Major Constipation in 11 Month Old

The mineral oil idea has helped my son immensely. It isn't absorbed, and is gentle. Little Tummies stool softener also helps.

I see you have a lot of advise. My doc told me most of the same things (water, fruit, juice) She also told me to take a rectal temp. Sometimes the thermometer can activate the bowel to move. I tried it a couple of times with my daughter who seemed to get constipated often. When the water or juice wouldn't work, the thermometer did.

Good Luck

We had the same problem with our son. We used prune juice (half water/half prune juice) and that really helped but we also had to resort to infant suppositories. You cut them in half (lengthwise) so they are not so thick and hold them in them for 10-15 minutes. It works very well- you will have poop running down your hands in a few minutes. It's gross but works when nothing else will. This was the suggestion from our doctor, not our idea. Also, our doctor specificallly said NOT to use Kayo syrup because of botulism spores. He said infants can get really sick from it.

Have you tried giving her Karos syrup. My daughter was constipated as a baby (2-3 months old) once we started using formula. It's and old time rememdy that my mother and also my ped recommended. You can get it from the grocery store. It worked for us as we just added a little to her bottle and in a few hours she was able to passed her food.

Good luck

The baby food prunes always worked with my son. It took about 2 days. Does your little girl eat fresh fruit or just the baby food from jars? Fresh would probably help a little better. Pears,peaches and mangos can be mushed pretty good. They say apples and banana can cause constipation. Just some thoughts.

Try a few drops of Flax Oil in her drink. This was recommended from my husband's brother, a chiropractor, when our 8 week old was only going once every few days and she was extremely uncomfortable. It's all natural and you can get the pills at GNC. Just poke a hole in the liquid gel and put in the drink. Worked like a charm for us. Good luck!

My daughter had the same problems. The specialist I took her to told me to put mineral oil in her drink (1-2) tablespoons once or twice a day as needed. I will loosen the stool. Don't be surprised if she poops some orange liquid, that's just the mineral oil going through. He also recommended Senacot liquid as needed (1 tsp every other day until she pooped then is she didn't poop for one or 2 days give it again.) We did this for 6-8 months and now she is fine. The earlier you treat the problem the shorter amount of time she sill need the help. (my daughter was 18 months and holding her legs together to not poop when I took her in.) good luck.

D.

Do not give juice unless it is prune.
Try to give fruits at least twice a day.
And I was told by Doctor that when it is really bad give a little corn syrup in a bottle once a day until it passes.

We also used Good Start with our twins and at one point we switched to the GS Soy with our daughter. She became constipated the day we started her on the GS Soy and we had no luck getting rid of it, so we switched back to regular GS again and she was fine after that. If you must stay on the GS Soy, try giving her kiwi -- it's very effective!

My daughter was the same way and then we found that she couldn't digest milk. We put her on Similac Isomil Advance Soy Formula and was a different baby within 2 days! I don't know if changing formulas would help but it's worth a shot.
Good luck!

I agree with the woman who said DON'T use Karo Syrup. Any thing like honey, molasses, maple syrup, corn syrup, etc., can have botulism spores which bigger people can handle, but NOT little babies. They can become very ill.

E.,

My daughter, now 6 yrs. old has suffered from constipation issues since she was a baby. I think it's important to try to help by adjusting diet. Any laxitive, powders in beverages etc. may cause her system to then depend on those for regular BMs.

I accepted early on this will likely be something my daughter will always have to deal with. We are very conscious of what she eats -- pasta, yogurt, banannas, cheese and an abundance of milk always slow things down for her. She eats lots of pears, strawberries, kiwi, plums, peas, prunes, grapes, watermelon etc. to balance out. She eats fruit with every meal and for 2 snacks minimum a day. She also always has a water with her.

Of course there are times we aren't on top of it - when we travel or just forget and she gets constipated. It causes her pain in her legs and tummy. When she was a baby we did use a rectal themometer to stimulate her muscle once in a while. You don't want to do this too often though because it could make the muscle lazy. As she got older she would just ask for a prune or two. As a baby, I cut them up into little tiny bites and they usually helped within 24 hours.

I know it's a while off but one of the more challenging times with constipation is potty training. It's really important to stay on top of her diet and keep her very regular from now through then so going #2 isn't a bad experience for her and becomes something she holds in to avoid the discomfort.

I hope this is helpful to you. Good Luck!

Prune juice works the best! Dilute it with water though and do it for a few days. Start slowly because you don't want to clean her out all at once. I started my son on 1oz prune juice mixed with 1 oz water once a day, and then altered the dosage accordingly.

Good luck

Two things that worked for me always- Prune and Barley. You can mix barley with prune fruit (not juice) at dinner..my daughter loves the combo and its does the job very well :-))

I like not to depend on laxative..so far it has worked like acharm

E.:

the most likely cause is allergies.... I would be happy to try to help you sort it out or you could try to talk to someone like Dr. David Miller who is a ped and also eastern trained..###-###-####

P., RLC, IBCLC
Pres. Lactation Support Group, Inc
800 LACTATE

Unless she has a milk allergy or you are opposed to milk products, you might want to try switching to a milk-based formula. That helped in our case. Once she was on milk, the symptoms disappeared.

Two things that I tried with my son were gentle tummy massage and doing the "bicycle" movements with his legs. I'd just stretch him out in front of me on the floor with his legs in my lap and move them slowly like he was riding a bike... and follow it with some very gentle round-and-round tummy rubbing.

That plus apple juice and water always seemed to do the trick.

We put prune juice in the milk. Does not sound like a delicious combination, but he drank it down and it worked like a charm. good luck.

My doctor recommended mixing in a half teaspoon of Karo syrup per 4oz. of formula. This is what my grandmother did when we were little and I guess it worked since my doctor is recommending the same thing. I will do the same thing with my 2 month old when she is constipated again. Good Luck!

S. S.

Hi E.

My son is now 7 and he has struggled with constipation his entire life. Recently we started using Benefiber, which is sold in the drugstores, and we have had great success with it. You just put a tsp. or so in whatever they are drinking once or twice a day. It's completely tasteless and dissolves completely. We had gotten a prescription level powder from our ped., I can't remember the name, which worked fine, but of course it cost more. She told us that we should try Benefiber to see if it would work and it has. I don't know what restrictions there might be for babies, so you should definitely read the label. Good luck.

B.

Hi!
My ped also recommended the Karo Syrup in his bottle or a juice bottle(I do a bottle of Prune Apple/water) everyday. Also do not use rice cereal anymore. Use either Oatmeal or even better--Barley. I mix the barley with some pears and it works for my son!!
Good Luck!

Hi E.,
You need to take your daughter back to the pediatrition. My daughter has constipation issues and we tried all the "remidies" and nothing worked. She ended up on a child laxitive. She started out takeing it everyday at a full dose and now only takes it maybe once a month. She is 3 now and I always know when she'll need it. Bananas, milk, orange juice with calcium, cheese etc...all the trigger foods set her back and I know she will be constipated by the next day. We limit those type foods and keep the perscription handy.
Don't wait any longer, call that pediatrition or the tummy aches will just get worse.
P

We used to buy Gerber apple/prune juice and it worked just fine. We preferred this over Little Tummy's Laxative. Also, it was around 11 or 12 months we introduced our daughter to whole milk as suggested by her ped. Not a good idea! My sister told me to use 2% milk and dilute it with a little water. Work just fine and did not cause constipation like the whole milk did.
~M