Could Formula Be Making My 1 Month Old Constipated?

My daughter had a problem with Enfamil Lipil. She too was getting constipated on her formula. Her dr put her on Enfamil Lipil Low Iron in the pink container. It helped some. I also gave her prune juice when she was about 6 months. Hopefully some of these suggestions work. Unfortunately the drs were never able to let me know what the real problem was but now she is 2 1/2 and on 1 % milk which is working very well for her.

My 2 month old was going through the same thing. I called the doctor and they said that the formula will do that sometimes I am thinking with the iron. So they told me to put Dark Karo syrup 1tsp in the formula 2times per day and that will help. I did that and after the first bottle with the syrup he would poop better. They also said just do the 2 times and then see what happens.

If the formula has added iron it more than likely is doing it. This happened to my son and it is hard to make people believe you. good luck

how did you know you didn't have enough milk? one month is hard/to early to gauge it, and at first there isn't as much milk because it is more concentrated and the baby doesnt drink as much in one sitting. is it too late to go back to breastfeeding? as your child grows milk production increases. this is a common fear among nursing mothers but it is often unfounded. i think you jumped the gun into giving her formula IMHO, and yes, this is causing the constipation. if you still want to nurse i would latch her back on. i doubt you're milk-less after only 1 month. the difference in nutrition is like organic fruit vs a box of mac and cheese. make sure you eat well and drink enough fluids, too, to increase milk production.

Hi J.!

Absolutely, is my answer to your question! My daughter was horribly constipated once we made the switch around 5 months from breast milk to formula (the same as you, BTW!)... so horribly bad she got hemerrhoids & bleeding... poor baby! :(

Obviously breast milk is best if you can nurse your little love, but if not, I would HIGHLY recommend switching formulas -- immediately -- & find something else. We have used the Nestle Goodstart (orange can)for both our girlies & it has always seemed to work great!

Hope your little one starts feeling better soon!

S.

You could try formula without iron...I think most brands make it (or only use the iron free when she is constipated), if she has not gone in 4-5 days, i would get a baby enema, you can get them at any grocery store, we have used them on occasion and they work great. They are made by Fleet.

My daughter had the same problem. We ended up in the hospital. We saw specialist. The solution was to put her on Soy milk,, She took to it immediatly, she slept, so did I. Ever since the change in the formula she has done very well. She is 9 years old now and she gets ill very rare, and if she does she is over it in less time than her brothers or sisters.

My doctor told me that formula can constipate my son. I have had to switch to formula but I have been breastfeeding too and it hasn't constipated him. If you still have breastmilk you may try doing both and see if it helps.

My daughter has the same problems. She was constipated (sp?) SOOOO badly while on formula. we tried a lot of different kinds. the one the worked BEST for us was the Nestle's Good Start Soy forumla PRE-MIXED. NOT the powder kind. The actual pre mixed liquid was SOOOOOOOO gr8! Her poops were so much better after we got her on that. you could also try 2 TBLS of DARK Karro sryup in 1-2 bottles/day. That helped as well.

Email me if you want anyother tips. I know it's so sad when your little one is having problems, and you can't find a solution fo them.

____@____.com

S.

Absolutly. Breastmilk is far easier for babies to digest. I highly reccommend try to talk to a Certified Lactation Consultant, not just your peditrician, and continue breastfeeding if you can. La Leche Leage is a great rescorse, and there is a great breastfeeding counselor at www.everymotherandchild.com as well. There are ways to try to increase your milk supply naturally. Also, babies go through a big growth spurt at three weeks, and though it may seem that you were "not making enough" because she wanted to nurse constantly, That is just natures way of getting your body to make more milk. When you put her on the breast even when it's empty, your body says "more demand, more supply" and produces. It may take a few days of almost constant nursing, but it's worth it in the end. Breastmilk is soooo much better for her. (This is not medical advise, just ideas from the limited info in your post... maybe you tried this... If so, sorry.)
If your set on introducing formula, then try different brands, or soy. Maybe it's a milk alergy. Or try goats milk with added vitamins. You can find recipies for home-made formula online. Good luck. J.
If you are set on

If the formula is iron fortified, then YES it could be making him constipated. We actually had to get the prune/apple juice for one of my kids to help with that. The others only breastfed so we never had that problem. I did notice that my 7 month old (who just started cereal and a few other baby foods) will have a thicker stool when he has had too much food or snacks. I just water down a little bit of apple juice and that will do it for him. With one as young as yours, juice is a no-no so you may try alternating with a formula that isn't iron fortified. Or try calling your Dr but they will probably tell you to use a stool softner and that wasn't ANY FUN at all!!!

