Hello. My baby girl is 6 months old. She has been breastfed exclusively up to this point. About a week ago she began to want to eat every one to two hours, even at night. This is strange for her because she has always (ever since she was 3 weeks old) slept through the night ( around 7-10 hours). And during a growth spurt she sleeps about 6 hours a night. She would also only nurse every 3 hours during the day. She was also eating rice cereal (about 2-3 tablespoons twice a day, plus a half a banana at lunch time. I talked to her pediatrican and she told me to increase the amount of rice cereal to 5 TBLS, still twice a day. I started to do that, and then she began to not want breast milk more than every 4 hours. Now, she doesn’t want breast milk at all, and her stool is solid, and she cries when she has to poop because it’s hurting her. I tried decreasing the rice cereal so all she would have is my milk to soften her stool, but she still doesn’t want it except in the morning and right before bed, but she is only drinking about 3 ounces at each feeding and I’m pumping the rest out and putting it in the freezer. I tried to give her some water and she drank about 4 ounces of that, but didn’t even want any juice. She also will NOT have anything to do with formula. I don’t know what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm okay with her weening herself from me as long as she'll still drink my milk and I can pump it for her. She also still has a lot of pee pee diapers so I know she's not dehydrated. Does anyone have any ideas on what I could try? Thank you so much.
I would try feeding her prunes, prune juice, or pear juice. This is what my daughter's pediatrician recommended when she was constipated. Even when you water down the juice it's ok. Good luck!
My daughter had a lot of constipation problems at that age. We switched her to oatmeal cereal, and NEVER gave her bananas. Even those banana flavored puffs would give her problems. At 6 months she ate applesauce, peaches, prunes, pears, and some green and orange veggies instead. I just started giving her bananas again about 2 wks ago and so far so good (she's 15 mo now.) Hope this helps.
My non professional advice would be to stop solids all together and spend the weekend with your baby in bed, nursing as much as possible. It sounds like you may have started her too early and it has interfered with both breastfeeding and her digestive system.
I would possibly consult a lactation consultant as well for some ideas as to how to get baby back to the breast.
At 6 months her nutrition should be ALL from breastmilk. Even if she's eating solids, it should not replace breastfeeding, just be in addition to it.
Also, babies don't just wean at 6mos by choice. They may go on nursing strikes, they may be distracted by solids, they may be teeting, or any number of things, but they don't just think at 6 months, "Hey, I'm going to wean now."
I would talk to your DR and see if its OK to give the baby baby juice. I have a baby and she is almost 6 months old and i have been giving her baby juices for about a month now and she is doing fine. My Mom always gave me Karo syrup and i give it to mine when needed. I also give her prunes every once in a while.
sounds like you are doing all you can... what does the pedi say????
tryi to give her some pedialite, something with flavor. also give her a stool softener, not a whole one, maybe 1/2. aslo ask your pharmasist. they know alot more than your doctor
My advice would be to decrease the solids. Rice cereal and bananas are some of the worst foods causing constipation. Also, since you are breastfeeding her, try drinking some apple juice yourself, and it should help her soften her stools.
You can talk to your pediatrician about possible remedies, but Ginger Ale and a chiropractor have been the most effective combination for us. My now 14 month old began having the problems you're talking about, and it was actually the constipation (and the beginning of impacted stool) that was keeping him from wanting to eat - a stomach ache.
I took him to the chiropractor and we got the beginnings of normal bowel movements, and Ginger Ale (regular, not diet) works like grape juice (or milk of magnesia) to pull water into the intestine, but most kids like it - it's soda.
Good luck.
Give her gerber prunes. Some kind of fruit that usually helps move things along. Give her breastmilk in a bottle; I don't if you have tried that. Keep offering her the breastmilk and try not to give her so much water. 1oz of water and 1oz of juice so at least she has some juice to try to move things along. I hope this helps out.
