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My son is 5 1/2 months actual and 2 1/2 adjusted. We have started him on rice cereal and now are having problems with him being constipated. His ped told us we could give him 2 oz of prune juice a day, but he still has not had a good stool in 4 days. I was just wondering if anyone else had any ideas that might work. I am new at this because its a new issue. Thank you!
MiraLax Probiotics Constipation Prevacid Lactulose Diarrhea Stress
Rice cereal can be constipating. That's not atypical at all.
When baby eat solids and gets diarrhea, it is recommended to give them the so-called BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apples, and toast) b/c those food are known to stop babies up.
Why did your son's pediatrician want your son to start solids so early? The stomach size of most 2.5 month adjusted babies really isn't big enough to consume enough food to do anything nutritionally and too much "solids" too quickly can result in decreased milk consumption. Has it resulted in a decrease in milk consumption? In addition to milk consumption needing to remain high until about 9 months adjusted (when "solids" are no longer just for fun but needed for nutrients), the milk intake needs to remain high for hydration too.
Consequently, if rice cereal is hindering milk consumption, it can do a double whammy on constipation. The properties of rice cereal are constipating. And if milk consumption goes down, hydration problems can also result in constipation.
That said, it isn't unusual for little ones to go for days without producing a stool. Is your son on breast milk or formula? If he is on breast milk, breast milk can be processed 100% by baby at times, meaning that there isn't stuff leftover for a stool. Formula tends to produce more stool. Also, if it is a cow's milk formula, dairy is a known cause of constipation.
Iron, by the way, can also cause constipation. Hard to know what to do here, because preemies often need iron supplementation.
The telltale sign of constipation is straining to produce a stool. Is that what is happening?
Things that we tried for constipation:
(1) Juices once a day (prune, apricot, pear).
(2) Karo syrup. About 1 tsp in a bottle once a day.
(3) Polycose powder added to bottles. Requires a prescription. It is a type of sugar powder.
(4) If eating solids, pureed prunes.
Everything that we tried worked once, but then the constipation would reappear...even when he was eating pureed prunes every day!
I do think that infant massage can alleviate some of the stress and strain behind constipation, although it doesn't "cure" it.
Our son's constipation didn't stop until 8 months adjusted when we switched his Neocate bottles to goat's milk. Then, it disappeared.
We also stopped giving Poly-Vi-Sol with Iron as regularly. Our son gets iron from the turkey and other meats that he eats.
Good Luck!
The reason his ped wanted him to start on rice is because he was taking about 40 oz of formula a day. We are doing 1 Tbsp rice twice a day. His formula has added rice already as well. I spoke with the nurse today and they want us to stop the formula with added rice and only do the rice cereal twice a day. He is getting to much rice!!! They said his tummy should be able to handle the cereal fine because his formula has had the added rice for so long now.
Wow, 40 ozs a day. Hydration shouldn't be an issue. If backing off the RC doesn't do the trick, I'd ask the pediatrician about either trying a different juice or trying the karo syrup. They didn't work for my son, but there are a lot of moms out there who swear by both methods.
Also, our OT told us that once a parent figures out what works, then stick with it. Don't back off once the constipation is relieved. If you find the magic juice that works, then make it a regular part of his routine.
Our GI was the one who gave us the Polycose powder. Polycose is usually given to kids who need to gain weight (adds extra calories). At that time, our son was doing well on weight gain, but had the constipation issue. It is made of sugars that are supposed to help things flow better. Again, it didn't work for us, but it doesn't work for some kids. We felt that it kid of made our son gassy (on top of already being constipated). Sigh.
Prior to goat's milk solution, the thing that worked best was the pureed prunes. It worked a couple of times.
If your son is on an acid blocker (e.g. Prevacid), then you could ask about Probiotics. I don't know at what age it is appropriate. We tried them around 8-9 months adjusted. The theory on acid blockers causing constipation is that acid blockers (while minimizing reflux) also have the unfortunate side effect of wiping out a lot of "good" bacteria in the intestines that aid in digestion. If the bacteria are wiped out, then things might come to a grinding halt. Probiotics try to replace that good bacteria that is lost.
And, finally, although I've never given it to my son, a last resort of some parents is Miralax. One, of course, tries to avoid unnatural interventions when one can, but some babies have such severe constipation that for some, it is the only thing that works. That's another possibility to discuss with the pediatrician if all else fails.
Good Luck!
Yah, he doesnt have problems gaining weight which is good. He is gaining 1/2 to 1 ounce per night if we average it out. I was worried I was feeding him too much, but he is not over weight at all. We switched to regular formula today without the added rice and gave him 1 ounce of prune juice this morning and 1 ounce tonight. I just hope he has a bowel movement soon. You can tell he is uncomfortable.
It is hard when they are so uncomfortable. And then when it does come out, they have to work so hard to push.
We've heard different therapists recommend doing the I Love U massage on the tummy to help break up the stool sitting in the intestines and move things along. It might be worth doing some poking around the Internet to see if there are videos or pictures of how to do it, if you aren't doing it already.
When you massage tummy, move your hand clockwise, as that's the direction that things move through the intestines for baby.
Rice cereal constipated our Casey so we abandoned it completely. We use oatmeal instead and have had no problems.
We too have struggled with constipation in our 29-weeker son for more than a year.
We found that we needed multiple solutions. For instance we used prune juice and also something called enulose (lactulose) syrup, which was prescribed by our son's GI. It's a type of sugar, which helps move things along.
When our son started solids, the rice aggravated the constipation. We switched to oatmeal, and also use pureed pear and pear juice. We avoided bananas even though it's a first food for most babies, because bananas also tend to clog the system.
At this point, our son is 15 months adjusted, and we don't use the enulose (lactulose) syrup anymore, but we do use 4 to 5 teaspoons of Benefiber (wheat dextrin) each day (we mix it into his oatmeal). Because of that, we give about 4 ounces of water in addition to the 25 ounces of milk that our son takes each day. Any time you increase fiber in the diet, you also need to make sure there is enough liquid. (If there is too little liquid, the extra fiber can actually aggravate constipation.)
After our son was ready for more than baby cereal, we made sure there were vegetables and fruit (especially prunes, pears and apricots) in each meal. He also still gets prune juice sometimes.
I've met a couple mothers whose babies are on Miralax, but I've tried to manage the problem through diet. It takes some work (meaning I can't go a single day without the Benefiber and veggies/fruits), but the fiber and fruits and extra liquid really help.
all the above are good things to try. have you tried stimulating him to go? we tried all the above but nothing worked consistantly. lube up the end of a thermomiter and put it in no more than half an inch. they always did the trick for us. you can also buy childrens suppositories (glycerin) at walmart and cut it in half (so it's only about a half inch long).
Try switching to Happy Bellies Rice Cereal with priobiotics. It worked like a charm for my little one.
pear juice works great for my daughter - each time, every time.
Thank you for all your suggestions. He finally got some relief yesterday! I guess the prune juice worked :)
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