Hard Poops!

Do you give him banana? My daughter LOVES bananas, but she had to stop eating them regularly since it gave her very solid poop and pain passing it. Even prunes didn't help that. If all those foods with laxative properties aren't fixing it, it's probably something he's eating that is making it hard.

Are you giving him rice cereal at all? I know that caused a lot of issues for my daughter. She won't even eat it anymore. It's like she knows what made it difficult for her to poo.

Hummm, usually a diet high in fiber and a good dose of juice helps. Ask your doctor if he would suggest an infant glycerine suppository. Tell him you are concerned that your child is experiencing discomfort when going to the bathroom. Don't settle if you are concerned.

This happens to my son off and on. It's very frustrating because he doesn't eat dramatically different things from day to day and has the healthiest best-balanced diet in the family! One thing that always led to black hard poops for him was the whole grain wheat cereal. I switched to whole grain oatmeal cereal and it's less of an issue. Also, when he starts with the hard poops, I give him lots of pureed sweet potatoes. They always seem to soften things up. Good luck!

i would suggest first off more water. then focus on more vegetables, especially greens and then legumes (beans). those all help to loosen stools naturally.
but if you are not properly hydrating adn taking in lots of fiber from grains, then you will create rocks in the intestinal tract.
think of mixing flour with water. when you don't put in enough water, you get a hard ball. when you add more, it all loosens up and is more pliable.
hope that helps.
J.
nutrition coach
www.nutrition-in-motion.net

why do you feel it is uncomfortable for him to pass?
Do you know that he has 'pain' when pooping?
He is 8 months old... many babies, make faces/grimaces/grunting sounds when pooping... but it does not necessarily mean they are having 'pain' nor constipation.
My son was like that.... he made a TON of noise/grunting when pooping and his face would turn red... but he was not in 'pain'... that is just the way he pooped.

So, I would, before giving him stuff for his poop... to make sure he is 'constipated', for sure.

all the best,
Susan

Do NOT do as Kelley suggested and use Karo Syrup. It can cause botulism in infants under the age of 1. I am SO amazed by how many people (even drs) still recommend that. It's a HUGE no-no.

It's probably not the puffs. Those are little more than air. What kind of juice are you giving him? P fruits and juices work best (prune, pear, pineapple, peach). Make sure you're giving him 100% juice, not juice cocktails. The labels can be tricky. And don't use baby juice, give him the regular stuff. You can mix it with water if you want too. Offer him a sippy cup of water at each meal or even in between bottles or nursing sessions.

Does he act like it's uncomfortable? Straining hard, face turning red or crying? Is his belly popped out? Is it like little rabbit pellets or large and hard? Trust me, I've dealt with enough poop issues for 10 families! LOL! If you are introducing him to solid foods his BMs are going to change. They are going to get harder and more formed. If he's not showing any signs of pain, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just keep an eye on him.

My son went through this. He had HARD poops so i know exactly what you are talking about. Even if he is not voicing pain it is not good for them. His doctor told me he needed more fluids, which I had already been trying to do. It was right before he stopped nursing. I wasn't able to give him enough anymore. The doctor said to actually stay away from things like applessauce, apple juice and bananas which could be a little more binding. So stick with the water, prune juice, grape juice....ect. She also told me since I had been trying to give him more fluids already that I should add some MiraLAX to his sippy cup or bottle. you fill the cap to the first groove in the lid, add it to the bottle and it will disovle. Do that twice a day for a few days and see if that helps. We had to keep offering him liquids over and over cause he was in transition off the breast. In a few days things went back to normal......it really helped for our son. I hope this gives you some help and your little man gets back on track soon....i hated it so much too. Good luck.

My son has the same problem occassionally. I give him prune or plum juice diluted with some water. If I do this every couple days it keeps him 'regular'. I was also told by my pediatrician to make sure he is getting enough fruit such as peaches, pears, prunes rather than applesauce and bananas. Applesauce and bananas can cause constipation. I don't think you need to worry that the puffs and crunchies are causing the problem.

You don't want to start using suppositories until it is the very last thing to do. He will start to hold it in. Adding more fiber to the diet, oat fiber, ruffage and maybe a fiber like benifiber (ask you dr about that one). More apple sauce, apple juice, grape juice. You can even use a tablespoon of Kero Syrup in the water bottle to help loosen things up. That is one my grandmother used on all of us kids and grandkids and great grandkids. Use the light Kero Syrup it is a great laxative and sweet so the baby will like it.

