My 1 yr old has been on "solid" foods since she was 6 months old. we noticed at first that her poop went from soft and frequent (she was breast feed only till 6 mo) to every couple of days and then it became harder and less often. it got to the point she was so constipated she would sit on the floor and try to go and just cry and then she would end up screaming cause it hurt her so much!
So we asked a doctor and he said to change her diet. no luck.
next he said change my diet (i still breast feed her a couple times a day) still no luck! we have to give her a baby enima every two days or so just to keep her from crying in pain and discomfort.
What do i do? i need help! anyone else have this problem?

p.s. she gets only 1 formula bottle at night. she sleeps longer with a full tummy . but she has had formula since she was born and had no problems then. so i dont think that is it.

By Marcia on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 12:41 am:

Is she having formula or cereal with iron? It can cause constipation. What about water? It will help soften her stool. Baby prunes should help, too.
I wouldn't give her enemas so often, because they can cause her bowels to become dependent.
It's much better for her to deal with it through her diet. If that doesn't work, I'd ask the doc before doing enemas.

By Juli4 on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 07:27 am:

the thing that parents forget with a baby that young is to give them water. THey only give them formula or milk, but they really need water so if she takes a bottle give her water or try giving it to her in a cup.

By Eve on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 08:28 am:

My DD has always had issues in this area. When she was younger, we always gave her a little bit of pear juice (She didn't like apple) in the morning and that helped. Also, good 'ol prunes are wonderful. You can even mix them up with other food. Good luck! I know it's not fun at all!

By Fraggle on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 08:33 am:

You might want to call your doctor and ask about using a laxative for a little bit just to help her out so it is not so painful. My DD who is 2 has been taking a senna one that is called Little Tummys (per doctor's orders). We are actually scheduled to see a GI next month because of her problems with constipation .

By Mommyathome on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 10:21 am:

I'm confused on the formula issue. You said she was breast fed only from birth to six months. But then that she has been on formula since birth. If she started the formula at 6 months, then that could be what is causing the constipation. It's fairly normal for formula to cause constipation. Sometimes switching to a low iron formula helps. We did this for one of my kids (can't remember which one!) and it helped tremendously. Good luck!

By Brianna on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 11:51 pm:

sorry if i was confusing . i had complications and had to go back into the hospital for a few more weeks after her birth because of a staff and strep infection in my c-section. so when i was unable to feed her at night my husband (who slept on a cot in my room) feed her formula after a nurse suggested it and my daughter slept longer afterwards. so after i got outta the hospital we keep it up. her problems didnt start till 6 months old or a little after.
when it comes to iron i think her formula/cereal is considered high iron. i'll look into it . Thanks!
we tried the water thing and it really didnt improve things much unfortuately. same with prune juice. i use to give it to her at meals and in her nite time bottle. no luck
at lunch she gets pear juice and or water now.
the enima was suggested by the doctor . he said he didn't want her to use a laxitive b/c it might be too harsh for her.

Update: W had her 1 yr appointment today and the doctor still is saying that he thinks its her diet and to try FLAX seed oil and FLAX seed germ (i guess like wheat germ) in her bottle and on her food. if that doesnt work than he will look into other things.

i don know but it kinda seems like he skirting the real problem/issue... we've been dealing with this problem for quite a while now.NOT that i want W to do anything serious like a surgery but what about an ultra sould to just see if anythings is really wrong?
@ Fraggle how long did u deal with this problem before they finally took u and this problem serious?

Thanks everybody!

By Marcia on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 - 12:27 am:

Flax seed oil does work well, but doesn't taste great. I'd try hiding it in some strong tasting food.
I think it's great that your doc is looking into natural things before jumping into meds. Not many will do that.
Does she vomit? If she's that constipated, she'll start vomiting. I would think then the doc would worry a bit more, and check for a blockage.

By Brianna on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 - 03:41 pm:

we had some vomiting for a while before we started doing the enimas. but i was told it was nothing serious. so we continued with the change of diet and more enimas. and the vomiting stopped.

we've had the flax oil for only one day and we hid it in her bottle and so far she drank it!!
we had tried pineapple juice in her bottle (with formula) to stop her constipation but she took one sip and gave a us a yucky face and did a rasberry (which means she wont touch it again)
i'll have to see what works hiding the flax oil in other places.

