8 Mo Old Will Not Drink Juice

I have been a nurse in a peds office for 25years and I hate to hear you are being made to feel like a horrible mother. that nurse is not doing her job. There are 2 things you cannot make anyone do and that is eat and sleep. You have 2 other children so i am obviously not telling you anything new. Try feeding him oatmeal, peaches, prunes and any fruit with a pit. also stay away from rice cereal, applesause bananas and carrots. You do not mention if you are breast or bottle feeding and how much solids he is eating. Breast babies do not go everyday. If he continues to have this problem as he gets older there is a cereal called CracklinBran that can be given to him when he can chew it and it works wonderful. Continue to be a "wonderful mom" and Happy Mothers Day

Will he drink a vegetable? From a juicer is best, but if you have fresh spinach (and if not sweet enough a little apple) juice that because the spinach has something it it to stimulate the intestines. 2nd option is to throw the spinach in a blender/processor until drinkable (I haven't done this one so you might have to add water & strain it). Carrots add a nice flavor too, and if he won't drink spinach try carrots. LOOKS AWFUL ! but it works. Oh yeah, the stools come out looking like the juice, too so don't freak out as I almost did.

I couldn't get my son to drink juice at all until he was about a year and a half old. We also have constipation issues, I just fed him gerber prunes baby food and it helped him. Also we changed him from regular formula to soy formula and it helped some too.

J.,
Don't worry about the juice. There are other alternatives you can try. Prunes work well for my little guy to help keep him regular. In the past, our doctor recommended a little corn syrup in a bottle of breast milk or formula. Worked wonders!
Hang in there!!

First off, do not let your nurse make you feel bad - there job is to help and support you. Let your doctor know about her lack of bedside manner!

Try giving your son baby food prunes - they work like a charm. Pears are good as a daily food to help with BMs, but prunes will do the trick quickly. You can give him juice/water in a medicine dropper too. It'll take a while, but he'll swallow it before he knows what hit him.

Good luck!!! You're doing a great job - hang in there!

I would feed him some prunes or my son always loosened up with pears as well. When my daughter was constipated the doctor actually had us alternate pedialyte with the formula. She could not handel all the iron and we eventually had to put her on a low iron formula. My son had to take a lactose free formula. I would let the doctor know how the nurse made you feel.

Try room temperature juice mixed with 1/2 water...
Some babies like drinks cold, but mine would only take room temperature juice/water.
Also, have you tried prunes? Earth's Best makes a great one! (Whole Foods,Babies R US)
It ALWAYS makes my little girl go...almost instantly!!
She is 9 months old.

Good Luck!!

You can also give him water with Karo syrup in it or you can put a little Karo in his bottle. I've found that the dark kind works better. My daughter did this too....would go days without a bowel movement. And she was about this age too. She eventually got regulated. part of it was the food she was starting to eat. Hang in there and don't let the nurse make you feel horrible. Each child is different and they have their own likes and dislikes.

Hey J.,

Not to worry! I think ALL kids go through this at some time or other. Our Ped. does not think kids should drink juice at all! She says it is just about all pure sugar, and I am starting to hear more and more about this, and bad for their teeth. Our little guy (4) drinks TONS of milk. What we learned to do with him, he is not a big eater at all, is find a breakfast bar that he loves. He loves any of them that are blueberry. He eats one every single day and is as regular as can be. We think, and so does our Ped, that fiber is the answer, not juice! He also loves chocolate chex cereal. He will eat a bowel as a snack, muiligrain and loaded with fiber! He loves brocolli, I know not normal, and carrots. All of these helped to makes him very regular, and he was not at the same age as your baby. Even at 8 mo's they can eat oatmeal, and that's full of fiber too. I say skip the juice!

