Constipation - Farmington, MI

I don't think babies are supposed to eat all those foods, I thought they were on breast milk or formula for a year.

I had the same problem, but switching to all the different formulas, food, syrups is not helpful either even though we will try anything to help ease our little ones pain. It is actually probably making it worse if you sit and think about it, but I did the same exact thing trying to find some kind of solution so I would not have to watch her sit and suffer and since every baby is different I sat and tried all the remedies and now looking back I may have made it worse, but hey we are only human and I was glad to finally find a solution for her.
My pediatrician advised me that the Karyo and Prune juice is too much sugar and does not help out and also said that doctors usually do not consider a baby being constapated unless it has been 7 days!!!! I was shocked!! I thought 1 day was a long enough wait to watch my baby suffer!. But the only thing that I did that finally worked to ease all the gas, cramping and constipation was I switched her to Soy formula and within 2 weeks she was less gassy and going to the bathroom regularly. I also only gave her oatmeal and waited to give her the baby food fruits. Maybe just trying to give her the formula for now and give her belly a break from trying everything then slowly introduce baby food to her, sounds like she may have a sensative stomach. I hope that something will help ease her little belly so she can be relieved of the discomfort :( Best of luck to both of you!

Just a thought, you may want to take a look at the type of water used to make the formula. Tap water, spring, distilled-they all taste different. I also heard somewhere, so not sure if it is true, but if you boil tap water it may cause constipation. The oxygen gets "boiled out", so you need to shake it. Again, not sure its true. I hope you find a solution.

Stop the prune juice or limit it. Prune Juice has always been said for constipation but doesn't nescessarily work on everyone and on top of it if it doesn't seem to work than also she possibly is getting really really really extremely gassy from it. Plum juice is good alternative. Also try to give her water too because if you body doesn't get enough water it won't have all your pipes working right. I would give her a half an once to an once more of water than what is called for when you give her formula. Check with your pediatrician and see if you can give her a half to a whole tsp. of Miralax its a over the counter regulating constipation thing. Its powder that taste less and you mix with water they can't tell taste like water. Make sure you have her on high fiber diet. Give her oatmeal cereal, pork and beans smushed, fruits,(apples are good for fiber)Apples work differently on everyone. Some may get constipated others it regulates them. If she doesn't have any allergies or your probably not aware yet because she is 5 months old. You can give her peanut butter. But I don't know how she eats if she can eat she chews alot or not some babies chew some don't some have teeth already some don't so you know your child i don't but if she has teeth and your feeding her food and she has no allergies you know of yet try thin layer of peanut butter and jelly sandwhich with you picking small pieces and feeding it to her. But if she doesn't chew well or anything I would wait till shes abotu 7 months for that. Maybe even older. The drs say not till 2 but thats hog wash as long as no allergies I gove it sooner just not sure about 5 mnths. Just give her lots a fiber and try some peaches. You know you could also try what ever helped you when you was pregnant and got constipated. Well good luck and stick to fiber.

K.,

This is exactly what my daughter went through as soon as she started on babyfood and we tried everything too! One thing we finally discovered was white grape juice was very constipating to her. I thought I was being a good mother by switching the juice flavors around but instead it worked against us. We did use a prescription stool softener (powder that mixed with a drink) everyday for a couple of years before making the discovery and used the glycerin suppositories when things really got bad.

She's now 7 years old and doesn't have any problems and hasn't since around age 3 thankfully. If it hurts to go she may start withholding going to the bathroom and be harder to potty train later if it's painful.

If you have any additional questions please don't hesitate to send me a private message. I know how hard this can be to deal with.

Take care and hang in there!

C.

K.,

I had the same problem with one of my boys. I took him to a ND. We put him on probiotics and flaxseed oil. His is 3 and he still takes the probiotics and now he takes cod liver oil. I hope this helps. Blessings! J.

