7mo really constipated after stopping bf - now what? (sorry long)

[ZamMummy]

Hi, my 7mo DS self-weaned from bf a couple of weeks ago as I am pregnant again (8wks). Prior to this he was mixed fed, 1 bottle of formula a day.
Now he is on formula for all his milk feeds (we are doing BLW, he eats generally twice a day, not much but happy, eg roasted veg) he has become dreadfully constipated - latest was no poo for 6 days!! and terrible straining and pain, it's heartbreaking.
I give him pureed prunes every day, avoid bananas, and offer him plenty of water, but not much success. I reduced his formula to 70% strength and gave him no solids but the prunes on day 5, and finally he poo'd overnight.
Before he self-weaned I noticed that if he had more than 1 bottle of formula he got a bit bunged up, also that bananas made it worse. I have changed formula but doesn't seem to make any difference.
Thing is I live in Zambia and the formulas available here are all from South Africa - they are the old-style ones, no pre/probiotics. The only one with prebiotics in is a follow-up milk, but that has extra iron. Would the prebiotics be enough to counteract the iron or should I stick to the infant ones? Would soya formula help?
Is diluting his formula a bad thing to continue with? I've gone up to 80% strength now.

I so don't want this to become a chronic problem for him, but I don't really know what to do next.
There are no HV's here - Mumsnet is my only resource. Please help! Cheers.

Hello
I'm in France and in over here they advise making up 1 bottle in 3 with Hépar mineral water to ease constipation. I don't know if that's any help, it's probably not available.

bump

Otherside - that's really interesting, but i haven't seen hepar here. Do you know what's in it that makes it effective?

Others on here have recommended Apple Juice - it works a treat for my ds (although I have had to water it down as he likes it too much )

Does your baby eat cereal? Too much iron fortified cereal made my baby constipated around that age.

I always found kiwi fruit, grapes and mangoes good for sorting out constipation. If you can get live yoghurt, that is supposed to be good at helping too. Obviously, you've realised that bananas tend to bung babies up - cheese too can have a similar effect, so if ds is eating a lot of cheese, it might be worth cutting down on that for a bit, to see if that makes a difference.
Sorry, but not able to advise re the formula. I do know that iron can have a constipating side effect, so at a guess, it wouldn't be a good idea at the moment. HTH.

Just consulted the Hepar web site and it says it is uniquely naturally high in magnesium. It also says not to use Hepar to make up bottles without seeing a doctor first. I hope I haven't caused any damage! None of the parenting sites or magazines which recommend Hépar say this.

Thanks everyone for your tips. Will definitely try the fruit & yogurt, and the apple juice, plus cut out cheese (which he loves...)
He's going more often now, but it's so hard it won't come out! and his little bum is all red and sore so he cries whenever I change him (sorry if TMI)
so still need to do something..... amd going to doctor on Monday so will find out if I can give him a magnesium supplement or if there is anything else to try