constipated baby

[bessie26]

eeek! DD2 (6.5mo) hasn't had a poo since saturday & we're going swimming tomorrow - I need to get the poo out today!!

I'm assuming this is because we've just started solids in the last couple of weeks (just fruit & veg mush so far) & her digestive system is getting used to it.

I started doing some poo exercises with her yesterday (circling legs) and gave her a couple of (calpol) spoonfuls of OJ - is there anything else I can do? She is bf, should I give her some (cooled boiled) water?

try a dessert spoonful prune juice mixed with a fruit puree that she likes or a single prune warmed and pureed. Apricots also work for some.

If she has been eating banana often you could try reducing this as some babies constipate on it.

I think once you are doing solids it is a good idea to introduce water with meals...a good habit and she probably needs the extra fluids anyway.

best of luck.

yeah, she did have some banana at the weekend. I've been adding extra fluids to the mush she's been eating, but not to the mushed banana!

I found some dried prunes in the cupboard so cooked them up with a little orange juice & gave her a spoonful of that mixed with some pear, and then gave her some water too. She's back in bed for her nap now, so hopefully we'll see some action later

Thanks!

hope action has occurred!

No! Am getting really worried now, a couple of weeks ago a baby in our class managed to do a poo which got out of both the disposable & the neoprene swimming nappy. They had to cancel our class and the one after .. Pleeeease poo!!!

OK if still no action tomorrow am about 1 hour after morning BF you could try baby massage ( no solids before!)

lie baby on reasonably firm surface ( eg the floor!) in a warm place with no clothes. Lightly oil your hands with olive oil or very small amount of baby oil if you use it

sit comfortably so you can almost make a circle with your dominant hand over the baby's tummy without lifting your hand

put heel of hand approximately at belly button and apply gentle pressure with 2/3 fingers stroking straight down left side of abdomen (I)

reposition hand to push gently along top of abdomen just under rib cage and then swivel to do left side as before (L)

reposition hand to sweep up right side of tummy, along top and down left side (U)

this is how to say I Love U (ILU) so do a poo!!!!!

give breakfast and then a luke-warm bath.......

Be prepared!

Still no action here & our swimming lesson is at 10 - perhaps I shouldn't try to encourage it out any more this morning?! Will defo do as you suggest afterwards though)

And if the direct colonic massage doesn't work, you could try following the colon path on this chart on the baby's feet - start at the bottom right of the outside of the R foot, work up with small thumb pressures to the narrowest part of the foot, then across from there to the inside edge of the foot. Then start on the L foot, on the inside edge of the narrowest part of the foot, across to the outside and then down the outside edge, always with small thumb pressures, travelling forwards like a caterpillar.

I used to use this on DS when he had problems - used to work well (sometimes quite immediately! Especially with farting)

hi i will get shot down in flames but the thing that always worked for mine was some brown suger in some cooled boiled water or orange jusice give it a few hours and they would poo. as a last resort its fine but lots of water and fruit but if theve just started solids their little sytems are still getting used to the new food.Hope he goes sooc xxx

Any luck, Bessie? Or did it make an appearance mid-swimming lesson?

Thankfully, nothing embarrassing or messy happened during the swimming lesson!

She's done two very small poos since then, they were nice & soft, and didn't seem to cause too much discomfort coming out, so I think I'll give her some more pear & prune for breakfast tomorrow, along with plenty of bf, water & tummy rubs. And no more banana for a while

yum yum

Phew! :)

I also remembered about cooking dried apricots up in some OJ & pureeing. very very yummy with some plain greek yogurt

My DD had this issue about the same age when we introduced solids. She had one painful hard poo so I took her to GP. He gave us meds but also advised to give water with each meal. I followed the water advice, all returned to normal and never used the meds. Good luck!