I am just going to repeat what everyone else said. My youngest would go about two weeks without going she has terrible scar tissue now from all of the tearing. Completely unpleasant situation for her as well as us. She is 3 now and I have to be careful with what goes in her mouth. The doctors gave her miralax (still needed a prescription when we started). They tried another one also but took her off right away. I am still hesitant about using it regularly despite what the docs say. But i do use it when i can tell she needs to go badly and can't. But you can control how much to give her. You may want to try it. Good luck.

Hi K. ~
Actually, you're not supposed to give babies water. They should get enough through either breast-feeding or from the formula. Have you tried giving her formula without iron? Sometimes the iron in the formula can constipate. Also, I'm surprised your pediatrician has you feeding her food already. The newest guidelines (for a couple years now at least) is no food until 6 months old. For most babies the things you've tried help....karo syrup in water, prune juice, etc.
good luck!
D.

I noticed you didn't mention anything about water. Babies need water to help them go. I am surprised the doctor didn't mention her water intake before he mentioned the suppositories. Try givng her four ounces of water a day and it should help alot.

Does the formula you are giving her have iron in it? Are you giving her vitamins with iron? That could be the problem. You said you were avoiding cereal...cereal could help the constipation because it is a fiber. I have heard about the Karo syrup, but think how much sugar you are adding to her system :(
Actually, if it were me, I would stop feeding her anything but her formula (no iron) My 3 children had NO FOOD for a year, only breastmilk or formula.

I wouldn't feel good about giving my 5 month old a suppository either and really that is not getting to the source of the problem.

Doctors will say that iron is essential for babies. However, some babies don't need an overabundance of iron. I went with the low iron formula, which worked so much better for my babies. I have a sensitivity to iron and so do my children. They are honor students so you know that it didn't impact their brain development. So have you tried a formula without iron? If not, that may be something to consider. Giving her water is great!

My son at 4 had a problem with constipation. What I did was change his diet same things you have done, which at 4 is very different than a 5 month old. Another thing I did was give him a probiotic (good bacteria), called Optiflora. This really helped. What Optiflora does is it gets good bacteria to the lower intestine. With her being constipated, the bad bacteria is increasing in her intestine. Getting good bacteria in her intestine, may help with the constipation and know this a healthy colon/intestine builds the immune system.

Good luck!

I totally feel for you!!!! My daughter had the same problem practically since she was born. She's actually been taking Murilax (prescribed by her doc) since I don't remember when. I have to be extremely careful about what she eats, even til this day, and she's almost 4....anyhow, I did find the Karo syrup worked (I used the extra dark) and prune juice, not giving rice cereal, just oatmeal. Same things you are doing. Also, try warm baths when she's trying to go but can't. It sometimes can be messy, but I found usually it just relaxed her enough to help her to go. I also used the glycerin suppositories, but I waited until it was an 'emergency' b/c I felt if I used them too much it wouldn't help her develop a good pattern for having a normal bowel movement. Now, she's outgrown the terrible bouts of constipation, but it took awhile. We eat a high fiber diet and limit sugar (hard around the holidays). Anyhow, there is light at the end of the tunnel, but ask her doc about the Murilax, I think it was the best thing and helped her get 'regular'. :)

Hi K.---You mention avoiding bananas and cereal to help your daughter. I have a Healthy Foods Directory that states that bananas are great for constipation. My husband recently broke his collarbone and hand and with the pain killers he was taking, had the usual constipation. I made him a big bowl of bananas and kiwi and it worked like a charm. Other foods good for constipation include dates, garlic, oats, water and whole wheat bread. I would still give her cereal but mix in a small amount of freshly ground flax seed with it. Flaxseeds themselves are HUGELY nutritious, containing lots of fiber, omega 3 fatty acids and lignans which are a rich source of vitamins and minerals and have cancer fighting properties as well. I would avoid dairy, as it can cause a number of health complications in the human body. For more info on why not milk, go to www.strongbones.org.

You didn't mention if you are nursing at all or if you only offer formula. If you nurse, your diet will affect your daughters bowel movements as well. Just a thought.

