I Weaned My DD and She Is Finally Not Constipated for the First Time in 2 Years?

No good answers for you...but...if I'm correct, IBS generally has no known cause, it's one of those process of elimination diagnoses? While I'm a firm believer in modern medicine, I also think we as consumers need to be very well-informed and advocate for ourselves--so that said, perhaps there is just something medical science can't explain about IBS that has somehow passed to your daughter? I have horrible anxiety when I'm pregnant, and breastfeeding totally relieves it; my anxiety is worse before my menstrual cycles, and I still can't get a doctor to do anything to help or even a doc to confirm that it's hormonal in origin--duh? So I guess I tend to think there are a number of things that medicine hasn't gotten around to explaining, and, from what I remember, IBS is definitely one of them.

How interesting! My oldest always had troubles with constipation. She was breastfed until she was 6 months and would only have a BM about once a week. I know that breast milk doesn't create as much waste in the body, so there's less to come out. If she's on solids, which I'm sure she is at 2, then her BM shouldn't have been watery. How odd! I suppose if she hasn't had any major problems, then I wouldn't worry too much. I would keep an eye on the new baby to see if happens again. I would bet that you will get the same old explanation from the pediatrician. I think I would switch pediatricians. My oldest always had problems with her stools (hard, large, hard to pass) and I went through 3 different doctors before someone would take me seriously. I finally found one that would listen and help us out. It's been life changing for my daughter.

My guess would be that she absorbed most of what was in the breastmilk and her bowel was sluggish waiting on enough waste to actually form to poop out. It would be a firm stool due to the fact that it remained in her intestinal tract for awhile waiting. Possibly, she was not getting quite enough fiber to move things along? It is nice that it's now working the opposite as usually when you go from breastmilk to formula or milk that will begin the more constipating diet.
Maybe with your next new arrival try paying more attention to your fiber intake and see if that helps this one to poop more frequently. Congratulations for being able to nurse that long while being pregnant, and on your up and coming blessing ;)

If she wasn't straining or having severe pain due to not pooping it was not constipation. Breastmilk is extremely nutritious and not a bit is wasted. She wasn't having loads of poops because her body was able to use almost 100% of what she nursed.

That is actually quite common. Poop is WASTE, things the body cannot use. Breastmilk is almost 100% pure nutrition without waste.

There you go - mystery solved. Congrats on nursing so long, hope you do the same with baby #2!

I would second the food intolerance idea, wheat is another common culprit. The other thought I had was, has her water intake increased significantly since she is not breastfeeding? Also her consumption of fruits or vegetables? Did you start her on prunes or pears this week? It can be a bit difficult to figure these things out, but pay attention if she begins to get constipated again, and you may be able to figure out a food sensitivity.

As someone who suffered from constipation issues my entire life--I am now 42--I never knew until I was 40 that I was allergic to milk casein (was breastfed, drank lots and lots of cow's milk, loved cheese, never ever thought my issues could have anything to do with cow's milk), have severe gluten and soy intolerance, and am also intolerant, to various degrees, to 21 other foods. The thing with food intolerances is, if you don't know about them, they will continue to hurt and wreck your body until it gets to a point--usually in middle age--when you get sick or have really weird symptoms and you AND the allopathic doctor have absolutely no idea what's wrong with you.

That's what happened to me. I got sick with 5 different, really weird symptoms/issues and my allopathic doctor couldn't tell me why I was sick or how I got them. So I went to alternative healthcare and found a wonderful naturopathic doctor, who helped me figure out that FOOD was what was causing the vast majority of my issues.

The best thing you could ever do for your daughter is to take her to a naturopathic doctor and have a food intolerance/sensitivty screen run (allopathic doctors will not check for food allergies unless you have been in anapalytic shock). And I got lucky; although I have an allergy to casein in cow's milk, I don't in goat or sheep and so can consume those products.

It is thought that I have had the milk casein allergy since birth and, because it wasn't detected, all the other food intolerances then came about because I developed Leaky Gut. My daughter also has constipation issues and has her entire life (she's 10). I did have her IgA tested, and she has mild gluten intolerance but is not intolerant/sensitive to soy, egg, or milk casein. But I still want to have her tested with a bigger panel.

Good luck.

how much fiber is in your diet? while I breastfeed my dd was never constipated. I did consume a ton of water and ate prunes but she has always been a heathly pooper. Maybe you just did not have enough water in your BM. With #2 increase your water and fiber (from fruit & veggies) dont do OC tabs or anything like that.

I would try to pinpoint foods that are in your diet that she doesn't eat because the first thing that comes to mind is a food intollerance. (Her reacting to something in your milk). You said it is most likely not dairy or soy but there are other foods that can cause reactions. Does she eat any nuts? Did you while you were nursing? How about corn or eggs?

You also mentioned she is drinking a lot of whole milk this week, could she have a slight sensitivity to it making her poop more? (for other kids it might be diarrhea, but since she isn't a frequent pooper it is showing up differently). Does she have any other signs of an allergy or intollerance? Here is a list of common symptoms from kellymom: rash, hives, eczema, sore bottom, dry skin; wheezing or asthma; congestion or cold-like symptoms; red, itchy eyes; ear infections; irritability, fussiness, colic; intestinal upsets, vomiting, constipation and/or diarrhea, or green stools with mucus or blood.

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.htm...

It will be interesting to see how things work out with baby number two. Regardless of poop issues, you are doing a great thing for your little ones!