oh, and ds is screaming with constipation - what to do?

[phdlifeneedsanewlife]

Ds (8m) is bfing frequently plus having 2 meals a day solids. He mostly has boiled veg, stewed apple, carrot, and mashed sweet potato for his meals, a very little bit of bread. I'm also trying to give him more water with and between meals but he does seem to wear most of it.

I've been upping his fruit and last night he had some lentils and he's been passing hard little pine cones for the past couple of days. But I'm pretty sure there's a backlog (he didn't poo last Tues-Sat and there's been no explosion) and this morning's pine cone did make him scream.

Any suggestions?

My friends toddler has awful constipation and the doctor told her to avoid cooked carrots.
Would he take something like stewed prunes ,they are very effective to get you going.

Avoid cooked carrots? Hm!

Am thinking we will have to go the stewed prunes, Emily.

pureed pears
prune juice
are they o.k. for 8 mths? I think so.

Poor lamb, my DD2 had this happen when she started to eat solids regularly. Now her body has adjusted to eating other things it doesn't happen anymore. Here is a list of the things that worked for us;

prune juice/prunes
orange juice (worked really well)
raisins
red lentils (very well cooked and mushy)
kiwi fruit

Also try cutting down on carrots and bananas just until things get sorted.

Something we have also tried that you might want to give a go to is giving vitimin C supplements. When you take vit C, your body can only absorb so much at a time so if you take a lot, the body eliminates it, generally by giving you (very) mild diarrhea. I found that by giving a vitimin c supplement every day for a few days that would really help to soften stools and clear out a blockage. BTW it is not dangerous to do this as vit c is a water soluble vitamin.

Hope you get it sorted it's so horrible for them.

Oesteopath could be good.

Agree with beach, orange juice is very good - the totally natural one.

thanks beachcomber, oblomov.

will get some pears down him and he's supposed to have lentils for lunch. Might skip the juice for now - will drink some myself as I sometimes find it effective through the breastmilk.

My DS2 is exactly the same at the mo though he has only been having solids for a month as he is 7 months.
I have read that you are ideally supposed to hold off citrus till a bit later, say 9-10 months, I think there is an allergy risk, so not too sure about orange juice/kiwi.
Raisins also not ideal as they can choke on them, am going to try prunes (YUK!) in some chape or form and keep on with the water.
It's horrible to see them upset and straining, especially after being excl breastfed when having a poo is so easy for them.

yes exactly pannacotta, he was just playing with his ball then suddenly screaming and reaching for me - pain was quite obvious.

Be careful with VitC - although it is generally wee'd out, too much can overload the kidneys and cause kidney stones.

Some poeple find apples constipating, too.

Blueberries are also good for softening and helping out the poo, and olive oil speeds the bowels up nicely (without causing diarrhoea) to keep things moving. Half a teaspoon of extra virgin mixed into one or two meals a day works well. Do it after the meal has been cooked or heated up, because oils are generally healthier uncooked.

Tomatoes also work - dd lurves tomatoes, but I used to have to ration her otherwise we had seriously explosive nappies!

thanks PrettyCandles

I still owe you a HUGE thanks with flowers and a box of chocolates for sorting us out with the feeding in bed thing - we can feed anywhere in the flat now!

Ah yes good point, olive oil is fab and no allergy issues. Tastes lovely poured over sweet potato.
Have also found avoiding wheat/gluten helps, I try to give DS bits of rye bread/toast rather than ordinary wheat bread.

my DDs both used to get very constipated. Here is my "shit buster" recipe : puree stewed apples, apricots and prunes
mix with warm custard. This worked every time!

Some other tips:
keep up the liquid esp water
cut out bananas, bread, yoghurts
have you tried taking him swimming? a bit of exercise sometimes gets things moving.

Get the doc to check for anal fissure - the screaming and obvious pain are an indication of that. It's just a tiny little 'nick' in the delicate skin of the anus, maybe caused by a hard poo, and is easily treated.

thanks, tiktok, will do

prettycandles

A tablespoon of brown sugar in a drink works well too - old midwife remedy.