Just so you have all the information, here is some background info: 8 month old boy, first child for myself and my husband, breastfed (nurses 5 times a day), has been eating solids since he was 5.75 months old, 75th percentile weight and height and he really likes to eat! All his food is organic and mostly fruits and veggies. I make all his baby food so it is all natural with no added sugar/sodium. So- the problem I have been noticing is that he seems to have some problems pooping. Not every time but most times he is straining, crying and pushing until he turns red in the face to get his poop out and when the poop comes out, it is seems harder that I think it should be and more in little "balls" of pieces of poop compressed together. He has always had good bowel movements and rarely goes more than a day without pooping, the most he has ever gone without pooping is two days. He eats a large variety of fruits and veggies and also drinks very little water from a sippy, maybe 1-2 ounces per day if that. He nurses well and I would guess he gets at least 24+ ounces from breastfeeding. Any ideas of why this is happening or how I can help him not have this problem? I appreciate any help that any of you wonderful mother's (experts!) could provide me. Thanks!
Hi S.,
My son is also 8 mos old and we have had a problem with constipation in the past. I do make most of his food and he eats all organic. We switched from rice cereal and now he solely eats oatmeal, it helped! Also, feed him prunes-it works! I give them to my son every other day and he loves to eat them.
Make sure, with the ped, that he is getting enough water during the feeding. Water helps with absorption and digestion. Obviously not too much water but enough to help with the solid foods. Also pears ALWAYS helped my little guy have looser bms so you could try giving that and see if it helps. Some say prunes but I always did pears and it was the wonder fruit for us!!
My daughter did the same thing. She would grunt and cry when having a bowel movement. At her 9 month check-up, her ped. recommended switching from rice cereal to oatmeal and adding prunes to her diet. I did both and saw an improvement right away. I now give her prunes once a day and her "hard-ball" poops are a thing of the past.
Good luck!!
My first had the exact same problem. We're all organic too. We had to switch from rice cereal to oatmeal and it helped. Organic prune juice with water and organic prunes (Earth's Best makes baby food, organic and nothing added, cereals too). As his system became more used to solids it got better.
As others have said - pear juice, avoid rice cereal and rice, avoid bananas.
I have twins with pooping problems too. I did the same thing, homemade food, nursed them, and even tried the natural herbal remedies..nothing was working. Your baby is constipated. First thing, is the baby getting a diet high in iron?? multivitamins or even your diet effects your breast milk. Are you taking vitamins high in iron. The baby needs to drink more water, try mixing half water with prune juice or apple juice. Another trick is put a little bit(1/2 tsp) of cooking oil in his juice/water bottle. That helps soften the poop, but unfortunately after awhile they get use to it. If you feel it is a major problem, you need to push the doctor to do something. After a year of my poor babies straining, crying and bleeding to poop. I switched doctors and he finally prescribed medication. He told me if kids go on too long like that, they can actually damage something internally. my first peds constantly told me to give them prune juice. the juice did help, but as they got bigger the juice wasn't working as good. My girls were on colace for a year, which made a dramatic difference. But like any med they got immune to it, so again the pooping issues started. Now at 3 1/2 they are on Miralax. They have been on it for a year and its great. the down side is that a dependency is created and the child needs to be wheened off it. but if it will help them poop better, its worth it. Because it took so long for my girls to get meds, they have a severe trauma to poop. One of my girls screams and hides and refuses to use the potty. Even though her poop comes out soft now, she's severly traumatized. You should keep a record of his feeding and pooping schedule. the minium for a baby should be a poop a day. if he starts pooping 2-3 days later..you should consider medication. If he goes longer and is extremely gases, bad breath he might have a form of blockage. My girls peds is great, he checked for everything, blockage, blood, stool samples...to make sure the girls were just suffering from severe constipation. hope the info helps good luck
sandra
Been there with my son. Add prunes, peaches, pears, and apricots to your and his diet. You don't want him straining.
Our son was a premie and weighed only 4 lbs at birth. At about 8 weeks he started with the stomach issues. He was miserable; screaming, red face, straining. The bm was so large his little bottom looked like there was a baseball trying to get out. We used to help him by using a rectal thermometer. The doctor prescribed several different medications. I cannot remember the name of the first one, I think it started with an "A" and it smelled kind of like marshmallow. Then we were switched to Colace which we added to his bottle once a day. As he got a bit older (toddler age)they had us give him Children's Senokot. It was chocolate flavored and again we added it to his milk. By about age 4 he was finally pooping normal. I do agree with other moms - prunes also helped and more water. Check with your ped before you do anything....
Hi Samatha-
He may not be getting enough water and I would get him on some probiotics. They are made in liquid form for infants with both the acidolphilus and the bifida. Vitacost.com is an excellent disc. website for supplements. He should be pooping at least 2x a day.
Also-you may want to include some organic prune juice just to help his bowels.
T.
Detox Coach
Some children have bigger issues when something like this occurs. First, take him to a dr, perhaps something can be prescribed that will enable more comfortable bowel movements.
If he should get to the point that he relates pain to bowel movements, he will start trying to "hold it" which can result in damage to the colon, causing further issues.
