Questions after the impacted poo thread: mine is a 6mo old and weaning

[DirtyMartini]

Following on from LadyOfTheFlowers's thread here the other day -- I'm worried this could be happening with DD (6mo), but not sure. It's been 48 hrs since her last dirty nappy. She seems happy enough for now; I've been doing stomach massage, but to no avail. Lots of noisy farts but no poo.

I've been feeding her mostly carrot, pear, squash, apple and other easily digested foods. No follow on milk. Mostly breast milk, but a little bit of infant formula to mix up her baby cereal, which is the Plum Baby stuff("first food"). She doesn't eat a lot of it, and the quantity of formula involved is v small so I wouldn't have expected it to bind her up :(

Is 48 hrs long enough to cause a problem? When does it become worth considering the suppository idea? I'm going out to look for prunes today, as advised on the other thread...

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If shes happy and not unsettled I'd try not to worry. Her young digestion needs to learn to process the slightly more formed poo than that which it processes pre weening. By all means get the prunes in, but so long as shes not excessively straining or grizzly with discomfort my thoughts are its a little soon to worry. A nice warm bath if she enjoys a good kick around can also help so another thought for tonight if things haven't got moving.

Thanks for replying. :)

The problem is there is no set pattern for what is 'normal ' in the amount and times a baby/child poos. 'Normal' could be going only once every 3 days if there is no pain, the poo that comes out is of a suitable consistency (see the Bristol stool chart for clarification). 'Normal' could also mean 4-6 times a day, again, if there are no other problems and is within normal consistency realms.
A happy, healthy, growing baby who isn't in pain when going and fits the above pattern would be considered 'normal'.
Bet you didn't think you would ever become this interested in what was in a nappy, eh?!

We have had two teensy smears of soft, fibrous, pasty carrot puree-type stuff.

Just got home with prunes to stew, and have been doing the tummy massage thing. DD still seems cheery. That impacted poo thread really sounded awful though -- I'm still worried, I'd hate to see her in so much discomfort.

Hey ho, off to stew the prunes.

Plenty of water helps too - got to have something to keep it soft. Strangely, lots of things beginning with p help, peas, prunes, pears, peaches etc!

I just don't get it, honestly, she's breastfed and mainly eats pears and carrots (cited on other thread as good for regularity); no extra iron from follow-on stuff; yesterday she only had breast millk, pear, carrot and peach. I skipped the usual small amount of baby cereal/formula in case it was making things worse. And at that point she had only gone 24 hrs without a poo, so I certainly thought we would be ok by today. Esp with all the tummy massage.

Prunes are at the ready for when she has her next meal. I can't relax until she poos though. I keep imagining the description of the poor baby in the OP of the other thread ... argh.

I wonder if I should try the vaseline on a cotton bud tactic, in the absence of suppositories?

I'm sure this never happened with DS -- he just stayed regular all the time. I didn't know how lucky we were!

Stop worrying! Now!! I command you!

I have not seen the other thread and don't want to either, but:
it is common for babies when they first have solids introduced to have poos less often.
A constipated baby will be uncomfortable, never mind an impacted one!
If your DD is eating, and happy, and farting then a poo is not far off - she may delight you with what is known in the business as a 'Landslide'...

48 hrs of no poo is nothing, seriously, don't worry and leave the Vaseline pot alone.

Hope you have a reassuring nappy soon .

lol

As I read your post she was letting rip with some fabulous windy farts, so here's hoping. Thanks :)

what's in the baby cereal? coz if it's wheat, then go easy on it as it's frequently linked with gut problems

Thanks but no, no wheat. It's the Plum Baby 'first food' porridge: quinoa, rice, millet and amaranth. Haven't given it since Sunday anyway though, just in case. Also managed to express today, so next time she has it I can use bm instead of formula -- not sure it will make a difference but again, just in case.

She loved her prunes, but no nappy action so far

cereal sounds good then :)

You reminded me, another thing to look out for is not overdo dairy - formula is cows milk based and has different proteins, not so easily digestible so you might want to try a few different ones, but bm should do a trick.

My ds when little was very badly constipated for years, chance encounter with a locum dr-cum-nutritionist saved him from misery and we removed cows dairy on his advice (I had fallen into a trap of fromage-yoghourt-cheese products). Later on when we had to remove wheat it turned out that he could have some dairy with no problems.

Looking back, I feel I should have gone down the route of traditional cooking rather than "fast" snacky baby food. Hindsight, eh?

Still no poo :(

Really, if she's happy don't worry. My DD had never gone more than 4 days without a poo, then she went eight! The quantities when it finally arrived were literally unbelievable

Never thought I would look forward to a massive poo-filled nappy so much!

Well done min martini! Too early for a celebratory glass of wine for mum though!

Oh no, sadly, I didn't mean she had actually pooed -- just that I am looking forward to it more than I could have believed!

When it does happen I will definitely toast everyone, with either wine or strong tea

More prunes just now, and lots of breastfeeding. DD seems ok in herself but a bit grunty and wriggly

Fingers crossed!

any luck DM?

More teensy carrot smears, minuscule in volume but potently fragranced. And some serious bed-rumbling wind which is pretty amusing (as DD is not bothered by it).

Strangely impressed with ItsAll's dd's eight-day record. TMI but, I personally had a ten-day wait after my emcs and honestly, when it arrived it was the blackest black. Like charcoal

I feel I've entrapped you all with the promise of a Big Poo Event from DD - I hope it will be sufficiently spectacular when it comes. Will post pics (not really, don't worry)