8 Month Old Bowel Movements like Balls

Hi... Are you giving him enough water? Per my pedi. babies can have up to as many ounces as they are months, so at 8 months, he should be drinking 8 oz of water per day. Another thing that really worked for my son was pear juice. Apple is constipating. Good luck! :-)

hi J.,

try aloe vera internally. it is soothing and calming and cleansing. and rub his abdomen clockwise. often it is tension or allergies. try changing to rice cereal, oatmeal is known to cause mucus in many and mucus is sticky and creates ball-like poops!

good luck,

A.

From experience of 3 children’s, I have tried to mix oatmeal with apricot, prunes, pears, and papaya. For vegetables limit only to green beans, peas, and sweet potatoes. It is important to try to stay away from fruit and vegetable that cause constipation like banana, strawberry peach, applesauce, carrot, blueberry and etc.. A little water will also help in between meals.

Hope this help

Hi J.,
My daughter, almost 3 yrs old, has always had this problem. Her pediatrician recommended feeding prunes every morning plus giving her diluted prune juice daily. I have found that feeding her pears, prunes, and carrots also help keep it softer. Try also giving him a sippy cup with water during the day. My daughter also has problems when she eats too much applesauce. We also limited crackers (still do) and found that those Gerber Puffs made it worse as they are made with rice flour. When you start him on regular milk at 12 months, make sure he isn't drinking too much as it can also make it REALLY bad. Good luck!
Sincerely,
L.

Hi J.,

First of all you're doing just fine. It is common for alot of babies. My daughter was very constipated and we don't know if it has to do with her being prematurity at 23 weeks. My sweet little girl is doing great. I have been working with GI doctor and a nutritionist to figure out what is best for my baby. Let me tell you what you may not know. First of all, sweet potatoes, bananas are causing consipation for your baby. Do not give your baby any sweet potatoes, bananas, and rice. Try giving your baby peas, green beans, apricots, corn, applesauce and mango. These foods contains high in fiber. I wouldn't give him any meats just yet. Still little for that. It is ok to give oatmeal. What formula is he on? I wish that I have the paper that has all of the info on what is causing constipation. If nothing works, try talking with the nutritionist. Drs may not know whole lot of info. Nutritionist is the best way to go or you can find a remedy book for babies with constipation. I hope all is well and hopefully you find something that will help your baby.

Goodluck!

My pediatrician always said to include some baby food "pears" to the rice or oat cereal othewise the baby would become constipated. She was advised of this by her nurses years ago when they'd receive phone calls from moms complaining about it. Give it a try.

My daughter is one and has always had this problem. I won't repeat all of the advice (many of the same things I have done and continue to do, prunes, water, etc), but I will add that it seemed like when my daughter was teething, the constipation would get worse for a couple of days, the teeth would pop and then better bowel movements followed. She is prone to constipation anyway, but those weeks have been rougher on her. Something to keep an eye on.

Both my girls had constipaton (difficult to go and hard, sometimes large, stools). I actually had this problem as a child and even as an adult. After I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder, I found out I am gluten intolerant. I cannot have any gluten which is found in wheat, barley, rye and often in oats. This is a genetic condition. It is similar to Celiac disease but does not cause the same level of damage to the intestines. You'll have to do a little reading on the internet to understand the difference but it is worth the time to figure out if it is your child's issue or not. It is a long story but I found my daughters have gluten intolerance as well. When I took them off all gluten grains, the constipation stopped. So did the rashes and canker sores they were getting which are some of the symptoms some people may have with this condition. Doctors will tell you this is a rare condition but it really is not. Check it out! Might help!

Hi J.,

I'm having the same difficulties with my 7-month-old daughter. i just saw her doctor yesterday who recommended offering water often and adding flax meal to her food. we'll give it a try.

good luck!
-S.

Hi J.,

You are not alone with this condition. Is your baby getting enough water? Is it filtered? I have a granddaughter that I have been giving her piwater and barley jade greezymes since she was two weeks old. Good water and enzymes are great in aliminating toxins from the body.

If you would like more info check out www.nikken.com/ninamarie

I you have any questions please feel free to call or email me.

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Good luck to you.

N. Marie

Hi J.-
My son has a similar problem and this is what the advice nurse told us:
-Bowel movements should be the consistancy of peanut butter.
-Give him pears, prunes, and peaches. Give fruit more frequently than vegetables.
-Try giving baby water in a sippy cup. (I think it's one ounce per month of age per day--but you might double check that).
-My son will not drink water, so we gave him 2oz pear juice mixed with 2 oz water in a sippy cup.
-She said it can take up to 2 weeks to see an improvement.
We followed the above and saw improvement in a week or two.

Jennifer

Constipated. Give him more liquids.

Rule out allergens so you can eliminate dietary culprits. Mix prune and pear juice diluted with water for him to drink during the day and add baby food pears to each morning meal. We had to eliminate egg in his and my diets and after that and a week on the prune/pear therapy his stool consistency was improved. Good Luck!

Try a little carrot juice in his milk say 1/3rd carrot to 2/3rds milk. Helped with me when I was little and helped with my son.

Hope it will help,

K.

