constipation in bottle-fed baby

[ionesmum]

We have put our dd onto a lactose-free milk which has cured her wind and she is much more comfortable. However, it seems to be making her constipated. Is there anything that we can do? She refuses to drnk water.

Ionesmum - not sure I can really help but I can deifnitely sympathise - DS had bad constipation when I put him onto formula in the daytime had 3 months (bacause I was going back to work) and again when I gave up breatfeeding totally at 6 months. It was really awful - I felt so sorry for him. I tried to give him water but he wouldn't take it and at the time I was under enough stress trying to get him to drink from a bottle. I managed to get him to drink watered down juice from a cup (would have much preferred him to drink water).

At six mnths it wasn't as bad because I had started weaning him (under pressure at 17 weeks) and so was able to give him pureed prunes, apricots etc which I think worked well. Even now at 16 mnths I see that he eats plenty of raisins, grapes, baked beans etc. If your DD has started on solids maybe you could concentrate on that side of foods, or maybe try getting her to suck an ice-lolly (even make your own as suggested on another thread). Sorry if she's younger but this might come in useful later!!!

Thanks for your imput. Dd is 17 weeks and although we were advised to start weaning her at 12 weeks we stopped almost immediately, and to be honest she doesn't look ready yet. We tried her with a little freshly squeezed orange in a bottle which she spat out, but I will try it from the Avent cup that came free with our steriliser. At least I do have the comfort of knowing that it's temporary until we can introduce fruit & veg. I feel so sorry for our dd too but the wind pain was far more uncomfortable for her.

When dd was about 14 wks she had a bad cold/temperature, and got very constipated in spite of being totally breastfed. It was heartbreaking to watch her crying and straining to poo! We eventually in desperation fed her the tin of pureed fruit that came in our Bounty box, which she loved, and that did the trick! She had gone 10 days without a dirty nappy, and then there was an explosion, which went everywhere-up her back, up her front, down her legs- as you can imagine we were delighted, and so was she at our reaction!!

She has now settled down again (20 weeks), but still can go days without a dirty nappy, but the difference is that it doesn't seem to bother her at all. We do have to send her in to nursery with a change of clothes, though- just in case!

When I introduced formula at 14weeks to ds, even 1x5oz bottle a day, he became constipated. I used prune juice. Tipped some dried prunes in a saucepan, added enough water to cover them and gently simmered over a low heat for about 30mins. Strained off the prunes and chilled the liquid. It produced explosive results after about 16hours, so time it carefully!! As I increased his formula, I resorted to puree-ing the stewed prunes, again, explosive results! ds1's constipation didn't really improve until we changed over to Nanny goat (due to eczema + cows milk intolerance).

Thanks for the further advice. I have some organic apricots in the cupboard so perhaps I'll give them a go! And she is passing some poo -it's just really thick and it's obviously v. difficult for her to get out.

If dd won't drink water on it's own try mixing extra water in with her milk. You can also ask your doctor to prescribe something called laculose - we've used it for dd since she was 12 weeks old (not continuously! just on occassion when she seems to be straining for a couple of days and it does seem to help).

Don't use lactulose, it is lactose based and if your dd is lactose intolerant it will cause a major reaction. It was lactulose that helped me to diagnose my own dd's milk intolerance. She suffered horrific constipation and stomach cramps and had a real screaming fit with the lactulose. She was fine once we went on the milk free diet and sounds similar to hunnybunny's ds, though the classic sypmtoms of lactose intolerance are usually diarrhoea etc.

Thanks for the further advice. It's all such a minefield! I am hoping that dd's lactose intolerence is only temporary as she was okay until she hads a cold a 7 weeks.

ds has constipation whenever he's unwell, teething etc. When he wouldn't drink water I was advised by hv to make all his food as runny as poss, his fruit eg lots of runny pureed apple. If he won't eat that yet, I was advised pre-weaning to put some drops of OJ on a teaspoon/ in a (oral medicine) syringe ( you can get them from chemists) and give juice like that. I was told by a chemist, in such a small child that prune juice was too aggressive. Maybe you could go down to your local chemist and ask for advice?

Thanks, monkey. I had felt that prunes were a bit strong for a baby not yet weaned but have been recommended OJ by our hv - we just hadn't got it down her but a syringe or spoon might be a good idea. Dd also wolfed down some ripe pear puree today so fingers crossed!

Our ds was on mixed feeding from 2 weeks, and suffered constipation until he was well onto solids. The best things I found were: 1 teaspoonful per day of home-made prune juice (ie the liquid from a couple of prunes in a cup of boiling water left to steep overnight) OR 1 teaspoonful per day of the clear juice of a tomato (cut a tomato in half so that the jelly-like part is exposed, and press the teaspoon into it to extract the juice). Also fennel tea for wind, made, again, by steeping a Dr Stuarts Botanic Wild Fennel teabag in a cup of boiling water overnight - 2 or 3 spoonfuls per day. I didn't find that OJ or brown sugar were any help at all. I got all of these remedies from other mums - oddly enough, none of them in England.

I was told that under no circumstances should you give a child that young any sort of citrus fruit or juice as their stomachs are not mature enough to handle the acidity. I seem to remember that I was told to wait until 8 mo. or so before even introducing it. I was told to try prunes (and avoid bananas and applesauce) when my son was constipated, though he was 7 mo. by then. I was warned to be very careful with the amounts as it doesn't take very much. I found that at that age, even one prune in the morning could make him liquid by night (I settled on 1/2 a prune as the correct dosage). You should be careful with both prunes and apricots that they do not have sulfites or sulphur dioxide as a preservative (unfortunately the organic ones are particularly bad in this dept.) as it can cause severe allergic reactions (I personally get a major asthma attack and strong stomach cramps from just a small amount).

Thanks!

sofiaAmes - I was told to try OJ by my hv who was a neonatal intensive care nurse before becoming an hv, and she said that they even used it in the Nicu. I always make sure that I buy unsulphured dried fruit, too. And I've been warned off apples by my hv as she said that they are responsible for a lot of nappy rash, and I know myself how difficult it can be to digest banana. Perhaps I will give prune a try if all else fails.

I double-checked on the citrus. It's a no-no for babies under 6 months who have a family history of allergies. Since my family does have a history of allergies (in fact my aunt is allergic to oranges), that's probably why I was told not to give it to my son and I assumed it was because of the acidity.
I've never heard of apples causing nappy rash. My son eats lots of them and has never had nappy rash. But anyway....if you look on www.babycentre.co.uk they have some pretty good guidlines about when to introduce foods and which foods do what. It's all based on medical recommendations and not just anecdotal.

hi, SofiaAmes, thanks for the further advice, it is so much appreciated. I saw my hv today and sha said that if OJ doesn't work it will be okay to try prunes - apparently they use them on Nicu too! My hv said that it's applejuice that causes nappy rash, not apples per se. Thanks for the weblink, I will have a look in a mo.

Ionesmum, I remember a mom at a nursery I worked at tell me he couldnt have applesauce because he would also get rashes. I thought she maybe had said pears too Im not sure though.

Thanks, threeangels! Dd is okay with pear but I think I will leave off the apple for a little while.