A Poop Question - Portland,OR

Hey N.,

Sounds like you have received many replies already. It is unusual for breastfed babies to be constipated. However, after introducing solids, their stool will change. Rice cereal can be constipating. My son had this issue when we started him on cereal. He wasn't so much constipated as the consistency of his poop changed to more solid. For the first few weeks he didn't like it when he had a BM because the sensation was so different than what he had been used to before (very loose, seedy poos). A couple things- first, if you are really concerned, talk to a health care provider. Second, gravity helps (have you ever tried to poop laying down?)- I notice that most of my sons BM's happen when he is in his Jumperoo. A warm bath may also help relax her enough to poo. Sometimes stimulating the rectum (sometimes it's recommended to use a rectal thermometer) can get a BM going. However, it sounds like you daughter isn't really constipated (defined as very hard, pebbly stool) but her poo consistency is just changing. It may take her a few weeks to adjust to the new sensation. Good luck!!

Try some very watered down grape juice. For my son, who was constipated from birth, the juice that works best is Welch's 100% juice white grape, cherry. I give him about 20% juice and 80% water. As long as he has a cup of that a day he is fine. If he doesn't have his juice for a few days he goes back to being constipated.

My daughter had problems with the rice cereal and we switched her to oatmeal cereal and that seemed to help.

try oat cereal...much less "binding" than rice. My daughter could not do the rice cereal because she would get constipated almost instantly. Also, soy is very binding so check your own intake for products with soy (there are a lot more than you think!).

Also, you can give her some diluted fruit juice (just an ounce or two). My pediatrician recommended that to help get things moving. We used prune juice, 1/2 water+1/2 juice, an ounce at time. At seven months, she might not like it just yet.

Of course, you should contact your pediatrician or a nurse at the office for their best course-of-action. My daughter got so bad once, we ended up at Children's hospital!

Hi, N.,

My son used to scream and turn red whenever he had a BM, and showed lots of signs of discomfort and irritability leading up to it. We took him for some CranioSacral Therepy With Elise Hewitt, DC when he was about five months old. She is now on East Burnside at about 20th. Anyway, minutes after the first treatment, he had a HUGE purge, and seemed much more comfortable. I think he was treated two or three times after that, to help him hold the adjustment, and the problem completely resolved. We were thrilled. Doctor Elise also took care of our daughter's clogged tear duct, with great success. She treats only children and babies, and I trust her completely. Good luck! A.

You have so many responses I feel bad about adding one more. I didn't take the time to read all of the responses so hopefully I am not repeating someone elses response. It has been my experience that the cereals actually cause the constipation. I didn't give my kids grains in any form until they hit a year after the first time I did it caused so many issues. Anyways I hope the suggestions have helped and your baby is happy.

S.

Hello N., First it is not normal for bf babies to be constipated and I think she may just need a little help. Try the bicycle move it may help he will her tummy.

My little boy, now 1 year, had trouble with rice cereal. I switched to oatmeal and multi-grain cereal (same brand) and that solved the problem. My 3 year old had terrible constipation issues and my dr. had me giving her a half dose of Miralax once a day until she was potty trained. We stopped the Miralax about 6 months ago. Good luck!

Rice cereal can be constipating. You may want to try oats or other grain cereals instead. Prunes or other fruits are a great idea, just avoid or reduce her intake of bananas and applesauce, which can be constipating. I've also had a nurse recommend apple or pear juice to loosen things up a bit. (It's counterintuitive that applesauce is constipating while apple juice loosens them up. I think the high sugar content of apple and pear juice are what gets things moving, but I'm not sure.)

Good luck,
K.

N. G.

I breast fed three of my boys one , just could not get enough ,the other more then ever the third somehow just the right amount but this one a little different what ever I ate he got like if I ate spices mexican foods he would get a tummy ache. remember always what you eat they get in nourishment with your milk. Maybe yes check to see how much you should feed her on the cereal part could be more then she can digest fully with you nursing her, but a big help would be for you to get more water in your system and or more natural fiber more fruits and vegetables for you plus oat meal is great for you she would not need cereal of hers Bless you for being able nurse for a long time go as close to a year or a liitle more if you can or want to it is a wonderful bonding. S. L.

My Doctor told me to hold up on rice cereal ( IRON ) for a few days. Then give her Prune or pear juice up 4 ozs a day. 2 oz at a time.
I only gave 2 oz and diluted it w/ 2 oz of water.

