Constipation!

Mix the prune juice with orange juice. The orange juice hides the prune juice a bit. It's what I did for mine and it really works.

i found out that if i gave my 19 month old girl apple juice it stoped the constipatshion. Ever since she was 6 months i give her apple jucie when she is constipated. The real food it is when ever a mother feels its time. My little girl has been eating solids since she was 5 months. I was eating some bread one day and she wanted some too. You know how when a kid wants something they wine for it well thats what she was doing. Then the next day i went out and bought over $100.00 of baby food and she would not eat it. I have learned that as soon as i gave her that pice of Bread she wanted what i was eating and no more baby food.

My little one has bad gas and I tried Colic-Ease Gripe Water and it helped with the gas and she also never is constipated even when I started giving her rice cereal. It is made with all natuarl ingdents and no alcohol. I order it from Both worlds pharmacy and it is delivered the next day by ups.
It is 14.95 with no shipping. The number is ###-###-####.

Hi S.,
We used the apple/prune Gerber juice to help our lil' one out. When we started her on solids she got constipated probably due to feeding her rice (which has added iron) and not giving enough fluids. It got so bad I had to use a suppository and it took eight hours for it to work. Now, she gets rice just at dinner with her baby food, oatmeal at breakfast with a fruit, and her lunch is only baby food. I also give her a sippy cup of water (or juice if she has not had a bm recently) about three times a day. She does not get a lot from the sippy cup, but now she is having a bm daily.

K.

Hi S.
We just faced the constipation dilemma with our 4 month old, this past week. She woke up early monday morning crying for 2 hours. (she is not a crier) I realized about 30 minutes in, that she had not taken a bm all day. (she typically has 2 per day) Same thing happened Friday evening. We took her to the doctor Saturday morning and she felt her belly to make sure there were no other issues. Thankfully it is only constipation. The solution (believe me..IT WORKED)....we added 2 ounces of Apple-Prune juice (Gerber makes it...they have bottles at Kroger, Walmart and Target) to each bottle of formula on Saturday and Sunday. She was the opposite of constipated and all smiles. We plan to add an ounce to each bottle for the rest of the week to keep her "regular." Good luck!
As far as solids go....I read when baby starts watching you eat, its time to start trying. The nurse suggested 2 TBL of cereal, mixed with formula to a "pea soup" consistency. Try barley cereal instead of rice, my doc says it will help baby avoid constipation. They have it at Kroger.
T.

One of our twins had a huge issue with that and we were told to put a 1/2 tsp. of dark Karro Syrup in her bottle and BOOM, she was cleaned out! She's 4 1/2 now and from time to time still has the issue and she'll eat a tsp. off the spoon!

We give our son a couple of ounces of Pedialyte in between feeds for his constipation and usually within a couple of hours he goes easily. Our Dr. said stools are not bad as long as he doesn't have trouble passing them and they are not an adult person's consistency. Hence, they should be softer than ours. I am not into organics so I don't know if Pedialyte would exactly fit into your lifestyle.

S., We have a long family history of constipation and my daughter did not escape it! I am as organic as they come and refused to give her Karo or juice (SUGAR). If he is having cereal go to your nearest health food store and get Barlean's Flax seed oil with Lignan. Put about 1-2 teaspoons in cereal or milk/formula once a day. When he begins to take solids or has cereal thicker get the Swiss brand Muesli from health food store. It does not have the extra iron in it and also contains flax, great for digestion. My daughter is still on this regimen and keeps her very regular. We also put in her yogurt. Best of luck and when his body gets used to the solids it does get better.
R.

Typically, constipation is a sign that he's not getting enough fluids. Water is especially helpful, but it's been a while since I had an infant, and I know there's a limit to the amount of water you want to give to avoid water intoxication. I'm not sure if solids would help; to my recollection, when I started my kiddos on solids, their stools got MORE solid -- though the extra fiber might help. Did your doc suggest solids? And was he/she concerned about dehydration at all?

Also, I understand following an organic lifestyle. However -- if the Karo works and relieves your son's discomfort, why wouldn't you make an exception?

I am also Mrs. Organic (for my kids anyway). Many parents of children on the autism spectrum have to deal with intestinal problems. Frequently this includes constipation. This is a product that I often see recommended. I have not tried it personally, but I would certainly look into it. I know it is all natural.

http://asdmarket.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=1_25&am...

