is dd dehydrated?

[goneHaywire]

been giving dd (nearly 8mo) lactulose for nearly 2 weeks and her poos are still like rocks.

she has 4 solid meals a days and I offer fluids but she doesn't drink much (unless its milk) every time I mention it to HV they say "its fine" but she really is in a lot of pain when passing stool so its clearly not fine, they're like golf balls in the nappy.

is she dehydrated?

I'm trying to increase her fluid intake, is there anything else I can do?

Try giving water before food? As well as during the meal. Wouldn't worry about it being 'filling' or anything as it sounds like the need for fluids is a priority.
I sympathise, my first suffered from constipation. I've made sure ds2 has had lots of water from day 1 of weaning and he's been fine so far.
The body treats milk as food which is why water is so essential for moving the bowels. Good luck.

My ds (same age as yours) suffers with occasional constipation despite drinking and peeing lots... I find the ellas fruit puree pouches good for getting things going. They also do a prune and something or other one.

she already has either prunes or apricots with breakfast everyday...

she used to drink water so well, I don't know whats happened

Just a thought, if she's not getting enough water then lactulose might be making it worse. If she goes longer than 10 days without a decent poo, rather than hard v small ones, you need to think about taking her to the doctor to be on safe side. They can give suppositories in worse case scenarios. Hope things improve.

I have a just turned 8 month old and I regularly give him humzingers which are just dried fruit in an easy to eat stick, also very handy for a quick snack. My ds is ver prone to constipation as he is on anti reflux milk which causes it. I try and make him eat lots of fruit and veg and avoid bananas at all costs, if he even looks at one he won't poo for 2 days!

Could you not reduce solids a bit? At eight months most the nutrition should still come from milk. Give two or three small meals instead making one very fruit heavy perhaps. Are u giving whole meal foods? They can bung up babies as can bananas and weetabix. Up the water and maybe swap the fourth meal for a milk feed?

Lactulose will dehydrate her so you might want to have a few days rest from it.