Please give me some advice re my ds sleeping/constipation

[LoveCake]

My ds is 8mths old and has appeared to be constipated over the last few weeks I.e. trying to have a bowel movement, grunting and pushing and then getting upset and crying, not able to poo. This started probably around the time that we started weaning him at 6mths.

Over the course of the last few weeks I have started giving him lactulose and also making sure his diet is full of 'p' vegetables and fruits, I.e, prunes, pears etc He is also still being bf and I make sure I am eating plenty of green veg etc to help him.

This has really helped his bowel movements, he had 3 poos yesterday and already had 1 today. (All normal, not runny or hard etc)

Als, he has always been a poor sleeper, frequent bf's throughout the night, quite often every hour. And he needs a lot of help settling, rocking/bouncing. He cannot self settle at all. Now he is getting quite clingy in the day, wanting to be held

As you can see, I have made lots of rods for my own back with his sleeping, not yet teaching him to self settle and also allowing so many frequent breast feeds in the night. But I am now so tired, I know that this needs to be addressed.

However For the last couple of nights he has started not only waking for milk but also, whilst dropping back off to sleep in my arms, wincing and crying out as though his stomach hurts. This only lasts a few minutes and will fall back asleep if I rock him.

So I am now worried that there is something wrong and he does have tummy ache perhaps from the constipation (although he cannot be constipated after 3 poos??). Rationally, I tell myself that there cannot be anything wrong as he would cry longer and in the day but I am questioning myself...
He does cry a lot in the day but it is more to be picked up and carried rather than cry of pain...

So my question is... Would you commence sleep training in the view that these problems are due to he inability to settle himself? And that the constipation is a red-herring and has been resolved.
Or would you take him to the HV/GP? Baring in mind, the earliest HV appointment is early June and earliest GP appointment is next Wednesday.

What would the knowledgeable mums/dads on mn do??

I would say watch cows dairy and wheat, as too much of either is linked to constipation. My ds was v constipated when I started him on dairy but in the long term it turned out that it was wheat (gluten) that was causing it (he is gluten free).

Wheat especially can be linked to inflammation in the gut, which could account for discomfort.

Are you introducing too many new foods at once and he's struggling to digest them?

Also are you offering him water to drink with his meals? He might be breastfeeding and constipated cause he's thirsty...

This happened to my DD at the time of weaning. The process you are describing of crying and needing to be held happened to us too. I would make an appointment to see a GP as soon as possible. A child who is constantly constipated can learn from a very early age to try and hold in a poo as they know it hurts when it comes out. After doing this for several months, holding in poos and screaming when they were trying to come out, our DD ended up being referred to the Bowel Management Clinic at our local hospital. By this time her bowel was enlarged and took 2 years to go back down. They gave us lactulose to manage it and taught us massage techniques to relax the bowel. They also advised us to introduce lots of fibre and fruits into her diet. A warm bath helps. They also told us to layer newspaper on a wooden floor and hold the baby over it as though they were sitting on a toilet with your hands placed under the baby's legs and the baby is facing away from you. This helps the child to relax and they naturally let it go. They also told us to watch how much milk she was having during the day, including her intake from things like yoghurts and cheese as this can cause problems. I hope you get it sorted out soon.

Thank you for your thoughts... I haven't introduced him to wheat yet, still on just veg and fruit purees, although I was going to start giving him some finger foods, ie. toast so I may hold back in that until we get past this.

The strange thing, guccigirly, is that he isn't holding on to his poos, he is having at least one poo a day, sometimes 3. And they look 'normal', not hard or green etc. it is like his body is telling him he needs to poo but he has already been... Very odd.

I have just spoken to his GP over the phone, as I really cannot get an appointment, and he suggested that the prune puree I have been giving him may have overstimulated his bowels and giving him bowel spasms.
So I need to cut back on the prunes and other stimulating fruit and veg...

Seems counter productive in one sense, as I am worried he will become constipated again, but need to find another way of keeping him regular without causing problems.

Iwantcandy, I think you are right with the water. I think he needs more. He doesn't breatfeed much in the day, but has A LOT throughout the night. So need to up his water intake. I also need to get him to stop feeding so much at night...
I don't think I have introduced too much variety yet, in fact I am worried that he doesn't have enough variety as I have been so single minded getting prunes and green veg in him.
Buti guess I should tackle the variety and sleeping once I know he is well

Thanks again