10mo pooping 4 small poos a day

[Bellsandwhistles90]

My 10mo has struggled with constipation since 8mo and has been on a maintenance dose of 1/2 sachet of movicol a day. However, he’s started seeming more constipated again. Possibly due to solid intake increasing. He’s doing up to 4 smaller poops a day. Mostly hard but some slightly softer. It’s like he’s only doing half a poo a time. Feel like I’m constantly wrestling him into a new nappy, it’s exhausting!

Is it possible for a young baby (as opposed to toddler) to withhold poo and if so, does anyone know what behaviours to look out for?

I’ve increased dose to 1 sachet until he seems less constipated again now.

What sorts of foods is he predominantly eating? How much water does he drink in a day? The chances that he's not getting enough fluid and is consuming difficult to digest foods is significantly higher than withholding...

@jacquec he eats a wide variety of food. Either porridge, porridge fingers or oat and pear pancakes for breakfast. Always with fruit and often also mix prune purée into it.

Lunch is normally leftovers like pasta Bolognese, risotto, mashed broccoli & potato with fish, baked beans and jacket potato. Or avocado toast with egg or cream cheese. Again, always with fruit. Most often pear or kiwi as I’ve read they’re good for constipation.

Dinner is often things like various pasta dishes, Bolognese, cottage pie, risotto, curry and rice, mashed potato fish and veg. He’s not great at eating vegetables so I always hide lots of veg into everything I give him. Eg broccoli in mashed potato, lots of chopped veg in Bolognese and curry.

He normally has 2-4oz of water a day plus lots of breastfeeds. It’s hard to get much more into him.

He has a cows milk allergy so is dairy and soya free.

He's getting way too much fibre with not enough water - fibre without water causes constipation, so that'll be his issue.

How does he get those 2-4oz? The Munchkin 360 cups with the handles are great for leaving around wherever he plays, and then you can push further fluids from an open cup during mealtimes.

Just curious how much water should they be drinking at this age? We have the same problem as the OP. I have been trying to increase her water intake but still getting the constipation problem.

There's not a set amount as what is enough for a baby who isn't mobile and active probably won't be enough for one that is. Same goes for their weight. If you're getting constipation then the answer is probably "more than they currently have", alongside being mindful of the amount of fibre you're giving.

Does the 2-4oz include the movicol? They need lots of fluid in addition to the movicol. It's a bit easier for is as DD is bottle fed and movicol can be mixed with water before adding to the milk. But she drinks 10-15oz of water a day plus 14-16oz milk. She's on 1 sachet per day which sometimes works fine, sometimes she errs a bit towards constipation but we can balance out with prunes, veg etc.

She's just turned 1 BTW.

@OdeToBarney no the movicol is in addition. He still breastfeeds every 2-3 hours night and day too so I would’ve thought that would be plenty of fluids too?

@jacquec he has an open cup with meals but spits a lot out and he has a sippy cup for during the rest of the day which I offer lots but he only has a few sips and then refuses until I try the next time. Is there a good amount of water to try and aim for? Does breastfeeding not count as fluids too? He still BF a lot.

It's quite normal for them to go through a phase of spitting it out, keep offering it though as he'll likely swallow a small amount before spitting out the rest (and some is better than nothing). See my previous reply about an amount. Water should be in addition to BF; it obvious is fluid and thus counts, but it won't be enough on its own.

Have you tried a straw cup? It might be easier for him to get the hang of. Also I noticed you said he has cmpa - I assume you are dairy and soy free too? Sorry to ask an obvious question but I just thought it was worth checking! The only thing I can think of you can't up the water intake easily is to cut down on fibre a little and add another half sachet of movicol.

Has anyone mentioned hirschsprung's disease to you? Did he pass meconium OK at birth? I'm sure it's not this - the Paediatric surgeons told us 90% of constipation is functional, but I just thought it worth asking. Also, was he quite small at birth? My dd was only 5lb 8oz and I've often wondered if this is in any way linked to her digestive issues.

@OdeToBarney yes we’ve got a TumTums sippy cup, which he does get on alright with. I found this on Solid Starts, which says 2-8oz of water for 9-12mo https://solidstarts.com/water/ so he’s within normal range.

What sort’ve things do you feed your little one at each meal to keep fibre intake in check/not too little or too much?

I hadn’t heard of hirschsprung's but he passed meconium fine and constipation only started becoming an issue once solids were introduced. No other symptoms either. Yes I’m dairy and soya free too. Thanks for the suggestion though!

To be honest I don't keep a huge eye on it, but she normally has porridge for breakfast, made with oat milk and a little bit of nut butter and some raspberries. Snack is half a dairy free yoghurt. Lunch is applewood smoked vegan cheese and ritz crackers - she won't eat any bread products or puff pastry, which is super annoying! She'll also have some baby crisps, maybe some fruit, ham etc. I'm trying to get her to eat tomatoes and cucumber too but she's not keen. Snack in the afternoon might be fruit, depending on how much fruit she's already eaten that day, or a little oaty bite. Dinner is usually steamed fish or chicken and some kind of mash/pasta/rice and some veg. Although occasionally she gets a freezer meal and she LOVES a potato waffle! I try not to give too much sweet potato or avocado as I've noticed they make her more constipated. Also the dairy free Ella's kitchen banana yoghurt and rice pudding do too. Which is a shame as she really likes them and as you know, options are limited when dairy and soy free!

I've seen that article from solid starts before but our dietician said there's no limit/guide, it's more about urine output and colour as well as bowel function.

There's a Facebook group called movicol mummies which you might find helpful. I recently joined and there's loads of parents in our position who have a lot of experience.

Are you under a dietician or paediatrician? Our GP is pretty useless but thankfully we've been under the hospital as we had such severe reflux problems, which we now know were caused/hugely exacerbated by her bowels.