Bananas and rice cereal are wonderful,healthy foods, but they are constipating as all get out! I would avoid juice like the plague (she's too young). You could try applesauce, but apples can sometimes cause stomach cramping. I would recommend that you use the baby food pears. Every time she has something that will block her, she needs a little bit of something that will free her up! BTW, pear juice is easier on the tummy than apple juice when the time comes. If your diet is one that usually makes you constipated, then she is likely to be constipated too, so make sure your diet is full of enough non-blocking foods so she's not getting the trifecta from the rice, banana, and you! Poop is fun isn't it?
The doctor told me to give a little water in between each feeding to soften stools for my son and he is now 2 1/2 months old. Just because she is peeing does not mean she's not dehydrated, watch for the urin to be yellow or have a strong smell or odor thats not normal, then she is dehydrated. Try pedialite (sp?)too.
Heads up too Rice cereal and Bananas will cause harden stools if not enough water is consumed, it has something to do with the starch in them. I learned that when I put my son on Lipil A.R. it has rice starch added in it to help with spiting up, within 24 hours his stool harden I changed him back to the regular Lipil and his stools were back to normal, I just deal with the spit up.
And last of all I am not sure were I read it or heard it but this was back when my first son was born, when it came time to introduce fruits and veggies, I remember introducing veggies first, the child is likely to develope a sweet tooth for all the bad stuff and they know veggies come first, and think about it when we eat, we eat our meats and veggies first then sweet stuff if it is around, good pratice to start with the kids early in life. I saw a friend pratice it in her in-home daycare and it works, the kids had to eat the green beans first, then the fish sticks then the applesauce and it worked. Good eating habits start when they are babys..
Mix some prunes, apples, or other fruits with the rice cereal. Have you tried veggies yet... carrots, peas, sweet potatoes. I won't give her too much water b/c that fills up her tummy. If all fails (with doctors' okay) I would give a little corn syrup(Karo) I gave my children some when the are having trouble w/ thier BM's w/out doctors' okay and they are fine.
Hope this helps and Good Luck,
L.
I would try feeding her more fruits and veggies and less cereal and milk...the iron makes it hard for them to poop. It sounds like she needs more fiber and natural sugar from the fruit.
Bananas tend to cause constipation so if she is eating one every day, that may be too much. I would mix it up with some other foods. Baby prunes do wonders for my daughter when she starts to get backed up.
Bannanas can be constipating, try switching to a gerber apple sauce. Some warm (room temp) apple juice can work as a natural laxitive. Also dilude cereal more so it is not as thick. You can use breast milk instead of water to make the cereal. If you are afraid she is not getting enough out of each meal.
My son had a problem with hard stools when he was around that age. Our pedi. told us to give him mineral oil. It is a stool softener, and they will not become dependent on it like suppositories or some other medications. Just buy some mineral oil in the pharmacy section with the alcohol and peroxide, etc. Mix 1-2tsp into her rice cereal. It is a bit oily and she may notice the different texture, but it doesn't have a taste. You may also want to give her a variety of cereals such as oatmeal and barley. Mangos are also a natural laxative.
This is normal reaction to starting solids. If she is keeping the cereal down and no other issues, then here is what I have done. Both my girls were big babies and started rice cereal at an early age. It is OK to give your child Apple or Pear juice, get the kind you find in the baby isle. Give it to her in a bottle 1/2 juice 1/2 water. first thing in the morning as her wake up bottle and se will be regular in no time.
Jenn
My daughter weened herself about 6 months as well. When she started to have problems pooping my DR. told me to give her 1 teaspoon of Karo suryp (light corn suryp found in the baking isle) for every 4 oz. of liquid. Just mix it in her bottle with water, beast milk or evan her cereal. It is sweet and she will probably like the taste. It should help her to have softer stool. The great thing is that it is natural (no medication) and cannot hurt the baby.Use it until she becomes regular again.
By the way, I have the same relationship with my husband as you do with yours. We have been married 11 years. It is always nice to hear good things about marriage when the media makes it out to be so bad.
My girls are 5 and 6 now and the Karo suryp worked for both. Best of luck. Enjoy your time with your 6 month old.It is such a magical time. They really start to become their own little person.
W.