We had a similar problem when my daughter was younger. Our doctor recommended making some prune tee. You take dehyrdrated prunes and put them in boiling water. The longer you leave them in the stronger the tea will be. I would leave them in for about 3-5 minutes to begin with and then increase the time if you see no change in his BM. I used this tea to make her formula with instead of water. Hope it helps.

Give your sweet Stefan pears from the first foods section. Either give it to him with a spoon or mix it in his formula...breast milk or with his cereal, if you started him on cereal recently. He can eat the entire 2 ounces without a problem; but don't worry if he doesn't want that much at first. Pears are not as harsh as prunes and it may take several feedings, unless he takes in the full two ounces. Don't use applesauce or bananas. They have a tendency to tighten their bowels and are used in the BRAT diet when they have diahrrea.

You can believe me, your infant is old enough for pears. The pear juice may have a tendency to make him spit up...any kind of juice might do this...but if you'd prefer to use the pear juice then go ahead. Once he's going well, make pears a regular part of his diet.

Karo and warm water is really the simplest. I actually wonder if it's the warm water that does the trick and the Karo just sweetens the water so they will drink it. It's hard to get most infants to drink plain water.

Good luck to you...

http://www.missbrenda.com

Hi, I give my children apple juice when they are constipated, and it usually works by the next day. My pediatrician says "p" juices (juice from fruits that begin with the letter p, prunes, pears, etc.) are always good to use with constipation. Hope this helps!

Debbie

I didn't know formed stools were bad. Adults have formed stools without being constipated, so why is it a problem with a baby?
As long as he's not having trouble passing it, and it happens on a regular basis, I wouldn't call him constipated.

Also, if he's constipated on a liquid diet, you don't want to add solids unless you're using baby food prunes to loosen his stools. Warning though -- use prunes and prune juice sparingly or you'll have the opposite problem!

If he is, indeed, plugged up, there are options besides the karo. Both of my kids had constipation issues from infancy through toddlerhood. We've tried everything. The only thing that keeps my son free from it is about 3 ounces of apple juice a day. Motts makes an organic one. I don't mix it with water. He doesn't like the taste when it's watered down and it's not effective. When he's really having trouble (I'm talking SCREAMING while trying to have a bowel movement) our pediatrician said we can give him milk of magnesia. That usually produced results in 2 hours or so. The "natural" methods (i.e. juice, dietary remedies) could take 2 or 3 days to kick in. I prefer the natural method, but sometimes we're too desperate to wait that long.
Hope you find an answer!

my sister in law had the same problem and she swears by white grape juice (her pedi recommended it) and it really helped her daughter who is just now 6 months old.

I would start him on solids. I have a two year old girl and at first she really hated the idea (when she was 4 months old) so I mixed some baby oatmeal with the baby fruits and she went nuts for it. From there it was pretty easy. We also had problems with constipation and I didn't like the idea of the corn syrup either so we mixed the baby food prunes in with her oatmeal and it helped.

Try a little apple juice, it has always worked for us! We buy Organic apple juice and I dilute it with water so they are not getting so much of the sugar. My girls don't even like the taste of straight juice at 3 and 1 years of age!

I also agree, do not introduce solids until he is ready. And, when we first introduced rice cereal, it caused constipation with both of my girls. Also, don't give water...they need the formula. And, there are so many different kinds of formula on the market. You might try switching to one that is easier to digest. When my youngest was on formula, we used Enfamil Gentlease (at least I think that's what it was called...sometimes my Mommy Brain doesn't remember all the details! It was in a purple container). It was easier for her to digest and helped with both constipation and her tummy problems.

Good luck!
S.

Carrot juice is supposed to be better than prune juice for constipation. It works pretty well. You may be able to disguise the taste more than prune juice, but I don't know. If you started him on solids now, which is fine to do if you and your doctor think he appears ready, you could mix some of it in the cereal you give him. I don't know how much to tell you to mix though. It probably wouldn't take much.

Hi S....
Papaya (fruit) should help. I always give it to my son and he loves it.
You can find it on Whole Food Market.
If you have any question, please email me.

P.

