constipation during weaning

Hillary Israeli wrote:

OK, I'm using the word "weaning" here in the UK sense to mean introduction
of solids, just because the subject line got way too long when I tried to
say "constipation in a baby who has started solids relatively recently but
is still breastfeeding quite a bit"

Anyway, my 9.5 month old, Naomi, who really only started getting into
solids about a month ago, started having constipation problems about two
weeks ago. She breastfeeds a lot. Meal/BF schedule is very very random,
but for a rough idea, something like:

6 am - BF
7:30 - solids
8:30 - BF a little
11:30 - BF
12:00 - solids
2:00 - BF a little
4:30 - BF
6:00 - solids
7:00 - BF
8:00 - BF marathon

Now, originally the "solids" just consisted of cheerios, veggie wagon
wheels, stuff like that. We gradually worked up to meals consisting of
varying amounts of pureed fruits of various types, cheerios, bread, tiny
bits of chicken, tiny bits of cheese, yogurt, tiny bits of vegetables, and
small fruit cubes. She did fine until the cheese was added in. After
several days having cheese, she became constipated. This was about 2 weeks
ago. Just to clarify, when I say "constipated," I mean she decreased her
frequency (normally every other day - she went about 3.5 days between
poops) and when she did finally go after a lot of straining, it was a very
hard piece of feces which caused minor anal bleeding and a lot of crying.
After that horrific episode, I cut the cheese out completely. I fed
basically nothing but prunes for the next 24 hours and then prunes plus
cheerios for the next 24 hrs after that. 48 hrs after the hard poop, she
had another BM that was not hard, but very firm, and which was also
produced only after a lot of straining and crying. Since then, I've been
feeding her prunes with every meal - probably about 60-70% of her dietary
intake is prunes. She's also getting small amounts of yogurt (it's not her
favorite so she never has eaten much of it), cheerios/crackers/bread,
chicken,and some veggies and other fruits but NO cheese, NO bananas. The
thing is, she is still straining and fussing a LOT before every BM, she is
still going only every 2.5-3 days, and the feces is generally a very firm
piece followed by a more copious, softer movement within ten minutes.

It seems to me she's letting it sit in there too long, it's starting to
harden, and becoming difficult to pass, and then she finally passes it and
the newer stuff comes out too. My question is - are there any known
methods of dealing with this? Should I keep pushing prunes? Should I
feed MORE prunes? Are there any other foods that would be good? Are there
any contraindicated foods not mentioned here?

Thanks,
h.



Could she possibly need more water? Both of mine were practically
inhaling water by
the time they were well into solids.

Clisby

OK, I'm using the word "weaning" here in the UK sense to mean introduction
of solids, just because the subject line got way too long when I tried to
say "constipation in a baby who has started solids relatively recently but
is still breastfeeding quite a bit"

Anyway, my 9.5 month old, Naomi, who really only started getting into
solids about a month ago, started having constipation problems about two
weeks ago. She breastfeeds a lot. Meal/BF schedule is very very random,
but for a rough idea, something like:

6 am - BF
7:30 - solids
8:30 - BF a little
11:30 - BF
12:00 - solids
2:00 - BF a little
4:30 - BF
6:00 - solids
7:00 - BF
8:00 - BF marathon

Now, originally the "solids" just consisted of cheerios, veggie wagon
wheels, stuff like that. We gradually worked up to meals consisting of
varying amounts of pureed fruits of various types, cheerios, bread, tiny
bits of chicken, tiny bits of cheese, yogurt, tiny bits of vegetables, and
small fruit cubes. She did fine until the cheese was added in. After
several days having cheese, she became constipated. This was about 2 weeks
ago. Just to clarify, when I say "constipated," I mean she decreased her
frequency (normally every other day - she went about 3.5 days between
poops) and when she did finally go after a lot of straining, it was a very
hard piece of feces which caused minor anal bleeding and a lot of crying.
After that horrific episode, I cut the cheese out completely. I fed
basically nothing but prunes for the next 24 hours and then prunes plus
cheerios for the next 24 hrs after that. 48 hrs after the hard poop, she
had another BM that was not hard, but very firm, and which was also
produced only after a lot of straining and crying. Since then, I've been
feeding her prunes with every meal - probably about 60-70% of her dietary
intake is prunes. She's also getting small amounts of yogurt (it's not her
favorite so she never has eaten much of it), cheerios/crackers/bread,
chicken,and some veggies and other fruits but NO cheese, NO bananas. The
thing is, she is still straining and fussing a LOT before every BM, she is
still going only every 2.5-3 days, and the feces is generally a very firm
piece followed by a more copious, softer movement within ten minutes.

It seems to me she's letting it sit in there too long, it's starting to
harden, and becoming difficult to pass, and then she finally passes it and
the newer stuff comes out too. My question is - are there any known
methods of dealing with this? Should I keep pushing prunes? Should I
feed MORE prunes? Are there any other foods that would be good? Are there
any contraindicated foods not mentioned here?

