Constipation Help

Hi I.,
First of all don't let anyone tell you that you started too young. A book can not account for every child. Mine was trying to rip food out of my hands by 3months he's almost 5months now & the first time I gave him food with a spoon at 3 1/2 months he took it like a pro. So, don't let anyone make you feel bad. That being said my son hasn't had trouble with constipation with food, but when he was on soy formula he did. My pedi said 1oz water & 1tsp Karo syrup (doesn't matter light or dark both work great). Hope this helps! Hang in there I know what you're going through.

Hello I.,

Add a few drops of Karo syrup "the clear one" into his bottle. You can also give him prune/apple gerber juice. Or any fruits high in fiber.....apple, pear, prune juice and give him some water to drink or chamomile tea. You can also give him 1/4 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil with a few specks of salt granules....if that doesn't do it then give 1/2 teaspoon the next day but no more than that.....

You should take him to the pediatrician when you see he is very uncomfortable, irritable or fussy......if he's bleeding. When my kids were constipated they always gave me these remedies to do first before i took them in.....i never had to take them in because they would go......they always told me not to worry because that they can go 2-3 days without going but if it was more than 4 days then to try an over the counter suppository if still nothing then to take them in regardless.

Hi I.,

Are you giving water everyday. The body is made up of 75% water and you need to keep it hydrated. You can also get some BABY PROBIOTICS, a good BABY CALCIUM, A GOOD MINERAL SUPPLEMENT. That will help with the immune system.

Here is a website you can learn from. On the reading page is a list of books you can get at any library or find them on the net.

www.creeksideherbhouse.com

The theory page is a good place to start. All my contact information is on the bottom of the home page

Blessings
J. M

Hi I.,
Our little guy had the same problem. We found that he could not tolerate rice cereal AT ALL! We switched to oatmeal and added a little bit of prunes to the morning cereal each day. He's now 8 months old and 99% of the time - he's great and goes potty with no straining. We also found that squash would make him constipated and too many veggies in general. So, now we really make sure to balance veggies with fruits - pears work really well and Earth's Best has a mix of sweet potatoes and apricots that seem to "move" him! :-) My advice is to start with a little prunes and see how that works - once things are back to normal - just re-introduce one new food every couple days again - then you'll be able to tell which ones are causing the issue. And of course make sure he's still getting most of his calories from formula or breat milk - having enough liquids is definitely a key factor. My Pedi told me not to give him extra water if you're formula feeding. Too much water can be dangerous for an infant. Good luck!

Since he is 5 months old, I would definitely take him to the pediatrician. With my son I had a lot of contipation issues but they did not start until he was around 2 years old, and a teaspoon of miralax in his drink helped get things going. but the big difference was cows milk. We swithced to Rice milk and he is very regular now.

I had the same problem with my sons. If you are using rice cereal you may want to try oatmeal or barley. I believe they may be less constipating. Also, introduce some pears, peaches, plums and/or prunes. It seems that these have a more laxative effect. I also would give my sons 1/4 baby apple or plum juice and 3/4ths water a day. They were nursing, but would also take a bottle. Make sure your son is still receiving plenty of liquids whether breastmilk or formula. At this age I beleive the solid food shouldn't replace a milk/formula feeding. Instead, nurse/formula first and then a little while later offer some solid food.
Jen

Hello I.! We too had major constipation issues with our little one once we started her on baby food. She is now 10 months old and has these same issues at least twice a month. I know a lot of moms out there recommend giving your baby Karo syrup in a bottle but please talk to your doctor and do a little research before you use that method. Yes it is something moms have been doing for years, but recent studies have shown that corn syrup can possibly harbor botulism spores. It is a very slight risk, but why run the risk when there are other things that can help out the situation?
Here are some other options to help get things moving:
-Prunes! My baby loves prune baby food (Gerber) and it does the trick every time. Also Plum Banana Brown Rice baby food (Earths Best). It is totally fine to give your baby prunes and other "p" fruits and veggies daily if you want to. (The "p" fruits/veggies are best for helping move things out!) However avoid pumpkin which will really stop up your little one.
-Water! Give baby an ounce of warm water in a bottle. Don't give baby more than a couple ounces of water a day.
-Massage! Start at the belly button and then massage outwards in circles in a clockwise direction. Some oil or cream on your fingers can also help. Also "bicycle legs" can help too.
Take care and I wish you and your little one lots of luck!

I am a mom of two boys, when I had that trouble I would give them apple juice, you can either dilute it or give it straight. If you give it straight it should start working with in a few hrs if not sooner. Try that I hope it works.
C.