This is completely normal, I had the same problem with my daughter. The doctor advised to give her some corn syrup which solved the problem very quickly. It will mostly regulate itself. I know it is heartbreaking to watch them straining. Good luck!

Hi J.! I have heard of this happening with other moms I know who have given their babies formula. Mama's milk is just so much easier to digest and formula is foreign to their little digestive system and harder to digest and absorb. I know how frustrated you must have been feeling that you weren't making enough milk, but have you considered trying to increase your milk supply by pumping or using herbal supplements (fenu-greek, brewer's yeast, alfalfa, etc.)? Even if you were only able to give her what you could from you and supplement with formula if needed, she would have an easier time pooping. By the way, my friend whose baby was constipated from formula was able to go back to nursing and she began pooping regularly again in no time. I wish you and your sweetheart all the best!!!

you need to give her some water also the formula can constipate I dont know about the organic that new from when I had kids My youngest being 9 now but I do know that a bottle of water every day will help

My 5 month old daughter had the same problem. I tried all kinds of formula. Eventually I found out that the only think that worked for her is Wal-mart's Parent's Choice formula. You can try a Similac sensitive. It's partially broken down and supposedly easier to digest. Personally it made my daughter have diarrhea. Since each baby is different you might have to try a few different brands until you find which one works best for your baby. Good luck I hope this helps. Email me anytime

J.- DO NOT GIVE WATER, as someone else suggested! IT will take her needed nutrition away from her, always breastfeed first then supplement with formula if she is still hungary. Also let her breastfeed as long as she wants, it will help to stimulate your milk. Give your 5 year old a book to sit next to you so he can flip the pages and you can read it while breastfeeding, or a color book.

It is probably the formula. We did two things for my daughter who had this problem. First, we added an extra ounce of water to the bottle every time. Second, when we noticed her having a hard stool, we would dab a little Vaseline in her bum and lift her legs up to help her push. Ask your ped. at the next visit if they have any further suggestions. Don't switch formulas until then...it upsets their tummies.

Hi J.,

Yes, the formula is causing the constipation. Check out the ingredients and experiment with other brands. I know you can find a more natural brand at Whole Foods that might be better for her.

If you can switch back to breastfeeding, you may want to try that again, as it is certainly better for her and you can control what you eat.

Best of luck to you :)

Warm Regards,
G. Van Luven

We are going through this right now with my 2 month old. After weeks and weeks of being on karo syrup and juice I finally took him to AZ Childrens Gastro they said he has GERD (acid reflux) and with that going untreated is what caused his constipation. Our doctors office has told us that iron in formula does NOT cause constipation so keep your baby on the iron formula maybe try Gentelease (I am sure similac makes one similar to Enfamils that is just the one we are using) basically the formula is partially broken down and has less of the lactose. I honestly would consult with your doctor before doing anything but, they told us at first to give our son 1 tsp of Dark Karo syrup that didnt help so we had to go all the way to 2 tablespoons. Call you doc and see what they want you to do.

I am reading what others have said do not give your baby extra water I have read it will take out the electrolytes in their blood and make them dehydrated and thing their blood if I am remembering correctly. Doesnt make sense to me but, that is what it said.

I honestly would call your doctor and have her looked at. Maybe tested for a milk protein allergy too.

Another thing do not feel bad for not being able to breastfeed. I was not able to either. I know that you feel like you have to make an excuse for it (I always do too) it is sad that women are made to feel that way or that they are doing a dis-service to their babies. I understand breastmilk is best but, if you are unable to then you are unable to. You are a good mommy!!! :o)

Our little girl had the same deal ---- our doc said we could add a couple drops of Dark Karo syrup and that would stimulate the stool. It works. We use it now in our litle boys oatmeal mixture to free him up a bit.

my 2 1/2 week old got constipated too because he would be hungry still after breast feedin so i would give him about an oz of formula after. the one with iron constipated him so i tried this enfamil...gentlease for gassy and fussy babies and it made him go right away. haha and my son is a lil porker cuz i can get at least 3 oz of milk when i pump so i know he eatin good. he has cut back though. oh and water between meals worked for him too. also i dont know if you would but chamomille tea also works really well for gassy babies. stops their cryin right away. good luck,
A.

Yes, yes, YES! Especially if it is Iron fortified. It is SO important to keep the bowels moving, as when they arent, it is akin to no one picking up your garbage anymore! I would try to find breastmilk from somewhere for her. Giving her plain water in between feedings can help, too. The iron is very hard to digest and is not very well assimilated, either, so I would first look at how I can eliminate that. Keeping the bowels moving easily is probably one of the most important things we can do for good health.

my son was constipated until around 7 months old! it was miserable. my doctor kept telling me to give pear juice wich did help but finnally after 7 months i changed his formula to soy based and he was no longer constipated! although it seemed he was hungrier! he didnt sleep all night until i put him on whole milk at 1 years old! but the soy realy helped! he was a late crawler because of it! he wanted nothing to do with being on his stomach!breast feeding didnt work but a week for me also! my nurse reassued me that it doesnt work for everyone! many people disagree with that and they may not have ever had that problem! well i wish you luck!!

