Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

Constipated baby won't drink water!

30 replies

annmarieandlily · 02/01/2007 13:29

Have just started weaning my 20 week old dd and its going really well - apart from the fact that the poor wee thing is getting so constipated and I cannot get her to drink any water.

She won't drink it from a bottle (and believe me I have tried everything - even wrapping some kitchen paper around the bottle to disguise it as milk!) she just plays with the teat in her mouth as soon as she realises its water. She is bf but happily drinks ebm from a bottle without any problems at all.

Have also tried baby juice but she won't take that either!

I have been adding a splash of organic prune juice to most of her meals just to help her go, but really want her to learn to drink water regularly - any tips or advice please?!?

OP posts:
DizzyBint · 02/01/2007 13:36

maybe try an open cup? dd drinks her water from a doidy cup, she doesn't like teats.

otherwise, maybe hold off the solids for a while longer, maybe her body isn't up to them yet? she'll be fine on just breast milk until she's 26 weeks.

LIZS · 02/01/2007 13:36

She's a bit young to drink anythign other than milk in any quantity yet, and as b'fed shouldn't need to, but she will get used to it with persistence over time. Maybe a cup would work better since she expects ebm in the bottle ?

To help can you make her food really runny, add lots of ebm or water to it, make sure she is maintaining the same number of breastfeeds as before you started weaning or even slack off the weaning for now since it is found that some babies' gut is too immature to handle solids until 6 months and doing so earlier may trigger allergies and longer term digestive problems.

bandstand · 02/01/2007 13:36

can she eat a banana?

bandstand · 02/01/2007 13:37

or pureed parsnips? my dc's favourite first foods.

bandstand · 02/01/2007 13:38

oh, just read previous post, i heard it was 6 months now, seems hard.

DizzyBint · 02/01/2007 13:39

seems hard?

LIZS · 02/01/2007 13:40

banana can make constipation worse. You may want to stick to individual foods for a few days at a time to make sure each doens't make things worse.

bandstand · 02/01/2007 13:42

to wait til their 6 months..must be difficult.. dont they get more and more hungrey.?

DizzyBint · 02/01/2007 13:45

no. they only need milk until then. if you wait til they can pick up food themself and eat it, usually around 6 months it's very easy indeed.

MKG · 02/01/2007 14:10

Trie prune juice, or a jar of baby prunes.

Are you using white rice cereal. Sometimes that can cause constipation, try switching to brown rice, or oatmeal instead.

LIZS · 02/01/2007 14:14

Doesn't oatmeal contain gluten ?

moljam · 02/01/2007 14:19

when my dd whos now 6 was baby she suffered abit from constipation so we gave her sips of water from a medicine syringe.worth a go.i agree though try open cup,she may associate the bottle with milk.

MrsBadger · 02/01/2007 14:19

so perhaps that's another good reason to wait till 6mo when gluten won't be a problem...

Original poster
annmarieandlily · 02/01/2007 19:34

Thanks for your advice everyone. Tried an Avent Magic Cup this evening and she still screwed her face up as if I have given her vinegar! I think the basic problem is that she doesn't like the taste of the water or juice.

Do you really think that the constipation is a sign that I have weaned her too early? She certainly seemed ready for it in every other respect. And should I stop now that I have started - or would that confuse her appetite? I always bf her before giving her any solids to ensure that she's taking the same amount of milk. What to do...?

OP posts:
MrsBadger · 02/01/2007 20:32

The constipation might just be a sign that her gut can't handle food quite yet - you can stop solids any time you want so long as you keep up her milk feeds.

I'd leave it for now try again when she's 6mo, sitting up well unsupported and has developed a pincer grip...

DizzyBint · 02/01/2007 20:34

is she getting anything out of the magic cup? my bf dd had to use a doidy cup before she could understand what to do with a magic cup. backwards i know but that's how she did it. it takes quite a hard suck to use a magic spout, have you tried it yourself?

Original poster
annmarieandlily · 05/01/2007 09:26

Took the valve out of the Magic Cup so that it would just trickle into her mouth (she wouldn't suck). No joy - just spat it out...

Would it be ok to give her watered down ebm or formula? I know the packet says not but surely it would benefit her to get more water somehow?

OP posts:
LIZS · 05/01/2007 09:34

Can you not just offer her ebm or extra breastfeeds ? Formula, watered down or not , coudl just aggravate things if she isn't used to it. tbh I don't think the water itself is the issue. What "foods" are you offering which are constipating her, presumably she was fine when exclusively b'fed.

Original poster
annmarieandlily · 05/01/2007 12:53

I have given her apple, pear and mango, plus only the odd bit of banana as I'm conscious that this could make her constipated. She's also tried broccoli and peas. Have stayed well away from baby rice as she doesn't like it at all. No problems with constipation when exclusively bf, but her poos did become less frequent as she got older (but not constipated).

OP posts:
mylittlestar · 05/01/2007 13:17

If it helps it may not be anything to do with the weaning, if you feel that she is ready the I would say go with your gut feelings. My ds is 15 months and has pretty much been constipated since 6 months old when I stopped bf.
He's absolutely brilliant with drinking water (literally a full bottle every hour or two and always has done!) and it makes no difference at all.
He has fruit every day, lots of vegetables etc - no change!

For some children it's just one of those things and there may be not too much you can do. If it helps, prunes and prune juice (mixed in with other foods to hide the taste!) did help a little bit and still do help.
After tons of advice, chats with the HV and trying different foods, I ended up getting lactulose of the doctor for him and that's the only thing that helps. (I was worried he would begin to get issues re going to the toilet as it had gone on for so long and he cried every time he filled his nappy!) Not sure how old they need to be before getting anything like lactulose, I think ds was about 8 months.

Not sure if there's anything useful there but just didn't want you blaming yourself regarding the weaning and also don't want you to get too hung up on the water thing as it can sometimes make no difference.

Fingers crossed for you. It's absolutely horrible. Good luck x

AitchTwoOhOhSeven · 05/01/2007 13:19

aaaaah, i got some of that lactulose during my post-birth no pelvic floor days... it's a modern miracle.

mylittlestar · 05/01/2007 13:25

I had it myself too after 3rd degree tear!
Thank god for lactulose!!

AitchTwoOhOhSeven · 05/01/2007 13:29

Amen to that.

Original poster
annmarieandlily · 05/01/2007 14:02

Thanks mylittlestar - especially for your words of support with weaning. Can be made to feel like a wicked mother sometimes for weaning before 6 months!

Its amazing how motherhood makes you happy to discuss all sorts of embarrassing problems with complete strangers! You leave all dignity at the door for good when you go in to that delivery room!

OP posts:
twickersmum · 05/01/2007 14:10

my dd2 is on lactulose twice a day for weeks to soften her poo, she has an anal fissure, refused to poo, then it becomes dried out, harder, hurts more, refuses to poo more etc...

anyway, i am now worrying about the effect on her teeth. she only has 6, so i can brush those ok, but could it harm the ones coming through?