Constipated Child... This Stinks!

this happened to my son also. I was able to get him to drink a little watered down prune juice as well as prune baby food. This seemed to help a lot. Also, my ped suggested giving him up to 2oz of water after each solid meal. hope this helps.. good luck!

Apple juice works wonder for us, every single time. Don't give him banana until he's pooping well again - banana makes constipation worse.

Try a couple of ounces of Welch's white grape cherry juice with at least as much water - we do about 2 oz juice with 6 oz water. This is the only thing that worked/works for my very constipated son.

You have many responses, and they may be helpful if your child turns out to be truly having a problem. However, what you seem to be saying is you went from exclusive breastfeeding to three meals a day of solids at only 6 months old.

There is no magic number of 6 months that says this is the right time for a baby's digestive system to take solids, especially so much all at once. In fact, many nutritional and developmental experts would say that 6 months is the minimum age that even beginning solids should happen. This needs to be very gradually done, with maybe an entire meal--often some type of rice cereal mixed with breastmilk or a non-constipating juice, or mashed banana or avocado being the best initial choices--being offered ONE time a day, certainly not three yet.

I know it is exciting to offer solid foods--it's amazing to have your baby discovering new tastes and foods! And it can feel like it's important to have him on solids quickly.

But really, his little digestive system seems to be signalling pretty strongly to you that it is not yet ready for this level of things.

Your best bet would be to back off completely from solids for a few days--if he wasn't constipated before with exclusive breastfeeding, it's likely this alone will solve the problem. Then, very gradually, add back ONE solid food at a time. I really like bananas or avocados for this first, because they are so complete nutritionally, because they come in a single, natural "package" that has been used for literally hundreds, if not thousands, of years as baby's first foods, rather than being a blend formulated by adults with some concept of what might work. They also contain natural oils and digestive enzymes that will help his digestive system handle them. PLEASE splurge for the organic versions, if they are available where you live--non-organic bananas and avocados are treated with a systemic poison that is in the fruit, not just on the skin.

Each new food from there should be added one at a time, with at least a few days to a week to see how he handles it before you add another. If at any point he seems to have a reaction such as constipation or rash or any excessive fussiness/crying, remove the latest food and see if it gets better. You basically get to play "scientist" and conduct a very strategic process as you and your baby learn this exciting new world of digestive processes together.

You can give a small amount of apple or prune juice, watered down a bit. Also, avoid bananas, applesauce, rice. And make sure he drinks plenty of fluids. This happened to my DS when he first started solids. Now we go back and forth, and I just change his diet accordingly. Good luck!

Hi S.,

Are you introducing more than one new food at a time? That might be where your issue is. Try giving him the same food for his feedings during the day and see if the problem persists or goes away. That way you can eliminate the food(s) that are causing the issue. I know bananas make my son constipated if he eats too much in one day.

You've received some good responses here. I want to add that babies don't need solids at 6 months so don't feel like your giving up any nutrition by backing off the food to give his digestive system time to recooperate. Bananas, rice and for some kids, the pectin in apples and pears are constipating. If you're making your own food you may want to add a little more water. Add a serving of mashed prunes a day.

My daughter had constipation and cramping when she started solids at 6 months. Eventually after varying her diet with no improvement we stopped the solids and went back to breastfeeding only. She was unbelievably healthier and happier. At 9 months we brought back the solids and her body was ready then.

Babies don't need anything but breastmilk until a year - that statement comes directly from the mouths of our pediatrician and nutritionist. You can back off the food and keep trying until it clicks and his digestive system is ready. He will get all the nutrients he needs from your milk until then.

Good luck!

Prunes! Get some babyfood prunes and have him eat these once a day. It did wonders for my stopped-up kiddo, and hopefully it will for yours, too.

This is VERY normal.Three to four days is actually nothing to worry too much over. My ped. told me over a week is when to intervene with a little help from some juice. I gave my son a bottle of apple juice -about 1 ounce apple juice to about 3-4 oz of water. He probably wont drink it all and he actually wont need to. It usually kicks in within and hour and boy it helps!

prune juice...water it down and give it to him in a cup, if he absolutely wont take it, try a bottle

If the fruit juices don't work, our pediatrician recommended Miralax.

Hi S.,

My apologies if I'm repeating stuff other mamas have already said; I've only skimmed the other responses. But a couple things to add/modify based on what I saw (my hubby is a pediatrician, so this is based on his experience as a doc as well as ours as parents):

-Your little one definitely is constipated! Even though going a few days isn't necessarily indicative of constipation, pellet-like poops are. It's all about the consistency, not necessarily frequency alone.