I also have the honor of working with Dr. William Sears and his son, Dr. Jim, of the ABC show, The Doctors. I would go to their website, www.askdrsears.com, and there are a number of topics you can look at and I'm sure they would give tips on how to help your daughter work through this issue. Dr. Bill has written over 30 books, his most recent being The NDD Book: How Nutrition Deficit Disorder Affects Your Child.

I am currently taking a series of Wellness Classes offered by a Naturopath who has her PhD in Nutrition. So I have a number of resources that I can share with you regarding constipation and other nutritional questions you might have. I am passionate and honored to help others learn how to optimize the health of their families, so feel free to call me at any time. And I would also agree that getting your daughter to drink a little water every day would be good for her as well.

I'd also like to share that I, along with the Dr.s Sears, work with a company that makes a great supplement consisting of 17 different fruits, veggies and grains. The dehydrated juice powders are put into capsules, chewables and gummies. This supplement is the most thoroughly researched encapsulated product in the world. Now, right now, your daughter is even too young for the gummies, but you could open a capsule and sprinkle some of the powders on her cereal. I mention Juice Plus+ as an option, because one of the first effects that almost everyone starting the supplement reports, is better regularity. But not only that, the research shows improved immune system response and DNA protection and repair (think reduced risk of degenerative disease and anti-aging all rolled into one). Feel free to call me at any time to learn more about any of these topics.

I wish you good luck in helping to relieve your daughters discomfort. In health,
D. ###-###-#### www.dianeshealthed.com

My only other suggestion would be pear juice. We did the prune juice thing regularly with my daughter the whole time she was on formula. Trying pear juice made a big difference. However once she was on fruit and vegetable solids at 6 months she didn't have any more constipation problems. So I'm not sure this is a magic bullet here...

Sometimes they get a build up of hard stool in their system and it takes a while to get it out, so the glycerin suppository is a good way to get them cleaned out. Another option is to try a laxative called miralax. It can be safe for babies, BUT be sure to get the dosing information from a pediatrician before using it. It is a powder that can be mixed into any liquid and is taste free and grit free.

My son, now 4 1/2 had the same problem. It started around 2 months and lasted til about 7 or 8 months. He wouldn't go usually for 5 to 6 days!!!We even had him tested to make sure his nerves in his rectum formed correctly. It may be just a phase that they have to go thru. He was a large baby and we just tesed he needed every bit of nutrition from his food. Hang in there, it should pass. Maybe lighten up of all the food and just try a liquid diet for a few days. Good Luck.
T. K

My friend took her infant to a chiropractor - turned out that during childbirth, the baby's back had gotten out of alignment just enough to press on the nerve that helps him "go" - once they aligned him, he was fine. Also, good suggestion on the low iron formula - that worked for us.

HUmm did you switch her off dairy formula to soy or do they have a rice formula?
Good luck. A. H

OMG! I would first seriously think about switching to a pediatrician that knows medicine a little better. Miralax is non-habit forming, unlike what your doctor recommended and is DMC's choice along with several reputable sources. Good luck.

Hello K.,

My daughter went through a similar problem. We added an organic flaxseed oil to her diet. It seemed to help, but not quite enough. I decided to add a probiotic to her yogurt, but you can add it to almost any puree. I used one called Florify Active ingredients: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis) Florify is only available through one company, but I trust them completely. In this case one capsule of Florify includes the same amount of probiotics as 10 cups of yogurt. From what I have read, you cannot over use a probiotic, so I felt safe using it. You can get more info on this company at www.SwitchingStores.net The bottom line is that it worked amazingly. If baby is happy, everyone is happy. If you have any questions, just let me know. You can email me at ____@____.com

My son had the same thing happen around that age. He is almost two now. Instead of sticking the glycerin suppository in try a good size sliver of soap and hold it in opening of her bowl(don't release it). My mother used this method and her mother and her mother. LOL...IT WORKS like a charm. Her bowl just needs a little stimulation. I know it is a little weird but it better than sticking a suppository in every couple days. She will probably resist a little of course you are sticking something in her little pooper but just try to hold in there as long as you can.

Good luck and hope she gets some relief.....

Angi