You can also offer her a bottle of 4 oz of water a day after she it is cleared up.

She will eventually get used to the iron.

Vegies also cleaned my son out;-)) My husband had care of him for a couple of days I had to work. All of a sudden he was pooping like crazy and thinner.. found out my husband was feeding him a ton of vegies Lol!!! It worked.
You don't want to stop the iron cereal w/ fruit forever just when she needs relief.
Hope this helps

I am sorry! :( I really dont have much advice. My little guy never had those problems. I would call your dr and talk to a nurse and see what they say.

Good luck!

A friend told me to use a little olive oil on their tummy and rub/massage it in and that helps digestion system move. I have never had to try it, but I have heard of some others doing that. I would make sure you are drinking enough water too.

It is NOT normal for breastfed babies to get constipated! You didn't say if the constipation started after you fed her cereal but everyone assumed it so if it started before then you have to look at what YOU are eating and not the cereal, it might not be helping matters because she is adjusting to solids finally. I always used dark Karo syrup in my kids formula bottles once a day to make sure they didn't constipate so you could always try 1/2 tsp in her cereal instead of prune juice. Increasing the water intake is also a definate need for you and her. I am old fashoned in child raising and by that age my kids were eating everything including bites of real food. You could also eat a sugar-free piece of candy and see if that helps, the sugar alcohol has a side effect of making your bowel movement loose usually within 2 hours so I am sure some of that would get passed along to your daughter. The other thing too is that she might not like the feel of her poop as it passes now that it has more form to it from the addition of solids and she is holding it in. The consistancy is normal for kids eating solids, think about what your looks like and she will get there too as she eats more real food.

breastfeed babies do not need cereal! i'd just give her lots of really ripe fruit (bananas especially should be really ripe)

You're not feeding her too much solid food. Try applesauce for the fruit, stay away from bananas as they are binding. You might try giving her water from a cup, increasing her fluid intake as well. Bicycle her legs, physical movement helps with constipation. And as a rule, breast fed babies are not prone to constipation. Or that was conveyed to me while my kids were babies, all 3 breast fed and constipation was never an issue when that was their only source of nutrition. Everyone has their own digestion process. Again, increase fluid intake with water, watch for constipating foods like bananas and cows milk. Move her legs and encourage physical activity... kicking her legs, moving about. If the problem persists, talk to your pediatrician.

Stop feeding her the cereal. At 7 months all she needs is the breast milk. You are causing the constipation with the cereal.

My son has this problem too. It ended up getting a bit more serious though and now he is on lactulose. I recommend stopping the rice cereal it is VERY binding. Also, do not give her bananas or apples those are also very binding. mix 1 oz of prune or pear juice with 2 oz. of water and give her that in a bottle, that should clear things up. hint... She will probably prefer the mixture warmed.

If this does not clear up call a doctor, their colon and rectum can get stretched out.

Good luck!

Any juice beginning with p such as pear, prune, papaya, pinapple, peach are all very good to help constipation. My daughter had trouble since about 4 months old. We have been giving her juice cut in half with water daily since she was 8 months old. It really helps. I know dentists dont like it but I would rather brush her teeth more often than have her consitpated daily! We buy Knudsen pure juice from the health food section at Fred Meyers.

Good luck, it is the hardest thing seeing your little one in pain just trying to poop.

Try to switch to oats and let him drink water. The best natural remedy for constipation is 50/50 water and prune juice. It has to be juice and it has to be warm. I don't know why but this is the only way that it works - juice and warm. Start small and see how it will work. Good luck!

Hi N.. my son had horrible constipation the first 2 yrs of his life. he would scream in pain and bleed when he would finally go. I had to put him on glycolax which is a perscription laxative. it was really tricky to get the dosage down and honestly i'm not sure i ever got it right. he either had super loose stools or hard ones, but the screaming in pain did stop. before the glycolax i would put dark karo syrup in his bottles and that did seem to help a little. honestly this was a nightmare. there is nothing worse than seeing your baby in pain from pooping. this really never got better until he started going on the potty. I think he would hold it and hold it b/c he knew it was going to hurt. that was a hole other issue. once he started going on the potty he was a different kid. he still only goes about every other day. he's 3 now. my doc always told me that it's normal for a child to have to work at getting the poop out, but he should never cry in pain b/c of it. oh one more thing....i do remember both my kids having trouble whenever i changed up introduced new foods. i think this is pretty normal when they are first starting new foods. good luck.