-Actual prunes work better than prune juice. You can take prunes (doesn't have to be special baby ones--just make sure there aren't any pieces of pit)--and blend them up smooth with some water. Or blend them in with other food you're giving him. (Also, in general, "P" fruits are supposed to be good for constipation--pears, prunes, peaches.)

-Oatmeal is actually constipating, as are bananas.

-Miralax is a better first-line option than suppositories. It's safe and works well--just be sure you give enough, though. If it's not working at first, up the amount a little bit each time until your little guy poops. My husband says that usually when it isn't working it's that the parents are giving too small an amount. Suppositories are an option, but kids can become dependent on them (i.e., they can get to the point that they need them in order to poop), so personally I'd go with Miralax. We actually gave our little guy Miralax every day for quite awhile to keep him regular back when he was younger and was getting constipated a lot w/ bfing and solids combined.

Good luck! I hope you can get your little guy's gut back in order. That's no fun for anyone.

Prunes! Give him more fruit. Those are my suggestions for a child this age. good luck!

My daughter has been doing the same thing the past month. I cut out two of her bottles (snack times) during the day and her poop turned into the small hard balls. I tried all the food suggestions (prunes, etc) and it didn't make a difference. On another request on mamasource quite a few people had recommended Miralx. I went to look for it at Target and it appeared to be for adults and I wasn't comfortable giving that to my 10 month old. So I found "Little Tummies". I gave her a dropperful of that in her food and she had a nice soft poop later that evening. And again the next day. It's a natural vegetable extract (looks gross because it's brown, but I mixed it in with food and she never noticed it was in there). Our doctor also recommended a glycerin suppository when she was a newborn (she said for a newborn to cut it in half though, so you may need to check w/ your pediatrician on that).
Good luck!

I didn't read through all the responses, but wanted to put in a good word for yogurt. My daughter at around 6-7m was having a similar issue so on the suggestion of my ped I started giving her baby oatmeal mixed with YoBaby yogurt once a day and it seems to not only have helped with the hard poops, but it has also helped with nighttime gas. I give the yogurt/cereal to her as a bedtime snack before we start the bedtime routine (about an hour before going to sleep).

For the odd time she's gone more than a few days w/o pooping I will mix prunes w/ the oatmeal instead of yogurt at bedtime (and give the yogurt w/ breakfast instead) and the prunes have always worked by the next afternoon or morning.

Oatmeal and prunes have always worked for us. Oatmeal consistently each day to keep things going and adding prunes when he is constipated (which, after we started the oatmeal once a day routine, has occurred only once and my son is 16 months now!).

Good luck.

I'm a lactation consultant in private practice. www.second9months.com.

Perhaps he is not quite ready for solids. Are you feeding him rice cereal? it can be very constipating. try whole foods like veggies and fruits and maybe oatmeal. rice is not a great food to start with...Also, make sure you bf before offering solids.

call or email if you have more questions!

R.

Breast fed babies' b.m.'s were always nicer smelling than a formula fed baby. It's just a fact of nature. When we introduce other foods, the digestion isn't as complete, the smells become offensive and the bm's change in consistency and frequency. Make sure you're offering water with every meal. Some foods are naturally binding. So, make sure that you offer a fruit, other than bananas if he's bound up. Bananas and rice will help with loose and frequent stools, firming them up and slowing them down. He may have a sensitivity to some foods, that's why you introduce one at time, over a period of time. Baby prunes or applesauce will help loosen things up. Keep up the liquids. I wish you well!

I would cut out dairy products for a while and see if that's the culprit. Cheeses and yogurt often cause constipation in the little ones. Otherwise, the poo changes happen as little ones get older. Have you made a doctor appointment to get the poo going again?

you've gotten lots of good advice...but it comes down to the fact that you baby is probably not getting enough fluids to go along with the foods. It's summer and I didn't look to see where you live, but it's hot and if you live in a place like we do, where the humidity drops to the low 20% area you will dry up even more!

Lots of fluids or foods with fluids. With my daughter...apple juice worked well. We did non-sugar kind and then mixed it with half water. She sucked it down in the summer. (we did this in addition with nursing and solids)

S.,
Hello. I am a mother of 4 and grandma to 5. Six months may be too young to have your son on 3 solid meals a day. I would also watch what types of solids you are feeding as many are constipating such as bananas and cheese. Try giving bottles of water in between also as this will help to loosen things up.

