Constipation - Oklahoma City,OK

My 8 week old son just got out of the NICU and had some trouble with this. Next time you change her diaper, pull her knees towards her tummy and hold them there for a little while, and wipe her bottom with a warm damp washcloth or a warm baby wipe, then finish changing her diaper this should help. You can also lay a damp warm washcloth over the lower part of her belly.

You may want to speak with her doctor about trying formula without Iron. My brother had that problem as a baby.

My day care baby had this same issue. The dr said to do two things, add an extra ounce of water and add a tiny bit of prune juice. It works! But I have to do it every day and now she is 8 mos and I still have to add 2 oz water and sometimes 2 oz of prune juice too. Try water only first and if not try prune juice but be careful, each baby responds differently, you don't want the poor thing going back and forth, that is pain on the tummy!
You have to find the balance of what works for each one.
L.

Don't know if you are still having the constipation problems. I work at a Children's hospital...and I recommend seeing a pediatrician first and foremost. If you have and this still hasn't helped, you might not change formula so much. It is hard on the babies stomach when it is switched so much. It takes a baby a little time to get used to the formula. Also, I don't recommend putting anything in the bottles...like sugar or syrup. This isn't something healthy that you should be doing or giving to your newborn baby. I read another readers advice of inserting a rectal thermometer. This is very true. We take rectal temps all the time on constipated babies and it sometimes stimulates them to have a bowel movement. Hope this helps.

J.,
Very watered down prune or pear juice is what I used for my son. I learned from my boss that pear juice does the same thing it's just a lot more gentle on little tummies. Check with your pediatrician first, though. Good luck! T.

Hi J.!

My son had the same problem. You should never give your baby Karo Syrup because of the chance of botulism. I tried this once with my son before I was told by the doctor that it is not safe to give that to babies. The suppositories worked great but I was also advised that you don't want to give that to them a lot either, because they have to learn to "push it out" when they feel the urge to go. A lot of the time, they just need stimulation, and though I never tried it, my doctor also suggested inserting a thermometer (just barely) into the rectum to get the muscles working. Hope this helps!

Both of my children have had problems with constipation. They were both put on Miralax and it solved our problems. It is over the counter now and the best thing is that it is not habit forming so they can stay on it as long as needed. My son was on it for about 9 months and then we weaned him off and he has been regular since. It is nice because you can adjust the dose as you need to as well. It is a powder and you just add it to their bottle or juice. You might ask your doc about trying it or a pharmicist may be able to tell you the correct dosage to start out with. I am not sure because when my kiddos were first put on it you had to have a doctor prescribe it. It would definitely be worth checking into.

Maybe speak to her doctor about the issue and see what they have to say. They might be able to prescribe something to help her or give you some suggestions or if where you live has like a ask a nurse number try calling them to see if they have any suggestions for you.

I have a 14 week old and just went through the same thing. She was breast fed but when we switched over to Similac she had problems going. The Pediatrician said it was from the iron. We tried, and still use, the karo syrup. It helped but sometimes she still needs a little something extra. We put a half ounce of prune juice in her bottle, per the pediatrician, and that took care of it immediately. Apple juice can do the same.

Have you tried giving your daughter some prune juice, or even grape juice if she won't take the prunce juice? Sometimes that will help. If not we gave our daughter some mineral oil (just a little bit) mixed with some liquid and that might help as well (I would talk to the doctor before doing that though). I would mention it to the doctor at your next appointment just to make sure it doesn't turn out to be something severe. I have to take my daughter to a specialist for the same problem. Within this past week we have had to give her two enemas and double her dosage of the stool softner. Not fun at all. I hope it works and good luck!!

Sounds just like my son. SERIOUSLY, this sounds gross, but helped his colic and I could make him poop on command. Get glycerin suppositories-Pediatric (doesn't form dependance) and place one helf way-3/4 into his rectum. Slowly pull it in and out. He will relieve gas and have a bowl movement. TOTAL life saver!

I use the Pedialite or Parents Choice pediatric drinks The vanilla flavor comes with FIBER!!! It works well for my 14 month old! Hope this helps.
--S.

You may want to give her little system a chance to get used to the new formula. My daughter was always constipated even being a breast fed baby. You probably shouldn't give her Karo Syrup - as this is often a big allergy for children. After you know that the new formula isn't working - go talk to your doctor. He/She will know what your should try next!

some times just a soak in a warm bath or a warm wash rag on the belly helps relax them so they can go. Also try moving her legs like she is riding a bike and then push her knees up to her chest gently. she has to learn how to use all those muscles to go.

Try an enema baby lax

Updated

Try an enema baby lax

Updated

Try an enema baby lax

Updated

Try an enema baby lax

Updated

Try an enema baby lax

My son had the same problem. His doctor recommended using Behr Rabbitt Molasses. Oh, it stinks to high heaven but it worked. We had to end up switching his formula because of the constipation. Hope that helps.

T.

Hello there J.,

I'm sorry your little one is having tummy troubles. My daughter had similar issues after only two months or so. She was too young to give her any juice. My doctor suggested plain sugar water. It worked like a charm. We boiled the sugar water on the stove to make sure that it was fully dissolved. Then after it completely cooled, I gave her in a dropper a tsp at a time. It worked pretty quickly. I think in less than a half an hour or so. It might be worth a try. ;)

Good luck to you!

