5 month old struggling to poo started weaning couple weeks ago, please help

[am988]

I 've just started weaning my ds, he is 23 weeks I started when he was 21 weeks on hv advice and was going well. These couple of days there were no poo but bits of raisin-like, and he s struggling. On reading some posts I m wondering if it is cause I gave him half mashed banana, with a boiled apple? He is still breastfed. It is so hard to watch him struggle... was in tears at 1am as I don't know how to help him. I breastfed to comfort him. I 've been giving him fruit puree that I prepare with baby rice and he s been eating a lot. Do I just give him the fruit without the baby rice? And can I give him o.j. at his age to help? What kind of prune juice helps? Do I just get from supermarket or is there any just for babies? Please any suggestions. Thank you...

You could stop the solids and go back to just breastfeeding, see if that helps, and try weaning again later.

Both banana and baby rice can be constipating, so best not give them together (or skip the baby rice completely).

My ds definitely had issues with bananas and could only have a third or a half every two days at most or he'd struggle with constipation. Perhaps go back to just milk for a couple of days and try solid foods again later.

hi sorry you are so worried. Good advice above to stop solids for a couple of days. Unfortunately it will take probably up to three days to clear as that is how long food can take to pass through the gut. Because he is breastfed he has probably never experienced passing bulky poo so it's probably a new sensation for him as well. Please dont be tempted to give him anything to clear his bowel it will sort itself out. Enjoy the rest of the weaning journey as well as all the mess (smile)

Thank you. I will focus on milk and maybe just give him some pear juice as he was pooling very watery with pears before this happened, also cause I m worried that since I started weaning my milk supply has gone down? Or it would still be the same? Thanks again, there is always something to worry about and to be up at night for....

My DD was like that...then we had literally 10 days of green poo (we did go to the doctors twice in that time). Their little tummies sometimes do odd things when starting weaning.

Are you giving small drinks of water with the solids, as well as milk feeds? That helps erm, loosen things?

My HV said "keep putting it in at the top and eventually it'll come out the bottom" - she was right!

Good luck, you're clearly v wise at this mummying business as like you say, there's always something...!

Thank you all for your reassurance. Made sure I bf often today. HE STILL WANTED FOOD as he got used to it already, but only gave him pear for breakfast and pear again for dinner, both times watery, and added some prune juice to the evening portion. Tried prune juice with water and he wasn't impressed, but managed to give him 15ml diluted w water. He did painfully manage to squeeze a few grape like poo.... sorry for Tmi... I m assuming this isn't t over even if something has come out. How long should I leave before I go to doctor? He hasn't pooled properly since Friday night. Thanks again. Hoping for a better night...

He may still want food and have a taste for it, but the advice currently is that most babies' guts aren't mature enough to properly digest food until they are over six months.

Some HVs are a bit old fashioned I think, in their weaning advice.

Your LO doesn't need food yet, go back to just milk I reckon. Let his little gut settle again and then slowly introduce solids again when he's over six months.

Thanks marylin, would my milk supply have gone down already? Started weaning 2 weeks ago?
He liked his food and he started sleeping longer from after a couple of days of solids. But I 'll take your advice and slow things down. He liked it so much he would always want more than I prepared. He would scream when I stopped!

I'd stop the food for a while. Six months is the recommended advice, and the gut isn't matured enough to handle solids before then.

Can I ask why your HV suggested you should start early? There is a growth spurt / development spurt / sleep regression at around four months that is often mistake for the signs of being ready for complimentary feeding.

Not sure about your supply but give it a try and you can always top up with formula (give it a good go first though, your supply may rally fine).

It won't be long before he's ready for food and you know he responds by sleeping longer - so you have that to look forward to!

Thanks again people. He s had a few pellets like poo this morning, and I gave him so much fluid his size 4 nappy hardly coped! I was advised to wean as he is a big boy he s been in 6-9 clothes for a while now and he went back to feed every 2.5 hours, and he was not satisfied. So when I started weaning, aft couple days he could go with just waking once, and through the day 3.5 hours or 4. But yes will try just bfn today maybe just give pear... more like juice.. gave him some cooled boiled water w prune juice again. My other problem is I just breastfed, so he wouldn't have a bottle. So I need to do something about that. He wouldn't have avent at all unlike my ds1. Been giving him water with spoon. Anyone tried other bottles or tweets that worked. I should have introduced bottle before, but my ds2 came after 18 months of ds1 so it was just more practical to keep breastfeeding.

