Constipation?Congestion

D.,
I have been giving my son infant acidophilus since he was about 1 month old(he is 15 months now!). He has never been constipated and he poops at least 4-5 times a day(after each meal and snack)! Doctor said it was fine, acidophilus is the strain of good bacteria (live yogurt cultures) found in yogurt.My MIL insisted that we give him this, and I was very skeptical. I am not into wholistic medicine like she is. Anyway, I tried it and it works. The product we use is Udo's Choice Infant Probiotic. I am sure any health food store will have it, just ask. Let me tell you this. As I said before, I was very skeptical about giving this to my newborn, but after I did start using it, I became a believer. You have nothing to lose and all to gain by trying it! Good luck!
K.

1 mom found this helpful

I feed my twins oatmeal cereal for breakfast daily-usually mixed with applesauce, pears or peaches. This sort of helps to keep them "regular". If I notice that one has a little more solid BM or is struggling Oatmeal mixed with prunes works (we like earths best ALOT!) Or Prunes (little pcs. or pureed) and Applesauce, Prunes alone, and apricots.

I would only give a suppository if immediate relief is necessary. They have childrens suppositories at any drug store-they are about 1" long I cut them in half.

As far as the congestion, both of my little guys are stuffy. Per our Ped ENT recommendation I am giving 1 ml of childrens Zrytec 1 time daily. (the regular dosage is 5 ml) The med is 24 hrs. I haven't noticed any adverse reaction such as sleepiness or sleeplessness. Is seems to help with the stuffiness. I should also mention that husband and I have allergies and hay fever and we are waiting for results of allergy test for our oldest twin. We hope to be able to modify his diet and environment within reason to avoid having to take meds.

Good luck to you and let us know what works for you!

For constipation our last resort was a glycerin suppository which is a piece of cake, doesn't hurt and works like a charm! After you have relieved that, we started to use a bit of mineral oil in bottles, cereal, whatever which definitely helps in addition to probiotics for the digestive track. As far as confestion we have used the saline drops. Those aren't too fun but tolerable and it seems to help. People suggest to prop up the mattress or use a wedge type thing, however, get real-the kids don't stay put-LOL. Hope this helps!

Hi D.,

Lots of water would go a long way with constipation. At 9 months he is on finger foods, right? My baby's first favorite food was cantelope, if he likes it that would help too. Any friut except bananna or apple. He may be too young for grapes but that always does the trick for my daughter!

I would think maybe lactose intolerance, or perhaps even a dairy allergy. If he is on formula, maybe try a lactose free one. my kids are both lactose intolerant, and have been from day one. Both were on Lactose free formula, soy alwyas made them gag, and both can tolerate yogurt well. mY son does well with cheese, and a little bit of milk now. Ice cream does the kid in though. my daughter cannot tolerate milk at all, cheese in limited amounts seems to bee okay, and definately no ice cream. Dairy can alos make kids really congested. Hope this helps, good luck.

All great answers below--Massaging the lower tummy also helps stimulate the bowels.

I'm not sure about the constipation without knowing exactly what foods he's eating, but if you haven't already, cut down on - or out completely - bananas and rice until the constipation has subsided. Both are very binding (and great to combat diarrhea). Try giving him more fiber - applesauce, wheat products, oatmeal, etc, and most importantly, prunes! I know some people use OTC remedies, but I would always try the natural route first, then use the remedies as a last resort. I know I wouldn't want my kid's system to rely on medication. But of course, if all else fails, I'd definitely use them.
With the congestion, around 9mo old my son also had consistent congestion that made him just miserable. Given the symptoms, his pediatrician didn't think it was a cold, rather a sinus infection. I couldn't believe a child so young could have a sinus infection, but I trusted our pedi. He prescribed an week's worth of antibiotics, and my son's problems went away within days - he hasn't had any issues since. (He's 12.5 months old now.)

So on both counts, when in doubt, just consult your pediatrician! Good luck!

We had a similar problem with my oldest daughter. In the end the answer ended up being lactosse intolerance. Once we replaced dairy items in her diet with nutritional equivelants both the constipation and the congestion ceased.

early on this meant Soy based formula or breast milk including in her cereal. Now at age 7 she loves spinach and broccoli and her Deans Easy Milk.
About me: Married Mom of 3 fabluous children ages 7, 5 & 2

Re constipation: I assume your baby is eating baby food now...we had the same problem but found that when our daughter is eating the barley cereal every day, we have no problems with bowel movements. You might also try water and Karo syrup (2 oz to 1 tsp).

Re congestion: if this is a constant problem, perhaps allergies play a part? What does the dr. say?

Regarding constipation, I have joked with friends how the baby bumbo seat should be relabeled the baby clear out seat. Although, your son is probably sitting up on his own, there is something about the positioning in that seat...maybe the knees being a little elevated over the bum. Also, when my youngest daughter, 5 mos, had constipation, the doctor said that a small sliver of an adult suppository could be used. I would check with your own doctor before doing this.

My oldest daughter had on going congestion in her first year. She often got a better night's rest in her carseat.

Try Welch's Grape juice with Fiber(mixutre of half juice and half water)works like a charm and they love the take. Our dr. also rec. Benefiber(you can buy it at Jewel, CVS etc.

I'm not sure about the constipation without knowing exactly what foods he's eating, but if you haven't already, cut down on - or out completely - bananas and rice until the constipation has subsided. Both are very binding (and great to combat diarrhea). Try giving him more fiber - applesauce, wheat products, oatmeal, etc, and most importantly, prunes! I know some people use OTC remedies, but I would always try the natural route first, then use the remedies as a last resort. I know I wouldn't want my kid's system to rely on medication. But of course, if all else fails, I'd definitely use them.
With the congestion, around 9mo old my son also had consistent congestion that made him just miserable. Given the symptoms, his pediatrician didn't think it was a cold, rather a sinus infection. I couldn't believe a child so young could have a sinus infection, but I trusted our pedi. He prescribed an week's worth of antibiotics, and my son's problems went away within days - he hasn't had any issues since. (He's 12.5 months old now.)

