My son is seems to be getting a little trouble with bowel movements..any suggestions??

Tara - posted on 05/04/2010

also one more bit of advice, if your child seems to be growing more rapid, you may need to start on rice cereal because they require more food to fill up their bellies. Especially if you see that they are eating more formula each feeding or that they are eating more frequent. What I do is for my 3 month old, I give him 4 oz. of nursery water, 2 scoops of formula, and with the same scoop that I measure the formula out with (the one that comes in the can of formula) I add in 3/4 scoop of the Gerber Rice cereal.

Tara - posted on 05/04/2010

well since I started my son on a bit of rice cereal with his formula, he does not spit up as much. When a baby consumes to much formula, this can cause them to be "overfed" and can cause stomach problem, like throwing up and spitting up alot. I would rather see my son grow and be satisfied with his small amount of cereal 2 times a day, then to be taking 5-6 oz of formula every 2 hours and throw it up because he has had to eat to much to fill up. Think about our grandparents and such that had to be started on foods early, they seem to be fine. So in my opinion, giving a small amount of cereal in their formula is not a problem but may be a solution to alot of problems.

Jayne - posted on 05/03/2010

if it was me i'd ignore the doctor and just keep giving him as much formula as he wants. i heard about the open/closed gut thing



every baby grows at a different rate so they wont all stick exactly to formula amounts. maybe he was just having a growth spurt or was sick (without yet showing symptoms), babies eat more when those things are happening.

Georgia - posted on 05/02/2010

i had this problem with my daughter who's now 9 wks... she has a really bad problem with reflux so we switched her to enfamil AR at about 2 wks old but she started having problems with her bowel movements was really constipated and colicky. the doctor had us giving her a few oz of water a day to help but it didn't help the colic or gas so about 3 wks ago we switched her formula to enfamil gentlease and the colic went away (i was actually able to sleep for more than an hour or two at a time) and the gas was so much better her bowel movements were a little watery though but it wasn't too bad. the only downside was it wasn't thick enough to keep her from spitting it back up so she wasn't gaining weight like she was supposed to. her doctor told us to start putting a little cereal in her bottles to thicken it and the first few days was hit and miss until we figured out how much to put for a 7 oz bottle we put 1.5 tsp of cereal. it's not rice cereal though which is why we had a problem with the AR formula it had rice starch the one we're using is made by gerber it has 5 different cereals in it. maybe you can try cutting back the cereal slightly so it's a little less thick and easier for him to digest. or you can also try about 2 tsp of light karo syrup in 4 oz of water and let him take a couple sips at a time when they need to the doctor recommended it to get my dd to poop when she hadn't gone in a day or two but don't let him drink it too often or it'll give him diarrhea

Tara - posted on 05/02/2010

his doctor told me to start him on the cereal because he was drinking to much formula.

Jennifer - posted on 04/28/2010

if you lil one seems to be having a lil troubl with bowels try a bit of corn syurp in it or a little but of some prunes...you can even try both. mson just turned 2months on april 16 and it works for him. i started him on ceral and light baby foods (things like prunes, applsauce, sweet patotoes,carrots.) you can mix it in with the cereal or give it straight out of a feeder you can buy at wall mart or if your like me and i am sure a lot of other parents you can bite the nipple on one of you bottles and use it. i give my son a jar of baby food at his dinner time feedinf with 2-4 oz of milk after if he still seems hungry and I gave im his creal bottle before I lay him down after his last feedng nd he sleeps through the night (which is a god perk).I done this with my little girl who is almost 3 yers oldand he s advanced in everything for her age and my son is as healthy as can be accoring to his doctor. A lot of people are agist babyfood and stuff this early but seeing the resuts from my daughter and from my son going from eating all th time and not gainning weight and having to be hospitalizied to growing and developing ahead of schedule for his age I am totally for it. also if you child seems to be really gassy and gas drops dont work (i use the equate ones it works really well for my baby) you could try putting your baby on a soy based formula, babies somtimes delevope alligeries to milk esp if allergies run in he family. I hope y bit of adv helps if you have anymore questionson my adv feel free to ask, hope it helps... :)

Kytama - posted on 04/28/2010

My baby has trouble pooping. Where I live they say to give him 1 teaspoon of fresh orange juica a day... I haven't tried it yet.

Ashlee - posted on 04/27/2010

this is interesting for me to read can I ask without offending why you "had" to start on cereal already? i would say it is safe to assume that he is having trouble with pooping because his body is not yet ready to digest rice. also how are you giving the rice?
looking forward to this discussion

Sarah - posted on 04/27/2010

My ped. had me start my daughter on rice cereal at 7 weeks due to her acid reflux. She told me she would be able to digest it just fine. I know they say alot about allergies and ect. but I think it depends on the Dr. mine is fine with it. And my baby is so much happier now we added cereal. I had to switch to Soy because of colic but she is now 11 weeks and seems to be better now on soy for almost 3 weeks. Also my ped. had me start her on Proibotics..she is on Culturell for kids. It helps kill the bad bacteria in her belly causing the gas. It also boosts the immune system.

Amy - posted on 04/27/2010

can I ask why you started him on cereal? The reason he's gassy is because his GI system isn't mature enough to handle anything other than breastmilk or formula. Babies have what's called an "open gut" until approximately 6 months. This means that the cells in the intestines have not bonded together - they're open, allowing nutrients from breastmilk and formula to pass directly into the bloodstream, so that they're absorbed more easily and fully. Introducing anything into the baby means that you are introducing it to the baby's bloodstream as well. Babies are not prepared to digest food yet, and it causes severe intestinal upset (as well as creating allergens in the baby) - therefore causing thickened bowel movements and gas. Additionally, adding corn syrup sort of creates a problem to solve a problem, because babies also aren't able to digest the corn syrup properly.

Please, please, please don't take offense - I'm not judging parenting skills or your love for your child, I swear!! I've just done a lot of research about starting solids. My first is almost 2, and since he was my first, I went a bit research-crazy! :) I know that you (as well as all of us!) want the absolute best for our children! I was shocked when I read about the open gut/closed gut thing, and I've tried to share it with as many people as possible because giving solids early can cause a lot of unnecessary heartache for us well-meaning parents! :)

Sarah - posted on 04/27/2010

I sometimes have to use a sliver of a glycerin supp. Just a tiny little piece is enough to stimulate her to go. The Dr. told me its safe to do and it works without her even realizing I have done anything.

Michelle - posted on 04/27/2010

I have had the same problem with my daughter....it turned out it was the water i was using....try a different water,,,if there is water going in that cereal...or try corn syrup. I have and it works wonders.