Constipation and the Transition to Whole Milk

Stephanie - posted on 10/29/2009

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Things have begun to improve with my son. He is drinking more juices now as well as eating more veggies and fruits. His bowels haven't been as hard as before and they definitely do not seem to cause him discomfort anymore. I do continue to give him plenty of water daily and yogurt also seems to help him so I give him a little bit of that regularly. I never did try the prune juice but his doctor did recommend it so I will be using that if he seem to have any more problems. I want to avoid anything that is not natural such as medications, if I can.

Deanna - posted on 10/29/2009

Be careful giving medications like Milk of Magnesia. You should only use medications, over-the-counter, or otherwise, that are recommended by your Pedi. Increasing water and increasing their daily fruit should do the trick. You can also decrease things like meat and give another protien insteed like beans or eggs. Sometimes gently rubbing on their tummy in a clockwise motion will stimulate a movement. I have found with my daughter that if I give her a sippy or straw cup of water to drink on all day, that she doesn't have a problem. I will occcasionally ask her where her water is to remind her to drink. Hope this helps. Good luck

Carly - posted on 10/28/2009

my lil man zahn loves whole milk however i just introduced a whole milk bottle 2 him a few wks ago and since then has been havin 1 evry morning and anotha b4 sleeptime in the arvo. 4 dinner bottle thou i give him toddler fromula i find it holds them beta thru the nite. my first son had no probs converting 2 whole milk either and neither r fond of much water. dark prune juice definatly does the trick thou or u could try a natural product called stomach calm by brauer. give it 2 ur bub b4 each bottle. u could also try a kids milk that is more gentle on the stomach goodluck :-)

Robin - posted on 10/23/2009

my little girl 2. same with milk of magnesia but after the first dose it got 2 runny. now its pellets like a rabbit but dosent seem 2 bother her anymore. i also mixed formula & milk 4 awhile and slowly weaned her but didnt help. i am doing half & half water & milk. juice dosent help mine at all. good luck

Janine - posted on 10/23/2009

my baby had the same thing.my doctor told me to buy milk of magnesia and give him a daily dose of 1 teaspoon a day until the stool loosens up.it worked great for my son and he just turned one year old.

Tootie - posted on 10/17/2009

i'm going through the same thing with Viktorea. as soon as she turned on the st Wic put her on whole milk..Instantly she was crying all the time like her stomache was urting and her stool was yellow and clay like with a real distinctive smell. My mom told me to cut the milk with a lil water, thin it out a lil and see if that helps.

Stephanie - posted on 10/17/2009

Oh and another thing, I do give him a lot of water but he seems to not really care for juices. I could increase his fruit intake as well. I'm sure that will help out a lot.

Stephanie - posted on 10/17/2009

Thank you everyone for your suggestions..I think that I will definitely try some prune juice and see how that goes. He has a doctor's appointment next week so I will see what she suggests as well. I didn't gradually introduce whole milk to him either which could be a problem. Instead, I just offered him a bottle of whole milk one evening and he loved it. Since he seemed to really like the whole milk, I continued to give it to him and just took away the formula. Maybe I shouldnt have done it that way. One good thing is that he doesn't seem to be in pain anymore when he has a bowel movement. It's just still pretty hard stools though.

Bree - posted on 10/13/2009

my little guy has this problem too, he is still on formula (nearly 1) but the last few weeks has been sick so gone off his solids a bit, he crys in pain and his poos are very hard - have just started giving him prune juice, have put it in his baby cereal of a morning as he is not keen on drinking it on its own (cant say I blame him, yuck) so far have had one kind of runny movement so fingers crossed that its going to work!!

Victoria - posted on 10/13/2009

Im just changing to milk now too and Ive been adding milk to his formula. Every few days i add a bit more milk to the formula. Im finding that he gets a bit cranky just before he does a poo but he is still going everyday. I have also been giving him more water than he usually has just in case!!

Amanda - posted on 10/13/2009

my daughter had the same problem and all i did was give her3onz of prune juice before bed. it works like a charm! only prob is that if the child hasn't pooped in a few days have a ton of wipes ready for that morning! LOL

Chanel - posted on 10/13/2009

Try prunes and other fruits.

Aubree - posted on 10/11/2009

Kayden is having the exact same problem. We just stared giving her milk about a week ago and she loves it but has been very constipated. We got her some apple prune juice to loosen it up but it doesn't seem to last very long. I don't really know what to do either. Maybe the formula and milk would help them adjust.She also has water with her lunch and snacks so I know that's not it.

Stephanie - posted on 10/11/2009

I would NEVER give my baby karo syrup unless the pediatrician told me to. I would suggest juice...raisins also help loosen stools

Denise - posted on 10/10/2009

Did you switch to whole milk gradually by adding it to his formula. I spent a couple months slowly adding more and more to my daughters and a week ago fully went to whole milk. She has been pooping at least 2 times a day. I had heard some babies could have problems. Maybe giving him more water throughout the day would help. My daughters stools are a little harder too but they dont seem to cause her discomfort.