12 Month Old Constipated - Any Suggestions?

A.,

Try diluted apple, pear or prune juice...with my son this still helps!! Usually after a couple of hours he's almost back to normal. Great job calling the doctor!

Just an FYI:
Please try to stay away from over the counter solutions, like suppositories or laxatives...they should only be given if prescribed by a doctor for this age, as they can cause issues with the colon function.

Good Luck!

Hi
Prune juice usually does the trick
Good luck

Drinking prune juice is suppose to help decrease constipation. Plus, it's a natural remedy.
R

Is she getting enough fiber in her diet and drinking enough fluids? That should help her stay regular.

You can try giving her pureed prunes, or mixing them in with something else (like oatmeal) if she won't eat them straight.

Hi A.,
This has happened to my daughter, as well. We have successfully used flax oil in the past (I mix some in w/ a meal to hide it). You can buy the capsule form and just open them up and drain out, or it does come in liquid form. Trader Joes has some and so do places like Mother's Market, Henry's, Whole Foods. And believe it or not, grapes do wonders for softening everything up, too. Best of luck :)

I have used childrens suppositories for both my boys. I break them in half, but ask your pediatrician first.

This definetely could be dairy. Have you recently added cows milk to her diet. You may need to remove dairy. I would not do soy as the hormones are not good for her. Do a trial of Hemp Milk or Rice milk. I like Hemp becasue it is more similar to milk, it also has protein like milk and omega 3's and omega'6's which milk doesn't even have. I would do a 2-3 week trial of no dairy and see how she is feeling. Good Luck

apple juice- straight. if not, try peaches- jar baby food again.

Definitely increase water intake if you can. My babies ( I have 14-month old twins) sometimes don't feel like it out of the sippy cup, but I can usually get some down them using a straw- holding it up over their mouths and dropping it in like a little bird.
Also,
"Little Tummys" makes Laxative Drops. They work well. Just start out with a conservative dose & be careful because it's very dark and may stain clothing.
Good luck!

grape juice! You can also do yogurt with some ground flax seeds mixed in. Don't put too much and they won't taste it. I did that for my son. Actually, I put yogurt made with extra fiber in a sippy cup, deluted it a bit with a small amount of grape juice and mixed in about a tsp. Mix well and serve.

My daughter had the same issue. I took her to the doctor and he told me to cut down the amount of milk she was drinking. She was drinking about 30 oz per day. He said to do between 16 and 20 oz per day. I tried and it got a little better.
I ususally do a little prune juice and someone told me about a tsp of olive oil. Worked well with my son.
I ended up switching my daughter to soy milk because the cow milk, even after reducing the amount, still made her a little constipated. It was not as bad as it was in the beginning. Now that she's on soy, it's been good.

I went through this my daughter. I called the pediatrician and they suggested that fill a her bottle with warm water and give that to her, so it will loosen it up. My daughter ended up going within 30 to 45. Try it and see what happened. It won't hurt. Good luck.

Prune juice is great! I dilute it with 1/4 juice to 3/4 water. If that doesn't work you can get her child's suppositories or medimucel (sp?). My god son had lots of trouble going pooh for months and his mom started to put medimucel in his juice everyday and it worked very well. I would start with the prune juice though and ask a doctor before doing anything "drastic". Also, cut out any food that she is eating that could cause her to get backed up like apple sauce, rice, etc and increase her intake of foods that will help her "go".

Chocolate candy often works and they like it.
B. v. O.

give lots of fluids. also try to give her prunes to eat or little tummies laxative drops. if that doesnt work to get her to go that day then goto the store and buy pediactric suppositories. i had to use these for my daughter. what you do with the suppository is cut it into fourths because a whole one is too strong. then you obvioiusly insert it into the rear end and hold it there for about 5 mins. this should work within the hour. when my daughter appears that shes trying to go i help her and gently push her knees to hr chest (either while shes on her back or so that shes in a squatting position). also another thing you can do is go about 1-2in under her navel and massage circles with 2 fingers. good luck i hope your baby is feeling better soon.

My daughter was the same way the Dr. told me to give her prune juice and get her to eat more fruit. I did this and nothing helped till i tryed benafiber in her juice 1 tsp per day. worked wonders! try it see if it helps. hope it helps Krissy

Prune juice, prune juice, prune juice! LOL It works wonder. I actually put an ounce of prune in my dd's bottle every morning. I put an ounce of apple the rest of the day. If you do to much prune you will get blowouts. To get things moving you can see if she will drink some straight or with a little apple juice. To keep her regular give her pears as well for breakfast. I just chop them up and cook them for 5 minutes or so and then puree, she loves them. Yams also do wonders. Sorry you are dealing with this. It is so hard. I would try to do it naturally because the doc is just going to put her on meds. I struggled with this since my dd was off of breastmild at 8 months, but now I feel like a pro. LOL She had it so bad one time she tore a tiny tear in her little bungie! It was so sad, does not sound like you are at that point yet so try a little prune juice and go accordingly. Good luck.

