Hello
I have a 7 month old who has had problems pooping for quite a few months now. Her pediatrician sent us to a GI specialist who put her on some medicine, and said it was normal. Sometimes the medicine works and she poops regularly, and sometimes it doesn't. When it's not working she tries so hard to go and all that she has is a little tiny thing that is really hard. I know this is pretty detailed, but it's just so hard to see her struggling so much to go to the bathroom. I have tried prunes and prune juice and even a suppository. But none of these things seem to really work. I just wanted to see if any other moms out there have had this problem and what they did to help their little ones. I would really prefer something natural. Any suggestions?
My nephew had this problem too. His pediatrician recomended 'miralax' it's available over the counter now and it is gentle enough for infants... it's a stool softener and it's safe to use for long periods of time. My nephew, now 5, used it from about 6mo to 4yr, now he just has to take it occasionally. It is a powder that you can mix in ceareal or whatever she eats/drinks well... it has no taste, I've tried it. Good luck, I hope this works!
If it comes down to absolutely nothing is helping you might want to try a chiropractor. Sounds bizarre that it could help with pooping but my little nephew had the same problem and they started taking him in, he goes to the chiropractor once a month and has no problems pooping. They decided that he was healed and quit taking him and the constipation started up again and when they took him back in he went poop twice the next day. I would definately try to find a solution before potty training (although you have quite a bit of time) because they will have a hard time getting poop trained if 1) it hurts they will associate pain with the potty and 2) it takes forever and they get bored and want to get off the potty and go run around til they are able to go. Best of luck to you!
My daughter had that issue to find out that her body didn't respond to the formula very well, you could try doing bicycle exercises with her legs and massage her belly add a little pressure every few stroke to help her intestines going. We give her 1/2 tsp of light karo syrup when she gets that way and it works like a charm with a little juice. I hope this helps and gl.
I second the chiropractor suggestion. I started taking my daughter at 10 months - wish I started as soon as she had problems. Now we go for everything from colds to "something is just not right." Try to find a pediatric chiropractor, so they are good with kids. When our doc started her practice here, she was known as "The Poop Doctor!" Good luck!
Oatmeal cereal made my baby girl constipated so try cutting that out. Applesauce would be good so try that every day. I can't remember how old they need to be to have juice but when she's old enough try apple juice too.
K.
SAHM of two
I second the Karo suggestion...it has always worked like a charm for my girls!
Both of my little ones had troubles with constipation at times. My doctor told me to add 1 tsp of dark karo syrup to 1 bottle a day. If this wasn't enough then I was to add it to additional bottles. I ended up adding about a 1/2 tsp of dark karo syrup to each bottle until things were back to normal. I did this for probably 2 months for my son and 3 or 4 for my daughter. It was an inexpensive, natural, non-medicine way to treat a common problem. Good luck!
Fresh, ripe mangos! My husband and I used to feel so terrible watching out daughter try to go and with the same results - a tiny little nugget. Now I just get a mango every week, blend it up and feed it to her over the course of a couple of days whenever she is starting to get backed up. I read up on everything and is the one thing that worked, besides keeping a few of the constipating vegetables (carrots, bananas, etc.) low in her diet, unless it's mango day!
My father in law ate a lot of mangos when he was in Vietnam and when my husband told him that she was eating mangos, without even knowing about our problem, he said, "Oh, she's going to be going to the bathroom!"
I had a daughter with similar issues. Our GI specialist told us to try foods that have a hard "p" sound. And stay away from everything else. so prune, pear, peach, apple and grape are good things. Miralax is also a good thing to use. We had to do a bowel clean out on my 14 month old about 2 months ago. And he didn't have a problem with the taste. Just add it to what ever juice or baby cereal you are feeding her. Another thought is change the formula. It may be that is what is constipating her. And cut out the oatmeal cereal. Give her rice mixed with a hard "p" sounding juice. I don't remember the veggies that work, but give more fruit than veggies. Good luck!
