Constipation with my 6 month old son.

Kasey - posted on 11/27/2010

my older daughter was the same way... no matter what food she had other than prunes it would plug her up.... my doctor told us to give her 2oz of dark Karo syrup mixed in 2 oz of water... i know it sounds weird adn gross... but i did it once a day and it worked like a charm... she drank that for several months and she had no clue it wasnt juice...

Jenna - posted on 11/26/2010

thank you

Laura - posted on 11/25/2010

sugar and water. I have started both of my daughters on solids at around 3 or 4 months and only have ever had a problem with constipation with my youngest (now 6 months) i swear by it. A spoon of sugar in luke warm water works a dream. Once a day, usually in the middle of a feed.

Jenna - posted on 11/23/2010

he drinks plenty of water. but it wasnt helping. the 2 things that have helped the most are #1 switching from rice cereal to oatmeal and #2 giving him some watered down prune apple juice.
Thank you though
and several breastfed baies suff from constipation when they add solids to their systems because after just having breast milk the baby foods and such are a shock to their little systems...

Chantal - posted on 11/23/2010

All advice I can give: he must drink more water. Mabey you can try foods that are enriched with prebiotics/probiotics. Ask your pharmacist, they shoul have supplements with that ingredient as well. If strange that this happens, because breastfed babies usually doesn't suffer from constipation at all. My son is turning siz monts 29Nov and he has also startded on solids, and we have had problems with constipation as well. When I see that he doesn't have a bowel movement, I give him a bit of water with brown sugar, that also helped. If the problem doesn't seem to get better, you sould think about seeing the doctor, they always knows best!

Corinne - posted on 11/22/2010

We have run into a similar situation with my daughter, who has started some fruit and veg with her rice cereal. The rice seems to be binding (banana is also binding). I hear you should stick with the fruits and veggies that start with "p" (pears, peas, prunes, potatoes, peaches). We had not had a BM in five days and she was straining today, I believe due the rice cereal. What has worked for us so far is helping her get started with the rectal thermometer (about and inch) and a really nice tummy and leg massage (grape seed oil, or olive in clock wise circular motions, across from left to right and downward) without a diaper, then some exercise in her doorway jumper. That did the trick. She does not take a bottle but I have heard water and prune or pear juice can help.
I have also read that breast milk is a natural diaretic so you may want to pump a bit more, add more to his cereal and food, breast feed more or give it to him in a bottle.
Warm baths are good too but you may have heard that one too. It wouldn't hurt to combine that with massage and more fluids.
Good luck.

Jenna - posted on 11/21/2010

thank you!

Ashley - posted on 11/20/2010

i have the same issue with my baby girl some the doctor said if i feed her something that might stop her up then when i feed her again give her something that loosin her. like if i give her sweet potatoes then i give her bananas next..i breast feed too

Jenna - posted on 11/20/2010

Bec- I had to hold my sons legs up and pull poo out as well! it was horrible! but i started giving him oatmeal instead of rice cereal and prune apple juice as well and he has now started pooping easier and more regularly! 2 days in a row so far and even 2 times yesterday, granted the 2nd poo wasn't as big as the 1st but still..haha so i would def give the oatmeal a shot if u aren't already giving it 2 ur daughter and the prune apple juice seems to help as well although i think it was the oatmeal that made the ultimate change.

Jennifer- like i said i am breastfeeding so he does not take a bottle and i have been giving him watered down prune juice but i also brush his gums almost every morning and nite esp wen he is givin juice during the day. but he does have water as well but water just didn't make ne difference at all! thank u for ur advice though.

Jennifer - posted on 11/20/2010

I would recommend giving him a lil bit of prune juice in his bottle, also give him a little bit of water and maybe feed him more fruits.. my daughter had the same problem when she was little. i dooo NOT recommend giving him juice other than the prune juice, because apple juice and pear juice have soo much sugar in them, it can rot there teeth, even if the teeth havent popped thru yet. my daughter had to have her 4 top teeth removed at a year old because of the juice we gave her for constpiation.. the dentist says water is the best.

Bec - posted on 11/19/2010

My daughter is also breastfed and having trouble i had her at the hospital last night as she was screaming every time she tried to poo., and i had to hold her legs up and pull the poo out. the hospital was not much help.. very rude actually. he said put her on more natural foods and foods with a highter firbre content. i am also goiong to try her on cooled boiled water with some sugar in it, i have tryed cycling her legs and rubbing her tummy in a clock wise motion. i would try giving him some water with his meals so that the moisture content is higher. sorry i couldnt be more help...