Hi S.,
Looks like you have gotten a lot of responses. I just wonder if you have every looked into reflexology. It is a practice of stimulating the different organs through massage. Here is a website that has several charts that let you know how to stimulate different responses (one of which is to help with constipation). You can just cut and paste the website address below. Let me know if this works. if not, i just googled reflexology and went through several sites until i found this one. Let us know how these tips work for you. http://images.google.com/images?q=reflexology&hl=en&a...

Pear juice: diluted with half water. No apple juice: ?can cause gas/bloating. Don't start solids 'til you get this figured out. I am not so sure if he IS constipated. My pedi says formed stools are okay, as long as the baby is NOT showing signs of difficulty passing the stool. So it definitely wouldn't hurt to really encourage more fluids. Is he drinking water?

Anyway, pear juice is the bomb. I try to feed organic, as well, but in the case of her constipation, I did not have the option, and would chose the non-organic pear juice again, but you may have better luck finding an O version. BTW, pear juice is in the baby section in 4 ounce bottles. My dd HATED prune juice, vomitted it every time.

Best wishes.

S.,

Adding corn syrup to milk bottles is an ancient practice. A five month old's BMs shouldn't be liquid and they shouldn't be hard either. They should be soft. How often does Stefan have a BM?

As far as starting him on solids, he needs to be developmentally appropriate. If he can sit in a high-chair without slumping to the side and he can hold his head up well, then you can start stage 1 foods. Start with rice cereal and formula/breast milk...soupy consistency and then you can progressively get more solid. As he gets used to stage 1 foods, you can consider stage 2 like pureed fruits and veggies.

By the way, do NOT give your child extra water. This will decrease the calorie content of the formula and also can fluid overload him. As long as he drinks enough formula, he should get enough fluid.

I hope this helps,
A., RD/LD

Definitely DON'T start solids if your baby is already constipated. Solids tend to constipate a child even more! Even the tiniest bit of rice cereal can constipate.

Try apple, pear or prune juice, and really push fluids.

I went through the same thing and I didn't like the Karo Syrup either. Apple juice keeps him regular and Pear Juice works like charm. Be prepared with Pear juice it works really, really, REALLY well. Try diluting them with water to see what strength will work best.

My daughter started getting really constipated when she was about a year old. It got to the point that she would scream when she finally went and the bm would be huge. after really watching her, she was making herself that way by holding it. Go figure. Her pedi put her on a mild stool softener that I can self regulate. More everyday if she is bad, Once a week or less if no signs of constipation. 8 months later and I only need to give it to her about once every other week or so. It is called Miralax powder (generic is Gloycolax powder) and you just add it to the milk, formula, juice, whatever.

S., MY BEST FRIENDS LITTLE GIRL WOULD NOT POOP AT ALL FOR A WEEK , SO WHEN SHE DID GO IT WAS HARD AS AROCK IT HURT SO BAD THAT SHE WOULD HOLD UNTIL ALL THE ATER WAS OUT AND IT WAS HORRIBLE ON HER. HER MOM FINALLY TOOK HER TOA SPECIALIST SND HER GSVE HERSOME ORGANIC BASED MEDICINEAND IT WORK WONDERS HOPE I HELPED YOU SOME/.

I had the same problem but the nurse to the babys doctor said to put a 2 onces of baking soad in a bath tub and put the baby in it for about 15 mins. It helped great. After about 30 mins my son went to the bathroom.

Does he have teeth? Have you started him on any foods yet?
If you have not...then try peach sauce. Apricot sauce and plum sauces. These will loosen his stool. You can puree
your own. Also juices of these fruits. You can have one bottle
of juice a day, early. Do not let him fall alseep with juice in the bottle. Part of breakfast if you have started him on warm rice cereal...put the fruit puree in. See if he likes it.
Also do same fruit for 5 days to make sure he is not allergic.

S.,

I am going through something similar with my little one right now. She has been on solids for about 3 months. She hates fruits though. It is very hard for me to get her to eat any fruits or drink any juices. Our pedi also recommended the Karo and it works great for her. However as soon as we back off of using it then the constipation comes back. Karo and suppositories are the only thing that have worked for us so far. We have an appointment with a pediatric gastroenterologist on tuesday because of her constipation.