Lots and lots of post ideas are swirling around in my head and I can't wait to share them all with you. But first, I have a mommy advice question for all of you regarding Justus.
Justus has been pretty constipated and only going #2 every few days. He screams in the shrillest voice in agony when he goes poo and we usually take his diaper off and try to bicycle his legs and stuff. With is doc's okay we are giving him juice/water every day as well as peaches/prunes/apple baby food and this helps some days but other days it doesn't seem to make things any easier for him. And when he goes, he goes about 4 times in a row and (don't read this if you have a weak stomach--this is mommy speak) and the first time is really hard and black, the second is brown, the third is green and the fourth is green mush. He was having such hard stools that he would bleed as he was going and this was torture for us to watch, not being able to help the poor little guy. So, does anyone have any tips? I don't think he's allergic to his formula and it doesn't happen every time, but it's becoming more common. We don't give him any bananas and we've stopped cereal in the hopes that it aleviates this constipation.
14 comments:
Oh Lindsey, I'm sorry to hear this. Bananas were not a good first food for Simon - they plugged him up. I can't think of what might be causing it for him...I hope others can help!
The only thing I can think of that hasn't been mentioned is a warm bath. Yes, it's gross, but it works, usually.
Poor little guy!! It's so hard to watch your baby be in pain or discomfort and not be able to help! I just have one idea and you may have heard it already but it's giving him a teaspoon of Karo syrup. When Kayley was only a few months old, she went through a phase where she was only going #2 about every six days or so! I called the doctor several times and they told me to try the syrup first and then if she hadn't gone by day seven to call back.
We gave her the syrup and she did end up going but I don't know if it's just because her body finally decided it was time or if the syrup really helped or not. But it's worth a try I guess. By day seven when she finally went, it was like an explosion and I'm pretty sure we had to change a few outfits!
Thankfully, this phase passed after a month or so and she never had the problem again. Weird.
Hope little Justus feels better and gets "regular" soon!
I'm sorry. I know exactly what you are going through! Isabella has been extremely constipated since she was an infant. I have given that girl so many suppositories and enemas. We also gave her the gerber juices (pear and prune) starting at about 4 months. It is SO hard to watch, as she got older she would spend an ENTIRE day trying to go. She would stand there and hold my hand and shake and cry as she tried to go. Of course I would bawl right along with her because it made me feel so bad. In my experience, baby food peaches help the most of anything. In fact even now at 27 months she still gets baby food peaches almost every day. We put it in a bowl and call it applesauce. For some reason they work better than anything else for her, even fresh peaches. She also gets prune juice at least twice a day now. It's hard to remember exactly what we did when she was your little guy's age, we pretty much did the same thing you are doing plus suppositories as needed.
Also, do you know anything about probiotics? Probiotics are all natural, and promote the healthy bacteria in the digestive system and ease constipation (and so much more, you could do a google search for "benefits of probiotics" if you are interested). We put Isabella on a formula with probiotics (Nestle Goodstart)when she was a baby (we noticed a difference when we did that), and now we break open a capsule of Culturelle (culturelle.com) to put in her milk. Culturelle is also safe for infants. Sorry for the rambling, just my two cents. I hope you can get the little guy "going"!
I think this is something that you really want to take him in and talk with the pediatrician about. As well has Elly having problems with "going" sometimes, I had two daycare children with sevear problems. If this is an occasional thing I think that the karo syrup and lots of prune/apple juice should do the trick. But if it is something that you have struggled with for more than a month and changing his diet hasnt helped it may be a larger problem. If there is a lack of fiber in his system that may be what is stopping him up. Its not a hard thing to correct but the problem is, that if it is not addressed properly the straining he is doing trying to push it out all day long can hurt him. If he is straining for a prolong period of time to go poop (like if he has to strain to go poop for months) then the sensation that the body creates to go, with diminish so he no longer has control over it. I know that sounds rather extream but I had two daycare boys that had this issue and it was just the lack of fiber in their system. In both instinces the parents tried everything and eventuly brought them to the dr for the problem. Both of them are now on once daily fiber supplements and things are running really smoothly!