By Marcia on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 - 04:50 pm:

If the formula hid it well, I'd keep it up in there. I'm sure the juice curdled the formula, so it would taste gross. Poor kid. LOL

By Fraggle on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 - 06:20 pm:

Brianna,
My DD has had problems probably from the time she was about a year old. I had mentioned it to the pediatrician before but he told me not to be concerned unless she was not going every other day. We have been able to manage it successfully with diet, but over Christmas this year things got really bad. After a couple of weeks of watching and really noting her habits (she is not potty trained yet) I called the doctor in a panic because she had not gone in 3 days. He told me to try milk of magnesia-but when this did not work I had to call the on-call doctor (since it was a weekend) and he told me to try the senna for a couple of weeks to see if she improved. So we gave it to her for 2 weeks every other night and it helped but as soon as I stopped giving it to her she got so constipated again. That was when I called the doctor again and he referred to the GI. I actually do not need a referral to see a GI because of our type of insurance but I figured it would help to get in to see the doctor. Anyways, my DD also has kidney reflux and after doing some research it seems that kids with reflux can have a lot of difficulty with constipation-so this is probably another reason why my pediatrician was willing to refer so quickly.

Sorry that story ended up being so long-in your case if you feel something is going on-just ask your doctor for the referral. It seems like this has been going on for a while so you would certainly have enough documentation. Let me know what happens.

By Tonya on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 - 06:39 pm:

If she is 1 yr old I say for started switch her to milk that might help with the iron issues and the baby cereal as well if she is on that checkthe iron content in it. That was the biggest problem we had with Timmy too much iron in his foods.

By Brianna on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 - 11:11 pm:

how much iron is too much for a daily dose?

@ Fraggle ok i'll keep u posted. let me know how it goes for u too!

By Luvn29 on Thursday, February 19, 2004 - 07:59 pm:

I had the same problem with both kids and I used Karo light syrup in their bottles/cereal. I never used it in water, though, because I was afraid they'd learn not to like water if it was unsweetened.

I have NO idea why Karo syrup (I think it is a type of corn syrup) worked, but it worked for both kids, and did no harm to them.

Start out with like a teaspoon to a little more in each 8 ounce bottle or so, and go up a little if needed.

As long as I used the Karo, my kids stayed regular. this stopped once they stopped on the bottle.

But like someone else said, you could go ahead and switch her to milk. This may help, too.

Hope you get this figured out!

By Mommyathome on Friday, February 20, 2004 - 11:58 am:

Brianna, I would think about getting a second opinion if your aren't 100% comfortable with what her current doctor is doing. My middle DD had some issues with vomiting and constipation and her doctor was very thorough and ordered different kinds of testing for her to rule out anything serious. I agree with you, it sounds like he is skirting the issue. I hope you get it figured out soon. Keep us updated!

BTW, we used Karo in bottles too when our kids were constipated. It's on most doctors big list of no-no's, but it worked for us. Of course we didn't use it all day every day. Just now and then when constipation hit, it helped!

By Fraggle on Friday, March 12, 2004 - 12:27 pm:

Brianna, Just wondering how your DD is doing. My DD saw the GI today and he said she looks good (she's been on the Little Tummies for a month now) so he said to continue with it and recommended mineral oil, too. He was really great-he was aware of the connection between constipation and kidney reflux-and pretty much said that when a parent has questions about a child's health they should ask for a referral.

By Amecmom on Friday, March 19, 2004 - 05:55 pm:

My 2 year old son has had problems with constipation from the time he was two months old. His GI told us that the real cause of most childhood constipation can't be found. He recommended adding more fiber to his diet - baby prunes, prune juice mixed with water,Bebefiber in his cereal. He said to use Anusol (regular - not the one with hydrocortisone) to prevent anal fissures and make his movements easier to pass.
When he was so young, we were not allowed to use a laxative, but we could use a child suppository, like a thermometer, to stimulate a movement if he was really backed up.
I also tried flax seed oil,it didn't really work for him as well as the increased fiber and prune juice.
It's so frustrating, I know. I was so upset that the DR couldn't just fix the problem.
If it's any consolation, the constipation has gotten better over time, so I think it's just something you have to treatuntil they outgrow. The Anusol was very helpful for him.
Hope there is something in here that you can use.
Ame