is it normal for babies to get quite constipated when being weaned? any tips?

[jeckadeck]

My dd is 7 months and being weaned with varying results: one step forward one step back type of thing. But she seems to be constipated quite a lot of the time: she's normally doing one serious poo every 2-3 days with little rabbit droppings in between. Should I be worried? is there anything I can do about it? Am trying to give her as much water as possible as this seems to help and also if its really bad a little slightly warm water. But I wonder if, given how fussy babies are with food, there's anything else one can do? Oh and if its relevant she's on follow-on milk (3). Anyone know if that causes constipation?

[etyksm]

Raisins did the tricks with my DS! had to warn nursery the next day that the loose nappies were diet related and not sickness.

[fififrog]

I have found adding more water to pureed food helps make sure she gets enough, even though she drinks a lot of her own volition, but that won't help if you're BLW though. She is now guzzling copious quantities of prunes and dried apricots, usually with yoghurt, and that seems to work well. For a particularly bad period I fed her nothing but pears an prunes for a day and that worked really well! Also do colic relief tummy massage routine twice a day.

There are some things you may wish to avoid, like bananas.

[matana]

Yes, it's normal at first because their digestive systems are used to nothing but milk which is much easier to break down. Pears worked well for my DS and i avoided bananas for a while even though he loved them. Some squashes (like butternut) can cause constipation too. Offer lots of water with meals and prunes are good too. Fibre rich foods might help too - cereal?

[Mimmee]

DD is 6.5mo and having exactly the same. HV recommended a small amount of fresh orange juice diluted in cooled boiled water which seems to work. Pears and dried apricots also seem to help.

[Iggly]

Yes - I used to cut down on the solids for a bit and soon found the balance between water, milk and solids. Even now at 2
I have to be careful and make sure DS gets plenty of water in between meals (just a few sips is enough every now and then).

[gourd]

Our LO has never suffered from constipation (quite the opposite!!!) but she has always enjoyed A LOT of fruit - she eats more fruit per day than I do (at 12 months) so perhaps that's why she has never had constipation. She has always (from about 23 weeks old) enjoyed dried fruit in her porridge, dates, figs and prunes as well as at least 3 pieces of fresh fruit a day as snacks. She has always eaten granary or rye bread, not white, and wholegrain rice, pasta, buckwheat, cous cous etc which probably also helps - basically she just eats what we eat and we never get constipated either! The only thing she does not have, that we do, is fruit juice - generally this isn't advised for babies due to the associated risk of tooth decay and acid erosion of the tooth enamel. I suggest more fruit and vegetables and more wholegrain cereals along with a drink of water at each meal or snack time. Dehydration can also be a factor - but any food with a high water content, such as fruit, will help with that too.