Good luck,
M.

Hi,
We had a lot of constipation issues with my son as well. What worked for him was about 4-6oz of prune juice a day until things got moving. He's 16 mos now, but when he was about your son's age and up until recent we had to be very careful about him not having too much banana, rice (use baby oatmeal instead), yogurt and applesauce. These all contain fiber that "bulks" everything up. His tummy probably just needs some more of the fiber that gets things going. Our doctor told us to focus on giving him all of the "P" foods: prunes, peaches, pears, peas (and apple juice, but not the applesauce). These were all helpful for us, but prune juice was the big key for us...Just a note about medicines...our son at one point was put on miralax and laculose to help his constipation, but it ended up causing severe stomach cramping, which was aweful. I've also heard that you want to use suppositories very sparingly since the rectal muscles can start to rely on them for getting the poo out instead of pushing. I hope this is helpful! Give prune juice a try! :)

Give him some dry figs , melt it with clean hot water ,then seive it and give it to your baby . Babys' stomache faces some trouble digesting hard food , so don't give all the meals hard t once but start little and gradually go on at age 6 months just blend some of the adults food and give him.

There are some good thoughts in the responses you've received:

1. Making sure you start your baby slowly on solids, waiting 4-5 days between each new food to check for allergy issues.

2. Six months may not be the magic number for your baby. If you have trouble despite everything you try, it may just be too soon for his digestive system.

But I have a couple of additional comments that I wanted to throw out there. I was concerned about some of the suggestions that suggested giving your baby foods that the list I've chosen to use says shouldn't be introduced that young. Obviously there are numerous lists out there, and as long as you have one you're happy with, I'm not trying to say use the one I use. But just take suggestions with a grain of salt and check suggested foods against the list you've decided on for advise on what age to introduce new foods. And always wait a few days between new foods.

Second, when I started my baby on solids, around the same age, after exclusive breastfeeding, we started with fortefied cereal--a popular first. Then worked our way up from 1 time per day to have it to three or more and introduced more foods, a little at a time. We also noticed quite a bit of hardening of the stool, especially compared to the runny poo of breastfeeding! Our doctor advised us that too much of certain foods can increase the chance of constipation, even after the baby's system has adjusted to the concept of solids. Therefore, again, based on the book/list I've chosen, I limit how much cereal, bananas, and cheese my baby gets, and that seems to help. If she seems more constipated or the poo seems especially hard, I cut back on those foods more for a day or two, or sometimes give her a few bites of pureed prunes (yum). A few bites should be enough--a whole jar, as one of my friend's husband gave their baby, will clean out their system for a week, poor baby!

Without going into a really long story, my son has has severe constipation issues that are being treated by a doctor.My best advice is to take your son to a doctor, preferably a specialist (gasteroenterologist) and get this cleared up completely before it becomes an even bigger problem. Good for you to catch it so early. I did not even know my son had a problem until it was WAY too late and almost 8 months later, he is still being treated.

This is an issue that can become surprisingly serious. My neices and nephews have had some serious issues with this one. When things became severe, these are the things that were effective for them. My nephew who had the most severe problems had to eat only whole grains and no dairy. The other thing that has worked with all of them was visiting their local chiropractor. These might sound like odd remedies, but they do work. Blessings to you and yours! :)

You need to include foods that will help deconstipate him. I am sure people on this list will share different foods that have helped their babies.

One food that helped my son was canned peaches. Also right now in season are fresh blueberries (they will turn your son's bm black and mushy absolutely frightening the first time I saw it.)

Lots of fluids in the foods that you do give him.

What food did you give him just before he stopped pooped? I would probably avoid that food for a while.

Give him babies magic tea...
congrats on breastfeeding ;)good luck!!!!

Glycerin Suppositories!!!! I know it might sound weird, but my dad's girlfriend is a Family Doctor and recommended these to me when my little guy was about 5 or 6 months old and they work literally within 5 minutes!!! You can get them at almost any store in the medicine aisle, just make sure to get the child size. Your little one will poop within minutes! I also would try and give him some prune baby food or applesauce, both will do the trick! Good luck! I think most babies go through this transitional pooping phase when they start solids!

Hi,

I would start feeding your child prunes, raisins for example. I would stay away from breads and pasta since that will only make it worse. I would also contact your doctor. Don't let this go too long because it can cause severe problems. I hope this helps.