I know Justus may not have as big of a problem as the these two little boys, but just make sure that if this is going on for more than a month and diet changes are not helping that you bring him in to see if it is a larger problem.
Good luck, I know how hard it is to see them like this:)
Cow's milk is a huge factor in constipation with small children. You don't have to be allergic to it to be intolerant of it. If your child is constipated getting them off of dairy is the first thing I would try. Since he is so little it would probably mean switching him to a soy based formula.
Is he still nursing at all? Have you considered trying to bring him back to the breast entirely?
One benefit for my breastfed children has been NO constipation.
Interestingly, when I take iron supplements while pregnant, I have troubles, too :). So I'm sure the high iron in formula isn't helping.
Like a reader above, my nurse auntie often recommended a tsp. of karo syrup in the bottle of a formula-fed infant for constipation and tummy issues.
The iron in formula often causes constipation, too (as well as the dairy issues ~ our Josiah gets constipated from store bought milk - but he's fine with raw milk from the dairy....)
I would suggest ground flax seed or flax oil. You can purchase it already ground, but I wouldn't; the oils cause it to go rancid very quickly, so grinding it yourself (a blender works fine) is a better choice, keep it in the freezer till you use it up...
the seed is much less expensive than the oil - but it has a lot of 'texture', so if he can't handle that yet, the oil is a better option.
another very safe thing to try would be EV coconut oil (expeller pressed if possible)
ah - Lexi calls...
Good suggestions, but I would do all you can to avoid SOY formula. Soy consumption is being proven to have major hormonal affects, especially for boys since it is high in estrogen. Essentially it is like giving him female hormones, which can cause havoc for his growing male body.
I am so sorry I know this is hard. My little Josiah struggled with this too when starting formula and solid foods.
Try not to give rice cereal as it is one of the worst. Instead do oat cereal or something.
Try Gerber pears, do not do bananas.
Try massaging his tummy in a clockwise direction with a little lotion. Also massage the lower back.
Roll him onto his tummy and let him pick up his head or go up on all fours.
My mom used olive oil and prune juice for my brother who was 1 and had constipation problems. The DR. recomended this. I think it was 1 T. of oil once a day but you may want to check for a smaller baby.
You can water the juice down if you want so it is not so strong. My baby won´t drink straight juice.
Try not to give a lot of greasy foods or sugary foods. (I am sure you do not do this but just a reminder)
All of these things I have tried and sometimes some work and other time others. My babies stools were very much like your baby´s when they came out. Try to let him exercise (the reason for putting him on his stomach or maybe in a bouncer saucer or something like this) or to relax (massages or warm baths). Now that my baby is used to foods he is doing better and he also goes after standing up or exercising.
I have also heard putting 2 oz. of baking soda in the warm bath will help with relaxation of the muscles. I have not tried this though. Hope that some of this helps. Will be praying for litte Jer.
You're getting some good suggestions, I second what The Momma says about flax, that gets Isabella going in no time, along with a really high fiber diet. I just didn't how/if you would go about it at his young age.
One of my girls went through this last fall, and the warm baths, probiotics, and flax seed are all good tips I learned then. I also learned adding more olive oil to her diet would help, too.
I hope this trouble ends soon for Justus!
Thank you all for the great tips!
I'm so thankful for all of your advice on this parenting issue. I've had to take iron pills for anemia after birth and I know the agony....
Thanks again ladies!
I know you said that you didn't think the formula was the problem, but this was happening with my youngest son almost exactly the same way. Ultimately we figured out that he was lactose intolerant and that's what caused the problems. Once we switched to the Lactose Free formula (and his system had time to adjust), we didn't have those issues again.
The doctor did advise against soy as it is also constipating, so we used the lactose free when he was super little and moved to soy milk only when he was a year old and eating lots of table food.
Hope that helps.
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