It doesn't sound like you are giving her too much.
a couple comfort measures. Rub her tummy in a clockwise direction to aid in digestion. Lay her on her back and bicycle her legs. Sometimes a little movement aids the process.

yes it is the rice cereal. i have been feeding the baby oatmeal instead. and prunes will help as well as any other P food. pears, peas etc. but skip the rice cereal. it reaks havoc on the digestive system...

Hi N.,
My kids went through this also. If you give her a little bit of watered down apple juice, it will relieve her - just be ready for some icky diapers (but I'd rather deal with the diapers then have her hurting). It's something she will grow out of. Her little digestive system is just trying to figure everything all out.

Good luck :)

My daughter was having constipation issues. We began giving her prune juice mixed with water. I began doing 1/3 juice 2/3 water mix in bottle (now a sippy cup). She would poop within hours. Now I just make sure to give her at least 1-2 oz of water a day since I'm feeding her food. The prune juice is a very simple short term solution.
Good luck,
K. T.

N.,
When I started my daughter on cereal she was instantly constipated. We later found out that she has other issues but to answer your concern I can share several tips that worked for us. You can mix her cereal with apple, prune or white grape juice instead of just milk or water. You can also disolve a little Miralax in the water or juice then use to make the cereal and that should keep her flowing gently. We also tried Kayro syrup and that helps for most kids. If she does not improve keep trying new things and do not ignore the problem because it could be a symptom of something else. Good luck.....S.

I would try to increase liquid intake, water, nursing more. My daughter was having that same problem and the doc said it isn't a "problem" until it is a longer amount of time, without going. So I would say keep doing the prunes and more liquids she is probably just still adjusting to the rice ceral.

try about 4 ounces of apple juice or other fruit juice a day. i thought white grape juice worked well too. there's a laxative called FLEET babylax that works too if they are having a really hard time. its for 2-5 year olds but i used it on my son when he was under one. just squirt a little tiny bit in their bum instead of the whole thing. they should go immediately after using it. just make sure its lubed up pretty well and just squirt a small amount. the whole thing is WAY too much for a baby that age and size. good luck.

On the contrary, breastfed babies are typically less constipated. Rice cereal, however, is very constipating, assuming it is the "white" rice kind that comes in the box? There is a wonderful book by Cynthia Lair called Feeding the Whole Family that explains how to make your own baby cereal w/ whole grains that are not constipating and better for your baby nutritionally. It is really easy to do. Shortly after my son started solids he began having trouble w/ constipation and my pediatrician said to breastfeed as much as possible and continue to do so for as long as we could. Do not be fooled by the "peanut butter" consistency. If it seems that your baby is uncomfortable, she probably is, even if her poop does not resemble the hard "pebbles" we expect to see w/ constipation. My son never had "pebble" poop, yet he was terribly constipated. Trust your instincts and don't hesitate to get your pediatrician involved. Ultimately, ours referred us to the Encopresis Treatment Center after consulting w/ a specialist to rule out anything else going "wrong." Hopefully, in your case, a little adjustment to whole grain cereal will do the trick. Best of luck!

Try oatmeal or barley cereal instead. The rice could be making her a bit constipated. You can give her a few ounces of apple juice on the days she doesn't go, too. That might help move things along!

N., try giving her some water. When my son started solids, he became constipated as well (he was and still is breastfed). But when we started giving him a little water from a syringe (about 5-10ml), he started pooping just fine. Just remember that we, as adults need both fiber and water to stay regular.Babies are no different. Your breastmilk helps too but now that solids are a factor, she needs water too. Hope this helps!

I would say you are not feeding too much or too soon. At this age my son was eating 2 or 3 jars of veggies/fruits a day, and a little oatmeal. The oatmeal is probably better then the rice. I used to mix mine with apple juice rather then water.

Sounds like the rice cereal is the culprit here....my DD had the same thing happen when she was about the same age. (She's 3 now.) Try switching to oatmeal instead of rice. I mixed it with prunes as well, and it really did the trick! HTH!

