I am seeking medical advice. For the past week my 13 month old girl has been having hard, dark brown to black colored, small ball shaped poo once to twice daily in her diapers - no other types of poo. I'd already called our nurse/doctor. They said to have her not eat or drink anything with apples or bananas. She is totally on whole milk as of yesterday. The nurse had told me that the milk would not be the problem. Also told me to discontinue table foods. I have done as the nurse recommended for the past 2 - 3 days. She is still having the same type of poo. Any suggestions in what to do next? Should I continue doing what our nurse told us? For how long?
Thanks everyone for the advice. Much appreciated. Fially today she has had a mostly normal poo. Less whole milk, half water and half white grape juice, mandrian oranges, fruits that start with the letter P, peas, beans, and oatmeal teddy grahams did the trick. I think the mandrain oranges really topped it all though and she really liked eating them. I would never have thought to give her those. Thanks again! L.
My daughter has had problems with her poops since she went on table food. Now, every day, she gets a small sippy cup of half apple juice, half water. Long as she gets it everyday, we really haven't had any problems. She is now over 2. Once in awhile it acts up, but usually the problem is that she isn't getting a balanced meal or is getting sick.
I too have a child with hard poos. The ped. told me to avoid apples and bananna's as they are constipating. Increase the fiber. Eat beans, any fruit that starts with the letter "p" is good (pears, pinneapple, peaches, etc.), drink lots of fluid, and you may get a prescription for a powder you stick in their drinks a few times a week. I think milk can make them constipated. That's what I thought I was told anyway, especially when they are in transition or recently on whole milk. I do not think you need to stop table food though. Wheat bread is best. I know Healthy Choice has 4g of fiber in I think it's 1 pc. Maybe it's 2 I don't remember now. I hope this helps. It's pretty much a diet change that will help.
Prune juice works really well with our daughter whenever she gets constipated. Be careful though, not too much or you'll regret it!
what our pediatrician told us was to encourage the "P" foods, peaches, papaya, pears, prunes.
I hate to contradict your nurse, but our daughter has HORRIBLE hard poop when she has milk. We actually had to go so far as to switch her to rice milk. However, she was on a dairy formula, so her poop problems began in infancy...it wasn't until she was on whole milk that we realized the dairy connection.
If your daughter was on milk-based formula, and had no issues, milk itself might not be a problem, but the amount could. I agree with lots of water.
Good Luck!
Hi L.,
If she's really backed up, it can take around 4 days for a change. I suspect she's wanting you to avoid solids because she wants your daughter to drink more fluids, but I agree that it seems strange. I agree with a post that mandarin oranges work like a charm - as we had exploding diapers with them. Also, the "p" fruits mentioned can help but might need to be given all the time to get her going again. The poop being so dark probably means that it's extremely concentrated (i.e the dryness). Sometimes a high amount of undigested minerals can turn poop dark.
Aaaah - nothin' like a list of contradicting stories, right? Good luck on making a decision!
bring her to a chiropractor...works every time for my boys
Someone in a previous post mentioned a powder you can get a prescription for to put in drinks a couple times a day, It is called Miralax and they now sell it over the counter. My son was on that when he was a baby and it helped alot! It puts more moisture into the poo and makes it softer and easier to pass! It is safe for babies (they put my son on it when he was 4 months old) and you should be able to find out from your clinic what dose would be appropriate for your daughter!! Good Luck!
Stopping solids will make it worse. You need to get her eating high fiber foods, lots of fruit (like the other ladies said, 'P' fruits) and get her to drink lots of water, only milk with meals, and right now until her poop gets normal, stick to breakfast and dinner, and give water the rest of the day. Even though I'm not a fan of juice under any circumstances, a little cut 1/2 and 1/2 with water might help her out a little too.
I wouldn't stop table foods, I would just add alot of fiber and fruit.
My daughter(6) has always been constipated, hard poops etc., I have to make sure I keep the fruit and fiber going.
Mandarin oranges work like a charm. My daughter loves them. And it get's her going if I feed it to her it's about 24hours and she'll be going #2 nicely.
You can try
Raisins
Oranges
Pears
Healthy cereal full of fiber
Prunes
Juice
water
stay away from cheese, bananas, apples
