Constipated Newborn

Hi S.,
I am a mother of a 3 year old and had a similar problem. I switched from soy to Nestles Good Start formula the one in the orange can and also added Karo syrup and he was fine. I hope this helps.

T.

If you can't resolve this, you could still bring in breastmilk but it would take a lot of patience and you'd have to supplement in the meantime. It would be very unlikely this would happen with breastmilk. Suppositories might help temporarily. Iron is constipating sometimes.

I say get him off the iron... I took my baby girl off formula with iron and she started doing much better...

S.,
I feel your pain. This is one of the most frustrating things to go through. I can only advise you to get it taken care of at this early age. Talk to you doctor and see what they suggest. I don't know if 6 weeks old in too young for Miralax but that is what my doctor keeps telling me to use. My daughter has always had problems with this ever since she was a tiny baby. As she got older (about 2 years old) she started to "with hold" and she would not go. She would even cross her legs to keep from going. She is now 3 and we got to a point where I would have to give her fleet enemas to get her to go. I put her back on about 1/4 to 1/2 a capful of Miralax every other day and she seems to be doing much better now. We have not had to resort to the enema for about a month now. I am hoping that we have been through the worst of it. I can't stress enough to take care of this problem as early as possible so that you don't have to go through the same thing I have had to. I hope this helps you out a bit. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Best of luck to you.
T.

Ok, you might think I am crazy, but try switching to ready to feed instead of powder. You did not say if you use powder, but I assumed you do. We had the same problem with our first child and switching from powder to ready to feed soy was an instant change. It is a little more money and not as convenient, but it was well worth it. She had similar contipation issues and once we made the switch she was not constipated ever again until we switched to "real food". Once you give the baby real food stay away from apples, bannanas, carrots and limit cheese intake. These tend to make constipation worse. Foods like pears, peaches, raisens, grapes are all great! And once the baby is old enough try to mix a small amount of prune juice in with grape (for taste). We give this to our two year old weekly to help keep her regular. Hope this helps.

Poor little guy! I would for sure change to a formula without iron and see if that helps. Iron is VERY constipating and he probably doesn't need it anyway. The Karo syrup is just adding alot of sugar that he really doesn't need.

S., first & foremost, call your doctor! Let them guide you through the progression of what to try and when to try it. That way, if there are any other problems, they will already know what has been done.
We had a similar situation with my youngest (he's 4 months old). It didn't matter which formula I switched him to, he stayed constipated, because he has to be on lactose free - and they all have extra iron in them. We were told to first try the karo syrup, and that didn't do anything. We were then told to try 1/2 a glycerin suppository, and that didn't work because he'd expel the suppository before it could work. Only then did our doctor have us try the prune juice / water mix. That worked pretty well, then, as he got a little older, we were able to go back to the suppositories, and those worked like a charm! Seriously, though, I can't stress enough to consult your doctor first - that way if any allergies come up, it will be easier to identify what caused them.

My children had the same problem. I knew after my first that my babies needed to be on the low iron (at the time it was Enfamil) formula. I realize doctors say if babies don't get enough iron, it negatively impacts their brain development. My children are 15 and 12 and are honor students.

So if it were me, yes I would switch to the low iron/no iron formula. Good luck and let us know if that helps.

Many blessings,

M.

Congratulations on your new baby!!

Has he been on antibiotics? Has your Dr talked with you about probiotics? There is a very good alternative to karo syrup that establishes a healthy digestive tract. May I get some more information to you?

warmly, M.

The only formula that helped my son with this problem, Was one with DHA in it. If you're not already using one of those, then perhaps that's an option. As he got a little older ( about 2 months) the doctor recommended we try giving him about 1-2 mL of prune juice a day, which helped immensely.

Even now (He's almost 4) he still gets horrible constipation if he doesn't get enough fruits and veggies in a day.

Don't bother with formula. It is the biggest scam there is. It is 97% vegetable oil like crisco, literally so is very difficult to digest with 3% vitamins added to meet the vitamin requirements. Your best bet is to breast feed, if for some reason that is not possible talk to your doctor about animal milks and which would suit him best.

For my daughter I use Flaxseed Oil. I have used it since she was very young. They can have up to 2 tsp/day, but 1 would usually do it for her. I would mix 1 tsp in the 1st bottle of the day and if she didn't poop by late afternoon/early evening I would do the second. She is 18 mths now and I still mix it in her sippy in the morning if she seems constipated. I get it at Better Health.

He needs to be on a low iron formula.

The only thing that works for us is prune juice in the bottle. My daughter is 10 weeks now and we have been giving her 1 tsp of prune juice in her bottle since she was about 2 weeks. Karo syrup never really worked...you can also do pear juice in his bottle.

S., DO NOT add water or juice to his diet, and I don't recommend trying anything like Karo syrup at this young age. Please call your pediatrician to discuss strategies, and also to help rule out any serious problems that could be causing constipation.

Adding things (such as extra water) to a young infant's diet can put him at serious risks for electrolyte problems.

We had the same problem with our newborn. However, the Karo syrup was corn based and so was the formula and we come to find out that our daughter has an allergy to corn. GO FIGURE! So we used 3 different Enfamil formulas and 1 similac before I just did the normal Enfamil Lipil (which is NOT corn suryp solids). And we used 100% Pure Prune juice instead of Karo suryp, and now at 17 weeks, she is pooping on her own! :-)

Hope that helps!

