 oz. of pear juice and 4 hours later she pooped. i'm one of those that thinks babies don't need straight fruit juice until they are much, much older.
for tummy massage, it works great if you trace the large colon, it's like an upside-down U starting on their right side. Willow has reflux and we had to switch formulas quite a few times, each switch gave her gut troubles
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so my ped. taught me that massage technique. (we're lucky, our dr. is very pro-holistic remedies first, traditional medicine as a last resort)
for tummy massage, it works great if you trace the large colon, it's like an upside-down U starting on their right side. Willow has reflux and we had to switch formulas quite a few times, each switch gave her gut troubles
Well I'm just back from a family get together and witnessed the little puker myself. Poor little guy!
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He spits up everything he eats. It's so sad, but his momma has learned her lesson the hard way. She said when they have another baby someday (very very long time from now, I hope) she will breastfeed. But she wasn't interested in hearing that it might still be possible to bf now. She doesn't really want to do it, I'm guessing. But hopefully if they do ever have another she will...
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Anyway, I showed them how to rub his tummy, bicycle his legs, etc. They were already doing that, though, I guess. The little guy seems really hungry all the time, and I'm getting the feeling they are withholding formula because it is expensive, and from their perspective he just spits it all up anyway, so they don't want to waste it.
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: Which makes me think that she still doesn't *get it* about breastfeeding, ie she only said she'll bf next time because it's cheaper, not because it's better for baby.
BIG SIGH.... I can tell they both really love him, but they seem to blindly follow whatever the Dr says like he's some kind of GOD or something. And I have a feeling they must be misinterpretting what he says, or taking guidelines as Rules (as Melissa suggested).
ETA: They have upped his feeding to 4 oz every 2.5 hours.
Anyway, I showed them how to rub his tummy, bicycle his legs, etc. They were already doing that, though, I guess. The little guy seems really hungry all the time, and I'm getting the feeling they are withholding formula because it is expensive, and from their perspective he just spits it all up anyway, so they don't want to waste it.
BIG SIGH.... I can tell they both really love him, but they seem to blindly follow whatever the Dr says like he's some kind of GOD or something. And I have a feeling they must be misinterpretting what he says, or taking guidelines as Rules (as Melissa suggested).
ETA: They have upped his feeding to 4 oz every 2.5 hours.
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