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Original poster

Constipated baby!

27 replies

Emmes · 08/07/2020 11:05

Hi Everyone,

Really looking for some advice! My little boy is 6 months, I started weaning at 5. He's always been colicy/gripey but over the past 2 months he gets quite constipated. Twice in the last 10 days his poo has got stuck coming out leaving him crying in pain and causing a bit of blood to come out. I have moved onto SMA follow on milk. Can someone please offer some advice? I now just dread him pooing. The doctors have prescribed lactose but again that hasn't helped. He has warm baths everyday, I cycle his legs, prune juice, (water is an issue, he arches his back and screams at me) I've tried baby juice too and he pretty much refuses anything that isn't milk or food. I've also read that SMA is known to constipate babies? I've always been reluctant to change milk but if someone can advise me that would be much appreciated! Please don't put nasty comments, I'm trying really hard here and find it really distressing when he's crying his eyes out. Thank you

OP posts:
HalloumiSalad · 08/07/2020 11:09

I've also heard sma isn't great for babies prone to constipation, but no personal knowledge on that. I do know that apples are good for keeping stools soft because they contain pectin so that could help, if he could munch one cut into slices or you could puree? Maybe even puree and put in other things? Google pectin for constipation

Motherofmonsters · 08/07/2020 11:12

DD gets constipated a lot. I've made a prune and pear puree which I give her a bit everyday. It does seem to help

HalloumiSalad · 08/07/2020 11:14

Also, with legs cycling you can do a 'rainbow massage' on his tummy, it helps move things along (his tummy muscles are still developing, so this problem is likely to reduce as he gets stronger, encourage activities like rolling over to help his tummy get strong), you like him on his back and stay at 11o clock stroke firmly clockwise to 5o clock, repeat several times, it helps things move along and reduces tummy discomfort.

If lactose isn't helping doctor can prescribe suppository which will act more directly and quickly.

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Original poster
Emmes · 08/07/2020 11:15

Thank you - it's really frustrating because I want to open the world of food to him and be adventurous but were playing it safe with foods that will encourage him to poo at the moment - like prunes.

OP posts:
Original poster
Emmes · 08/07/2020 11:17

Thank you, I will give this ago. the doctors have just called back and offered a high fibre prescription, I just don't want to rely too much on lactose/fibre medicine incase he relies on it?

OP posts:
TheLovleyChebbyMcGee · 08/07/2020 11:22

What about wheetabix made with his regular milk? It always worked for DS and he accepted the taste easily enough. It sets like cement though if you get it in your hair!

howdidigettobe50something · 08/07/2020 11:24

Hi there. I remember one of my daughter's suffering awfully with this following weaning. We were back and forth to the GP for months and he kept prescribing higher doses of laxatives and softeners... It was terrible. In the end I took her for intolerance testing and she was intolerant to dairy and another food group. I eliminated those foods, stopped all medication and it was like switching on a tap! The relief was amazing. It may therefore be the milk brand that doesn't agree with her. Could be worth exploring alternatives. Good luck.

BabyLlamaZen · 08/07/2020 11:29

There could definitely be allergies here! Can you ask for testing and a different milk? Maybe avoid dairy for a bit if possible. I also found weetabix helped and not too much bread. They're only really supposed to start weaning at 6 months earliest.

theproblemwitheyes · 08/07/2020 11:31

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MoominKitty · 08/07/2020 11:32

Could you move him back to his first milk or did that do the same?

My 6 month old is very regular so haven't tried any cures myself but my neice gets bunged up often and they put a little vasaline on her bum to help any discomfort and give warm diluted apple juice which clears her out.

How many oz of milk is he drinking at the mo?

Original poster
Emmes · 08/07/2020 11:35

theproblemwitheyes these are the kinds of comments that aren't needed.. the doctor said 'don't use it for too long' when I asked why they said they develop so much at this point that he will almost not learn to poo, since his poos without poo are soft. Hence my comment, he is on lactose but I would like to find an alternative solution. Hence me asking for advice which you 'frankly' are not providing.

