Constipated AGAIN?! Help!

Her diet is high in fiber and she eats loads of fruits and veggies and
grains, including all the 'p' fruits. She's had at least one a day of
prune, peach, peach, pineapple, plum. I had started her on goat's
milk (1 3oz bottle at daycare) during that initial phase, so I thought
it was that and cut it out. She's otherwise BF'd on demand, but at
daycare she doesn't take much EBM now (~1 bottle, sometimes two, so
max 5 ozs). She has been eating yoghurt since about 9 months with no
issues. Goat's milk is supposed to be easier to digest than cow's
milk, so we didn't even try cow's milk. Except for a handful of rice
yesterday (we were at a Thai restaurant) she doesn't eat anything that
normally causes constipation.

What do I do? Cut all dairy out of my diet? I've had dairy all year
with no issues. She nurses 3-4x/night and also before bed. On the
weekends she nurses 2-3x/day. Is it likely something I am eating?
Everyone says "BF babies never get constipated!" so what's going on?
Oh, we ended up not testing for blood in the stools because when we
finally did get a stool sample to take in, it was the good color and
consistency so we figured problem over.

-btw - she's still eating mostly purees of vegetables for lunch and
dinner, with a bit of bread (whole grain), her snacks are teething
biscuits, yoghurt+fruit, cheerios, bits of solid fruit, and she has
mutli grain cereal or museli for breakfast mixed with fruit and juice
and EBM (the juice is prune or pear to try to get the bowels moving).
She loves finger foods, so everything else she eats is basically
whatever we have on our plates that isn't too spicy.

I think you should have your doctor actively involved in this issue in
case it isn't something that will easily be fixed and actually
requires a diagnosis. Does she take in any water?

Also, and I haven't verified it, but I've heard that when
concentrating on a high-fiber diet, it needs to be accompanied by
increased water intake, or it might not work as well and only wind up
adding bulk without the moisture necessary to help it pass. Also, and
this is very important, if baby has learned that pooping hurts, she
may have taught herself to hold it and avoid it. It can be done, as
evidenced by my nephew. He is 5 years old and he holds it all in until
he requires a trip to the doctor as well. They hope he will eventually
outgrow it. He has to periodically take MiraLax so that he can't hold
it in and has to give in and go.

http://www.gicare.com/pated/ecdgs07.htm

She has a sippy cup of water with her all day. She takes in about 6
ozs or so, plus she has a lot of water in her foods. I've tried
getting her to drink more, and she likes playing with the cup, but she
won't actually drink it. I thought before it was because she was
teething - she would take the cup but not the sippy spout and at the
end of this constipation saga she sprouted 5 new teeth over night.
She'll take the sippy now, but not as much as she used to (and she
won't take a bottle if there's water in it). That's why I've been
adding some water to her foods, and she gets lots of juicy fruits.

On the last visit to the pedi, the NP suggested bringing in the stool,
but since the very next poop she had was the ok kind, we decided not
to. The NP didn't find anything particularly wrong at that time. I
just don't get why she's so constipated.

I'll keep pushing the water, and discuss it with her babysitter.

I've read about that too and was worried. I guess using the
suppository for a few days may help. She was in so much pain last
night, her tummy was super hard, but once we used it (was not in long
enough to do much other than get her to push out) she started pooping
and her abdomen was much relieved.

I had four children and they never were constipated but my
granddaughter was. So I talked to our family physician about it and
he said when babies get constipated it means they are not getting
enough water. Do you give her water? When we gave it to Emma it
really did help her. Also maybe her food is too warm. If you heat
the milk too much it can lead to constipation. But really try
water...sometimes it is the simpliest thing can solve an issue. I
wouldn't think your diet should be causing this. barb

Cheers
Anne

I think you may be on to something here, but looking at the various
quantities, I don't think the water needs to be increased, but the fibre
decreased, 6oz of water for a 1yr old is probably similar to a quart for
an adult - adults need about 2 quarts of water a day, but for a 1 year
old where a significant chunk of the diet is breastmilk, that's
providing the rest of the water needs and attempts to up the water
aren't likely to be very sucessful.

