3.5 Month Old Constipated

As part of my "get my pre-baby" body back I bought a post-natal DVD and it has baby massage and stretches. 2 of the exercises are supposed to be good for helping babies pass gas and poop more regularly and 1 massage technique might help. see below:

The first is called "leg smooshies": You lay your baby on the floor on thier back and take one leg at a time. Gently stretch it straight then fold it up bending at the knee and smoosh into the hips. It is the same movement if you were pulling your knees into your chest. Repeat with the other leg then rotate back and forth about 3 times on each leg.
The second is a stomach massage technique called "criss cross/applesauce": With the baby laying on his back take your right hand starting at the top of his left shoulder and with a gentle pressure sweep your hand diagonally down to his right hip. Do this with the other hand cross the other side of his body. Say "criss cross" as you do it, then after 1 rep on each side take your hand and rub a circle around his tummy and say applesauce.

Finally, a baby massage technique on the foot. Use gentle pressure and your thumb and run it diagonally up along the arch to warm the muscle. Then using your thumbs, and starting at the big toe gently push on the foot and walk your thumbs with gentle pushes across the pad along the toe line and down the side of the foot.

These have worked on my son when he has gas. The DVD is from Parent's Magazine and is a postnatal pilates and yoga workout.

Hope this helps-
A.

A little about me: I am a married working mom with an 8mth old adorable little guy.

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Good Morning,

You can give him a tablespoon of Karo syrup in a bottle of either formula breast milk or water depending on how you are feeding him. You can do this everyday if you want to to help move his bowels. This advice was given to me by the pediatrician when my daughter was even younger. It seems to be very common too because a couple of friends have been given the same advice. Karo is a corn syrup used in baking. There is light and dark, it does not really make a difference.

Hope that helps!!!

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It's probably a similar concept to the apple juice ... our ped recommended mixing maybe a Tbsp of DARK brown sugar in a couple ounces of water and giving that to the baby. The other thing that often works is doing a rectal temp - only you don't really care about the temp itself so much. Just the little bit of sensation at their bottom seems to help them to be more successful. I have even used this recently with my 8 month old with great results. Just be sure to have the diaper under them as it tends to give IMMEDIATE results!! Good luck

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Don't be worried. There are a few simple measures that you can try that should work. Below is a link to my old pediatrician's website (unfortunatley we had to move out of state; he's great). He has wonderful detailed suggestions from birth onward:

http://www.yourkidsdoctor.com/BabyTopics/constipation.htm

Good Luck!

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You poor thing...try a couple ounces of prune juice mixed with some flat ginger-ale. Most babies don't like straight prune (not to mention you don't want to give him diarrhea), but if you add equal parts of both the ginger in the ginger ale will help sooth the discomfort and add a little flavor to the "prune cocktail". Be sure that the soda's flat as you don't want to give the baby any gas bubbles as a result.

This remedy seemed to work well with both my kids (13 & 22). If that doesn't work you need to call the doc.

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2 oz of prune juice should do the trick.

good luck.

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Hi S.,
What I did with my little one worked well, my ped told me to go and get some prune juice and give her that. She told me to do 1oz of prune juice and 1oz of water mixed with it. And that really helped my little on with her constipation! Well I would say try that for about a week or two and see if it works for your little one. Let me know how it works out. I wish you luck.

A.

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i wouldn't give babylax at this age; encourage liquid intake, especially if you breastfeed

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my daugher was prescribed prune juice from 6 weeks old by our doctor. i believe it was 1 tea spoon mixed into her formula (or you could pump and put it in with breast milk). it takes about 1/2 an hour before it works (amazingly) sometimes, and then sometimes i had to give it a couple of times to work.
good luck

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My son has never had a problem with constipation but my sister swears by pear juice...couldn't hurt! Good Luck
-C

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I went through this with one of my children and am in the process of going through it with my youngest. With my youngest (she is now 6 months old), the peditrician recommended giving her 4 ounces of water and mix in a tablespoon of of the dark Karo syrup. She loves it and it keeps her bowels moving.

With my son, I actually had to take him to a pediatric gastroenterologist. We found that he actually had a problem going. They gave him a Rx for Glycolax. You can buy it over the counter now - it's called Miralax. Just a little bit mixed in with water or juice will do the trick. Good luck - I know what you're going through!

