Switch to Milk and Constipation

My daughter went through the same thing his body will eventually adjust. For now I would water down the milk a little and when his poop becomes more regular lessen the water. That is what I did - I hope this helps.

My daughter was constipated for about 4 months after switching. I just fed her prunes every day for a snack and gave her plenty of water and flax seed oil. Eventually her body just got used to it and now she is back to normal bowel movements. Don't worry, it happens to most kids. Good luck!

My daughter had the same problem. I played with the type of mylk I was giving her. i started her on 1% (that is what the rest of the family drinks). She was constipated and when she did go it was very hard. I then gave her whole milk and it seemed to help. One thing that my pedatrician told me is that when the children switch to milk they do not need as much milk as they did formula. Make sure he is getting other things to drink. I usually give my daughter milk with breakfast and before bed. the rest of the day she drinks juice (1/2 juice, 1/2 water) and water. She also like fruits and veggies, so she eats plenty of them. If I were you I would ry adding juice to his diet and check the fat content in the milk you are giving him and maybe you need to adjust that. It is all a trial and error experience.

Hi C., I am a mother of 3 and remember all those changes that no one tells you about. As for my own children, I always used to mix the formula with the milk and eased them into it. It little less formual as the time went by. That seemed to help with the transition. Although, I've known other moms to just make the switch as you did and their bodies eventually got used to it. I would also encourage alot of drinking water to help with regularity. If your child doesn't drink anything other than milk that could be part of the problem.

I had the same problem with my daughter her stool got so hard it made her bleed a little. Dr. prescribed Lactolose and since she's been on that no problems they also suggested giving her no more than 16oz of milk a day and try to increase the amount of fiber (hard to do with such a little one)

The Dr. said the lactolose is like "castor" oil and there are no known side effects or dependency issues. so that might help.

Good Luck

My daughter had the same problem. Her doctor told us to use stool softener, she gave us Kristalose. I began with 1 teaspoon in her nighttime bottle. Now we use 1 tablespoon. It helps a lot, but she still has discomfort when passing bowel movements occasionally. I was also told that Karo syrup (sold in supermarkets) can be used instead of stool softener. It ia a sugary syrup. I may start that soon because it is more natural.

my son, now 2 1/2 had a really difficult time a little before he turned two. He is a dairy freak as i call him...eats yogurt, drinks milk, eats cheese, ect... Our pediatrician suggested two things - lessening his dairy or giving him one sippy cup of soy milk a day to replace the cow's milk...let me tell u...it did the trick! it works wonders to the point that we are potty training him now and when he goes on the potty he doesn't have to struggle...

best of luck 2 u!

I am currently going through the same situation with my 13 month old daughter. My doctor suggested to first try giving her prune juice, apple juice and plenty of water. Although my daughter will not drink any juice, I have noticed that the stools aren't as hard when I've cut back on the milk and increased her water intake. IT was suggested not to give her more than 24oz/day. The doctor also suggested giving her a teaspoon of mineral oil once/day for one week and gradually backing down to 1/2 teaspoon and then 1/2 teasponn every other day...eventually weening her off. The mineral oil helped a little, but I've found that cutting back on the milk and increasing the water has been more effective resulting in softer stools. I hope this helped!

Maybe try mixing whole milk with soy milk (1/2 and 1/2). My 2 y/o daughter gets constipated as well and this seems to loosen her stool up.

My daughter is 4 months old and when we switched from breast milk to formula, she had the same problem. Our peditrician recommended a 1/2 tsp of dark brown sugar in her bottles with every other bottle. The situation is not the same, but the brown sugar helped with the constipation.

My daughter got completely constipated with cow's milk. There was nothing that would undo it except staying away from dairy.

Much of what pediatricians and dieticians pro-dairy stance is a result of billions of $$s from the dairy industry.
It's not necessary!! If you think about it, we are the only species that continues to drink milk beyond infancy. And we drink the milk of another species! How weird is that???

Discontinue the white stuff! Soy is definitely NOT recommended for little boys ( very very estrogenic!)
Kids CAN grow up and have strong bones without doing the dairy thing! Every other animal on the planet has strong bones without consuming dairy products- so what do they eat? Green things!!
Green leafy foods, broccoli, chick peas, almonds all have lots of the minerals necessary for strong bones. Without the hormonal growth stimulators that milk has.

That being said, you could try goat's milk, or goat or sheep's yogurt and see if things work better.
Another option is raw milk, which is not readily available in NY.

Good luck! Remember to research all your options! Do your homework, your family will benefit from it. Don't take laxatives or stool softeners to cover up a problem like this. Our bodies are infintely wise- pay attention and figure out the cause instead of covering up the symptoms..... this applies to all healh issues.

hey C.,
i am having the same prob with my 14 month old daughter. she had a milk allergy as a baby so the doctor said to gradually introduce milk, which i've been doing, she takes about 4oz of milk and 3oz of formula in a bottle. and the more milk i give her the more constipated she is getting. my pedi said this is normal and try to give them as much fluids as you can. my daughter has been drinkin alot of water and gerber has prune apple juice which you can dilute with water and that helps also. also miralax is great. you put a tsp into their beverage. helps loosen the stool. my pedi said constipation is normal from 1yrs old till about 2 1/2!! hope this helps!! good luck!!