Constipation

[Mimi2018]

Hello

I have a 16 month year old who keep suffering from constipation I don't understand why this is? I understand constipation is common but even the doctor said that she shouldn't be haven't it this frequently.

What am I doing wrong??

So a typical diet for her:

Porridge for breakfast

Snacks on toast and peice of fruit

For lunch ted lentil and rice broth

Snacks on skips crisp and dairy milk chocolate, biscuits

Dinner red lentil and rice broth again

Only really sips a few sips of squash with her lunch and dinner that's it

Please help me

Lentils twice a day are not good for constipation, and why crisps/skips/chocolate for snacks? Maybe try to increase amount of fruit and veg with meals and for snacks. Dried fruit is also good for constipation, and would be good if you can increase the amount of water/squash she is drinking.

Should be having a very minimum of 5 different portions of fruit and veg a day. Yo really need to increase this and cut the hunk food snacks.Make water available throughout the day and offer milk as a drink too. Give p foods, tinned pears and peaches and prunes are very good for constipation.

Excerise is very good for constipation. Does your dd walk yet? Is there a way you could increase her exercise. My youngest used to suffer from constipation and excerise worked wonderfully when he started walking. He had constipation as a side effect of his reflux medicen.

Sounds fairly unhealthy to me. It doesn't sound like a balanced diet and is lacking in things that will provide the complete range of vitamins and minerals needed at this age. Objectively: the porridge, toast (unless something like multigrain for fibre), the lentils and the rice are all things that require a lot of liquid for babies else they will act as fluid sponges in the stomach I.e. unless you've cooked them really really well, they will continue to absorb moisture inside your DC, making the stools very hard and painful to pass. Ditch the snacks : unhealthy and too much fat (when not a balanced diet, fat can increase stool hardness). Increase fruit and veg significantly, I'm not sure where the protein is coming from - I'm not an expert but I don't think lentils will be able to provide the range of amino acids required and that seems to be the only source of protein. As with other posters, you need to have water available and some unsweetened fruit juice occasionally. I also introduce fruit and a small amount of natural yoghurt to the porridge or cereal.

... and if you're already doing all of this and the example given by you was just a snapshot, then I apologise.