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I just went through the same thing not all that long ago and my pediatrician recommended apple juice! I believe they can have 1 ounce per month of their life, so your son could have 3.5 ounces. I also diluted ours with water, just to be safe and prevent a blow out.

I know how hard it is to watch them suffer, a dose or two of this should work.

Good luck!

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I always tried giving my son some juice, diluted with a little water, and that eventually seemed to get things moving. My Mom's home-remedy was to just move the baby's legs in a bicycle motion while they're laying on their back. I don't know if it actually works, but it certainly gave my son something else to concentrate on! I would sing dumb songs while I did it and he really seemed to have fun.

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A doctor told me that consipation isnt the absence of a bowel movement. Whe the bowl movement comes in round little pebbles that are dark and hard then oyu know your child is constipated. Is your son breastfed? My pedi told me is not unusual for some breastfed babies to poop only once a week. It maybe that your sons discomfort comes from the poop being so soft that its not putting enough pressure on those immature muscles. My docotr said to bring my son in if he goes more than 7 days without a poop. Have you tired taking his temperature rectally? Sometimes that can simulate a bowel movement.
Do not give karo syrup as some have suggested. There is the same risk of botulism as with honey!
Only try gerber apple juice with docotrs permission.
We also found with my one son that the brand of formula made a difference in his constipation. Also we made the mistake of starting him on rice cereal too early and that and the cheap formula made him consitpated. Rice cereal is beter started at 6 months old. Enfamil never caused consitipation but for some reason, cheap formulas and similac did. Enfamil was the finest powder so not sure if that was the connection to why he never got constipated on enfamil.

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Hi S.,
have you started him on juice yet? if not or if so, try apple juice.... and my eldest son who is 25 now had that problem when he was really little also, I remember something called 'maltsubax' or close to it. I do not however remember if it was over the counter or an Rx... it was to put in his bottle so if you nurse I am not sure how to give it to him. I am sure they have something else... but try the juice first he is old enough I think...

good luck and God Bless,
S.

prune juice give it straight in a bottle. start with one ounce per day it should not take more than one or two times to work and believe me when it does you will be up to your ears in poop!! hahah

i have 1 year old twins who were both constipated at that age and it really worked great for them. i remember calling the dr and them telling me that it was ok that they had not moved their bowels in days. i could tell that they were so uncomfortable so the nurse advised me to give the prune juice and boy did it work!

good luck

hi S., I'm new to mamasource and just read your constipated baby story. just some advise, as a mom and nurse, at this age it may be too early to give the baby a bottle every day with juice and water (they lack the nutrition and calories your baby need at this time, while still filling his belly) but you can always run it by your Pedi... P.S. warm baths always worked for my kids.

I think you need to go the enema route. He would be too young to give a laxative to, but if you are breastfeeding, you could take a laxative and it might transfer to him a little.

hi,

my son had terrible constipation--and we eventually took him to a pediatric gastroenterologist in PGH. He was put on "Miralax", which has been a lifesaver. if you are still having trouble, talk to your dr about it.

Good Luck!

when my son was an infant I had a class that included baby massage and one of the pieces of advice I got from it was, to rub the babies belly in a circular motion with some pressure to help move the bowels along. I used this with both of my children and still do today with my son who is 7 when he is having a hard time (I've also tried it on myself when I've felt bloated and constipated and it seems to work really well). Good Luck, I remember how tough it was with my daughter when she was constipated as an infant.

Call the doctor. My daughter was the same way. I switched her to a soy formula and it was a little better. The doctor also told me to give her Kondrumel, but I don't remember at what age she started taking it.

The best thing I found when my boys were constipated was to add light Kayro syrup to water in a bottle. My doctor pedi suggested this and it worked wonderful. The doctor said it works so well because the Kayro can't be digested so it slides through pushing other stuff with it.

He S., my name is A. and I have 4 kids. My son had the same problem only younger. After consulting my pediatrician I tried dark kayro syrup and water, pear juice, and prune which were both unsuccessful. Then I used rectal temp and baby suppositories which worked but an unpleasant evperience all around and I didn't want my son to become dependent on them. So, I took him to be treated by a chiropractor. He was able to manipualte his spine with the tips of his finger and with regualr adjustments my son had a much easier time moving his bowels.