C.
www.EnhanceYourWayOfLife.com

Hi J.,

I have a few tips that will help.
1st, if you have just recently gone to enfamil to gentlease then try this...if she drinks lets say 4 ounces of of formula than make her 4 ounces of enfamil and put in 2 ounces of gentlease, pour what you know she will eat and save the rest for later. As you go on the next few days go up on the gentlease and go down on the enfamil, this will take you a few days to about a week. Each day add more of the one you are going to, will helps he tummy with gas and the constipation.

2nd, whatever amount of formula you make her for the first make it a little more water and a little less formula as far as how many scoops you put in. So if you make her a 6 ounce bottle only put in 2 scoops of formula, now you may have to feed her sooner tham usual but it will help do this for a couple of feedings and this will help also.

3rd, you can get clycerin suppositories, these can be a life saver and until you get her on one formula. Beware before you use one to have plenty of diapers and wipes and a clean outfit by you and be on the floor where you have lots of space, oh and put a towel or blanket down that if need be you can just throw away. No matter what you do cover your basis and be prepared for anything.

Hope this helps W..

Have you tried putting her in a tub of warm water. I heard it helps.

My first baby boy was constipapted alot. The doctors said to put sugar in his bottle. We switched formula but that didn't seemed to help, the only thing that did was to put the sugar in the bottle. I have a 6 month old now and that is what I do for him.

We use mineral oil in their juice or milk. Just a table spoon usually does the trick, but I also wanted to say that my youngest daughter has always had firm stool. I haven't a clue why since we asked the doc and they don't know either. Sometimes she has a little more trouble than usual getting them to pass, but that's when we use the oil. Sometimes kids just do things we don't understand, but at least with the little pelets she gives us there's less of a mess on her butt. Hope this helps, if not you could always ask the doctor if there's something more potent you could give from time to time. ~E.

My 9 month old son did the constipation thing also. His doctor told us to give him a little bit of apple juice. We did 1 ounce of juice to 2 ounces of water and it worked like a charm.

My daughter had the same problem - but I was told that there was nothing I could do but sit and massage her tummy and work her legs in a bicycle motion to help the process. By working the muscles for my daughter it helped the process of movement by a few hours...instead of 2 to 3 hours it would take an hour.

My daughter had such bad constipation she was on the verge of having to have surgery for hemorrhoids. It was terrible. The thing that got it fixed immediately...that Brer Rabbit Molasses. It has to be that brand because other brands have been tested and have botulism spores in them. Seriously. It worked miracles!

You might try to give her a small amount of prunes. About 1/2 of the stage one tubs would do the trick for my daughter.

Babies magic tea will definitely work I hope. In my case it was really nice and my boy is now pooping normally.

We used the karo syrup in every bottle w/my son. I also tried straight prune juice w/my youngest daughter in every bottle as well. Remember they are not officially considered constipated until 3 days. Warm baths & massage on the tummy helps loosen too. I even took rectal temperature sometimes & that helped move things along....

I tried the light Karo with little success but when I switched to the dark Karo BINGO. I don't know if that will help or not. I would suggest a little apple juice but with your daughter being so young I'm not sure. You should probably call your pediatrician for some advice. Mine was rather helpful.

My daughter, now 24, and my grandsons, 4 & 2 both had this problem. I took her to a pediatrician years ago and she said to put a tiny (1/4 tsp.) of mineral oil in every bottle for a while and then every other day, etc. What happens is the bowel gets stretched out because of the waste in there, and as the bowel gets stretched out more it doesn't send the signal to the brain that it is full until it is too big for baby to pass. Thus, if you put the mineral oil in it, that will help loosen things up. Until you get baby (unclogged) sorry bad term, but you know what I mean, this will take a while for the bowel to shrink back down. For Ashley it took about 6 months, for the bowel to shrink back to correct size and then we would still do the mineral oil periodically if it looked like she was beginning to get constipated again. If you do this, you should see some results within 24-36 hours. Also, putting a little mineral oil on poopy passing place helps it slide out easier when they get started. I hope this helps you, I am not a doctor, but this is all natural and it worked for us.

Hey J.,

I see you have a lot of responses, but I wanted to let you know that my Dr. told me that Karo syrup is like honey, and it shouldn't be given to young children. Suppositories were always my last resort. I gave my kids 1/4 strength prune juice at a young age and it worked. Good luck!

My baby is 32 years old, but my Dr. had me feed her plum baby food and the Kayro syrup. It really worked for us. Wach out how much you give her as it can cause the opposite effect. I strarted out with 1/4 of a jar. Hope this helps.

I haven't tried this with my baby, but I heard about it through a friend. It sounds a little wierd, but if you take a cotton ball and put it between her cheeks (the cheeks on the bottom half :-) ), she'll feel something there and try to push it out which should make her go. I thought it sounded pretty bizarre when I first heard the idea, but it makes sense and I figure anything is worth a try - especially since it's a medicine-free solution! Good luck!

My daughter is 4 weeks old and I just put a little more water in her formula and it helps her alot. I did the same thing with my last daughter as well. I don't really kow about giving such a small baby juice or fruit. If she has an allergy I would think that could be dangerous.