constipation

plasteritup

our 6 month old breast fed,sometimes doesent poo for 4 days been going on a few weeks now,been giving him solids aswell as breast milk,hes happy and it doesnt seem to be bothering him too much,can see him struggling sometimes with it but the doc is not to concerned.

we have been following all the advice regarding what food and stuff,im just wondering is this normal enough as at times its hard to watch him and really its our only concern with him.

livinsane

It's normal to go that long when exclusively breast fed, but not sure when baby is on solids too. I've noticed that banana is particularly constipating in my baby whose also 6 months and bf/solids. I've read that a spoon of that crushed flax seed is supposed to be great to get things moving so you could try that mixed into yogurt or ready brek.

If the poo is soft, I wouldn't be too worried. If it's hard and pellet like, then you'd want to try something.

plasteritup

when i say solids its a cube or 2 of pear or a small bit of broccolli or carrot turnip,once a day around 1 r 2oclock,the rest of the time its just the breastmilk.
little fecker is also turning his nose up at the bottle,mom going back to work soon and as im on shift work il be doing a lot of the feeding.
how long should we expect the constipation to last for?
thanks for the reply btw.

livinsane

Mightn't be constipation at all if it's not bothering him. He might just be changing his "schedule" as he gets used to the food, even if it is just a little. If he's refusing the bottle, maybe try to have him a bit more established on solids by the time mam goes back to work, so at least he can fill up on food while she's not there. You could also see if he'll take milk from a cup.

plasteritup

when u say more solids do you mean replace a feed or 2 of breastmilk with solids by themselves,i can get milk into him with the beaker but it feels a bit like a forcefeed lol,very messy,have even spooned milk into him,we have 6 weeks before mam goes back btw!

livinsane

I'm no expert and every baby's pace is totally different. I'm only going through the process now so just learning. At 6.5 months, my son is on three little meals a day, which I built up slowly from one serving of veg or fruit a day in the beginning. He's had eggs, meat, fish, pasta, yogurt as well as fruits and veg at this stage. He still breast feeds in between but not as much during the day usually. He does most of the nursing in morning and evening. Depends on the day. Some times he's not that interested in the food and just wants to nurse but mostly he's very enthusiastic about his grub.

Maybe you could give your baby little sips of water from the bottle when he's having his solids, just to get him used to it again?

Maybe ask in the breast feeding support thread and the weaning thread that are in this forum.

IvyTheTerrible

Not all babies poo every day, has there been a change in the frequency of his poos? Are they harder than usual?
Be aware that carrot is constipating, so if he is constipated, don't give him banana and carrot on the same day.
There are tummy massages you can do to get the bowels moving too, also lying baby down and moving his legs as if he was on a bicycle also helps.

Akrasia

As others have said, unless his poo is hard and pellty and there are no other signs of discomfort then the baby is probably not constipated.

As long as he is still farting, then there's probably not any blockage in there and you can probably get him to fart by holding him by the ankles and gently pushing his legs up against his chest

Our babies sometimes went a week without a bowel movement. It changes by itself over time.

When they start to eat more regular solid food, there should be more regular bowel movements (that also smell worse)

jester77

Our guy has had some very hard poos and sometimes looks in pain when pooing. We give him fennel tea which has helped. There are jars specifically for babies that come in powder form like this one.

How Strange

Both of mine were exclusively breastfed until 6 months and we started solids after that. My daughter had no poo issues but my son didn't poo for almost 3 weeks around 5 months and he did become a bit constipated after 6 months. I stopped giving him banana and gave him lots of pear as well as chopped prune in natural yoghurt. It took a few weeks but he was fine after.

I only give banana occasionally to my 1 year old as it's very constipating.

I also introduced a sippy cup of water with all meals.

I went back to work when both were 6 months. For the first couple of weeks I sent in a bottle of breastmilk, more to reassure myself that for them. Within 2 weeks they were going from 7.30-5.30 with no breastmilk and just having a sippy cup of water. I fed on demand when we were together. I did this on both of them, both were boob monsters up to then, and both were fine. Babies are incredibly resourceful. They'll get a long just fine as long as they get their milk when they're with mum. My 1 year is down to 1 feed before bed and has 2 drinks of cows milk every day in her sippy cup. I wouldn't have done it this way if it wasn't easy.

cyning

I'm blessed with two breastfed constipated babies! Solids wise none of the usual prunes or pears worked for us. Raisins, spinach and sweetcorn do though. Make sure if your giving bananas that they are very ripe: plenty of black spots!

Baths, belly massage, and being upright help. Make sure you introduce water in a sippy cup with meals too.

If the bowel motions are soft and he's not in pain I wouldn't worry: grunting and groaning are normal but screaming/arching back etc not so much. My 6 week old got quite blocked up last week and needed a suppository to clear it: despite it being soft when it came I knew it wasn't right. When doc gave suppository a very hard one came out.

IvyTheTerrible

cyning wrote: »

I'm blessed with two breastfed constipated babies! Solids wise none of the usual prunes or pears worked for us. Raisins, spinach and sweetcorn do though. Make sure if your giving bananas that they are very ripe: plenty of black spots!

Baths, belly massage, and being upright help. Make sure you introduce water in a sippy cup with meals too.

If the bowel motions are soft and he's not in pain I wouldn't worry: grunting and groaning are normal but screaming/arching back etc not so much. My 6 week old got quite blocked up last week and needed a suppository to clear it: despite it being soft when it came I knew it wasn't right. When doc gave suppository a very hard one came out.

You do have to be careful with suppositories, as they provoke the bowel to move, but they don't soften the stool, so you can get tears.