Both of my kids deal with constipation a lot! I have a 7 month old boy and he takes acid reflux medication that makes him extremely constipated. We give him a bottle (2 oz.) of prune juice every morning and evening, and instead of rice cereal, we feed him single grain oatmeal for babies. It has definitely helped a lot, but even sometimes still he has problems. We do have a medication for him called lactulose (px only) that helps him poop too if it gets severe. I would try the prune (or pear works too) juice in the morning and evening, even on the days that she does poop well, just to keep her regular... and definitely switch to oatmeal- rice cereal can constipate- that's what they tell you to feed your kids when they have diarrhea! And, stay away from bananas for her too- that's another constipator. Anyway, with all this, it should help a lot!

'Normal for breastfed babies' surprised me--I guess you mean 'normal when you start adding food besides breastmilk'? The consistency you describe isn't at all out of line with just having added food.

It sounds like she is just uncomfortable with the (new?) process. 'Seems like my kids always needed some comforting when they had digestive changes. You can sit with them during the pooping itself and remind them (and yourself) that pooping is OK and they can learn to do it and it's all going to be alright (with words, or just with love-feelings) ... they have to learn not to fear the process, because the fear will hold them back, in the most literal sense! Some babies like to be held, some babies like you to sit next to them, some babies like you to be out of the room so they can really focus themselves ...

If she 'can't' do it by herself (is endangering herself holding it back--stops eating, starts barfing, cries constantly, tummy hurts when you touch it), there are a bunch of naturopathic/homeopathic remedies; I think what finally worked for my constipated baby was baking soda, but I have NO memory of dosages etc. There were two other containers with remedies as well, but I don't remember what they were--two herbs I think, maybe to make a tisane (tea), for him or for me? So if you are into such things, you could ask a naturopath/midwife. I only intervened directly with a 'prescribed' solution one time, on kid number 4, but have also used chocolate (less officially).

That one time was pretty serious, so I had the glycerin suppositories on hand just in case. I was told to not get into using suppositories regularly, so as to not get reliant on them. 'Never used them, so don't know.

Tummy-massages also helped get his body organized on the whole 'learn to poop' situation (he was regular--once a week!!) except the time he was really constipated (let's just say, WAYYYYY more than a week), but make sure you massage in the right direction for the pooping (as I recall, clockwise--but you can look at any biology chart and see which way the small intestines lead into the large). Partly you are actually physically keeping things moving and loose in his tummy, and partly you want to teach his body, "hey, yo, things move THIS way" ;).

The one other thing, is make sure you've found the happy medium between keeping a diaper on and 'sealed' (hold the poop in) and keeping it loose enough to not obstruct the intestines. (When I was a teenager I read that doctors suspected 75% of male intestinal issues were actually from too-tight waistbands (this was the 80s ;) ), and that totally proved true for me personally, and I've watched it with my kids, with elastic waistbands on their pants. Passing gas is particularly affected.)

I've had four kids with four Very Different digestive learning curves ... but at 7 months and eating food, "peanut butter" sounds very very OK. Hopefully your daughter :) just needs some comforting that she is fine and the process is fine and her tummy will be fine, and she'll believe it. With any luck, she's already capable of understanding at least a little the cause-and-effect thing, and if you 'hold' her emotionally through the process and congratulate her at the end, she will 'get' that the hard part means the uncomfortableness goes away.

Good luck!

Are you giving her water at all? At 7 months old she should be having at least a few ounces of water in between bf. If she wont drink the water put just a little bit a juice in for a little flavor, but would encourage water alone. Water is the best natural thing for constipation.

I had this problem w/ my youngest son last year. Basically, my pediatrician told me to not thicken fruits w/ cereal... especially rice. The cereal will stop her up. Just give her the fruit/vegetables (no bananas, these too will constepate) and if you want her to have a little starch, give her a few (like maybe 5) Cheerios while you're folding the laundry or something as long as you are close to her to be sure she is gumming them successfully. It should get better as you transition her to more foods and regulate her digestive tract. Don't worry too much, but do keep it in your mind. I actually had to press my son's bent legs into his chest to help push the poop out when he was having a BM. Poor little guy. Of course, if you keep having issues w/ it, talk to your pediatrician. There's no harm in bringing up points of concern. Let us know how she's doing...