Good luck and not to worry he WILL poop again! S. :-)

As for an immediate solution, you can use an oral medicine syringe to force juice down him. It won't be fun, but I have done this when my baby refused all liquids. It will be messy, but hopefully you can get enough down him to help. Also, have you tried pear baby food? It worked wonders for my son. Sometimes I added water to it as well. Will he eat pop cycles, those are good. You could also try adding more than the recommended water to his formula (or add some water to breast milk). I wouldn't make a habit of it, but short term it shouldn't hurt him.
Long term, just try different sippee cups, bottles, ice, no ice, and every kind of juice. Maybe even give him a juice box, outside since it will likely be messy. Have you tried the Gerber toddler fruit dices. The peaches are very soft and my son ate them very well.
Finally, I wouldn't stay with a pediatrician whose nurse made me feel bad for my baby's behavior. You are trying everything and it isn't your fault!

J.,
Do not force your child to drink juice.
Any good pediatrician and pediatric dentist will tell you that your child does not need to drink juice until they are 2.
It is not good for their teeth even if you dilute it.
Your doctor should be able to suggest soemthing else to help him move his bowels.
Do not let the doctor's nurse make you feel bad. Every child is different and forcing achild is never a good idea.
Has your son started eating any new foods recently? A change in their diet can cause constipation.
You can try mashing up a banana for him to eat. That helps a lot of children go to the bathroom.
Good luck!
H.

I had trouble getting my oldest to drink water & juice also, but I nursed, I couldn't tell if you do or not. If you don't, you could put some Karo syrup in the formula and this helps. I don't mean all the time, I just mean when he is having bowl trouble. And I kept offering water when it was feeding time etc. and would get my daughter to drink some water and juice, just not like I know she shold of. When she was older and wallking & had troule a Dr. gave me Colace drops & this cleared her up. iT isn't a laxative, just helps the last intistine not to secrete too much water, is what he said, was the cause of her problem.

Seriously, there is no harm in him not drinking juice, in fact, it is probably best for him that he does not. But, you do need to address the bm issue, so bring out the baby food pears for sure..every day for a while. And, see if he will eat baby food prunes, or maybe mix the two. And honestly, ask about some Miralax to help things out..my older two used it with not problems..you can mix it right into his formula. My 8 month old does not drink juice at all, and has had a few sips of water, but that is really it. If you really feel the need to, try mixing in a little juice into his bottle, but honestly, you have 2 other kids, you are a good mom, and you know what you are doing!!! Dont let some staff at the doctor treat you otherwise. After all, they work for you, not the other way around. Hmm, can you tell I have issues with the concept that a degree somehow makes people think they know our kids better than we do....Hang in there, he will be fine:) ~A.~

You might try taking him to a chiropractor. They massage their tummies and it helps open the intestines and they can go to the bathroom easier. I took my son and I have friends that take their kids. It really does work. My doctor is not a fan of juice at all. He says he wouldn't give it to children at all, but if we did give it to our son not more than 4 oz a day.

What always worked for me to regulate my little ones was prunes. Mix a teaspoon or two of the gerber jar prunes in with a bottle, jar foods, or his cereal. Good luck!

Try Karo Syrup (the clear one) and/or Barley Cereal. Start with the Karo Syrup which can be mixed in his milk/formula. Start with 1/2 tsp and increase/decrease amount as necessary. Barley cereal can be found next to the Rice Cereal. If you can't find Barley, Mixed Cereal may do the trick.

Feed him some rasins or grapes.That should do the trick and it will also give him vitiams.

My 9 month wont drink juice either. When he is constipated lilke that I use glycerin sticks!! It all natural no chemical way to get him/her to poop. You can get them any where. Just another avenue to try if you like

I am appalled that they would make you feel bad about not giving a sugar drink to a baby. He must be drinking something liquid, milk? I would not force juice on anyone and there are many ways to get a child to have a bowel movement.If he eats cereal you can add a mild fiber powder. Sugar is acid as is white flour products. If you get no good advice go see Joan Vandergriff in Colleyville at Alternative Health Shoppe--as a cancer survivor going naturally 8 years ago I question what some doctors want to do to our babies.
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Quote from Dr. Lee Cowden:"Excessive acidity or alkalinity causes the colon cells to dysfunction, which can result in diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation or diverticulitis. The disturbed acid/alkaline balance in the colon can also cause unfriendly microbes to grow and thrive, which can result in colitis, inflammatory bowel disease (including Crohn’s) or hemorrhoids."