J

S.,
Hello :) I know what I do for my constipated son who will be 3 in November (Miralax and prune juice) but because your little guy is only 6 weeks old, I don't know what would be right for him... my suggestion (and perhaps you've already done this) would be to contact his pediatrician and find out what they recommend. I wouldn't want to do anything to his little system that it couldn't yet handle. Hope everything works out!

K. :)

Try about a half ounce of prune or pear (that works best) juice. You can find pear juice in the baby food section, not the juice section of the grocery store. I'd stay away from Karo syrup.

Our daughter was on Similac Soy and we had to do this until she was 6 months and started on veggies - that solved it. She would poop every 2-4 days, but with the juice is wasn't hard, it was normal, just had a slow bowel I guess.

I had the same problem with my son. Try adding half an ounce of prune juice to his bottle twice a day. If that doesnt work increase to an ounce twice a day. If that DOES work, then you can decrease or adjust it as needed. That is what my pediatrician told me to do. She also said not to do more than 2 ounces daily. You can water it down and do it as its own bottle but that hurt my sons belly, so we put it in formula. Just as an fyi, my son was still having a ton of trouble so his doctor ended up prescribing him a medicine called lactulose, which is basically a thick sugar. That is what ultimately worked and he took it daily until he was about 6 months old. good luck

Hi S.---Since you are not breastfeeding, your next best alternative is a pre-digested formula. This information came from a Pediatrician that I work with. The subject came up when I was asking her about the alarming trend for Docs to suggest using drugs like prevacid for babies.

Anyway, one of the things that makes breast milk so magical is that it is predigested. Babies digestive systems have never had to digest food before they were born. I apologize, but I can"t remember for sure, but I think this formula needs to be prescribed by the Doc. I've also read good things about rice based formulas. If this pediatrician doesn't seem to give you the help you think you need, find another one. He or she is working for you and not every Dr. has the same skills.

Cows milk based formulas are probably a big source of the problem. It is highly allergenic. You can learn more at www.strongbones.org.

Remember, as you look at prices for food or formula, you are investing in your babies, and your health, by purchasing the best food possible. Food that will support your health, not challenge it. Babies, or anyone, for that matter, shouldn't have digestive problems. If you would like to know more about how to optimize your health, feel free to call me. I am taking a series of Wellness Classes to be a certified Wellness Consultant. The classes are offered by a Naturopath who has her PhD in nutrition. Her advice is based on long term research.

Good luck. In health, D. ###-###-####

Just wondering if you are using light or dark Karo syrup? The dark works much better. I was able to use that and the diluted apple juice, so I am afraid I have no other advice. I hope you find something that help so the little guy isn't miserable.

Try the no iron/low iron formula. and Prune juice. I also put mine in the baby bath with warm water-and keep putting the wash cloth in the warm water and then on the tummy-rub the tummy. WORKS! I know the dr.`s say to only bath once/twice a week...I always gave mine 2-3 baths a day because they loved it! and it got them use to the water---Mine are just fine!!!-almost 19, 9 and 6 yrs. old!

Have you tried a little prune juice. Gerber makes a watered down one already in the babyfood section. Call your Dr.
Good luck.

My daughter had bad constipation around 11 months old and her dr. told me to put a little Benefiber in her bottle/cup of milk. It worked great, and since it blends right in to liquids she never even noticed. Since she was much older than your son is now, I'd definitely check with your dr. before trying it. But it worked for us when nothing else did. Good luck!

Karo syrup doesn't add sugar. The sugars stay in their gut and make the BM softer to push out. I've done it and tried it all...ALL!!! Make sure the Karo is dark Karo and I, too, had to put it in every bottle. Def. ask your ped first and go with their advice. Too many moms on here rely on (and worse, pass on) information they find from the internet that is unfounded. I used gerber juice at one time and the doc said it was so diluted that it doesn't do any good.

Good luck...always ask the doc.

We had to put our son on low iron formula. He still did really well with it, but that was the only thing that worked for him. Good luck, and congrats on the new addition to the family!

my son had the same problems. because he was constipated everything came up the other way. he went on a special formula for colic. i also gave him gas drops which actually helped. but keep an eye on this problem because i later found out that my son has severe thyroid problems. they check your babies thyroid at birth but then not again for YEARS. my son now has to go through thyroid replacement therapy for the rest of his life. he is three years old and is still constipated. please be very careful and keep a close eye on your baby. dont hesitate to go to the doctor more then once a week. i was there almost everyday :)

I would still check with pediatrician. My son was the same way and juice and syrup did not work for him. They had me use Pedia-lax (previously baby-lax). We used half of a suppository and it worked fast for him. Hope this helps.

is there a reason he is on iron forumla milk--
if not i would take him off also i would have
him check for wheat -- have you tried soy milk--he might have a milk problems -- my son was but the minute i put him rice cereral -- he was ok-- i made it real runny with soy milk-- he was only three month of age-- the dr was appalated-- but he feel better and we both final got some sleep

I didn't read everyone's replies but we had that problem with our daughter. We just used light Karo syrup (1 tsp. in 4 oz. of formula) it took a couple hours but worked. My grandma and my neighbor recomended it after having problems with their kids. Good Luck, I know it's not fun!!

I had the same problem with my daughter. I switched formulas and she was still constipated. My doctor told me to give it a little while for the new formula to work and in the meantime to give her suppositories. i forget what they are called but they were for children 1 or over. i had to cut them in half. 1 min after the first suppository she pooped. after a few days, she went back to normal. still, watch for blood in the stool, etc. that could mean that she is pushing to hard and has ruptured something. good luck!

Don't go hither and thither. I am using babies magic tea with great results for my constipated baby and I would recommend the same for your baby.