At that age, skip bottles and go straight to a sippy cup.

If he is still struggling to poo and it's causing him discomfort, despite your efforts with prune juice etc, I'd suggest a trip to the docs to see if you can get some lactulose. If he continues to be constipated there's a risk of a fissure, or of it causing withholding.

Try him with some cooled boiled water in a sippy cup. My DD is 24 weeks old and I've been giving her this as she can also get constipated. She is still breastfed too.

The doctor could give you some Lactulose if she/he thinks your baby needs it. It's the same stuff they give to adults.

Thank you, we 've had few more bits... but he gets in such state. Called doc but he needs to call back. Our surgery too busy, may have to wait till tomorrow. Found a Sippy cup will try. He s 23 weeks needles. I actually have lactose in the house, was prescribed to me as I had emcs. But 'll see how it goes today and if not see doctor tomorrow. It's so hard to just watch him when he s in pain.

have you tried gently massaging your babies tummy?

just rub very gently and slowly in a circular clockwise direction for a few minutes. you might get quite a lot a farting (from your baby), but this is perfectly normal

Thank you, we 've had a golf ball now :-) so hopefully things are easing a bit. And yes massaging ds tummy. He wasn't t happy doing it but.

ahhh

it was probably really uncomfortable. hope he's happier now

I wouldn't give lactulose to such a tiny baby. (People who know me here will most likely know about my current job, but in my previous job I sold laxatives including lactulose. Just outed myself...... but hey ho.)

As others have said, little babies get a taste for this new stuff and can overdo it. They're not really designed for food before at least 6 months, and too much too soon can be a bit of a surprise to their guts. The best way to deal with it is to back off the food, and give milk as the main nutrition, with perhaps the odd taste of food. Then build it up gently. Their guts need time to get used to things changing, and if you give him lactulose you won't allow his guts to learn how to do their job. He will definitely poo, but then you will have the bother of trying to wean him off lactulose, which can be a more difficult thing.

Really?

A few years ago I was told by a GP that I could give my then 8-week old Lactulose, it's only my opinion that it'd be ok for a 5 month old, esp as there's no warning about it on the bottle...

...however, I'd only use it as a last resort. Try water and massaging his belly first.

Just for the benefit of whoever may read this in future and is worried at 3am, just like I was: it ended well. All the above suggestions were good. I stopped the solids apart from pear with lots of water and prune juice. Took three days to go back to normal, but had painful golf balls prior to that. It wasn't just painful for baby but v painful for mummy, imagined going to a&e too. In the end I did mix some lactose with lots of water and juice, I couldn't leave him to suffer. After he d do a golf ball he 'll just fall asleep on me he would have strained so much. I went to see nurse, when all was over, they couldn't give me appointment when I needed it most, but thought I d go to see what they suggest I do now. Confirmed all above suggestions were good. Yes I could have given lactose twice a day 2.5ml. And it's ok to keep weaning as he was already used to it after 2wks, I was giving him 3 times per day, but I 'll go slow and not give as much as he wants. In fact I will exclude baby rice and banana, which I think were the offending items. I went back to pureed pear and apple until he arrives to 26weeks which is only 2 weeks away. Thank you to all. Didn't t need to go to surgery as they only confirmed what you suggested.

I had a slightly different situation when my DS was a baby. He was a big boy (98th centile) and was bottle-fed from 5 weeks as bf didn't work out for us. The first few months were awful as he was continually constipated...would go once every 7-10 days on average with the longest 15 days without a poo. It was so stressful.

I was adviced to start weaning early to help with the constipation...so yes a different situation to yours because I think it was the formula milk that was the offender. But in terms of foods to avoid, I was told to skip the baby rice stage and to avoid baby rice altogether as it can cause constipation/make it worse, as can the baby cereals, also banana so I avoided that in the early stages too. I just started him on quite watery fruits such as apple, pear, melon, mango, papaya, and a bit of dried fruit (boiled for a few mins and pureed) like apricots, and veg like carrot, parsnip etc. I would also give him some water or very diluted orange juice. I kept him on these foods once a day for the first 2-3 weeks and it totally sorted him out.

Things to try to get things moving, tummy massage as suggested (clockwise movements only), pumping his legs, warm baths. We'd often get a result after a bit of time in his bumbo or door bouncer too!