When mine had trouble, my mom suggested a table spoon of white karo syrup with a full bottle of water. This worked like a charm, within hours he had gone poo.

My question would be which baby foods are you giving your son?

Fruits such as apples and peaches and such will help loosen his stools. Cereals which are high in fiber will help harden them. Your best bet is to give him a nice rounding of these item. Ceral for one meal a fruit for one meal and maybe a veggie for the last meal.

I am not quite sure what you mean by when you should take him to his pedi. You should be haveing regular well-checks every couple of months by now... IF you mean specifically regarding this. I would say if you try what I suggest and his stools stay firm and he seems uncomfortable or in pain to call the pedi and make an appointment, otherwise it can wait until his next well check...

Good Luck... ;-)

An old stand by for constipation and diarehea is Karo syrup. Us the light for constipation, 1 tbs., mixed in bottle; and 1 tbs., dark, for darehea. This works almost all the time. If that doesn't do it then you can get glycerin suppositories for infants at the drug store. Also we found with my grandson if we mixed 2 tbs. rice cereal in his bottle it helped level things out.

I would take him off the baby food for a while. He's still very young and perhaps his little digestive system just isn't ready for solid foods. Try again in a couple of months.
A. :~D
www.eatingwellbeingwell.net

I.,

I was advised (by Ped) to put a TBLSpoon of Kero (dark) syurp in his formula. If you are brest feeding mix it with the food. Hope this is helpful

A.

Mylicon for infants works great. We used it for our daughter when she was younger. Good luck!

Diluted apple or prune juice - prune is our favorite. Also, baby needs water with solid foods. Talk to you pedi about how much.

Hi, I.,
I encourage you to have your son drink water with his meals. Ever since my baby started solids, our family would encourage drinking water since solids foods harden the stool. Whenever we've had issues of constipation with our baby we give organic pureed prunes (which can be found with the selections of baby food). The prunes always do the trick! We avoid juice/sweetened drinks right now so our baby will get used to drinking water first. (We have a 9-month old and our pedi said that solids can be started between 4-6 months old. We started around 4.5 months old with solids.)
I hope this helps!

My grand daughter's pedi told my daughter in-law to add a spoonful of baby organic applesauce to each feeding, for easy bowel movements.

I.,
My son had this alot when we started him on foods as well at 4 months. THe rice cereal has iron in it which can add to the constipation issue. The best and safest thing to do is give him a container / serving of prunes. Anytime my son would get constipated, we gave him a serving of prunes at breakfast and he never had issues again and if he did, the prunes came out again. You can try a half container of prunes for a couple of days until he can go freely. I avoided juices and if you talk to your doctor, they will probably recommend the same (at least mine did). Give more servings of fruit than the rice cereal or vegetables until your baby becomes regular. I used to mix the fruit in with the rice cereal and then use the prunes as we needed them. It's amazing how quickly they worked. I personally would stay away from the Karo syrup - read up on it.

Good luck and I hope your son feels better soon.

-M.

Have you introduced prunes? It seems to help clear up my son.

Increase water intake! Add fiber: pears and pear juice, strawberries, prune juice with apple juice, etc.

He's been on mostly a liquid diet and can't just switch over to solids without also adding liquids to compensate. It's too hard on his system. His diet should also be mostly breastmilk/formula still. Food should just be added as a supplement only at this age.

Hi I.
Little ones often have this issue. you might try increasing his juices- especially apply juice.......
good luck and Blessings

Try putting a little Karo Syrup (about a tablespoon full) in one of his bottles when he gets constipated. The rule is if after 5 days w/o a stool then you need to call the pedi. Hope this helps =) Good luck!

Stop the solids now and call your pediatrician. An infant this young should never have hard stool.

uh yes my daughter had/has the same problem and we tryed lots of stuff and nothing helped and a few days ago it got really bad and we had to take her to the dr and she has a anal fissure (sp*) now and i had no clue that it was that bad she never acted like it hurt but a few times and then wow all the sudded and it scared me to death so i would take him to the dr because all babys are differnt and that was you can get help before it gets bad well take care

Hi I.,
If your son is constitaded is probably because you started your son to early on baby food. Most babies don't start eating baby foods till the age of 6 or 7 months.The baby cereal is fine to give to him till hes ready to eat the baby food.There are plenty of varities in the baby cereal that will still give him the nutrients that he needs.As long as hes eating he'll be fine.Good-Luck Also remember to give him plenty of water not enough water will make anyone constipaded.Water is the best thing for constipation.

