Constipated 9 month old

[MamaT1992]

My 9 month old regularly gets very constipated and can go a week or more without a bowel movement and then end up crying in pain trying to get it out. We've tried lots of water, prunes, tummy massage but does anyone have any other recommendations of foods to try please or foods to avoid? Thanks

Have you spoken to your gp or hv?

@shouldistop no I haven't yet as I had heard that some constipation can be normal but I'm wondering if I should now.

I would. You've tried the obvious home remedies.

I would seek professional help.
Constipation is related to diet but in my experience (seeing specialists for my son) it can’t be solved by diet changes alone.
Often the constipation has caused some swellings etc which means passing stools is very difficult.
I would do all I could to avoid Mh child developing fissures etc and/or starting to develop ‘withholding’ behaviour due to pain when pooing.
Movicol or Lactulose for a while could really help..

My DD was the same, even lactulose didn't help. The only thing that worked was probiotics! She's been regular (anywhere between 1 to 3 times a day) ever since we started them :)

Thanks all. I'll definitely to do. @Fedfedfedup what probiotic did you use please and was it prescribed or over the counter? Thanks again

What is his typical daily diet?
Do you give weetabix at all? Everyone I know with babies constipated gave weetabix which basically sets like concrete, swapped to porridge and issue solved.

Do you bitz up vegetables still? I cool up lots of roasted veg and blitz to make simple pasta sauce for example. It’s probably 50/50 sauce to pasta.

Food to avoid
Eggs, unripe bananas,

Foods good
Pear with skin, over ripe bananas

My cousin had this when she was little, a bath greatly helped her, have you tried that, just letting them play about in the water seemed to help move things along. Eventually her mum did take her to GP and then she had a referral but it at least seemed to help with the discomfort and get things moving in the interim.

Thanks for the tips @Caspianberg and @SingleTTC31. She has a bath every night but it doesn't seem to make much difference. She doesn't have so much appetite for breakfast as other meals but we have been giving her pear or apple purées to help her but that hasn't made a difference. In the last couple of days though I've changed her to porridge as I've heard that's good. She does have eggs sometimes but I'll avoid those. She has lots of blended veg, fruit, olives, cheese, bits of chicken, ham etc, lots of what we eat. She loves Ellas Kitchen sweetcorn puff sticks but I try and restrict those. And I've been making her these courgette and cheese puff pastry wheels I saw in a weaning cookbook which she loves but perhaps pastry isn't great for blocking her up, I'm not sure.

Sorry one more question. I'm still breastfeeding. Do you think I should avoid certain foods as I'm just wondering if my milk could be contributing to the constipation? Thanks

@MamaT1992 - it might be worth getting a blood test allergy test done for him. My son (10 months) reacted badly to peanut butter at 6 months and they gave him a full allergy test which checked about 200 common allergens.
Although he is classified as severely allergic though, it doesn’t seem to go through breast milk as I had been eating peanut butter lots 0-6 months.
The specialist did say though that certain things go through breast milk more to react, I think dairy was one of them.

@MamaT1992 Garden of Life Kids probiotics on Amazon. They're pricey but they work! I think it's because it also contains prebiotics.

Sorry one more question. I'm still breastfeeding. Do you think I should avoid certain foods as I'm just wondering if my milk could be contributing to the constipation? Thanks

Unless there are signs of an allergy there, like mucus in her poo and lots of wind and bloating then BFing usually has the opposite effect so you are generally advised to feed more if they are constipated, not less.

Thanks @BunnyRuddington. That's reassuring.

We had similar problems with DS at 9m. We realised he wasn't drinking anywhere near enough water. I know they say BF babies don't NEED water until 12m, but once DS got the hang of his straw cup, his water intake doubled (we offered only at mealtimes) and his constipation disappeared.

Keep going with the tummy massage, warm baths, bicycle legs, prunes/pears/peaches/plums, and encourage lots of independent movement too (lots of floor time!), but also contact your HV/GP as it isn't normal pooing behaviour.