DESPERATE. Please help. My poor DD's constipation is making her so miserable

[TheNewShmoo]

Poor DD has been suffering with constipation for 3 months since she was only 13 weeks old and has been dropping centiles in weight. We have tried lactulose but now administering it has become so distressful for her that she has gone from a very chatty baby to quiet and miserable, always having her lips tightly locked shut for fear of us force feeding her the lactulose. We've started weaning but are avoiding all binding foods. DD is exclusively breast fed. We can't get her to drink water as she won't take the bottle or beaker, and is generally scared of us trying to put anything into her mouth. I've cut out wheat, dairy, gluten in my diet, massage and cycling her legs. She's now 6 months old... can anyone please offer any advice? All our GP is offering is lactulose and movicol.

Why do people assume that changing to formula will help? I'm having subtle pressure that way for my refluxy DD2. Especially for constipation, I've heard it is more likely for formula fed babies. So I can't see how you changing will help.

How are you doing on your exclusion diet? Is it having any effect? I tried with DD2 and found it very hard to admit it wasn't helping. In the end I did stop because it was making me very tired and irritable - and DD2 was still being sick. Basically I'm just trying to say that you need to look after yourself also. It is so hard when you don't know what is causing it - maybe just cutting x, y or z out will help.

As for your DD, you've caught it early so hopefully a few months of easy poos will help her. And a bit of sugar will counter the salty taste.

If she likes fruit, try her on mango - it's the best fruit for drawing water into the gut.

Have you tried increasing breast feeds and not feeding her as much solid food? Remember that food is just for tasting until she is 1. Her main source of calories should still be your milk. Her constipation may indicate that her gut isn't ready for solid food just yet.

If she has been badly constipated, the rectum will be overstretched. She must keep taking her movical for about 9 months, to allow the rectum to regain its tone. If you stop the medication then poos 'collect' in the baggy rectum, are painful to pass, the child witholds - a vicious circle happens.

If it's bad (pain, she's reluctant to move freely, vomiting), your GP should refer you the same day to your paediatric day unit.

Suppositories were the key for my DS. If they withhold it stretches the bowel and makes the problem worse so you have to make sure she goes regularly. My DS was on lactulose from 6 months and the GP told us to give him a suppository if he hadn't been for 3 days to force him to go. Things slowly improved with him needing a suppository less and less often (it was every week or so at first) and we were able to drop down the lactulose with him coming off it by about 18 months. He still needs monitoring and the odd bit of lactulose/suppository every few months, now he's 2.4 it's something we rarely have to think about.

I spoke to my GP today and he said there was no point in giving her the movicol unless she takes water. Managed to get a few sips from the beaker without fighting today so a bit of success there. He also said in no uncertain terms that it's 'complete bs' that formula will help as it's harder to pass and that my milk is the best thing for her. Was nice to hear I'm doing something good for her.

Highlander the constipation pre-dates her eating solids- but yes, I do realise her main source of calories should be from milk. I wonder if the water in my milk will be ok for the movicol to work in addition to the few sips she takes? I guess my main priority now is to increase the bf and in the mean time try to get her to take the beaker so I can get the movicol in her.

noblegiraffe how big are the suppositories and did they hurt your DS when you put them in?

Any chance of expressing some milk to put the movicol in? Putting the movicol in DD1's milk definitely does work. It might work better if it was in water, but then she wouldn't drink it, so defeats the whole thing. Sometimes you have to do the next best thing just to start everything moving.

Your poor daughter, it must be horrible to see her like that.

It does sound like more of a problem than just general constipation. When my daughter first went on to solids she used to get constipated quite often. I found a tip on here for a thing called 'poo goo'! You simmer some prunes and apricots in apple juice to rehydrate, then blend and I added some prune juice too. I few spoons of that sorted her out. Apparently a few sips if orange juice helps but it might be a but acidic for her tummy. Grapes now work wonders but a 6 month old might not be able for those yet.

(I froze the remaining poo goo in ice cube trays and would mix a cube or two in to her porridge now and again or into yogurt).

All P foods are good for getting things moving eg pear, plum, prune etc also very ripe bananas. Unripe bananas can be constipating.

Good luck.

Glycerin suppositories for under 1s are 1 gram and maybe 1.5 cm across at their widest (they are kind of bullet shaped for easy insertion).

I'll admit that they are not the most pleasant thing to administer, and they do cause momentary discomfort as they go in. But for us it's the lesser of two evils as when DS is bunged up, seeing him holding it in is really painful and horrible and also his tummy hurting affects his sleep.

I'm making that poo goo in bulk tonight- thanks MrsLL2B DD loves porridge and yoghurt (too mix in the poo goo) but I'm worried that they're constipating?