I would suggest prunes and to get more water to your baby. If you are breast feeding maybe you need to drink more water and eat more fruit!
S. W

A similiar thing happened with my son a month or so ago...what we did was stop the rice cereal for 2 days or so and just gave him apples - and apple juice (along with breastfeeding of course). Once things were moving again we started the rice cereal again but in much smaller quantities and everything has been fine since. Their little systems just need some adjustment time. Oh we also try to get him to drink a little bit of water every day which has seemed to help too.

Breastfeed babies aren't usually constipated it's the formula feed babies that often get that way. Rice cereal is pretty constipating especially if you are mixing it with formula to get a thin consistancy. We had a few eating issue's with my daughter and the pediactric diatition recommended just the fruit or veggie not to use rice cereal. Or to use a barley, it's easier to digest. She also never recommened juice. There isn't any nutritional value in it and it can just fill them up and then they won't eat what they need. You may also try mixing breast milk with the cereal, fruit or vegie. That way it's also helping her to get more fluid which will help keep her bowels moving. She may also just not be ready for it. Or you may try the cereal every other day to see if that helps get her going.

Hope this helps.

I haven't read any of the responses, so I apologize if I'm repeating others. My son had a lot of poop issues too when he was a toddler. I noticed that his body reacted quickly to what he was eating. If he ate too much fruit, it was as if he had diarhea. I would then give him rice or bananas to get it back to "normal". So then the opposite is also true. It could very well be the rice that's giving your daughter the problem. Maybe cut out the rice cereal (either switch to an oatmeal cereal or just stop the cereal altogether) and just stick to fruit (not bananas!) to see if that helps.

Hi - I do think that rice can constipate. That is one of the foods that is recommended when they have diahrea(sp?). I started my son with rice when he started solid food but then switched to the oatmeal pretty quickly. You might try that and see what happens. If she is drinking anything from a bottle, you might also try water with a little prune juice in it as well. Most kids love bananas too but they are constipating as well so I would limit giving her bananas too. Hope this helps!

Cereal can constipate, and particularly rice cereal. Maybe try barley, if you can find it.

My son was a 32-week preemie, so our health system had a pediatric dietician following him for the first year of his life. She told me current research shows that you do not have to make cereal a baby's first food, and many people with constipation-prone infants start with fruit, veggies or even meat baby food, instead of cereal. (The meat idea really freaks out people who are old-school, and many pediatricians aren't even all that current on this.)

I would cut the cereal completely and maybe just feed pears or prunes for a couple of days to see if she gets any relief. You might also try an ounce or two of prune juice a day (mix with breast milk, if she won't take it straight). My son had constipation issues long before starting solids, and prune juice was prescribed on and off for weeks.

Hi N.,
I don't know that your daughter is constipated... In our case, with our daughter, our pediatrician said that we shouldn't worry unless it was (sorry, graphic..) like rabbit pellets. Otherwise she was just adjusting to having solid foods added to her diet. We started her with sweet potatoes instead of cereal at 5 months old because she was a mostly formula baby and frequently constipated since birth. Rice cereal was only tried a couple times, but SERIOUSLY plugged her up every time. Also when we started doing veggies (non-homemade) a lot of them had rice it it. We had to avoid all those. Pears seemed to work the best for loosening her up. We never tried prunes. Plus she really liked pears, and I could make them myself! At about 8 or 9 months we started doing diluted pear juice and white grape juice. A little of that everyday seems to keep her nice and regular.

Best of luck!!

My son only pooped once a week at this age. I took him to the pediatrician and they said that it's within a normal range. If he seemed uncomfortable i would give him a suppository to help him go.

You should try drinking orange juice or water. Since she is bf, she'll get your nutrients? If she is drinking juice - pear juice (watered down) works too.

Hi N.~

My daughter had the same problem for awhile. It took us trying a few different things. I did take her to the dr. because it was really concerning me. After all, before you have kids, everyone tells you how you are always changing poopy diapers!! And my baby was only going every other day, I thought for sure something was terribly wrong! Our Dr told us a few things to try~first prunes (mine didnt like them AT ALL!). The one thing that finally worked for her was apple juice. For my daughter we had to dilute it about 3oz juice, 1oz water or she wouldnt drink it. The dr said it has something to do with the sugar in the juice, so you dont want to dilute it to much. Another thing the dr told us was that there is no "normal" poop schedule. For months my daughter only went every other day, and that was her norm. So, dont be alarmed if your daughter is only going every other day, as long as its not painful for her, and the apple juice should help with that. Good luck!