8 month old constipated should I stop solids?

[elmo1980]

My 8 month old is loving his solid food, so much so he dropped almost a third of his milk quota overnight. This was a couple of weeks ago and so far has been having normal nappies.

The drop in milk is now catching up with him i think as the last couple of days he has been constipated.

I always offer him water with his meals but he doesnt take much. I've increased his veg and not given him any bread or banana.

Weirdly hes increased his milk a bit however his constipation seems to be getting worse.

I've googled what stuff I should and shouldn't do but it's just a minefield of information - e.g. give them apple/ don't give them apple.

Is it worth me stopping his solid for a couple of days or persevere in the hope this is just his tummy getting used to all the different foods hes eating and he will eventually go back to normal?

Is it actual constipation or is his just pooing less than before? Is he having cramps or seems uncomfortable?

When I cut down on milk and increased the food both my dcs had at about 8 months ish they did stop pooing so much. They didn't seem to have much discomfort though - just stopped doing baby poos and started doing logs instead!

It started off as a paste like consistency, and a bit crumbly, which I wasn't too worried about but it's now turned into rolling 'Maltesers'. Hes not straining or showing any discomfort yet.

I would offer prunes and raisins to see if that helps.

You could try offering fruit and veg that's high in fluids, like watermelon, oranges, cucumber. I used to do homemade tomato soup at that age, blend it really smooth and serve in a sippy cup.

Water is the key. Make sure baby has plenty of water as that helps enormously

Another one for prunes here - the Ella’s Kitchen pouch works a treat for us - DS loves the taste and always gets everything moving again!

Sticks of ripe pear or prunes (plus water). If they won't eat whole (pitted) prunes or the Ella's prune puree then the puree can be stirred into porridge etc.

The Ella’s kitchen pouch of prunes mixed in with his breakfast porridge will soon get things moving! X

Another vote for Ella’s kitchen prunes. One pouch is usually enough to get things going.
I personally wouldn’t stop solids as we had a similar issue and our doc told us it’s very normal and takes a while for them to adjust.

One of my DCs was horribly constipated but once she was mobile, it cleared up. Not sure if you do already, but lots of leg cycling and also swimming can help as it sretches out the body and that helps the bowels.

Also giving fresh orange might help.

This is what worked for us:
Don't stop solids but do reduce it until the constipation is under control.
Limit bread, pasta, bananas, etc
Give a lot of fruit and veg beginning with 'p' (e.g. peas, peaches, prunes)
Give water before food at mealtimes, and anything you can do to get more into them - e.g. We used to give DD watered down mint tea and let her try different cups.

It doesn't sound like he's too bad yet so a few actions should start things moving again!

Thanks all will def try the ek pouches and keep trying with the others. He has improved slightly but it's still an effort for him and I just can't see how I can get more water in him. Maybe I'll try different style cup.

Hi, one thing that really works for my daughter and she is also 8 months old is freshly squeezed oranges juice (I squeeze it myself). She loves it and it stops constipation.
Also I make sure my daughter eats fruit puree (apple and pear) every day.

I sometimes spoon fed my son water when he wasn't taking much (before he got the hang of his cup).

DS was a bit prone to mild constipation for a while and I agree with previous posters re pear and prune purée

Sometimes if a baby this age won't take water in a bottle, they will take it in the form of...ice! You can also freeze soup. Sometimes they are fascinated enough by the cold and the "solid" experience that they will hydrate much better with ice than with offered water.

My DC is 5 now and still often does poos like that and his diet is perfectly full of veg etc and he drinks loads of water. It’s actually linked to his hyper mobility so that’s something else to keep an eye open for if nothing else resolves it for you.