Giraffe I may buy some to have ready just in case she goes to 3 days without pooing, but am reluctant to make her changing mat a place that she's scared of if insertion of the suppository does hurt.

Camdancer if only I could get DD to take expressed milk from another container other than myself!! If only she would, I feel like a lot of her problems could be sorted by getting the extra fluid and the movicol in her.

I think they are prescription only for babies - I've only ever got them on prescription anyway. But you could always ask the doc.

My DS has had suppositories many times, but it has never been a problem associated with his changing mat, unlike the lactulose which, like with your DD, resulted in him clamping his mouth shut whenever anyone went near (good thing we did BLW because spoon-feeding was a non-starter). Forcing a syringe into his mouth was a daily battle at the start, but then he just got over it and is fine taking meds now. With the suppository, it really is over very quickly and because they can't see it, they don't really know what's going on.

My dd suffered like yours though movicol did work and after 10onths of a sachet a day she was weaned off it with little issue. Though she has her days now at 2 we tend to give her kiwi fruit or raisins daily.

We also struggled with beakers to begin with until we tried her with ones with a straw in. This suited her better and she guzzled the water down pretty fast. We also used a cup with a rim which suited her more than the fixed spouts, try looking for a doidy cup - The LO can then see the Fluid coming towards their mouth.

When there is constipation issue is good not to eat: bananas, peas, carrots, rice, apples, spinach (because of the iron), like when iron intake during pregnancy gives us constipation.

Helps getting: orange juice (with bits preferably), many fruits (but no banana), drinking chamomile, wholegrain foods, tomatoes.
Since you are breastfeeding try not to eat dry foods like mash potatoes or peas, eat foods cooked in tomato sauce.

This is what i would do and what i did when my 3 year old daughter developed a sudden and bad, out of nowhere constipation that lasted more than a week. Because she was really suffering i also used glycerin sup, is harmless and works almost every time.

Just a mom trying to help

Thanks Revancha, I'm so confused about which foods are constipating- I ge that rice, bananas and potatoes are, but thought peas were good because of the fibre? But I do understand that fibre needs to be accompanied with water. This is where I'm also confused about porridge- which I find is good for us to make us go to the loo but may be too bulky for babies?? DD loves porridge and yoghurt, which are good to put the movicol/prunes in but I think it did cause her last 7 day bout of constipation (she was having it every morning).

Something that might help whilst you wait for the Paed. is kiwi fruit, it's really good (& used in the hospital).

My godson was consitpated for the first 4 years of his life - it was horrible for him, they had tried all kinds of things then they took him to a herbalist and he was on these drops for a while which sorted him out and he's not had a problem since. It's worth a go.

Good luck, it's horrible when you know they are in pain.

I would've liked to have tried the kiwi but I'm allergic so won't risk giving it to her until she's much older. But on a positive note, I am now the proud owner of a batch of poo goo (prunes and apricots stewed in reduced prune & grape juice) which surprisingly smelt like I was baking my toffee apple crumble, and tastes quite nice. Hopefully DD will think so too tomorrow morning.

Skipped a few posts as it's late and I want to get to sleep earlier today (ha)

Firstly it's not right for a EBF baby to be that bad and you definitely need help from more than the GP. It needs to be got on top of as it can overstretch the bowels and send them the other way and if natures laxative (breastmilk) isn't doing it then you need to find out why. Have you posted this in the feeding forum, TikTok would probably know more?

Secondly, I saw you asked about dosages, both drugs can be altered to what works, my daughter (5) is on 1.5-5 sachets a day of Movicol which is split between all her drinks and we ask her each time how much lactulose she needs (5-20ml once or twice a day) she's been on it so much now she knows when to ask for more. Lactulose gives her belly ache though, took me awhile to figure out why she was complaining of tummy ache all the time until she mentioned it whilst I was pouring some and I clicked that it makes you have a churning sensation.

Hi I haven't had time to read every post so I hope I'm not repeating anyone else but just wanted to comment.

My daughter was breastfed and by 6 weeks losing weight rapidly, constipated and a very unhappy baby. Eventually hospitalized, I was near breakdown, and drs, midwives and healthvisitors were useless. She was eventually diagnosed with milk allergy, I went dairy free and tried to continue feeding, but she was still not improving, so they diagnosed soya allergy too. Tried cutting that out too, really difficult because its in so much food. We had all the reflex meds and lactase stuff but nothing worked, it actually seemed to make it worse.

At this point she was still constipated and needed suppositories daily. Doctors kept saying it couldn't be caused by milk allergy as that would give her to opposite problem. She was given Nutramigen formula and the transformation was astounding. She started pooing by herself, started smiling and turned into a happy, jolly baby. She gained weight, no wind. Excema cleared up completely. I've since learnt that milk allergy can cause both constipation or the runs.

