Constipation in 6 Month Old

Prune juice works great, or you can feed her prunes. Gerber makes baby prunes and baby prune juice. Just give her up to 4 oz a day. That should do the trick.

I would stop using Rice cereal, bananas, and apples.
Contrary to a previous post, apple juice causes constipation. Feed her lots of oatmeal cereal, pear juice and pears and she'll be going just fine.
J.
Mom to almost 5.
2 had severe constipation due to milk protein allergy and low tone.

We had the same issue with our son at that age. We stopped giving him bananas and rice cereal and that returned his stools to normal pretty quickly. He's now 8 months and isn't having any problems at all with either of those foods; maybe his digestive system is a little better able to handle them?!?!

Make sure your daughter is getting enough water (plain old water-or very mildly diluted with 100% fruit juices) on top of her feedings. As you are feeding her fiber in the fruits/veggies, my guess is that she is not getting enough water in her diet to combat the solids (it takes water to digest food/food particles, even those found in juices. That is why plain old water is the best cure for constipation when you are already feeding plenty of raw fiber foods such as fruits and vegetables. One more note: refined wheat products (such as those found in infant cereals, breads, etc.) essentially turn to "glue" in your intestines. They then compact in the intestine and are more difficult to eliminate from the body than good old fruits and vegetable, as well as whole grain/legume/bean/nut fiber. This goes for adults too.

Good luck... if all else fails, increase her consumption of fruit/vegetable fibers (and make sure that they are 100% fruit/vegetables with no added sugars--this can also contribute to constipation).

My 10 month old daughter has always had this problem - I buy the organic prunes (by the dried fruits - Paul Newman I think) and boil them for 8 minutes - then puree them. She eats 1 heaping teaspoon everyday late morning and it keeps her regular like clockwork! Works like a charm and she loves them!

if you are concerned about constipation try some apple juice, tastes better and works just as well as prune juice. another thing to try is karo syrup in her bottle, a nurse recommended it i put about a tablespoon in with her bottle and she went by the next day. it's probably just her body adjusting to the new foods, when all my kids switched from formula to milk we had the same problem and its hard because they are in pain, we had to help them pass some of the stools, it's gross but they would do the same thing at the er or dr's office or you can also try a little vaseline for it to pass easier or fill the so called snot sucker with a little lukewarm water and do it that way. it's the same as doing the vaseline. good luck.

A Nurse at a hospital in Saint Paul told me "Baby Pear Juice"...Since then I have tried it...WORKS LIKE A DREAM!!!and tastes BETTER then prune....(and works on adults tooo) SMILE (try one baby size on your baby) 2 size bottles works on my teen...

C., We would put a little prune juice in with our daughters formula, that helped, you could try grape juice or apple juice too I believe. I hope this helped.

Switch to all fruits with the letter "P". Pears, peaches, prunes. This is what our pediatrician said to do. No apple juice, just pear or prune juice. Lots of water. Your baby is just adjusting to solids, and after a couple weeks should be back to a normal schedule of bowel movements at which time you can slowly bring back the other fruits.

I would definately go with the prunes. They work tremendously with constipation!! Cut back on the fruits a little bit, as certain fruits, like the bananas you mentioned, can cause constipation in little ones, and I know you dont want your little one in pain. If the prunes dont work, you can talk to your pediatrician, and s/he can prescribe something to help.

My 9 (almost 10) month old had difficulty with bananas too and some other foods. The only thing that helped to get him to be more regular was to add oat cereal to his diet. Prunes worked after a serving or two, but would cause one messy BM then he'd be "stuck" again. Juice didn't do a thing for him. The oat cereal worked out really well. He liked rice cereal, but of course rice is binding so I was just looking for an alternative to that. Turned out that this switch did the trick. He can still eat rice and bananas, but he really likes the oat cereal, too.

is she bottle fed or breastfed? typically breastfed babies dont get constipation so im going to assume shes bottle fed.

formula fed babies usually need a bottle of water during the day. formula is more concentrated than breastmilk so constipation is VERY common. its also very painful, and if baby thinks pooping is painful, they will try not to push, and after a while of not pushing, the intestines will stop telling the brain to push....

however, its usually not that bad. its all about balance. i have a formula fed baby in my day care and as long as i give him a sippy cup of juice he usually is fine.. maybe steer away from foods like rice, bananas, etc cuz they are constipating. instead of rice cereal, you can use oatmeal or mixed. but even just a bottle of water once a day should be enough to loosen things up.

formula should be treated the way it used to be : something only given to our babies after careful consideration of both mom and baby's doctor. some certain brands can certainly constipate baby so thats something to think about also.

good luck and i hope this info helps!

Instead of prune juice try pear juice every morning. I would put it right in with my sons formula in the bottle. I would do that every morning and we didn't have to worry about solid diapers.

Yes bananas will do it. I always followed up bananas with prunes ot other high fiber fruit/veggie & they couteracted each other pretty well. try eliminating the bananas for a week or so & see if her BMs rturn to normal. If so you know it is the bananas if not their is another food causing the problem. The easiest way to determine what the problem food is, is to eliminate all foods except one for a few days to a week, see if that is tolerated & then add another, wait another few days before adding another. That way you know eacatly what food is causing contipation, diahrea etc.

Hi C.,

I always found apple juice worked great. And I never bothered with with baby brands, just watered down the frozen concentrate, but that was just me and I'm a bit old school. :-) Best of luck!

~J.

Hi C.-
Common in many young babies.
Yes- bananas can bind- remember the "BRAT" diet to stop diarrhea.
Watch Karo syrup- but you can try that.
We used prune juice and acidophilus.
Then we switched to what we called "fairy dust"- a dissolvable fiber product a company carries (I now belong)and their aloe.

Just keep using things till you find the right mix.

If you want to know more about the fairy dust and aloe- email me.

About me- 47yo med. prof, wellness coach, wife and mom of almost 7yo twin girls.
____@____.com

B. Jarmoluk
verizon cell ###-###-####

You could definatle try some prunes or prune juice. I have been giving that to my 9 month old son since he was a few weeks old for constipation. Gerber makes an apple/prune juice (it is by the babyfood) and I just mix two oz of that with 2 oz of water and give that to him about every other day and he now stays very regular. Hope you find something that will help her.

Prunes always worked for my son. You can also try prune juice or white grape juice.

Bananas are constipating, and eliminating them will do the trick in a few days. However, prunes are harsh because they are so gassy. Giving prunes, you could end up with another problem - a screaming, gassy baby.

What formula doesn't have that breast milk does is essential fatty acids. These EFA's help a baby to digest her food once solids are introduced. The missing EFA's are one of the primary reasons babies get constipated.

You can swing by any natural food store or vitamin store and pick up Flax Oil or Cod Liver Oil (the flax has way less of a strong flavor). Put a teaspoon in her formula and shake it well. She won't even notice it, but her bowel movements will IMMEDIATELY soften without diarrhea or gas.

Essential Fatty Acids include: flax oil, fish oil, primrose oil, borage oil and wheat germ oil.