Cheers
Anne

I would probably make an appointment with her doc.

In the mean time my kids drank more water at 12mos by using a sippy with
a straw (much easier to suck from) or by using a regular cup with no lid
(messy but they drank more). They weren't very good with the sippy
spouts yet either. As a matter of fact I still use the kind with just
the slit (no spill proof spout that makes it hard to suck) for meal
times and the spill proof kind for the living room and car.

I don't think you need to change anything in *your* diet. A pharmacist
told me dairy could be constipating to some kids so you may want to cut
the dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese) out of her diet - which should be fine
with as much as she is nursing. She is getting all the milk she needs
and then some just from nursing.

One of my boys gets mildly constipated with too much banana and so I
give him grapes - which works great to get him to go. Just one more
thing to try. My boys think grapes are pure gold so really eat a lot
though, lol. I quarter or cut them in half and they don't have any
trouble eating them.

PS: I bought the straw sippy and removed the little piece that made it
leak proof. It works nice because they still can't pull the straw out of
the cup but it is easy to suck and while it does leak - it isn't like an
open cup.

Good luck - I know it is hard to see them so uncomfortable.

--

Nikki - mama to 4 boys.

My 20-month-old has loved sipping through a straw and drinking from a
water bottle with a sports cap for eons. He takes in so much more that
way. I just push the top of the sports cap down to where it isn't open
as much so he doesn't drown himself while drinking and spill a ton if
he leaves it on its side.

Thanks to all who responded. She has a sippy cup with water with her
all day, but I'll keep the water coming and maybe try different types
with the straw as well as keeping closer tabs on what she eats. We
used a suppository for a couple of days and though it didn't stay in
long enough to dissolve/activate, its presence got things moving and
she started pooping. After a few days of that, she's pooping just fine
now on her own. She seems to keep getting backed up then needing help
to get it out.

Her 1 yr appt is next week (a bit late), so will discuss with her pedi
then.

When I worked as a RN at the hospital we had patients that were
extremely constipated and we usually gave them heated prune juice. It
seemed to help more than the prune juice at room temp. Also we added
creamer to it....but I don't know if it would work on a baby. You
could try it and see in small amount. Also it sounds like some thing
is making her constipated....what foods is she eating...keep track and
then lower or elminate that food item until she can handle it. But
the best thing is water, water, water. If giving her water helps then
that leads me to believe she's not getting enough. You could heat the
water too. Sometimes giving them water to drink and then giving them
a bath where they can sit and play in the water (good and warm) will
make them potty. I didn't believe it either, but it works. The warm
water on the outside increase bowel motility which leads them to have
a bowel movement.

Miralax is extremely safe--I think it is as safe as massive quantities
of fiber--maybe safer, because fiber without enough water is bad and
the Miralax, when correctly mixed, is almost guaranteed to have
absorbed all the water it needs. I and my children have a genetic
condition that causes constipation resistant to most treatment.
Miralax works. It is just a powdery sugar you mix with water and it
holds onto it and an overdose is guaranteed to give diarrhea. It is
completely tasteless and textureless if you let it sit for 5 minutes.
I only had to mix it with a tiny bit of juice to ensure my son drank
it all. It is now over-the-counter in the US--look for the BIG purple
bottle next to all of the fiber pills and laxatives in the pharmacy.
Alternatively, you can use magnesium supplements or buffered Vitamin C
supplements. Move from a small dose to a large dose semi-slowly until
things start moving regularly. You can stay at that dose or back down
a bit. I switched from Miralax to magnesium and Vit C just because
dosing is easier (I take between 20 to 50 pills every day, so what is
1 more?) and my doctor says I should take them anyway. If none of
these work, your kid needs to see a gastroenterologist or some other
expert, because constipation that is completely resistant to the best
treatments out there is a sign of a very serious problem.

BTW, suppositories aren't the most effective thing in the world! (As
you know!)

Christina