My son is 6 months old and has began eating solids for about 2 weeks now. He continues to be strictly breastfeed although I have been mixing 2 ounces of soy milk to his rice and oatmeal. He has tried peas and green beans, both he has not taken a liking to. He seems to like the sweet potato but eats maybe a teaspoon or so without half of it dripping out of his mouth. Anyway the problem is is his lack of BM's. Its going on 3 days and now I am concerned. He takes sips of water but its not making a difference. I thought the vegetables would soften things up but that's not making a difference either. Should I contact the Dr about his possible constipation or wait another day? Is there anything that I can give him besides water? For the record, my son has always had consistent BM's. This was before he started solids. I just don't want him to be in pain or discomfort which he may start showing signs of soon. Any advice as to what I should do?
Laura, I would introduce prunes as his next food. It worked for us with my daughter. She gets constipated easily and every time, I give her some prunes, and it does the trick. Do it in the morning so you're not dealing with unnecessary poopy diapers in the middle of the night. I am not sure soy milk is helping the digestive track - it can be an allergy issue and perhaps you should try just mixing the cereal with water instead? Also, rice cereal is a major binder. We had to give our daughter oatmeal much more often than rice cereal and that has helped too. Good luck!
Give him prunes or spinich. He'll go for sure! It's probably just the change in diet that's causing the change in his body. Also, soy and rice are constipating foods. Consider cutting back on those. Use your breastmilk for his cereals.
I just went through the same thing.
I gave him prunes, peaches and pears (which are supposed to help them go). Also, my doc suggested a little bit of juice cut with water. I've been giving him pear juice - maybe an ounce and a half a day (and it takes him all day to drink that much). I've heard prune juice is good too.
Stay away from anything on the BRAT diet (banana, rice, apple, toast) as that's all binding.
How many times a day are you feeding him? I cut back to one bigger meal a day (lunch) and he's been going much better.
FYI when he did finally go when he was constipated it was the consistency of clay - really hard for the poor guy. My guy still has a little bit of problems (I assume it's just his digestive system learning to work) but his constipation has gotten much better.
Good luck!
I used to give my son a couple ounces of organic prune juice mixed with double to triple the amount of water in a bottle. It worked great.
Have you given him any fruits yet? How about apple sauce? My doctor always had us start with apple sauce for a week or 2, then go to vegetables. Once I knew they didn't have any problems with a food I was able to feed my babies a spoonful each of cereal, fruits and vegetables at each meal. The apple sauce seemed to make everything taste better, too. And my babies didn't have any problems digesting either, nor did they have any constipation problems.
try Gerbers baby food prunes. they are sweet so he should like them & it works. use half the container at forst to see if it helps.
Beth
I would call the Dr....can't tell you the dosage but adding Karo syrup to the water or milk will help, and you can also use a suppository to help him. Again, for amounts/brands/dosages I can't help so I'd ask the Dr.
The first time my son did a "real" BM after starting solids he turned bright red and cried, the poor thing, it changes a bit! Good Luck!
Same thing happened to my daughter - and prunes did the trick. She didn't even need a lot of it for it to help. Try to keep up the water too because I did notice that that helped my daughter too. If you can't get him to eat the prunes, you could always just put a little prune juice into his cereal or water.
hi laura,
my son also had the same issue and i went to my doctor about it. they said to feed him anything that starts with "P", such as pears and peas. you may also want to try apple prune juice - 2oz juice, 2 oz water mixed in. my son LOVED it and still does.
hope it works for you.
the spoon of prune juice might do the trick
soy milk??? I am sure you are not supposed to give an infant soy milk (as well as cow's milk) Use breast milk, water or formula when making the cereal. I always give my breastfed 9 month old stage 1 gerber organic prunes when he is constipated. Have lots of wipes and a change of clothes handy- it will be messy a few hours later!
I think you should contact your Dr. for advice. Different Drs. have different opinions on the matter. Mine suggested prune juice. I also used a q-tip or thermometer covered in vaseline in my little guy's tush, just to help get things moving. It is just a more dense poop, so he may need a little help. But, again, your doc may have a different idea of what to do.
Good luck.
not unusual. solids cahnge your bm's and the amount of them when first starting solids. add some more water to hte oatmeal and give baby a bit of water in a bottle during the day as well.
sometimes if you stick a glycerin suppository (you know where), and wiggle it around, it helps to move the bowels.
OMGGGG. I was just wondering the same thing myself, and I picked up one of my parenting books. She said "constipation is defined [as the stool being incredibly hard and difficulty to pass. You don't have a bm every day, and it's ok if your baby doesn't either. Leave the bowels alone and let them take care of themselves." It's not a direct quote, but the jist. I was relieved!! My DD is 7 months, exclusively breastfed up until a month ago, and going through the same thing. She's fine. Just watch for a really hard stool. He'll be fine too. If you want to contact me about the name of the book, you can. I dont' have it here in front of me, but it's about babies 0-5 by an english woman.
I'd talk to your doctor just so you feel more at ease. As first time moms, we have lots of concerns so pediatricians are used to that. You might want to check with your doctor, but flax seed oil or ground flax seeds are supposed to be a natural laxative. Also prune juice or apple juice.
My second son was constipate alittle often when we was little and now he's 2 1/2 yo. What I did for my boys if they had that problem and my seond son had the hardest time with BM. I gave a little bit of juice like juicy juice and made sure I gave them bananas. Some children and even adults find that bananas constipate them, but all three of my boys go with bananas....thank You, Jesus! :) Alittle bit of prune juice, just a little bit put into a cup of juice, whatever he drinks out of and have him try it and he will shows signs of pain from constipation if gone on a while. Breastfeeding goes right through the child, but feeding solids too can help the child to go BM regular or sometimes constipate them and try giving him fruits to get it going and constantly giving him water and I started all three of my boys on water starting about 6 months of age, unless they are infants in summer, I give them water in bottles at three and four months because I figure, if I thirst in summer, what about babies....but that is my opinion. I'll pray that Jesus will give you His Wisdom in this if you ask Him and I bet juice (like Juicey Juice or other 100% juice, you may not want to get cocktail juices that is only 10% juice). Let us know how it went and any questions ask us or even me via this Mamasource and I'll get back to you ASAP.
A lot of people have suggested juice, especially prune. You might also want to skip the rice cereal and just do oatmeal for a while since rice tends to bind the bowels (great for the opposite problem than you are having right now).
Laura,
How much is he eating actually? Do you keep track of ounces? Is he just having a few bites of solids?
When breastfeeding, the baby gets to a point where they can go up to 7 days without a BM, they are digesting the milk, and there is very little waste left over.
If your son is not eating very many solids, that may be the hold up. If he is eating 2-3 ounces each meal, then I would look at his water intake (if you aren't breastfeeding that much, though you say he is 'strictly'). If you can' get him to drink water, try a syringe - we had to do that for a while with my son, as he didn't take a bottle.
http://breastfeedingonline.com/newman.shtml
kellymom.com
As with anything, if you are truly concerned, call your/his doctor.
Good Luck!
Michele
Personal experience tells me that soy is generally constipating. Maybe you could try a non-soy alternative and see if that helps.