Insist your GP sends you to see a paed and dietician. Try giving up soya as its proteins are the same size as milk proteins and can confuse the body. I felt very guilty for a long time for stopping breastfeeding, but with hindsight it was the best thing I did for her, as my milk was making her ill and hurt. They now think she was allergic to my milk, which is very unusual.

Shes now just intolerant to milk, and can tolerate small amounts for treats etc.

Hope this helps, keep your chin up and follow your instincts.

Thanks for sharing BlueDomino, gosh, what an ordeal. I have come across a study that did highlight that cow's milk protein allergy can cause constipation... but is there anyway to know other than cutting it out of my diet? I have gone dairy free without any result, but not soya free. It has crossed my mind. So I'd pretty much have to prepare all my food from scratch to cut it out? So do you think it wasn't your milk per se that was making your DD ill, but rather your milk and the allergens (soy/milk proteins) that had transferred across from your diet? I don't want to stop bfing unless I know she is intolerant for sure. Hmmm

Confuddled so you can def use the two in conjunction- lactulose & movicol? My GP said otherwise today- but didn't say why.

That's what my daughter is on every day, she's been on them for a few years - I can't even remember how long, she was pretty much having problems as soon as she started eating, she would be badly bruised from passing these rocks and she has stretchmarks. There's no reason why not, they can't be overdosed and they do different jobs. We've had a third one added in last night - four if you count the suppositories but that was an emergency solution.

An elimination diet for yourself would probably be better than having to stop breastfeeding, I'd get advice over at the feeding board first though. Seeing a paediatrician would be a really good idea.

I'm going dairy/soy free for a couple of weeks if you want a diet buddy. DD2's reflux is getting worse again and I need to do something. Cow milk protein seems like a good one to try again. When I did the total elimination diet over the summer, I didn't find it too hard. You do have to have a magnifying glass to read the labels on things though. And I kept making mistakes though - don't substitute with lacto-free stuff as that isn't milk protein free, and rice milk isn't recommended for under 4's 'cos it has high levels of arsenic. There were other mistakes but that was mainly because I hadn't read the label of a different brand of something I knew was ok.

Right camdancer, so what am I dealing with to cut out soy? Which foods are the usual suspects and what am I looking for on ingredients labels? And dairy, is that everything? Including milk, yoghurt, cheese, butter? Anything else?

confuddled do you find the lactulose and movicol work better together? Just having a hard time getting anything but bm direct from the boob in her on non-pooing days, so giving both is a bit of a challenge. But I guess the lactulose will get the water needed for the movicol to work??

hazeDB - got DD to take tiny sips today from the doidy cup today, will have a look for the cup w/straw you mention.

They keep her going, it's been awhile since she's been on just one and I can't really remember how we got here.

Having given all sorts of drugs to EBF babies (all prem, not that I drug my babies!) I can't imagine trying to get lactulose or movicol in. Actually, Baby was on lactulose in hospital, I think we just put a syringe in her cheek and slowly dribbled it in. If you get a 1ml syringe you can put them next to your nipple but I'm not sure if lactulose would be too thick. No idea how you'd get around Movicol.

How are things going now Shmoo? Yesterday DD2 was constipated. I can't have her going the same way as DD1 so I'm going to mix up a batch of poo goo and see if that works.

I'm not doing great on the cow's milk thing. Each day I find something to trip me up. Wednesday it was a very nice vegan falafal wrap that had soya yogurt in it. Yesterday DH bought some malt loaf that has whey powder in it. But DD2 is much less sick now that we've cut out yogurt and milk. I'm hoping today will be a properly dairy/soy free day.

Putting lactulose in orange juice so it is hidden?

Good luck, sounds so distressing.

Just wanted to bring this thread back up and thank all of you who posted. Thanks to all your advice we finally got DD sorted, she is such a happy little thing now :) we have decided to keep her on the Movicol till she is 1 as she suffered with the constipation for such a long time. But she happily poos everyday now, and every poo is gratefully received and loved :o

Can't thank you all enough

I can sympathize, my dd had to be hospitalized twice at 10mo because of constipation. I would definitely push for seeing a paediatrician.

Movicol did work for us but it took time. We were advised (after a few weeks of lactulose and normal movicol use, and a couple of glycerine suppositories) to give an extra movicol satchet every day until she was having 5 a day. I got it into her by mixing it with sweet orange squash (not ideal but I was desperate) and feeding it from a syringe. It took about an hour to get each satchet into her, so was a major undertaking when we got to 4 a day, but it did work. If you can't get the movicol into her (it tastes vile) then it is possible to admit into hospital and tube feed it, this was our backup plan.

I hope things get better soon.