The " ball" bowel movement is a number one sign of constipation. Try slowing down on the solids or maybe the amount in one day, I think water will help and, of course, as much breast milk as you and he can handle. When my son was constipated we made a prune tea, prunes in water on the stovetop and cover on low -medium heat (try not to boil) for a good 20 minutes and then let steep until you can see a nice dark color from the prunes. Let cool and then give a couple of ounces to baby. Dont overdue it only a couple of ounces every 12 hours and have water inbetween.(I personally would give two doses first day, every 6 hours) I would personally give many liquids until he has a good bm. Also stay away from the oatmeal until a good bm, when it is time to reintroduce oatmeal, add some fruits with the oatmeal but not just oatmeal alone, it is binding. Good luck I know how painful it can be for him
M.

How much prune juice do you give him? We use to give about 4 ounces of prune juice mixed with 4 ounces of water. We had to give our daughter prune juice everyday from about 6-12 months old and it worked great. Also pear juice work well also. Any fruits that start with P usually help with constipation (pears, peaches, prunes). Also, I would try Watermelon or Cantaloupe, they are suppose to very healthy and are very good at hydrating the body. My daughter doesn't seem to have the problem anymore (16 months), and she eats fruit at every meal and when her stools seem hard we really push the peaches and pears. She also drinks a ton of water so that helps too.

When my baby was constipated like this our doc recommended more fiber. I tried everything under the sun including supositories. Nothing seemed like it was working. He did recommended that you feed less bananas and apples and just pears and peaches. The other two can do the opposite of what you think. We gave her straight fruit juice, not watered down and not baby kind. Then we had to put her on meds. Also, oatmeal can be very constipating.

He is dehydrated. Make sure you are drinking enough water and that the foods that you are feeding him are high in water content like melons.

When my three year old has poop like this (I call it rabbit poop), it usually means he needs more water. This clears up the problem.

My second boy was the same way. I discovered he needed raisins and lots of fruit. This helped to soften his stools tremendously. He would get so constipated as an infant, that he would cry every time he pooped. I would have to remove his diaper each time until I got it under control. FYI Cows milk can make matters worse. It will usually cause constipation. The casin in cows milk does not digest properly especially in a child that is weaned. Cows milk is very difficult for many people to digest. If you still have trouble detecting your source just try cutting out dairy for a month or so this will prove if this is the cause. Continue Nursing this is natural for a baby of course, just cut out the cow milk. If you need something in it's place, try soy, rice or almond milk, they are all better in the place of cow milk.

I would see if he is allergic to anything he is eating. My daughter showed signs of constipation at just 6 months of age, and she was exclusively breast fed. We later discovered that she was reacting to dairy, and has issues digesting it.

Also, a great way to help regulate his stool is to give him Flax Oil in his food daily. It keeps my kids regular for sure, and provides Omega 3's and 6's. Good luck!

T.
Founder

I had the sme problem with my 6 month old. He was actually waking up in the middle of the night contipated. My pediactrician said I should start giving my son 2-6 ounces of water a day. Since I started that it's gotten a little bit better. Hope water helps your son. good luck.

He's constipated. Bananas, rice, applesauce, and cheese can be very constipating. . .along with cow's milk (once you wean him). Fruits that start with P are very helpful, prune juice mixed with his cereal along with feeding him the prunes can help. More water will also help. Does his poop have an ammonia smell to it? When that happened with my daughter, my ped told us to increase her water and that helped.

All 3 of my kids (11.5 and twin 5.5s) have been on Miralax because we just tend toward constipation no matter what our diets. I've recently been able to back off the Miralax with 2 out of the 3 and my one who is a huge water drinker still needs it. Go figure!

I would suggest eliminating the applesauce and if that doesn't make a difference, mix his cereal with prune juice to see if that helps--along with still feeding him the prunes.

Good luck!!
T.

Both my kids had trouble with constipation after starting solids, ever thought they were still nursing like yours. My son had to be put on Miralax after 2 really bad episodes of impaction. My daughter I could manage with diet. It sounds like you will be able to manage it with diet, if he has not have had any cases of impaction yet. I gave my daughter barley cereal in addition to oatmeal, never rice. I also gave prunes every morning, and at night too if her poop was hard that day. I had her drink 4-8 oz of water each day. I pretty much never gave applesauce or banana. Also, instead of the traditional Cheerios, I found a high fiber cereal she liked and gave her that as finger food. If this does not work you can ask the Dr. about a stool softener, like Miralax.

It sounds like all of the food you are listing are constipating foods. Even the applesause. Try some other fruits. It is the perfect time of year. Also I give my little girls steamed carrotts and she loves them. Avoid the freeze dried baby snacks. Those cause some constipation for my little one. Try some very diluted carrott, apple or prune juice. It shouldn't be that hard for him to have a poop. Good luck.

My son was the same way. I was sure to give him prunes with every meal. If there was something I was spoon feeding (oatmeal, yogurt, etc.) then I mixed in some baby prunes, not a whole container, just a few good spoons. And I did it with every meal. I also had a sippy cup with water on his highchair to get him ready for a cup and to get him used to other liquids. At 8 mos they can have water-they don't drink tons but some it better than none.

Also look for foods that naturally have a lot of water-like watermelon.