Thanks,
h.

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large

hobbes wrote:

"Hillary Israeli" wrote in message
...


In ,
Clisby Williams wrote:

*Could she possibly need more water? Both of mine were practically
*inhaling water by
*the time they were well into solids.

I suppose she could, but heaven knows how I would get it into her. She has
always taken the barest minimum of EBM required for survival when I'm
away, and when I'm around, she'll play with a cup of water but hardly
drink any. She does nurse a lot. In fact, there are small "sipping"
sessions she has throughout the day which I didn't even write down on that
sample "schedule."




It took DS a long time to get the hang of using a sippy cup. The best method
I found for getting water into him was by using a straw. IOW, putting straw
into cup, putting finger over top of straw, putting straw into DS's mouth,
withdrawing finger. That was the only way he got water for a long time. Even
sipping on a straw the normal way is sometimes easier for kids than sippy
cups.



Mine learned to use a regular cup way before they could use a sippy cup
or a straw. (I had to help
them hold it, but they figured out almost immediately how to drink from it.)

Clisby

In ,
Clisby Williams wrote:

*Could she possibly need more water? Both of mine were practically
*inhaling water by
*the time they were well into solids.

I suppose she could, but heaven knows how I would get it into her. She has
always taken the barest minimum of EBM required for survival when I'm
away, and when I'm around, she'll play with a cup of water but hardly
drink any. She does nurse a lot. In fact, there are small "sipping"
sessions she has throughout the day which I didn't even write down on that
sample "schedule."

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large

Clisby Williams wrote in message ...

Could she possibly need more water? Both of mine were practically
inhaling water by
the time they were well into solids.

That's what occurred to me, too. DS never had anything nearly that
bad, and he started on water about the same time he started solids.

She also may be holding back, after her bad experience, which would be
continuing the cycle. I'm not sure how to help on that,
unfortunately. Poor little girl

Irene

Hillary Israeli wrote:

My question is - are
there any known methods of dealing with this? Should I keep pushing
prunes? Should I feed MORE prunes? Are there any other foods that
would be good? Are there any contraindicated foods not mentioned here?

The iron in the cheerios might be a culprit if she is eating more then
before. Baby message to help her relax might help. I never did that but
Luke would frequently on walks or at other relaxing times when he was
otherwise a bit constipated.

Hunter never had the problem as a baby but Luke did a bit. I found hot
cereal (oatmeal and cream of wheat) worked wonders. Even better then the
prunes as he would eat more of the cereal. I think warm things help a bit
as well. I know warm drinks early in the morning is sometimes recommended
for adults and so I figure warm food might help a baby? Worked for Luke
anyway. I fed him that fairly regularly for breakfast.

--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)

Hillary Israeli wrote:

In ,
Clisby Williams wrote:

*Could she possibly need more water? Both of mine were practically
*inhaling water by
*the time they were well into solids.

I suppose she could, but heaven knows how I would get it into her. She has
always taken the barest minimum of EBM required for survival when I'm
away, and when I'm around, she'll play with a cup of water but hardly
drink any. She does nurse a lot. In fact, there are small "sipping"
sessions she has throughout the day which I didn't even write down on that
sample "schedule."

Hillary,

Naomi sounds similar to how my daughter was. We cut out all iron, fed prunes,
tried to get more fluids into her (a sippy cup w/ straw worked best). I think
Emma just didn't like the way the firmer poops felt so she withheld. We
just kept trying stuff, used an occaisional glycerine suppository (only when
desparate) and she eventually got used to it. Wish I had more concrete
suggestions, but we tried so many things. Nothing was a magic bullet and
she eventually got over it.

Mary

Well, she held it in for a while again and Sunday morning she seemed so
uncomfy - I went ahead and did a digital rectal exam on her (if I can do
it on a kitten, I figured I could do it on her. She didn't mind!) About
half a cm inside I bumped into some hard to firm feces sitting there. I
manually removed a little piece since it was right there, and I hoped that
would stimulate her to go soon. She didn't. I mixed 1 tsp of ground flax
seed into her prunes that morning and about half an hour later she finally
pooped a big giant poop with a lot of fuss since the first part of it was
hard. I have been feeding her 1 jar of prunes mixed with 1 tsp of flax
meal each morning since and she has pooped at least every 36 hours without
too much fuss. So here's a big thank you to Dr. Sears' website, which
gave me the idea of trying the flax meal as a mild laxative.

-h.

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large

I have been feeding her 1 jar of prunes mixed with 1 tsp of flax
meal each morning since and she has pooped at least every 36 hours without
too much fuss. So here's a big thank you to Dr. Sears' website, which
gave me the idea of trying the flax meal as a mild laxative.

-h.

Ah. Storing this item away for future reference, should I ever need it. I
often add ground flaxseed to our granola or oatmeal, for the omega-3
benefits. Glad you found such a gentle solution to her problem.

--
Jodi
SAHM to Oliver (2 years, 6 months) & Arwen (4 months)