1 Year Old Grunts like Crazy

Hi,

Applesauce is part of the Brat diet, used to slow down diarhea, so I wouldn't use that!

Have you tried juice? My daughter has blow outs with fruit juice.

Hi K.,

If his poops are normal consistency (not hard little pellets), he's not constipated. A lot of babies grunt when they poop, and it sure sounds as though they must be constipated, but unless the consistency of their poops is hard, they're just fine. Maybe they just haven't learned the social graces of not grunting unless they absolutely have to!

-->A quick addition: I mentioned this to my husband, who is a pediatrician, and he said that babies tense a lot of muscles in their body when they push--more than we do with a bowel movement--and that tensing of muscles can force out a grunting sound. He agreed that as long as the consistency of the poops is within normal range (not hard pellets), your little guys is likely just doing some normal-for-his-age pushing. Hope that helps!

Take care, J.

Our son did the same thing, although he was not breast fed. Anyway after waiting till it got really too hard for him to go we talked to his doctor who put him on pear juice, which really seemed to help, something we should have started when he first stated having problems. Sence then we have went through some bad times potty training, all our son could think was that poop meant pain and would hold it which only caused his constipation to get worse. It got to the point that the muscle in his rectum only knew how to tighten up and could not relax to push the poop out. WE tried everything, and when he did poop it was in his pants so I had a bucket full of cloax water in the tub at all times with soaking, very smelly under, and stomich turning to wash out. My son is 5 now and for the last 6 months he has been pooping like a normal child. but he is on meds to go poop everyday.
So try the pair juics, if it does not work talk to your doctor, don't let him blow you off saying he will grow out of it, because by that time the damage is done. And if he is really having a hard time, grunting and red faces, put him in a tub of warm water to relax him, it is not pleasent because he will poo in the tub, but when he does, tell him it's OK that, you love him ect, it's letting him know that it's good to poop, I had to also go so far as taking my son in with me and telling him how wonderfully goo it felt to poo. But when he starts pooing in the pot don't forget the bell ringing happiness, clapping, and poopy dance.
These little guys with this problem are going through such a hard time, they need all the comfort and love they can get.
Good Luck

Hey there. It's only constipation if the stool is hard and dry. (at least that's what my pediatrician said.) =) My older son struggled with constipation on and off for a long time and is doing great now, although almost every time he needs to have a BM he whines and complains even though it is almost never hard anymore (we've been doing a tsp of mineral oil each night, as just changing diet didn't seem to work). I think that at least for him, it just became a habit that he was sure it was going to hurt, so he would whine and now that it's better, he's still nervous, so continues to whine even though it's not a big deal anymore. Also, I believe that applesauce is a clogger, not a loosener and that apple juice is a loosener. Could be wrong though. Make sure to ask your Dr. at your son's next check-up. Have a great birthday with your son!!

B.

I worked for a pediatrician and learned that applesauce is something that you want to stay away from if a child has any hard stools. Applesauce is greatifthey have diahrea so you would not want to give it to himif youthought he was at all constipated.
He always recommended baby pears or pear juice...works wonders.
He may just be giving in to the sensation though and you might have to start teaching him to not do that. Maybe he isjust over reacting to the feeling of having a bowel movement and be taught to not make such a grunting sound.
I tend to think that he would not be doing that if there was not an urge to do it and that would mean that he is havinga problem. Have you consulted your pediatrician? He may recommend a little Miralax...that is what they did or my granddaughter. L.

If he's eating or drinking any kind of cow's milk product, I'd try stopping that. It can cause constipation as well as a host of other problems (see notmilk.com)

Try Welch's white grape cherry juice - really watered down. It is the only thing that worked for my son.

If you believe he is constipated somethings to help at least ease that discomfort is to make sure he is getting the right amount of water. If he is still drinking formula, talk to your ped about the right amount of water to give per day. Also fiber helps a lot. We used to give our son a slice of whole wheat bread as a snack to help with his BMs. It worked well, and we didn't have to worry about him getting runny like we would have with prunes.

Good Luck!

Better to use some organic tea to settle down his tummy if there is any issue. I'll prefer babies magic tea as it did great for my similar child.

My son did the same. I used pear or prune juice 2 ounces diluted w/ water or formula twice daily till it was back to his normal loose rather than the thick paste it had become. Now I give him 3 ounces water w/ 1 ounce prune or pear juice everyday or at least offer it to him. It makes sense. Try and avoid bananas, rice cereal and applesauce to name a few. If you get him back on rice cereal try make it w/ prune juice instead of water or formula/breastmilk that seems to help
Lynelle

My 16 month old son has Spina Bifida so we are dealing with constipation issues all the time. So far we have been able to treat him naturally (without meds), but I really have to be careful what I feed him. Absolutely NO bananas, potatoes or cheese! He started refusing to eat regular baby prunes so our pediatrician gave me a recipe of something called Fruit-eze that he got on-line. Basically, it's a high fiber jelly made of pureed prunes, apples, oranges, rasins and prune and orange juice. I didn't have the orange the last time I made it, so I used cherries instead. Type "fruit-eze" in your search bar and the recipe will come right up. I just keep it in a container in the fridge and give him about a tablespoon every morning before breakfast (when he's hungry enough to eat it!!)
Good luck!

S.
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