Ten Month Old with Constipation

Just keep breastfeeding her. It is a complete food for one year. Will she pick up cherrios to feed herself? I never heard of a constipated breastfed child. AF

Hi C.,
My daughter had a bout with constipation when she was younger too. For three days she didn't do a #2. I called her doctor and she told me to put either a little bit of Karo syrup or white grape juice in the bottom of her milk bottle. I tried the Karo syrup and it worked.
I would say do the juice in the bottle maybe once or twice a week and see if she goes more regular.

C. - Both you (since you are nursing) and the baby should avoid the foods that cause constipation such as bananas. Let her eat less solids for a couple of days and you should eat lots of fiber rich foods - the nutrients from this will pass on to the baby since she is still nursing.

Also, have you just tried give her the prunes baby food?

Hope that helps!

i totally understand the independence thing, my daughter is the same way. unfortunately, she has also battled chronic constipation for the entire 3 years of her life. if your child will eat finger foods, i'd start with cut up fresh prunes and melon. cut out rice cereal, it is binding, not bananas either. push fluids.

as a person who made my own baby food and hardly offered any sweets, especially processed ones, i was very skeptical of the karo syrup solution but it works well and in fact the prescription 'medicine' that my daughter is on to keep her going is enulose, a sugar which is not metabolized by the body. if the diet changes don't work then call your doctor.

My son was constipated every now and then when we started on table foods. Sometimes I could convince him to eat some prunes, but if a few days had gone by and he started having a problem, I'd (with the recommendation of the nurse at ped's office)take a children's glycerin suppository, cut it in half lengthwise, cut off a little bit of the bottom to make it shorter, and use that. Sure, he wasn't a big fan, and you kind of have to hold their little cheeks together for 5 minutes to make sure it doesn't come out before it works, but in 10 minutes you've resolved the problem and life becomes easier on everyone.

My son had a lot of constipation as a baby and his pediatrician recommende using Karo syrup. You can try a half teaspoon in the bottle once or twice a day to start. Don't over use it because it will cause the bowels to become to loose. This worked for my son and I also liked the idea because it's safe did not require medication.
Good Luck

If you can get the Happy Baby Happy Bellies cereal, try that. It comes in brown rice, multi-grain, and oatmeal varieties. It had Probiotics in it to help move things along. You can get it at Whole Foods and some other natural food stores. And a glycerin suppository works wonders for immediate relief. Once she's cleared out, she may eat better. Stock her diet ( and yours if you are still breastfeeding) with the 4 P's. Prunes, pears, peaches, and plums. Good Luck from a Mom who knows the pain.

My oldest daughter had the same problem with constipation when she turned 4 months. I gave her warm apple juice to drink and as fruit I would slip in prunes which is solid in baby food version in the jar.It can be found in different stages of baby food.

I hope this works for your daughter

we had the same prob when starting solids, my son is breastfed too. We added bran to his oatmeal, and about 4 ounces a day of water/prune juice with the pulp mixed 50/50. This worked well for us. You can also try flax seed oil which is a natural laxative and will provide Omega-3.

Glycerin suppository's can be purchased over the counter at you local drug store. Or you can warm up some prune juice.

Good luck

C.,
I have a ten month old as well with a similar issues. First thing I tried is eating prunes (I know not my favorite)it passes with the breast milk. If that doesn't work I sprinkle a tad of miralax in his water definitely not a full dose just a pinch until things start to move. For emergencies (screaming uncontrollably with no relief in sight) I use 1/2 of a glycerin suppository(over the counter)
Hope this helps.

I agree with some of the responses. I do NOT agree with Karo syrup. There are so many good, healthy options, sugar is a poor solution.

Pears are second only to prunes in helping get things moving. I agree with the first mom who said YOU should also be eating high-fiber and the prunes/pears to help her get moving.. but that will take a few days more than getting her to eat it herself.

Like the other Mom said - try feeding less rice, less banana, etc for you and her.

Ultimately, some babies will go up to a week without a poop on occasion normally.. in your case, it sounds like it's a problem, because she's uncomfortable and not eating.

Hope it's better soon.

C.,
I understand exactly what you are going through, we went through this with my daughter. We tried pear juice (I had the best luck using a spoon to get it into her mouth), which worked for a while. But, then her pediatrician told us to put Caro Syrup in her food (start with 1/4 tsp and work your way up to 1 tsp to find the right dose) to get things moving again. We kept her on that for a long time. I found it difficult to get it into her by putting it in baby food (since she wouldn't eat it), so I would put it in her yogurt or water.
Around 10 months my daughter gave up baby food completely, wouldn't eat it. So, we just started giving her what we were eating, I made sure everything was soft enough for her.
Best of luck! Oh, and someone else told me to stick with foods that begin with "p" (pears, peaches, apricots, peas) since they have more fiber. I was told to not give her carrots, potatoes, apple sauce, rice since those tend to be binding.

spinach is great for cleaning them out. if you don't think she'd like the flavor, mix it with some dried rice cereal. good luck!

My daughter doesn't like for others to feed her either. I just give her things she can eat with her fingers, or give applesauce or other spoon food in a bowl, give her a spoon, and let her try to eat it herself. She gets some, it is fun for her, keeps her occupied. I also give her whatever we are eating for dinner that is soft enough that she can eat it like macaroni, scrambled eggs with spinach, pancakes, etc.

How long is your daughter going without pooping? My daughter is 11 mo old and will sometimes go a day or even close to two days without pooping. She is fine and we haven't noticed any problems. She loves table food but I think the bulk of her calories still come from breast milk. Really as long as you are introducing new food to your daughter and offering things to her there is no reason she has to eat any solid foods the first year. If you are breastfeeding regularly throughout the day this is enough for her. And breastfed babies often don't poop as much.

Hope this helps!