Vicky - posted on 11/18/2010

My son was also born on the 12th and we also started giving him solids at 4 months. When he first started on solids, he would go a week without going. Now we have him going about every couple of days. Every few days we use the Watties baby food jars with (either the apple and prune flavour or pear and kiwifruit), and within about 2 days he is going and it really seems to help him. Though when it first happened before we saw those jars, I ate some kiwifruit about an hour before I fed him his last feed and he managed to go about lunch the next day.

Janis - posted on 11/17/2010

First off, Woo-hoo for breastfeeding! :D Second, the reason WIC gives rice cereal is b/c almost no children have allergic reactions to it. You can do the dark Karo syrup but just mix it with water b/c you shouldn't mix anything with your breastmilk or formula except of course you can use it for baby cereal instead of water. Also, there is no need to give water for the constipation b/c your breastmilk works just the same as the water but with the nutrition in it as well. You can try to encourage an extra feeding or a few more nibbles here & there so that he can get the extra fluid. You could also try & reduce the amount of solids he is eating a day for just a couple of days then slowly bump it day by day back to the amount he is eating now. Sometimes it just takes their bodies a little while to adjust to the change in their diet.

Jenna - posted on 11/17/2010

Thank you alll sooo much! I found some apple prune juice that i just started giving him and will stick to the p's until he starts going easier and will get me some oatmeal instead of rice cereal... because i have been using rice cereal because that is what WIC provides but i have just been giving him it in moderation recently but i can't stand to have him misarable so i will get some oatmeal and maybe talk to the WIC people and see if they just cover the rice cereal or oatmeal also or what..

again thank you all!!

Erin - posted on 11/16/2010

any fruits that star with 'p' prunes, pears, peaches....we even started diluting prune juice with water and giving that to my son....and try oatmeal instead of rice, its higher in fiber. if he goes too much the other way, we balance it out with bananas and rice cereal

Tiffanie - posted on 11/15/2010

My son has been constipated since he was about 1.5 months old and he's 6 months now. My doctor recommended giving him half juice and half water for a total of 4 oz. This usually didn't do anything for my son except make him spit up a ton (he has reflux too). Next, my doctor recommended Miralax....please don't give this to your son. I'm sure some people have been fine with it but a lot of kids have had adverse reactions even though drs. tell parents differently. Just google it!

I have heard other parents recommend sticking to food's that start with P's for a while such as pears, peas, etc. I don't know how this helps. Stay away from the BRAT foods until the issue goes away (Bananas, Rice, Apples, and Toast).

Do you feed him any cereal? Rice cereal is extremely constipating for some kids. We switched to oatmeal and it helped a lot.

Lastly, I SWEAR by probiotics. Your son gets them through your breastmilk so I don't know if it will help you any but maybe he needs a little extra. I use Natren Life Start. I tried the Jarro Baby Dophilus and my son was miserable on it...an adult later told me that they took it and it gave them a belly ache so that must be what happened. I hope you can make sense of this long post and I hope you find some relief for your son soon.

Angie - posted on 11/15/2010

My son was so constipated when I started him on rice cereal, even when I mixed in prunes. So I switched him to oatmeal and hasn't had a problem since. My cousin said her daughter had the same problem with rice and switched to oatmeal with the same results.

Jenna - posted on 11/14/2010

I actually breastfeed...i forgot to add that part in there so i couldn't put the karo syrup in his milk considering that fact haha. and ya i had a friend on fb suggest apple juice as well so i will def. be giving the water and apple juice a shot! thank you so much!

Jessie - posted on 11/14/2010

i have the same trouble with my daughter. i put a tbsp dark karo syrup in every bottle of formula i give her. i give her 2 oz of straight 100%apple juice when she gets really uncomfortable.

Jenna - posted on 11/14/2010

my son is on the heavier side he is abt 20 lbs and has water occasionally just because he likes to drink out of our cups and sippy cups sometimes to but he prob doesn't get 1-2 oz every day i will give that a shot! thanks

Danielle - posted on 11/14/2010

This happens to my son sometimes. I asked the Dr and she said to give 1-2oz of water a day. Once regular try to go every other couple of days or so. Not too much water. My son is on the small side weight wise so she said even maybe 1/2-1oz.