--- I have been on webmd, mayo clinic and other reputable websites and there is no mention of botulism for children under the age of 1. Ask your doctor. If it did cause botulism, we would not be around because our parents and grandparents would have never made it out of infancy alive. Karo was the cure for everything especially during the depression. Give me a break! If you are going to make claims to diseases attributed to our foods and other old time cures, you should really back it up with facts!

Make sure it is not the last bottle at night because it is corn syrup and you don't want sugars in the mouth late at night. Make sure you are giving him a lot of water during the day.

Pear, prune or white grape juice will help.

One thing a family I nannied for taught me: take a few prunes, cut them into quarters and boil them for a few minutes. Serve them just warm or cool...they will have added water content, which may help. Also, blueberries. My midwife suggested them for constipation I was pregnant (don't go overboard) and they were a lifesaver.

If it were me, I'd back off from any cereal products that weren't whole grain. ( I didn't use of the Gerber products, so I don't know what's in them.) I think the simple carbs are far more likely to slow down the works. Especially anything prescribed in the BRAT diet (which is recommended to treat diarrhea in children)...I'd avoid Bananas, Rice, Applesauce (and toast, but you are probably not serving that yet.)

Is your child taking an iron supplement? That might be an issue. Good to talk to your doctor.

Yellow foods might help too...squashes and sweet potatoes, plums all have good fiber content. And they are a natural source of iron. Good luck!

I was told P fruits.. peaches pears and prunes...

pear juice is very effective for this problem

my son could only eat oatmeal cereal rice cereal was constipating..

Hi G.,
My daughter just turned 2 and has had this issue on and off as well. Her poops get very hard and you can tell she is working at it to get it out. One of the posters on here asked the question "are you sure he's in pain?" It really could just be the way he goes to the bathroom. Little one's stomach and digestion also change as they grown and start eating more solid foods so it could just be that. My daughter loves fresh fruit especially strawberries and blueberries, and drinks alot of water so I knew she was getting enough fiber and good stuff but she would still have hard to pass poops for whatever reason. Someone else said to stay away from applesauce/juice and bananas and that's exactly what our doc said when I brought this up to him about a year ago. Ours seems to just come and go and she has actually cried a little while trying to go and I just rub her tummy or her back as she is going and tell her it's ok. When she's going through this I also keep vaseline applied to the opening to kind help ease things out.
Hopefully it will pass.

Hi, G.:

Get some Hyland Vit. C 5 mg tablets frrom your local health food store or
order them from the Heritage Store in Virginia Beach, VA.. These tablets
will soften the stool.

Good luck. D.

Hi G.,
I've gone through constipation with two kids now - it's no fun. I would deffinetely discuss with your doc but I would be prepared to judge how bad the pain is so you can properly inform your doc. If your baby is consistantly in pain (not just struggling here and there) then personally I would work with my doc to try to relieve this pain. Some doctors may be slow to respond to the issue (because most kids have some level of constipation and work through it as they age).
Both my kids had favorable diets (juice, water, prunes, green veggies, etc) and daily BM's but still had major constipation problems. With my first child my doc at the time did not take it very seriously (kept telling me to modify her diet visit after visit). However, she had such bad constipation issues that she ruptured her sphincter muscle (so beyond behavioral issues that can develop you can cause physical issues). After 8 visits to the doc and the ruptured muscle, my oldest ended up on Miralax (at the advice of the doc). The problem started when she was ~8 months old and she just got off of the Miralax at 3 1/2.

The youngest started on lactulose at 8 months. It sounds like the docs now prefer lactulose to Miralax for babies because it passes through the system and they seem to believe it is safer.

The only gerber food I would deffinetely stay away from are the dehydrated fruits. They can deffinetely cause big issues. The docs will also tell you to use pear juice (apple juice tends to constipate). I would also stay away or minimize eating bananas (although both my kids love them - but they can cause major concerns).

Good luck and if your kid is in pain keep asking for help until it is resolved. Also, depending upon the magnitude of your problem you may need to see a GI doctor.