Hi there,
First, 4 months old is too young in general to start on solids. The latest infromation says 6 months at the earliest unless there are medical factors pointing to early feeding. That being said,It's really normal for babies to become stopped up a bit when they start eating solids. Feeding your baby prunes and plenty of fluid helps and if necessary your pediatrician may recommend a stool softener if it goes on long enough or is interfereing with your baby's comfort. They don't consider it to be constipation unless it's been like 2 weeks or something but I disagree....Ive seen babies clearly uncomfortable after missing a couple of their normal B.M.s Prunes usually do the trick and most babies like them.
L.

Have you tried giving him prunes? It worked really well with our daughter and she also liked the taste!

Good luck!
blessings,
stacy

Hi I.! I totally understand what you are going through. I suffered the same issues with my son. I found that keeping jars of prunes in the house was the magic trick. I would give him a jar of the prunes w/ apples baby food and that always helped him with his costipation. He would get it at least once a week and soemtimes more. I have also been told that apple juice helps with constipation. Good Luck!

A teaspoon of prune juice works wonders....there are also baby enemas that you can cut in half and insert just ask the pharmacist. It's just a big adjustment for his little body, he will get there!

1oz of straight apple juice..works wonders. Also watch out for bananas and rice cereal..they are huge components in constipation..try to add in other foods if that is what you are feeding mainly. Good luck!

I thought you started baby food at 6 months. Maybe it's a little too early for this. If not, try the cereals, which should have some fiber, and that old tried and true remedy, prunes.

.

hey there my baby does that too she will go for a couple of days with no poop then have a hard golf ball like poop so I started mixing baby prunes with her cereal in the morning she eats it just fine then later she goes potty good

Hi! A drop about the size of the end of your little finger of DARK Kayro Syrup in the bottle, or sippy cup if they're at that stage, should do the trick. It contains molassis, I think, which is a good bowel mover but I know it works for whatever reason. It's been an "old timer's" trick for ages. Be sure to get the Dark, NOT the Light. If that small of a drop doesn't work or seems to start working, you may hafta increase the amount by a little bit til it works but it DOES work. Good luck.

Try Tryglycerin suppositories. They work fast. I used the suppositories on my kids.

Elisa M

I used to feed my girls baby food prunes. That always did the trick. It also provided a little comic relief to watch their faces as they were "savouring" it.

If that doesn't work, you might want to call your pediatricians office and just ask one of the nurses if they feel the need to bring your son in.

Good luck!

When my baby started on solids she had a problem with oatmeal. She strained so hard one day it made me cry. After the poop came out she cried for 5 minutes. I have not given her oatmeal since and she is 7 months old. She eats a variety of foods now but I always make sure she gets a little bit of fruit with it. And yes, always have a jar prunes on hand. Maybe try alternating pears and prunes. Maybe try less solids because he is still so young and undeveloped. The solids might just be too much for him.
Good luck!

YES ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PUT KARO SYRUP IN HIS WARMED BOTTLE. WORKS LIKE A CHARM. OLD THINGS WORK VERY WELL WHEN USED.
GOOD LUCK,
D.

Have you tried to give him juicy or some type of fruit?

dilute some apple juice with water almost half and half. Also sometimes iron in formula can cause this problem. For your child please check with the Dr. also.

"P" baby foods, pears, pineaples, prunes, plumes, etc...

my little girl had this to.the doctor told me to give her prune juice and it worked

Your best friend is a jar of prunes. Always keep a few jars on hand for these times. And remember that dairy makes babies constipated, so watch the intake there.

My "baby" is nine years old, but the baby jars of prunes still have a spot in my pantry. They work every time. Naturally.

I tried all the food tricks when all 3 of mine were babies. We had to give a 1/4 tsp. Milk Of Magnesium. to them everyday. As they got older of course it was bigger doses. But they had a small dose everyday until they really started going, then we would skip days. It worked wonders for me. You can't give it to them for long periods at a time though. I do say check with your Pedi though!! They often have great tricks! OR they tell you their bodies have to adjust.'Good Luck

My little girl has had constipation since day 1. My pedi said to give her oatmeal. Do oatmeal instead of rice. I give my little girl 1 scoop of oatmeal in her food. The truth is that babies don't NEED cereal if they are getting enough formula. Cereal gives them more iron, which hardens stool. SO, try prunes, pears or applesauce AND try changing your rice cereal to oatmeal.