A.,

Have you recently started her on whole cow's milk? Some kids really struggle with the transition. You might want to switch her back to formula and introduce cow's milk more slowly. Dairy can actually be horribly constipating. In the meantime, the fiber that you buy at the pharmacy that dissolves clear and has no taste works really well.

If you are desperate and she's miserable, glycerin suppositories for babies work really well and really fast. My son got super constipated from antibiotics one time. To the point we took him to the emergency room because we didn't know why he was screaming (and had been for about 4 hours in the middle of the night and that isn't like him). All of the laxatives I found said they took 8-10 hours minimum to work. I gave him a glycerin suppository and he pooped 3 times in less than 20 minutes and he was like a brand new happy kid.

T.

My daughter and niece have had problems with constipation.

Try feeding her prunes (the baby food, stage 1 kind) or give her full strength prune juice. If those don't work, the Dr. might suggest a laxative or stool softener that's safe for babies/kids.

Make sure she's drinking enough water (or diluted juice, if she doesn't like water). Hydration helps to keep the stools soft. Food that helped my daughter get regular besides prunes: pears, peas, sweet potatoes, quinoa (pronounced keen-wah; it's a type of grain that you can eat like rice. You can also find pasta made out of it at health food stores like Whole Foods). More fruits & veggies in general help keep the stool soft. Choose whole grain products, like whole wheat breads & pastas over regular.

Foods that tend to cause constipation: cheese, bananas, apples, red meat, regular potatoes, non-whole grain products.

Good luck!
-D.

Hi A.,

My oldest had that problem - we gave her a teaspoon of mineral oil (any drugstore has it) before bedtime. Morning comes and poop comes out without any complaints.
On my youngest i gave Activia yogurt and she went 3-4 times a day for a week after that(she's 10 months).
Hope this helps. It's a pain to see them suffer so.

S.

I remember something about "P's" for constipation - pears, peaches, prunes, peas, etc. either in fruit or juice form. Opposite that of BRAT (bananas, rice, apples and toast) for diarrhea. Good luck.

Karo syrup seemed to work pretty well for my son.
He suffered from a very early with the same problem.
Good luck
Austin's mom
www.guardiansleeper.com

Flax Seed oil. Put it in applesauce or mash up a peach. If she's eating toast already you can put some on bread instead of butter and sprinkle with cinnamon. (for my older son I put it on bread under tuna fish.) Also, dried fruit (apricots, pruins, etc.) cut into small pieces to chew on. And lots of water.

You want to make her poo softer so that she doesn't stop going to the potty. The last think you want is for her to try to hold it in -- it will get harder that way as her body removes more moisture while it's inside.

(BTW, flax seed oil is a good-for-you supplement regardless, but it really is a natural way to deal with constipation and other "irregularities" :)

So much good luck to you.

you have so many suggestions, I have one that I have not seen on here. It is an old school thing my mom told me to do with my little one. He also had some serious constipation! Lightly rub her tummy in a clockwise direction (clockwise if you are looking at he) with olive oil. Then put your finger in the olive oil just to dip in and then put it in her mouth. it gives her a little bit. It works like a charm.... olive oil = poop in our house.
Good Luck!

A., give some warm apple juice. not too much at a time, with a little oatmeal.. if there is no serious disgestive problem, her bowel should move in an hour or so.

I know you've had many great responses but I have a 12 month old with the same problem. What REALLY works for him is to put some flaxseed oil in his cereal in the morning. It works like a charm, better than anything else I've tried. Good luck to you!!!

get children's suppositories from the pharmacy..used to use those on my son they work and are totally safe..also add more fruit to her diet..lay off apples and rice though.

One thing that I did because my daughter was the same way. I laid her on her back and put her legs up to her chest and just keep releasing the legs straight and then back up to the chest as if she is doing crunches. Do this slowly so you don't hurt her anymore that she already hurts. You need to do this at the time that you see her trying to go potty. You can also try supositores for infants and they are sold over the counter. If you do not find them over the counter that ask you pharmacy and they will help you locate them.

Good luck
M.

Hi. I see you have received a lot of responses already, so I'll keep it short. I haven't read any of them, so I hope I 'm not repeating what you've already heard. A friend of mine had the same problem with her little one and she'd mix up a bottle for the baby with half formula and half prune juice. It worked well for her and I had luck with it myself on a few occasions. If you don't want to use formula you could mix a little water, rice milk or expressed breast milk. Added benefit- prune juice is full of good vitamins and potassium, so it's a nutritional boost as well.