So on both counts, when in doubt, just consult your pediatrician! Good luck!

My son had very bad constipation also. His Dr. recommended Miralax. You can by it over the counter now and just use a 1/4-1/2 capful every night to start. It Could take a while to figure out the right dose for him and get him regular but it really helped my guy. always ask your ped first! Good luck.

yep, get rid of the dairy and bananas. The same molecule that causes mucus in humans is found in dairy molecules, hence will exaborate the condition. That is why we should stay away from it when we are sick. You may want to eliminate wheat for two weeks as well, stick with oats. Try giving avocados, its a great fat for their brain and skin.

Dominick's is the only store that I found pureed prunes, it is their O Organics brand. Pears also helps to relieve constipation.

Tummy massage starting at the right hip bone, moving clockwise, the same flow as digestion may help get things moving.

Our doctor always told us Karo Syrup in the formula/milk/food.

C. R

Hi D.-prune juice is a great way to help with constipation. I always recommend organic and you can buy the regular you just need to use half water and half of the juice. There are also some herbs that help greatly and you can go to any whole foods or health food store and they have it.

Is he on formula?? If he is I would bet bottom dollar that is what a major portion of the cause is. You also have to be looking at any grains, cereal or processed carbohydrates. The chemicals in his mattress (formaldehyde), chemical cleaning solutions (bleach, ammonia, gasoline cutting agents), manufactured "scents" may also be a trigger for his breathing.

Let me know if you have further questions.

T.
Detox Coach

Our Dr. told us to do prune juice. I believe it was 1 tablespoon 3 times a day. We tried to give before 5pm b/c he would have gas that would keep him up at night.

Hi

If you are ready to try something different try this..

Take mustard oil, add couple of camphor and Ajwain Seeds. Heat and let it cool off.

Apply this concoation to baby over his body and the navel. in two days u will notice congestion go down and with sue course the constipation as well.

Initially go easy on oil and then you can become liberal.

All the best!

I dealt with this a bit. Cut back on the rice cereal and bananas and add some prunes and/or prune juice as well as water.

Three out of four of my kids had the constipation problem. My daughter now 8 yrs. old had it bad. My ped. at the time told me to put karo syrup in their bottle. With my daughter the karo syrup was not working well. I did not want any of them to rely on suppositories. We tried mineral oil in her bottle too. She unfortunately, we ended up trying the suppositories. The Karo syrup worked well with the other two. We started off with 1/2 tsp in an 8 oz bottle. Good luck

When my daughter switched to formula, she switched to prunes. My pediatrician recommended prune juice 1-2 oz undiluted daily. I also mixed prunes with her cereal and would give that to her daily. everyday she would have prunes (either juice or cereal) and it works! You have to keep it up in order to keep them consistent. So once he gets rgular, don't stop.

My infant had the same problem. My doctor told me to give her Gerber Pear juice inbewteen bottles. I never give her more than 2 oz. at a time, you will have to adjust how much to give her when you see how well it works the next day. You may have to reduce the amount daily until you help your child with the right consistancy on her movements.

We tried everything. Pears, prunes, juice, warm baths, you name it. Ultimate the only thing that worked for us was administering an infant suppository every 4 days. On the 5th day of no poop he would be miserable. Our pediatrician told us to give him the suppository on a regular basis until he started to poop on his own again. He grew out of it after a few months, thank goodness.

Can't suggest anything for the congestion, but I'd call the ped. about it.

Dairy, dairy, dairy. It is a major cause of constipation AND congestion! Add more fiber, as well- a bit of fruit- NOT fruit juice! Read Disease Proof Your Child, by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.

Prune juice & prunes worked for my kids. Also if your child is on foods look at possible food allergies/intolerences for breathing & for constipation causes.

One thing I did for constipation was eliminate the formula with iron. That helped with my kids. Congestion...it could be allergies. I would go to the ENT for his opinion.

C.

Don't know what to do on an ongoing basis to stop it from happening again...but, when my infant daughter was constipated, the doctor had me bottle feed her about a Tablespoon of prune juice, and that worked wonders rather quickly.

Hi D. - prunes every day has worked for us. We also switched to whole grain or oatmeal cereal instead of rice cereal. As for the congestion...is it only at night? My daughter had this when she was a newborn and we discovered that she had acid reflux and was aspirating in her sleep, which made her congested. Her ped. put her on prevacid and the congestion went away. If the congestion is constant throughout the day and night it might be allergies.
Good luck!

My son is almost 10 and we still struggle and have since he was about 8 weeks old. I switched him to soy formula and added a little dark corn syrup to his formula and by 9 months was giving him apple juice (1 part juice 1 part water) to help keep him regular. We now avoid foods such as bananas and tea that bind as well as limit his dairy intake. I go regularly to a chiropractor and mentioned this to him, he said there are things he can do to help with those types of digestive issues...that's my next step.

often times congestion is a sign of a systemic fungal overgrowth, such as Candida. I suggest that you research that possibility... the book "Prescritpion for Nutritional Healing" is a great, user-friendly source of information.

The constipation may also be related to disruption in the balance in the intestines. Plain yogurt with LIVE CULTURES are helpful for both conditions.

Also, years ago I learned from the first wholistic wellness experts that BLACKSTRAP MOLASSES is a good treatment for babies who are constipated.

I pray for your dear son & his parents as you all struggle with sleepless nights!
K. B.

give him no more than 4 oz white grape juice/day