My mom used to use warm water and kyro syrup. He may not want to drink because his tummy hurts from not going for so many days, they need to be giving him a suppository or something to help.

My son was very constipated, however now he eats prunes once a day and he is fine. Hope this helps.

H.

Hi J., I realize you already responded with results. But these are the suggestions I got from my pedi's office. Any of the "p" fruits should help. Also, Liquilytes by Gerber or Pedialyte they can help him too they're not just for upset tummys. Try the unflavored one if you're concerned he won't like a flavor. And the old stand by was to take a temp rectally-not fun but it did work for my son. I'm very bothered by the nurse getting frustrated with you not being able to get your son to drink juice though that just doesn't seem right.

mix karo syrup with water. use about a tablespoon per a sippy sup...works every time :)

Try watering down the milk and put a lil karo syrup in it

mix a tablespoon of Karo syrup ( i think that is how it is spelt) with like 2 or 3 oz of water... see if he'll drink that... even a few sips should help... i had the same issue with my son when he was 3mths to 7mths...

Very surprised your doctor's office would push juice. It is loaded with sugar and really not great for our kids unless you juice yourself. I agree with Laura about the vaccinations, GI problems often occur after vaccinations. Watch the milk too if you are giving it to him. Milk is the most common allergen but always pushed by doctors. The Standard American Diet (SAD) is really not the most healthy. Doctors usually don't know much about nutrition either and often push miralax for constipation - I personally wouldn't do it although many moms love it.

My 9 month old daughter loves it when I give her water from a straw. I also give her prunes whenever she is a little constipated.

Try freezing it in a fun shape and serving as a popcicle

A couple teaspoons-tablespoon of dark corn syrup in one or two of his bottles will clean him out.

Hi J.,

My name is M. I have three daughters and a new born son. Will your son drink alittle or not at all, the reason I ask this is because my niece had the same problem and it was the bowel movements that we found were painful for her so she was choosing not to drink, and for awhile was so backed up she stopped eating! So my sister and I tryed small bottle cap amounts of grape and apple juice. He may not drink an entire cup but alittle apple goes a long way. Also is the doctor against a stimulant to make him go to the bathroom for now until you can figure this out?

Good Luck
M.

If nothing else works try a spoonful of Karo syrup in his bottle or sippy cup. I did this for my daughter and it worked like a charm. By the way - she's 2 1/2 and still wont drink juice unless its Gatorade - go figure.

first of all don't you dare let that nurse make you feel bad. i had a problem with a nurse at my son's dr and finally i told her to do her job and butt out. she has no right to say anything negative. you're doing the best you can. so the juice, my son didn't like drinking water and he wasn't much on juice so i started mixing half water half apple juice warm. if your child is hungry they will drink the juice. give them an 8oz bottle of warm juice/water instead of food. this will help with the movement. good luck! oh i also wanted to say put a drop of dark karo syrup in his bottles of milk. this will not only make him poop but it will soften it if its hard. my son had formed pooped for a while at early months of life. this saved him.

Is he eating baby food? I would just feed him extra fruit baby food. My son is 20 months old and will not drink anything but milk. He doesn't like juice at all. But, my husband is a family practice doctor and says milk is healthier anyway and really juice is just sugar and they don't need it at all. I would supplement with baby food.

If he won't drink juice to get the sugar that will get him going, try another standby of putting dark karo syrup in his breast milk or formula. I would put about 2 tablespoons in a cup/bottle of milk being he has gone this long, in every milk until he goes. That sugar should get him going, but, it could take a few bottles being this long.
You could also try babyfood prunes alone or together with this. If you have one of those baby bouncers...put him in one and watch him of course...we always called ours the "poo chair" because it always brought one on for our dd. I guess it was the perfect position..lol

Now, as for the nurse. If she is rude with you, take it up with your doctor when you go in. If she is over reacting, think of it as her being concerned for him at not becoming impacted.

