My daughter is 4 months and 3 weeks. I just started giving her a little bit of rice cereal and baby food. She became so constipated! The pediatrician said to switch to oatmeal and pears, peaches and peas, but that didn't work either! The only way she poops is with a suppository! Also, she won't drink pear juice because she doesn't drink from a bottle! Any suggestions?
Hi Lauren,
It's probably going to take some time for her tummy to get used to "food." You can mix some pear juice with her oatmeal. She might like that. I have heard that stuff beginning with a "p" is good for constipation--like you said--pears, peaches, peas. Bananas are not good for constipation.
I'm assuming she is breast fed, but you could keep trying a bottle of juice. Or put some pear/prune juice in a little bowl & give her tiny spoons.
Could be that she's not ready yet. If she's Ok w/breast milk you can wait to start solids til she can use a bottle or sippy cup.
Hi Lauren,
My son went through the same thing and apple juice was the solution for us. Have you tried a starter sippy cup with a soft rubber spout?
Could you back off on the cereals and just go with the straight fruits/veggies until her system gets used to the new foods?
Just some ideas, I know it isn't easy.
Good Luck.
Lori
Lauren, my 9 month old daughter went through this as well. What we did was prunes and apples a stage two food that our peditrician reccomened because these foods do not cause a reaction. I did half a container of this 1 time a day. It took two days and the problem was solved. After two good bowel movements the peditirician said to begin mixing the prunes and apples into the rice cereal. We still this trick if she has a hard bm and it works wonderfully. GOOD LUCK.
My kids never took to a bottle either, but they both did fine with the stage 1 sippy cups, especially Nuby brand! I just had to use it with my 3 month old yesterday because she is teething and wouldn't nurse!
I had this problem with my daughter and prunes worked like a charm. They are a Gerber Stage 1 Food.
Lauren,
At 4 months my son ate all yellow and orange veggies like squash, carrots, sweet potatoes etc... also, rice is binding so switch to oatmeal. Introduce sippy's 1/2 juice 1/2 water. Try Karo syrup dark... regardless of what anyone else says, this was what my Ped said to do and it did work. Mix a teaspoon in with 4-6 oz formula once a day until she goes then stop, it should help with constipation. I would stay away from any green veggies for now. Oh and prunes are wonderful! He is 16 months old and I still give him #2 prunes with apples. Works like a charm!
Good luck
Chris
We tried prunes and for a while that worked, then the doctor had us put Karo syrup in the bottle. That helped for a while, then on to miralax and mineral oil. We finally have it under control and she is two and a half, but it started when she was about your childs age. www.livegreeneasy.com
Prunes will definatly help, you can try mixing them with some of the other fruit if she won't take them straight.
Hugs* Karla
My daughter had that problem at 3 months.....you will have to get your daughter to drink the juice duluted with water from the bottle......you have no idea how well it will work!!! Make sure to warm it up so it's kinda like breast milk.
Hi Lauren -
This is pretty common..same thing happened with both of my boys. Try the gerber prunes - stage 1. My boys liked it ( nice and sweet). Offer the prunes 1x a day (or more if needed). Apricot also works well. Stay away from apples and bananas.
Also - try letting her drink from a cup (with assistance). Many breast fed babies do not like bottles...but cups are a different story.
Good luck!
You might want to consider holding off on the solids for a bit yet. Solids are to start between 4-6 months, so you have some time to play with. We like putting them on solids because it's meaningful to us, but they don't actually need them to form eating habits and start other bodily functions until up to 6 months. Maybe she just isn't ready yet...
On that end, perhaps give her a few ounces of the recommended juice using a medicine dropper, just to get it in her... until she will use a cup. I wouldn't recommend a bottle, just another habit to break again in a few months.
Hope that helps, good luck!
Maybe it's too soon for solids. We didn't start them until after 6 months. Some can't digest solids yet, plus unless the dr said, milk/formula is the only thing they really need right now. I know some babies can handle solids early, but it sounds like your daughter just isn't ready yet. If you feel you have to, any fruit that begins with a "P" is good for that...pears, peaches, prunes, etc. P=Poop! lol
Hi Lauren,
It sounds like your daughter is probably too young to be starting solids. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently changed their recommendations and now recommends waiting until the baby is 6 months old or older before starting solids. They used to say 4-6 months, but now say 6. Before 6 months your baby's digestive system isn't ready to break down all of the different proteins in the solids.
Judy
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The thing that worked best for my son (same problem) was to switch to oatmeal (skip the rice cereal) and mix the oatmeal cereal with white grape baby juice, and then heat it up.
The baby juice really helped prevent the constipation that the cereal can cause... but he was still getting the cereal which is healthy for him.
Good luck!
Hi Lauren :0)
Could you try waiting until the baby is 6 months old to try again? Her digestive system might not be ready for solids yet - every baby is different, and some do fine starting this early, but many need to wait until at least 6 months, even longer, before they are ready to eat. Each of my babies began solids at different ages - my first baby didn't even really start eating until he was 12 months old (breastmilk kept him chubby as ever :)
It sounds like you are nursing - have you heard of this awesome website? www.kellymom.com
It has plenty of great info on this issue and everything you could possibly want to know about babies!
Take care,
Meg
you could always hold off for a little longer on giving your baby food. Maybe her system just isn't quite ready. My oldest was born 10 weeks early and she had a very immature digestive track.She was terribly constipated and she wasn't even on solids yet. We waited until 6 months before we introduced food. I also have a friend who waited to give her youngest food till around 6 months also. She exclusively breastfed. I know all doctors say it is fine to start your little one at 4 months but every baby is different. Maybe your little girl just needs some extra time. If she is getting all she needs from nursing then it isn't a big deal. Talk with the doctor and go wtih what you feel is right. You know your little girl best. I know how difficult this is. We still have issues and she is alsmost 11. The only residual effect from being born to early. Good luck.
Lisa R
I had the same problem with one of our twins. I stopped giving him the creal for a few weeks all togther, but when we started we still had the issue. I switched to Happy Bellies Multi Grain (at Whole Foods and Babies R Us). It did the trick and he pooped just fine. I had also mixed just a little prune juice in the oatmeal cereal prior to that and it also helped. Whole foods has an organic, pasturized prune juice that we use.
Good luck
-Karen
We totally went through this at this stage.. I promise it will get better. I agree with the folks who suggested adding juice(try prune if pear doesn't work) to the cereal or try some stage 1 fruit (prunes, pears). If she has doubled her birth weight, holds her head up well, and is interested in food, she's probably ready. The AAP can't agree with itself about whether to start solids after 4 months or after 6 (one committee says one thing, one says the other). If you feel like she's ready, she probably is. You're feeding her the right things, it may just take her a bit to adjust.
I would try a couple of things, are you making the cereal with her formula or water? If you are using the formula you can try mixing with water, helps to get a little more water into her system and you could also mix a little baby food prunes in with the cereal if she won't eat them alone! They work great. Also if she is having a lot of trouble, really constipated then you can put a little bit of Karo syrup at the bottom of her bottle, preferably with a juice that she would drink. Just barely enough to coat the bottom of the bottle, you'll find it at the grocery store in the baking aisle, its in a bottle like corn syrup and cooking oil. That worked real well with my daughter and the doctor said it was fine as long as you're not using it 24/7. Just make sure that she is still drinking the same amount of fluids as before the solids, and just use the solids to top her off. If she is filling up on the foods first and then you are feeding her a bottle, she isn't getting enough fluids. Good luck and its not unusual for their little bodies to get a bit messed up when introducing foods! Jen