OP posts:
BlueRaincoat1 · 08/07/2020 11:36

MY little boy (breastfed) became really constipated almost as soon as I started weaning him onto food at 6 months. It got to the point where he was going up to 5+ days without a poo. It was pretty stressful. He was prescribed lactulose I think, and I was a bit reluctant as I didn't want him to end up 'relying' on it. I was working his legs, rubbing his tummy etc for ages every day. But a dietician told me to properly commit to giving the lactulose, and to increase his water intake. Eventually he just started going normally. It was a problem for a few months though. But for me, committing to the lactulose and giving it regularly was actually the right thing to do.

Original poster
Emmes · 08/07/2020 11:37

MoominKitty his first milk done the same which is why I don't think its number 2. he's drinking 26/30oz a day

OP posts:
Original poster
Emmes · 08/07/2020 11:40

BlueRaincoat1 thank you - that's a more positive way to put it. I'm going purely on advice here, my doctor prescribed lactose 2 weeks ago but also told me to give it to him for too long, incase he always expects it to be easy to poo. I do hear once he's crawling/moving more and his tummy gets more advance it short even itself out, I hope. It's really horrible

OP posts:
HalloumiSalad · 08/07/2020 11:46

There may be risks with being on medicine for to long but there are also risks with chronic constipation such as ballooning of the bowel and overspill dhioarrea (I can never spell that right!), Not to alarm you but it is a bit like walking a tightrope when a bodily function isn't happening properly and you try to balance the problem against the treatment.
What blueraincoat said was very similar to my performance with ds.

HalloumiSalad · 08/07/2020 11:46

Experience not performance 😆

Original poster
Emmes · 08/07/2020 11:53

@HalloumiSalad thank you, he's on lactose so I'll persist with this. I've wondered about his milk and perhaps changing it. we'll see how we get on thank you

OP posts:
billy1966 · 08/07/2020 11:55

I was advised to add a half teaspoon of brown sugar to a bottle of cooling water and it did the trick. Pediatric nurse friend recommended it.

dillydallydollydaydream7 · 08/07/2020 12:23

My DD is 14 months and she gets like this every couple of weeks and screams the place down and it's awful to see so you have my sympathy op. I haven't had her to the doctors as the HV said to just increase water and offer more fruit and said the skins will help. It does seem to help but a lot of it I've put down to change in diets - so to go from milk to weaning, and now to different types of food. HV said also prune juice which you're already doing - she said it'll hopefully just pass within time.

Sorry I know it's not advice but just thought I'd share my experiences

Motherofmonsters · 08/07/2020 12:39

When I rang them he said to increase water intake as well. She doesn't like drinking much so I bought melons and oranges as her water

claireyjs · 08/07/2020 15:16

Move from SMA to Aptamil, SMA is well known for causing issues

dementedpixie · 08/07/2020 15:22

Follow on has more iron and can cause constipation. I'd switch back to first milk and avoid bananas and rice/baby rice

Ristar · 08/07/2020 15:29

Apparently it's better to stay on first milk for constipation, though I'm not quite sure why. I never found lactose that helpful for my daughter, she was put on movicol eventually and it is so much better! Still takes it at 3.

Other things that helped a bit for us was pureed prunes, pureed pear, and giving baby porridge rather than Weetabix or baby rice.

Praiseyou · 08/07/2020 16:08

I never used follow on milk so not sure about that but for constipation, a pouch of Ella's Kitchen fruit puree never failed for my dc.

MoominKitty · 08/07/2020 16:19

My boys on aptimal one, I know the premade stuff helps move them, mine was on the pre made till 3 months now on powder and he pooped more lol. Follow on milk has more Iron I think which can bung them up, could be wrong mind.

He sounds like he's getting enough milk I.e fluids so maybe try some apple sauce? Works better for babies so my sister in law says anyway.