How about a thick smoothie? (if it's the liquid part that he's objecting to)
Maybe it's the cold factor mixed w/ the liquid factor? I'd try different combinations of consistency & temperature.
In the meantime, i'd try to push fruits like crazy.
We made smoothies for about 5 months everyday.

Will he eat apple sauce?? That way he'll still get the sugar from a natural source. If not, you could try to mix small amounts of juice in his bottle (enough to help but not enough to effect the taste)....that way he'll get it without knowing he's getting it.

One of my boys (now 12,10,8) wouldn't drink juice either. Our Dr. prescribed a suppository which gave him relief from the constipation....it was just a one time thing. He still doesn't like juice, but will eat oranges and apples.

As far as the nurse, you can accept her advice but not her judgements. You can't help that your child doesn't like juice, it's not a reflection on you or your parenting....so give yourself a break.

My boys loved white grape juice and I mix it with water...1/2 and 1/2 so that they are getting their water too. I'd get a new doctor...one who's more helpful!

J., when my son wouldn't go poop I used 1 tsp. of dark Karo syrup in his bottle. That worked really well. However, when my son wouldn't go poop at that age, he had something more serious wrong. He had something called intersuception which is a blockage in his intestine. It's very serious. My son didn't have the "textbook" symptoms. But he did run a fever, and wouldn't move and sleeped alot and vomitted everything up, he couldn't hold nothing down, we had to syringe feed him. And he didn't have a bowelmovement for over a week. I am not saying that that is what is wrong with your son but you might suggest it to you doctor and watch for symptoms. Do some research on it if you need to. I knew as his mom something was wrong and the doctors kept saying it was a virus, I took him back everyday to the doctor until finally they put him the hospital because of dehydration. Finally while in the hospital he had a bloody bowel movement. I have never been so grateful for a poopy diaper in all my life because it saved his life. It's very common is males, the ratio is 8 males to 1 female. And again, it is very serious situation. Good luck.

Not sure if someone already recommended this but I give my baby prunes almost everyday. She is exclusively nursed but when babies start cereal sometimes all the iron backs them up a bit. Serving prunes has worked for us.

Try adding 1tsp of prune juice to his formula or breast milk. That is what ped. told me to do when I was having the same issues.....it worked like a charm.

You have already recieved so many good ideas -- but thought I would respond anyway.

My 6.5 month old has major constipation issues since we started solids. I give her prunes and pears frequently to help. They seem to keep her regular for the most part.

Recently we had an issue where she didn't go for 5 days. I took her to my chiropractor (I see Dr. Sandra Sullivan in Mesquite/Plano) who posts on here sometimes. Dr. Sullivan said her back was tight and showed me how to rub her tummy to encourage her to go. My husband and I have VERY different views about chiropractic. My husband doesn't want my daughter to get chiropractic work done -- so Dr. Sullivan shows me ways to do things that are okay. SO it is not like when I go and she pops my neck. SO if you are leery about what you want done you can tell her. Anyway, she also used some light therapy the last time and my dd had 4 BMs that day -- and they were all massive. SO if you are into alternative medicine I would recommend this.

Dear J.,
Has your son been immunized lately? Did he have bowel issues before this episode? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE slow down on vaccinating him . There is a safer schedule. The docs will not tell you that though! I have a vaccine injured child and the first clue is a gut issue! No doc will tell you that is true but there are a million moms who KNOW the truth. I am not anti vaccines but there is A safer way to vaccinate and I am going to Washington in June to March the Hill to Green our Vaccines! Google "Jenny McCarthy and Green our Vaccines" and read about it. You can get on her TACA website and read about the vaccines. The gut issue is a BIG HUGE part of what we are injecting our kids with and our poor babies are suffering because of it. Meantime you can go to Wholefoods and ask the nutritional person there about a natural laxative for him. I know Aloe Vera juice works but not sure if a baby can take it. They will know.
Good luck and I HOPE you listen to this advise about the vaccines.
L.

