My daughter is 6 months, still breastfeeding and only poops every 3-4 days. She used to poop after every feeding at first, then went to once a day. She grunts and pushes and her face gets all red. I feel so bad. I started her on solids at 5 months. I make all her food, so far plums,pears,peas and sweet potatos. Most of these foods are good for constipation. She also eats cereal in the am, a mix of oatmeal,barley and rice. I have done a lot of research and came upon an herbal remedy. Equal amounts fennel seeds and licorice root boiled in 1 pint water, given to baby 1 tsp every 1/2 hour until she poops. It sounds like a good cure. Has anyone used it or have a similar suggestion, or have a reason not to use this remedy? I would rather stay away from kayro syrup and suppositories. I want to use something natural. I do belly massage and bicycle legs too. I am hopeing to not have to go to the Pedi. Thanks.
M.
Try Miralax at CVS. At this age, every day poops should happen and this constipation should be resolved. Eliminate the rice from her cereal as that will constipate her. Prunes and prune juice is very helpful. You are causing the consitpation with foods she's eating so you can take some away and start over introducing slowly the foods that do not cause it.
OK--I have some slightly different advice. You may want to try giving her some water, from a cup or spoon if you're not using bottles. I also agree w/ pp to eliminate the rice, particularly any iron enriched cereals. The number one thing I would do is increase breastfeeding & decrease solids for a few weeks & see if that helps. You may also want to take a look at your diet, try eliminating dairy & other allergens from your diet as you increase breastfeeding. Food sensativities can manifest as constipation, etc. In the interest of least interventionist first, I would try the diet changes first, before trying an herbal remedy. Good luck!
My pedi recommended Miralax for my baby when she was 6 months or so, I hated giving it to her, but it did work, there is no Miralax for babies, so you have to reduce amount you give, my pedi, cut the adult dose by two, i further reduced it. My pedi also recommended giving it to her regularly, but I did not, i just used it once. My baby became more regular by herself.
On another occasion I used a small amount of Karo syrup diluted in water, that worked beautifully in about an hour, relief for me and baby.
I think plenty of water is great too, and if baby does not want to drink from cup/bottle, try giving small ice chips or even frozen diluted fruit juice. Good luck!!
My Pedi recommended to give, 1oz of prune juice with apple juice.she had some constipation problemes around the 6 month as well. now she is 9-month-old and is fine.I am still breast-feeding too. But I noticed When I give her prune Gerber, she goes like 3 times. If you want to meet some moms check yahoo.com BevMomBaby is a group of moms that gather at Beverly Hospital. Tuesdays is for newborns to 4 month and Thursday for 4 month and up from 10:00 to 12:00pm. I am staying home mom too. I live in
Peabody. If you want Wednesdays we go to a Coffee place in Danvers, is called Daily Harvest in High St. feel free to e-mail me to ____@____.com
Hi M.,
I am sorry to hear of your babies troubles, that can be so painful to be constipated and a helpless feeling to watch her turn red. I had luck with prunes for my son who had a bit of trouble when he was an infant. I also found the cereal, especially the rice, very binding to my son. I had to make it really watery and at one point cut out the rice altogether.
I hope this helped.
Take care
V. D.
Dear M., I would keep track of the amount of fluids vs solids she is receiving. You should call your Pedi whenever you have a question. Manytimes suggestions can be made over the phone. You are a new Mom. You should always call for advice and medical expertise. I would never try a herbel remedy on an infant. You should look for Moms groups in your area. Some advertise in the newspaper, or on message boards in the library, church, and supermarkets.Goodluck. J.
Frequency - or lack there of - is not a measure of constipation. The consistency of the poop is. Obviously now that she's eating solids it won't be like breast milk poop, but unless it is hard and VERY solid, she probably isn't constipated. It's not uncommon for babies to only poop every few days. She may be grunting etc due to gas.
I would be searching for the natural remedy myself, just like you. I never did that syrup and I gave my oldest prune juice once when she was constipated and it was awful! Anyway, my suggestion is to go to Whole Foods and but Baby Jarodophilous, which is the baby version of Acidophilus Bifidis, the live culture found in yogurt that helps our digestion stay regular. You put 1/2 a tsp. in her bottle (if you pump ever) or mix it into her cereal. It is all natural and better for regularity than anything I've seen. My youngest was colicky and used to be VERY gassy, and when she had some of this, she always pooped shortly after and felt better. It can't hurt a baby and you can't every overdose with it, is what I was told. You might also try a chirpractor, another thing I did with my youngest when she was all backed up. It worked like a charm! She was totally maladjusted and her digestive tract wasn't executing properly as a result. I now see this chiro and love it! Good luck and let us know how it works!
Ok I had to answer when I saw the below post. They should NOT necessarilly be pooping every day if breastfed. Look up any knowleadgable breastfeeding site and they will say that. The book baby 411 also states that. Breastfed babies can go up to a week without pooping. This is verrrry normal.
Since she is now eating solid foods regularly, she really needs to be drinking water regularly. This is probably the root of her constipation problem. So long as she was only getting breastmilk, it wasn't necessary to supplement with water, but now that she is eating solids, water is absolutely essential - as it is for all of the rest of us who eat solid foods! At 6 months, she is old enough to start trying to use a sippy cup with water in it. She will need help at first, naturally, but if you get a sippy cup with handles, she will start to begin to try to use it on her own. You can also try "feeding" her water on a baby spoon.
In any case, she MUST start drinking water; this will help relieve her constipation more than any other remedy, herbal or not. Water is an essential nutrient, and we tend to be in bad shape if we don't get enough of it (especially in summer, when it is hotter).
In the meantime, the remedy you suggest is worth a try, in small dilute dosages. If nothing else, it is mostly water (!), so you may start seeing results. But she still will need plain un-sweetened unflavored drinking water in diet from now on. Hold off on juices; they tend to make constipation worse, and do not hydrate nearly as well as regular ol' water.
Good luck!
