How in the World Did This Happen? Follow up to the Poop Question...

Load her up on fruit! When I give my kids lots of the peaches, apples and pears that are in season?.....holy poop batman! LOL My 9 month old, who typically poops every other day or so, pooped 5(!) times yesterday and 4 times the day before - all because of the fruit.

You could also try a little prune juice, or prunes themselves.

If this is a new problem and adding milk back in to her diet is a new thing, that seems to be the most likely reason for the problem. Try switching her apple each day to a pear. Per a pediatrician, a fresh pear each day will help regulate things. This works without fail for my little ones. Good luck, I know it must be so difficult to see her in pain.

I'm wondering if she's getting lots of exercise? Encourage her to crawl, cruise, or walk a lot every day, to get the blood flowing to all of her organs. Also know that apples CAN have a constipating effect on some people, they can keep things flowing in some people and bind up others, possibly they're starting to have this effect on her. Bananas are also constipating but I didn't see that you mentioned her eating these.

Massage her belly to keep her poop moving through her body. Measure three finger-widths below her navel and apply gentle but firm pressure there with your fingertips. Press until you feel a firmness or mass. Maintain gentle but constant pressure for about three minutes.

Try taking a bath with her, my daughter had to do this with my granddaughter who wouldn't sit in the tub and was majorly constipated. Hold her in your lap so she's covered to her waist in warm water and try to engage her in play so she doesn't try to get out immediately. I know, it's hard.

Also are you aware that constipation is a symptom of Celiac disease? People without symptoms (as I'm guessing she is since you're on top of her diet) are still at risk for some of the complications of Celiac disease. Talk to your doctor and see if you can get a referral to a registered dietician who can go over her diet with a fine tooth comb and tweak it if need be, if that hasn't been done to this point.

God bless.

LOTS of water!! More then what she is drinking. I think my son drinks twice that amount, if it matters. Add a bit of pure prune juice to the water, for an immediate help. For long term help, PROBIOTICS!! I had terrible constipation after my son was born, and they seriously saved me. Get the powdered kind (in the refrigerated vitamin section. Natural food stores, vitamin stores, etc.) and add it to her water. She needs come good bacteria in her gut and colon, to get her moving. Whole, fresh plums get my son moving like nothing else. If she was tested for celiac, was she also tested for milk problems?

Oh, she does not need milk to grow healthy. Thousands and thousands of people can't consume milk (myself included) and grow strong and healthy. There is no truth to people NEEDING milk. (I'm not trying to be rude.)

Added: Are you eating wheat? Since you are breastfeeding her, that can still affect her. (I'm sure you know that, I just thought I'd throw that out there.)

My grandson was constantly constipated and his pediatrician recommended giving him Miralax. It is not a drug. It draws water into the bowel to soften it.

We are quirky beings, aren't we?

We have Celiac/Gluten issues in our family and also cannot consume cow dairy. Here is something odd... SOY products also cause constipation and something "natural" that relieves it, is not really for a baby - and that is black tea. Added to that, some of us cannot have eggs, either. I hope your sweet baby does not get that. (There is a lot I cannot eat and I don't care, but I DO miss eggs). But that's in our own quirky group.

I can commiserate on how difficult it is to figure out what works for your own child!

My son has colitis and would get constipated from his meds and his dr said to put a bit of olive oil in his food to sorta grease things up. I never tried it so I'm not sure if it does work. But might be worth a try

Oh shoot! No fun!

I was going to suggest oats, but those are out because of Celiac Disease, aren't they. Darn.

Pump up the fruits. Grapes, Cherries, Peaches, Pears, Apples (sounds like you're already doing this, but no harm in trying more). Prunes, dates, raisins.

Rice is constipating, so if you can, maybe cut it down until she's more regular. Substitute yogurt for cheese.

If you *can*, you might try to give her breast milk in her cereal rather than cow's milk - or a mix.

Calendula Salve on her anus and between her bum checks may help aid healing, give her some relief, and is olive oil based - so it's a lubricant of sorts.

Also, you might try having her stand on the toilet seat and squat, rather than sit. It's easier to push things out while squatting than sitting - less resistance.

