I am concerned about my 5 week old. He has gastric reflux which has been responsive to Axid and cereal bottles. I think the rice cereal bottles are constipating him. He takes 6 tsp to every 4 oz. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Thanks so much for the suggestions. I will begin to try them one by one in a spread out fashion to see what results we get.
J.,
I have a 5 month old, we went through the same thing about the same age. My pediatrician told me to put a teaspoon of Karo syrup in the bottle (the dark syrup). It worked every time! It helped so much that I would only put the syrup in one bottle a day.
Good luck!
K.
You can also use Caro syrup. My daughter's dr had us use one tsp in every other bottle. It really helped. It is the dark syrup not the light.
Rice cereal is very hard for very young children to digest. It is not really a good idea to put it in the bottle. We tried and got the same result. Try prune juice. Just 2 oz. every day( or less). If you need to put the cereal in the bottle for weight reasons, then just 1 tsp. works. Good luck.
L. R
I would talk to your physician about Mirilax. It is now over the counter. I had the same problem with our infant. It worked wonders for my little one. It's a powder that you put in their bottle. It's tasteless. Your physican or pharmacist would know the correct dosage. Good luck!
i am sure the doctor told you to give him that much cereal but 6 tsp seems like an awful lot. I would back off the cereal maybe a tsp at a time and see if his stools soften up. If not i would ask the doctor. these little bitty fellas have such sensitive digestive systems its really hard to know whats up with them. There is a lot of iron in cereal and that could be the culprit. good luck
I have three beautiful children and every single one of them had trouble with constipation around this same age. According to my pediatrician they are still trying to get the hang of pushing and not holding. You beautiful boy needs some assistance. This is what my pediatrician recommended for me to do whenever my children became constipated. Take a Q-tip and coat it in vaseline. Insert the Q-tip a little bit past the cotton part into the rectum. Sort of twist the Q-tip around and move it gently side to side. This movement and the fact that they dont really like something pushed up into the rectum causes them to push against it, therefore making them poop. I know it sounds gross and somewhat painful, but it really isnt that bad. When you go to put the Q-tip in push his legs back into a frog like position, this will make him more comfortable. If this still doesn't work go to your local drug store and purchase infant suppositories cut the suppository in half, take the suppository and insert it into the rectum and use the Q-tip with vaseline to push it up until the rectum grasps it and pulls it in. Again, this will cause him to push against it, it will also dissolve and create a very liquidy poop, making it easier for him to go. I hope that this info helps, I know how stressful it can be when your newborn won't poop. Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions. Good luck and keep us posted.
Try a little Karo with the cereal but check with your doctor first.
Hello, I am a pediatric nurse practitioner and my advice would be to add a little white grape juice to his bottle. You can find it any your baby department. This usually is our first reccomendation to help with constipation.
I gave my bay prune juice and it helped every time!
I would talk to the pediatrician and try to decrease the amount of cereal. That seems like a lot to me. Rice can be very constipating. I'm not sure what age you can start, but you can give a little prune or pear juice and that helps constipation.
Hi J.,
My son had Acid Reflux, at first we thought it was something to do with the formula he was on. After 2 months of complaining to the doctor he finally said that my son had acid reflux. They put him on zantac (I tried everything else first) before we put him on medication. It took about a week to really kick in but it did help. He was able to sleep better ect. I would not recommend getting the "Doctor Brown Bottles" they are expensive and for my son they did not work, don't waste your money on them. What worked for my son is the Zantac along w/sitting him upright in his bouncy chair (he slept in that) for the first 3 months of his life, because that gave him some relife from his heartburn. Also, make sure you are getting good burps from your baby. And we did do the rice cereal in the bottle as well. All of these steps helped make my son feel better, but basically you just have to wait it out. My son is now 6months old and he seems to have out grown the acid reflux. He is not on Zantac anymore. Hang in there, I was in the same boat you are in now, it does get better.
I had that problem with my first daughter who is now 3 1/2. I gave her gas drops just before she took a bottle and it really helped...no more screaming infant! Worked like magic. Also, try a warm, shallow bath after feeding...that way all spit up is in the tub and not on mommy or baby. They also make prune based baby food and juice...check with your doctor and see if a tea spoon could be added to the bottle once per day. My mother suggestd Kayro syrup, too...said it worked fine on me.