These are some of the food that I give my daughter that keep her regular:
1) Raw fresh organic applesauce, just blend 1/2 chopped apple w/ peel, 1 teaspoon of water and you can add 5 organic spinach leaves.
2) Lightly cooked fresh sugar snap peas right of the pod.
3)Organic pear sauce freshly made(I use the magic bullet to blend baby food)
4)Add flax oil to plain organic baby yogurt
5)shake with almond milk, flax oil, pear, banana, fresh orange juice, strawberry or blueberry
If I don't give her raw fruits, she will only have one bowel movement. she normally has three. In the begining, it took a while for her to be regular with her bowels, the more fresh fruits and veggies the more enzymes in the food to help her break it down.
Best of luck.

My niece had this problem all of the time and my sister-in-law used the knees up and down while on her back and it helped tremendously. Give it a try and keep your fingers crossed.

Prune Juice. Mix 1/2 prune juice with 1/2 water. Works like a charm and it honestly tastes pretty good. It's sweet.

Flax oil - you can get at Whole Foods or health food stores - in milk or juice, about 1 tsp. Also, Baby Calm at night. This will help relax also. If you do these two things every day you won't have any problems. Also, is she getting enough water?

My daughtetr is almost always constipated to the point that the doctor even recommended some laxatives... that wasn't the first thing we tried though. We tried baby prunes first. My daughter fortunately loved them right out of the jar as part of her meal... if yours doesnt like them then try adding a jar of the prunes to her juice. A friend of mine also suggested mineral oil. Like a t-spoon, but i never tried that. It just sounded gross. Good luck :-) I know how sad it is to have a baby that can't poop.

my Daughter is now 2 years old and we have been battling with constipation since she was a baby she has a very sensetive stomach like her father but our pediatrician told us to give her a half of cap full of meralax its a fiber and you can find it at any grocery store. the first time we used it it worked very fast but you just have to keep giving it to her until she is regulary. he also said to give it to her twice a day untill she feels better then you can go to once a day or stop giving it to her

Organic Yogurt which has the live cultures in them works like magic everytime for my son. Yogurt is now a part of his daily diet and he never has any problems any more. Make sure your baby is getting enough liquids especially water. Also making fresh vegetables(steamed or cooked) a part of her daily diet will help..

My son is having this problem right now too. His is from cheese. Stop giving cheese for a couple days. Give some apple juice, not a lot though, that can be counter productive. If she is walking get her outside to a park so she can move around a lot. She may not be getting enough water either. Hope this helps.

Hi.
My 10 month old went through a really rough time for a while where he was only going every 2 to 3 days. Our pediatrician told us to have him drink lots of white grape juice (has to be white grape), eat the apple/prunes baby food and stay away from all other foods with apples and bananas. It worked wonders! We're slowly adding apples and bananas back in and if there is a day where he doesn't go, I just give him some white grape juice and he is good again.

Good luck!

At that age my son ate yogurt with a scoop of prune puree everyday and was totally regular. There's a recipe for prune puree on www.weelicious.com

1/2 to 1 tsp. dark Karo syrup in 8 oz. milk or formula every 3-4 days if no bowel movement within 3-4 days. This was recommended by our pediatrician when our son was a one year old. Ask your dr. and see what they recommend also. sounds like your situation may be more complex. Best of luck.

She's little, so that makes it harder, but definitely include water in her daily diet. Also, if she can have fruits now, try to let her have fruits with little seeds like strawberries, raspberries and kiwi. Follow with water, and that should help. My son had a lot of problems like that when he was that age, and that's what his doctor told us. He's 15, and he still manages himself in this same way.

Yup, a little prune juice should do the trick ;)

they have glycerin suppositories for babies. you can get them in the baby section at any store, and they work quickly. hopefully they will help. to prevent this, make sure she is drinking enough water throughout the day. and also eating lots of fruits, veggies, and fiber. constipation is preventable, and that's the best way not to get to this point.

First give her immediate relief. They make infant Pedialax liquid not the wax, they are like suppositories along with exercising her legs.

Second, increase the fiber in her diet for long term relief. Fruit, oils, juices what ever you can get her to take.

Good Luck.

I use mirolax for my child when he is constipated. Also if you can get them to drink, prune juice is great to get things going. Also avoid constipating foods like, bananas, rice, dairy, etc and get some fruit like peaches, plums, etc into her diet.

or blueberries. Works like a charm and my daughter loves them!

plenty of water, too. dehydration could be compounding the problem.