Honestly, decaf coffee may be something of a fix. Yes, it has some caffeine in it, but it might be something that you would feel comfortable doing. I give my littles black tea on occasion, and sips of my coffee - but I'm comfortable with my kids having small (often medicinal) doses of caffeine.

Good luck!

I added about 1/2 to 1 oz of pear juice in each bottle that I gave my son. It helped to prevent constipation. (Idea was given to me by his doctor.) Pear juice isn't as sweet as other juices, and if you mix it with milk or water, your daughter might not even taste it. Hope this helps!

I read that the most common cure to constipation is just to drink more water. I don't know if this would help, but I would try giving her water constantly throughout the day (maybe she'd like drinking from a straw? Or a fancy new water bottle?). I'd also feed her prunes. They are delicious and boy do they help with constipation - big time!!!! If she is not interested in eating them maybe sit her down to watch a cartoon (some kind of distraction and feed her little bites of prunes while she is not really paying attention to you). This works with my daughter.

One of my daughters has always had stools on the firmer side and wouldn't go every day (also breastfed.) When I introduced yogurt at 9months, it seemed to help regulate and soften things. Also, rather than giving her straight up prunes, try mixing it in with an accepted food to cut the sweetness yet get her that fiber. Good luck to you both.

Since she drinks water, what about adding something like Miralax to it? It is colorless and flavorless, so she would not even know it was there? I do not know how compatible it is with Celiac though.

Awww... my heart goes out to you and to your poor sweetie. You must be so frustrated - it sounds like you have done wonderful job with her diet and getting her to eat such a variety of fruits and veggies and other things, and not giving her a lot of sugar and juice, you must be going nuts. Don't hate it when you stare at your doctor who otherwise seems so brilliant and knowledgeable after asking a nutrition-related question and they just go blank, or say something totally counter-intuitive???

I can really relate because my son had food allergies as a baby (thank goodness he has grown out of them now) that made our food selections limited and it was hard! I was also breastfeeding him too at that age.

A few suggestions: I would see if she will take more water, firstly. My son would down bottles of it, that always seemed to help his system out. I also wasn't producing much breastmilk by that time, I don't know about you, but it was more of a comfort thing for him. Also, fruit purees always are a favorite even at 2 1/2, and I find that they can get things going down there. In addition to, not as a substitute for whole fresh fruit, we do a lot of berry mixed with pear or mango (which is a great laxative), basically baby food but for dessert or at breakfast. It's a great way for me to mix in extra veggies to his diet because unlike your girl, my boy is not crazy for many veggies as is. Nothing wrong with the store bought purees and there's lots of options of organic, squeeze bags, cups, etc. I love Ellas's Organic and especially the sweet potato, pumpkin and apple one. My son loves the little squeeze bag ones and they make great on-the-go snacks.

Pumpkin and prune purees are the two most laxative ingredients I know of. I still keep baby food prunes around for once in a while if needed. If she doesn't like the taste, mix with apple or pear. Pumpkin is a delicious food that can be mixed into desserts as well as soups, certain pasta dishes, and they may even like it by the spoonful. Oh, and one more thing...I have stopped giving my son deli meats because I've noticed it can make his digestion weird, I'm not completely sure that is it but it's happened a few times and so I'm wary of all the preservatives and additives in them. Best of luck and hope she gets all better soon!

post note: sorry I should have read the So What Happened first! Anyway wouldn't hurt to up the fluids if she will take them. Also I don't know if she can tolerate soy but my son started off on soy milk because of allergies and we never switched over. We used to give him the sweetened one and mix with unsweetened, but now he likes it plain organic unsweetened. Once in while will add some honey as a treat. If he's being fussy about not wanting water or begging for juice, I like giving him soy milk knowing it is full of calcium, etc. Also forgot to mention beans... lots of beans!

We give our daughter fruits and veggies when she is constipated. Have you tried juices like the V8 splash ones with fruit and veggie juices mixed together? They are definitely not sweet so she might like them. Our daughter loves those and she's pretty picky about juice.

She's not drinking enough liquids! She definitely needs more water and juice than you've been giving her. Liquids helps the bowels to keep things moving. She needs liquids with every meal. Any reason she's not taking milk of some sort? She needs it to grow healthy...even if it's an alternative to cow's milk.

