6 Month Old Not Pooping - La Mesa,CA

What are you feeding him? Cereal should not be given before the age of 1 because babies don't produce the necessary enzymes to break down the cereal until 1yr. For this reason cereal sits in their stomachs and makes them constipated. Bananas can also constipate babies, that is why it is recommend for stomach flu. Six months is early for solids and his digestive system may not be ready.

Try prunes. I have a 6 month old as well and had the same problem when we introduced baby food. His GI doctor told me to give him the prunes once in the morning and once in the evening. I mix it with a little cereal to help the taste. I only give him one container a day (1/2 morning and 1/2 evening). If he is having an ok day then I give it to him just for breakfast. Good luck.

My kids are a bit older but when they don't poop for a few days I give them a natural product called Natural Calm. This is a magnesium drink that you can buy at the health food store. Basically, this powder that you mix with water forces the body to retain more water in the bowels, thus making it easier to poop! Start with a small amount and be ready for a full diaper!

Hello Tabitha,

I am A. and I have four children 2 adults and two teenagers. It is important to give the children of a younger age with vegetables,fruits,healthy snacks. It is a good habit and it will help them grow healthy. If you started giving your son a solid food already, my advise is give him also some prune,raisin,nuts or any fiber foods. Drinking a lot of water is very helpful. I have rules in my house that my children only drinks water and sometimes juices. I prefer water because that's the only liquid I drank myself. My only concern with fruit juices are still have lot of sugar or artificial sugar on it. I liked to cook and feed my children a home made food which I believe is the best and healthy for everyone in my house. I don't like buying processed foods because there is lot of preservatives and chemical on it. Please let me know what happen.

A.

I was told by my lactation consultant (who got my 5 month started on solid foods) to put a prune in a little hot water and let it dissolve - take a fork to it and break it up - then let it cool and add a little of the prune water to his solid food. I haven't needed to try it myself yet, but was told it works. Are you feeding your baby cereal or veggies? We started with veggies and he's breast fed - so no constipation. Try yams, peas, green beans before cereal. They're easier to digest and have good fiber to help him poop.

What you are experincing is perfectly normal according to our pediatrician. We had the same problem with our baby shortly after introducing solids. We gave him prune juice which helped a little. We ended up giving him a suppository to help things along. It worked instantaneously. Once he worked through the problem once, the constipation returned and we did the suppository again. After that, he figured out how to push on his own and everything was okay.

I would go back to the last thing that was working for your baby, i.e. milk only. His system might not be ready for any food yet and if you give him milk/formula for 1 year with no other food, he will be totally fine. You do not havo to rush any step with babies, even if sometimes it is not easy to know when to do things because there are all these milestones to reach and do at a certain age.
Hope this helps :)
I.

Good morning,
It's been awhile since I've had little ones, but I use to use water w/ Carob. This seems to stimulate their tummys and they are able to go easier. I don't or didn't like to use medicines from the Dr or stores, so I used home remides.
Just use 1 tbl spn to an 8 oz btl, it will take a while, maybe a few hours, but he should be ok, some times babies digistive system especially when it comes to solid foods, so just a little TLC. If it doesn't work the first time give him 1 more btl, but that should do it.
Have a good day! Li

I know it is difficult, but try not to worry about it. It is VERY normal, especially as their diet changes. My 5 month old didn't poop for 10 days, and the doctor said there was nothing to worry about. Offering less of the rice cereal and feeding her watered-down prune juice worked for my baby who was constantly constipated. As a last resort, use the glycerin suppositories for infants as they work like a charm. Just don't start using them too frequently or your baby will rely on them for a BM. Good luck... it will happen!

Give your 6 month old Pear Juice, Blueberry Juice mix 1/2 with water so toddler will not be jumping off walls from the sugar! This should help. Pears also help.

Your child is experiencing solid foods for the first time. I recommend giving him strained fruits--bananas, pears, applesauce. Also rice cereal is easier on a child's digestion than oat cereal.
Good Luck

When we first really started solids with my son (who is now almost a year), he didn't poop for about 9 days - and that became his pattern. While his body got used to digesting solids, for a few months there, he would rarely ever poop. Now, he poops every couple of days and it's fine. I would say as long as your son doesn't appear to be in pain, it's fine. You can imagine how much his little digestive system is shifting with the introduction of solids and it's not going to be working like clockwork yet.

Also, in case your son is in pain and NEEDS to get a poop out, a friend of mine said that they will insert the tip of a Q-Tip in their son's anus and that makes him go (when he's super constipated). My ped also said that a fingertip works too. Not sure if you want to go there!

Good luck and don't worry!

Try apple juice. It's a natural laxative. Good luck.

Hey Tabitha,

The suggestions seem pretty uniform, but I just wanted to add that my son's doc said not to worry until he hasn't pooped for a week. I know it seems like a really long time, especially if your son is as regular as mine is, but since your baby is experiencing new foods, his digestive system is adjusting to it all. Otherwise, if you're giving him bits of bread to gum at, try Milton's whole grain wheat. It's got 5 grams of fiber per slice, and has helped keep my son regular!

Good luck!
M.