I little Caro (corn syrup) in his milk might help or worst case use a glycerin suppositories (you might have to whittle it down some--I had to for my daughter when she was the same age). Also- Pear juice instead of apple or grape juice may be the best. It's gentler on little tummies and does not have a strong flavor.

I water down juice (the Gerber apple & prune) before I give it to my 9 month old (and I only give it to him when he's backed up). Prunes also help! Good luck!

I don't have any better suggestion, but I do want to say- don't let some nurse make you feel bad about your skills as a parent. It is ridiculous to think that just because you are the mom- you can influence a BABY into doing what you want. Human nature is contradictory to this, not to mention personality, disposition, mood, etc... If peer pressure worked on infants/toddlers children my 2 yr old would be a much different kiddo at times!! LOL!

I wish I could go with you to give that nurse a good talking to. Her job is to advise and assist NOT to pile on guilt.

Try offering it to him first thing in the morning in a bottle, or even mix it with his formula. You might also try giving him some babyfood prunes.

A little about me: I am a working grandmother of a 8 mo. old boy I keep on weekends. Mom of 3 grown wonderful kids 30,29, 19 wife to a wonderful man. God has blessed.

I am not sure how much milk your child is drinking but I can give you an example of how we help our 7 month old regulate his bowels. If it seems like it has been a couple of days since my son has pooed, then I will take one of his bottles, put in about 2 ounces of baby prunes, sweet potatoe, or squash, then add 3 scoops of formula and 6 ounces of water. Usually this helps him go to the restroom and he doesnt have gas issues from it. Your not a bad mother because your child will not drink milk or juice. The baby just may not be accustomed to the different flavors or sensations that they feel when they drink those things as opposed to milk. Good luck and I hope this helps.

try tummy ticklers they are 100% jucie and the reuseble with cartoon carters my son like them alot

Don't feel bad. In fact, my pediatrician had us not give any juice at all. He said milk only for the first year and even after that, he really has us limit juice. My son is 2 now and drinks milk 95% of the time and water most of the rest of the time. He only gets a juice box maybe once a month or so if we are with his friends who all have juice. As for the constipation, as others have said, just give fruits to eat. Will he eat the baby food prunes? Those should work well. Avoid bananas and apples though as those have the opposite effect. I promise, you are doing yourself and your son a favor by not getting him hooked on juice early on.

Hi J.,

So sorry your little one is constipated. That is painful for both of you. I would try heating the juice so it is not cold. Maybe even dilute the juice with water. You mentioned you are breastfeeding. Are you giving the juice in a bottle or cup? It could be a nipple issue too. Try a sippy cup or regular cup.

Also try Apricot baby food.

Hope you find the answer that works.

If your son will not drink juice, try using a tablespoon of Karo Syrup in his milk bottle or sippy cup. This usually works for constipated babies.

hope things go well.

M.

You can try useing a medicine dropper and give him a little at a time.

I've never even heard that before. Have you tried Pedialyte? My son got constipated and my pediatrician told me to give him some pedialyte and it worked.

My son became constipated around that age, and the doctor prescribed Generlac. It is basically just liquid sugar that you get a prescription for. It was really cheap, like $8. We started out giving him 5 ml, than adjusted as we needed, up to 10 ml. Once he started going, we backed off a bit. It worked great for him, and is completely safe. I'm with the other moms, don't worry about the juice. My son is four, and still drinks more milk and Pediasure than anything else.

I would give him Juice Plus gummies to eat. They are only fruits and vegtables with very little sugar. They work wonderfully. L.
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Do not worry about hime NOT drinking juice. Trust me, he will be better off. The juices we get today are more sugar water than actual juice. He is better drinking water and actually eating fruits.
My daughter now 4, did not drink fruit juice. She actually preferred water or actual fruit. Our pediatrician said she was much better off.

My daughter is 7 and still will not drink juice, or eat fruit. It is frustrating because as a baby we did have to give her enema's and suppositories. Now that she's seven i give her fiber chewables, which helps keep her regular and i also make sure she drinks plenty of water (which really helps alot). I just wanted to say that i understand your frustration.