I'd talk to your pediatrician about amounts she should be getting if you're not sure for her age and size. But water is a must. If you are dehydrated you're going to be constipated. And that's not the only complication from lack of liquids...she could have electrolyte problems and other issues too if this goes on much longer. Did you tell your pediatrician about this when you brought her in for the bleeding? If not, you need to. Don't give her any drugs or bowel softners until you consult a physician. If she's dehydrated, those things might make her worse.

Prunes worked really well for us when our son was constipated, and raisins that we would soak in a little hot water and let them plump up a bit. Tasty and fast working! Best wishes to you!

You have lots of suggestions, i see. We had the same issue with my daughter around 16months too. She'll be two in a couple months. As soon as I introduced ground flaxseed it worked! (I could be wrong, but I think it's gluten free). I added it on top of her peanut butter and also added it to her water or juice...it's tasteless.
One other thing we just discovered: kefir. I didn't even know what it was until a couple months ago! It's fabulous...I mix it in her cereal and she also drinks it at lunch. It IS gluten free and it's great for the digestive tract.
It will get better...I also remember crying over her poor little sore butt...

For my younger daughter it was getting to the point of potty training. You know, when they become aware of needing to poop. They hold it in to the point where it all backs up. Lord it was a mess from when she was about 16 months to when she was 2 and a half. When we finally cleared everything out and she learned to potty without fear she never had the problems again.

Just so there is no confusion 16 months was when she had the ability to hold it, ya know, precursor to potty training. It was her holding it to the point where it was painful to go because it just tore her apart that caused difficulty in potty training her after she was 2.

I think it was dark corn syrup but there is something better but I can't remember what the heck it was. Like liquid dynamite! You could always try those fiber one brownies. I can't keep them in the house or my kids will eat all of them. You don't want to know what that does. I will try to remember what it was I gave her.

Funny thing I have heard of this problem with girls, a lot, but not boys.

Prunes will do the trick beautifully, but I warn you to only give her one and wait at least a day, otherwise you could have a real mess on your hands! Pears work a little slower but also very effective. Apples and Bananas are "binding" fruits so until she's over the constipation, I would withhold those.

I know my son had a hard time with bananas and raisins. Odd, I know, but once we limited how much of those he ate, it made things much easier. He is 2 1/2 now and they don't seem to bother him as much as they used to. A shot in the dark maybe, but when they are in that much pain you are willing to try just about anything, right? Good luck to you!

I put flaxseed in my gluten-free EcoPlanet instant hot cereal maple & brown sugar 7 whole grain "oatmeal" that I eat for breakfast. Flaxseed is a natural fiber and stool softener; it helps keep me regular. For your daughter's no-sweet tooth, you can also get the GF hot cereal in original flavor (the grains are: rolled oats, amaranth, brown rice, sorghum, quinoa, buckwheat, millet.) There is flaxseed flour in the cereal, so I'm adding extra; I use golden flaxseed, which I think is finer and tastes better.

My daughter went through the exact same thing at about the same age; I think it has to do with going on a solid food diet myself. I just make sure my daughter drinks a lot of water. A sitz bath is best for helping fissures heal up, but understand the reluctance to sit in water, which burns/hurts until you're been sitting for a bit.

Prunes, probiotics, legumes. Legumes, legumes, legumes. My kid has been eating lentils since she has been eating solids. At your daughter's age, she also adored getting black beans and rice from Chipotle (or you can make your own). Any kind of beans will help. Also, have you tried fresh pears? I remember reading once that pears digest easier than apples--maybe throw some of those into the mix? Legumes, legumes, legumes.

There are other gluten-free grains you can give her that pack a more nutritional punch (more fiber and protein) than rice and corn. Quinoa, amaranth, teff, and millet. Quinoa and millet are available at most regular grocery stores. Your child may not be dehydrated but more water never hurts. Good luck. My kid had a diaper rash that bled and it is so scary to see blood in that area!

PS--I just can't think that giving her any amount of caffeine would be helpful. She is so small that even a tiny amount is going to have a huge impact on her little nervous system. Then you'll be trying to deal with that on top of the other issue!