Tabtha S,

What food are you feeding him? Have you consulted with your Ped. Dr.?

Here are a few tips that I have. My premature son (born at 32 weeks), who is now 2 years old, had constipation problems before he was eating solid food. Our Ped. Dr. put him on prune juice 1 ounce with every feeding. I use Sunsweet the smallest bottle they make. Prune juice last along time. I’m on my second bottle. I followed the Dr. orders 1 ounce with every feeding, which was way too much it caused diahrea. So start out slow about 5 cc ounce a day (1 ounce = 30 cc). If there no poop then increase the prune juice. Either do another dose of prune juice at next feeding which is what I do until he poops or give another dose the next day. You will figure out what works for your baby. Believe me prune juice work better then suppositories. Also my Ped Dr. had consulted with gastric Ped Dr. for another patient of her before she put my son on the prune juice.

Because my son had constipation before going on solid food, my Ped Dr. did not put my son on rice cereal. He started out on baby plain oatmeal. My Ped Dr. told me to stay away from the following binding foods: Apples, Bananas, and Carrots. Just remember A, B, C. Also orange food is more acidic which can cause stomach upset. A good source of fiber and is not acidic is pears. My son ate a lot of peas and pears and still does. He still doesn’t like green beans. When I finally introduced the 3 binding foods only apples and carrots cause my son constipation. Believe or not bananas give my son diahrea. He loves apples and bananas. I just have to watch how much banana he eats. He doesn’t like carrots. Carrots are in all baby food, which makes buying baby food hard. I complained to Gerber and Beachnut but neither of them cared.

I have been through a lot because my son was premature. He came home from the hospital on an apnea monitor and medication for reflux. He had premature apnea. Reflux and apnea go hand and hand. He came off the apnea monitor when he was 5 months old. He stopped reflux medication at 18 months. I was very careful about solid food. Also my son decided to be a gagger. Premature babies have problems with texture thus the gagging problems. I thought solid food would be easy boy was I wrong. It took over a month for my son not to gag on Cheerios. He still has texture problems but he is getting better. He was on baby food longer because of gagging problems.

Because my son was premature we saw the Ped. Dr. a lot. First it was every week, then every other week, then every three weeks, then once a month. I ask a lot of questions. Don’t be afraid to call your Ped. Dr. and talk to them or go see them if that the only way to have more then a 2 minute conversation with them. Get to know the Ped. Dr. staff. They get paid to help.

I hope this helps. If I can help with anything else let me know.

D.

.

Same thing happened to my son around that time; my np said not to worry and she was right. Just keep make sure he stays hydrated and keeps eating.
Good luck!
C.

Hi! I am a mother of three kids. I have had this problem in the past and my sister is currently going through this as well with her 6 month old. The doctor told both of us when I was going through this and now she is going through it to put a teaspoon of apple juice in the babies formula. This will help the baby go poopie! It worked wonders for me. I had to do it until my older daughter and younger daughter were able to poop on their own on a regular basis. They also suggested that if the baby is also constipated to give the baby Chamomile tea. Very diluted as well. And to soak the baby in warm water.

Good luck and happy pooping!

T., My six month old just did the same thing. Just introduced him to solid foods, breast fed baby, did not poop for 10 days!!!!! I was freaking out a little. I sked some friends, several had had the same thing. One took her daughter to emergency, guess what.....thay sent her home. If your daughter is not crying, writhing, screaming or uncomfortable she's going to poop sooner or later. My son was fine except for being gasy. I gave him water, water diluted with prune juice, water with prune and orange, water with apple juice.....eventually I bought some glycerine sepositories (he pooped before I had to use them). Don't worry unless she is extremely uncomfortable.

Hi T.,
We had this same problem. Our son is now 11 months old. We gave him a little bit of strained prunes with his cereal and it worked great. We also have tried a little prune juice mixed with water, but our pediatrician sauid the strained prunes with cereal is better for the baby.
Hope this helps.

this happened to a friend of mine and her son did not poop and finally did after 7 days! i know that's a long time, she was worried but i don't know, that's the longest bout of non pooping i've seen so far.

hope that helps!

Try some apple juice(watered down of course). You can always give him a bit of prune juice. I would put a bit of it in my daughters rice cereal. Oh and any juice that you give him, make sure it is 100% juice. You might want to talk with your ped, but I have a feeling this is normal. My daughter went thru this when we introduced solids(I was still nursing her as well.). As long as he isn't uncomfortable then he should have a BM soon.

Hi T.-
My daughter is 7 1/2 months and she has also been experiencing the same thing. About 1 month ago, we began to give her one ounce of prune juice with one ounce of water. Now I just give her an ounce in her BM. It has worked wonders! I feel so bad for her when I see her pushing tirelessly, go to change her diaper and find nothing is there or a small sized pellet because of her constipation.

I give her the prune juice every day around mid afternoon or evening when I get home from work. As of today, I have not given her the prune juice for 2 days and she has passed a bowel normally, soft and mushy and not hard and dry. It took us a month of giving it to her so her little tummy can adjust to the solids and I am now supplementing with formula.

We bought the organic prune juice from trader Joe's or Whole Foods.

Good luck and I hope this helps.