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Weaning

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

6 month old - constipated and refusing extra fluids - help

4 replies

littleduck · 25/11/2009 13:08

DD has been suffering from constipation over the last week. She did not poo for 4 days until Sat last week and then finally did a couple of small hard poos that day, more poos on Sunday which were still quite hard and she screamed whilst doing one of them. Monday more poo whilst at nursery but no screaming, yesterday she screamed again whilst doing a poo.

I am back at work 3 days a week and can't express enough for her to have at nursery during the day so she has 2 formula feeds there which she usually takes well. She is on a special hypoallergenic formula as she is allergic to the usual stuff which GP thinks is a cow's milk allergy. I breast feed her in the morning before going to work and in the evening before she goes to bed but I suspect my milk is drying up now - yesterday she was fussing at the breast and I felt she hadn't had enough so we offered a top up of formula and she took 5oz. So she is on 4 milk feeds of one kind or another per day.

since introducing solids I have been trying to get her to take sips of water between feeds and at mealtimes - with minimal success. Have tried from both bottle and from beaker and a variety of temperatures but same reaction regardless. Her nappies aren't terribly wet and her little mouth looks a bit dry (although her tongue and inside of mouth look OK), I feel sure she needs more fluids but it is a real struggle to get her to take any water. She pushes the bottle or beaker away when I offer it and screams if I persist.

I don't want to turn this into a battle and force her to drink it but I am very worried about what will happen with her constipation if she doesn't start taking more fluid soon, especially as we are about to introduce protein foods.

any help appreciated, I am at my wits end

OP posts:
RunJHC · 25/11/2009 21:21

Hi sorry to hear about the constipation. It's horrible to see isn't it when they're really straining and upset!

DS is 8 months old and has had constipation quite a lot since starting weaning. He's FF but also won't drink much water. We've found the best thing is to give him prunes - we mix them with Philadelphia and put them on rice cakes but you could just puree them (I think there's an Ella's Kitchen pouch which has them in).

This has always worked to get things moving. Also have avoided things like bananas/too much stodge until all moving again!

On the fluids we've resorted to really watered down apple juice which he will ONLY drink from an open cup (we use a bottle top so it's not too big for his mouth). Seems to have very specific ideas about how he will eat and drink already - god help us when he's older...

HTH

Jojo300 · 30/11/2009 15:06

you could also try watering down the formula. I know it says you aren't supposed to but my doctor told me it was fine when my DD had a tummy bug and I was trying to avoid giving her milk so she stopped vomiting.

nickymorris · 30/11/2009 15:10

My ds will drink from a cup or glass if he's seen me drink from it. So I pour myself half a glass of water, drink a couple of mouthfuls and then offer him one. Obviously I don't give him the glass to hold totally himself a that is a short-cut to smashed glass. But he 'trusts' the glass more as he's seen me drinking from it.

LadyLotty · 01/12/2009 20:07

Do you think she is taking around 20oz of fluid a day - including the liquid that goes into her solids? The poo will get a bit harder anyway once they are weaned...

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