Hi J.! I went through pretty much the exact thing with my daughter who is 11 weeks now. I tried everything under the sun to help with my milk production and I was never able to make more than an ounce at a time. I know how hard it was for me to give it up, and I know how horrible it made me feel when people didn't understand what I was going through, so I encourage you to do whatever it takes to get your baby some food!! We started her on similac organic and the exact same thing happened to her. I did some internet research and found that lots of moms had problems with constipation and organic similac. So, we just switched her to similac advance and it made all the difference in the world! Also try the "I love you" massage, where you draw the letter I, then L, then U upside down from right to left on her belly, and try leg pumping to get her little intestines working. Good luck, and you are doing a great job!!

My son had alot of gas, found out it was the water I was using. Switched to nursery water and had not had any more problems.

Hi J.,
Congratulations on your new addition! Formula can cause babies to become constipated. I wouldn't dilute it because she won't be getting all she needs if you do. Try adding a teaspoon of light corn syrup to her bottle. I would add it to just one a day at first and see if it helps. If not add it to two and so on. It will help. It always got my girls regulated and usually it worked with only 1 teaspoon in one bottle. Our pediatrician is the one who recommended it. Good luck!!

J.,

I had the same problem with my second child also. She would do good on one sort of formula for a day or two, then get really constipated. So I would switch her to a different kind. Finally after days of listening to her cry because it hurt to go to the bathroom, the 3rd type of formula worked wonders for her. So maybe try another type. Good luck!

Yes, it could definitely be the culprit. I'm not experienced with formula to help you with that, but I wanted to say that you could probably still try to nurse! Contact a lactation consultant or your local LLL. What you save in buying formula is tremendous and I'll bet you have no constipation issues with breastmilk! Just because you didn't pump that much milk or your daughter didn't jump off the charts in weight gain doesn't mean you weren't producing enough. If you want to try nursing again, contact someone now. Also, in ABQ there's a class that might help on the 28th here:
http://www.bodymindandspiritabq.com

Good luck!

You can take a poop diaper to the dr and have it tested for blood in the stool, if so...it could be a diary allergy. Then you would have to switch to alimentum or nutramigian (which I had to do!) Usually dairy allergies are opposite (they give them way runny poops and the temperment is way bad)....be a little bossy with the dr and check it out.

My breast milk petered out and I was SO sad and upset and felt guilty. But then I tried a few things and got my milk back full force (my MIL said she was able to even produce a limited amount of milk for her adopted son by trying the same tea that also worked for me). Anyways, so I advise 2 things--first, DO NOT FEEL GUILTY like I did. Guilt is unproductive and makes you feel horrible. Yes, breast milk is better and I don't think anyone would dispute that, but formula-fed babies turn out completely fine. But having said that, I would still recommend trying everything you can to get your milk supply back up. There are several different things you can do that have worked for many mothers (and you may have very well tried already. But if you weren't aware there were things out there that might help your milk supply, you can look in the archives here on Mamasource as several people have asked and some even updated us with their resulting success. Or send me a message if you are interested and I will tell you what worked for me). I fully recognize that trying so hard for something that isn't working may cause so much stress that it defeats the purpose of better health.

Once again, please don't beat yourself up for what your body is or is not capable of and I truly apologize if my response made you feel any worse regarding the situation. I do have one more bit of advice that should give you hope--there are people out there who donate their breastmilk, recognizing that it provides the best nutrition available. I gave my extra frozen milk to a women who had an adopted baby. She uses and highly recommends www.milkshare.com so check that out. Here is a quote from their website, "MilkShare is not a Milk Bank. We are simply an informational resource to help you learn about milk donation and to connect families who can help each other."

When you get a chance call her pediatrician, but it probably is the formula. Babies shouldn't have solid BMs till they start eating solids. You can try a different brand, and maybe dilute a little more also.

As for breastfeeding, have you tried drinking any teas that help produce breast milk. There are some different ones out there. Maybe join a Leche League group to see what suggestions they might have as well.

Good luck

Hi J.,

I had the same problem with my daughter and it is ot good for little girls to strain that hard to go to the bathroom, they can mess themselves up for having kids later in life. My doctor said to put Karo syrup in her bottles and that will help. So i would buy the light colored karo syrup and put about a half inch in the bottom of the bottle and them pour the formula on top, and when you warm up the bottle that syrup will warm up to amd shake into the formula very easily.