[sparkles30]

Hi. I started my 9-month old on solids a few months ago. She went okay on a few spoons of farex, but since being introduced to vegetables, bread etc she has had constipation and screams when she poos. There was blood twice and I took her to the dr but he said the tear must have healed up.

Anyhow, she doesn't like fruit... mashed, pieces, pureed, juice, any which way. The only way I get it into her is either force feeding a few spoons full, or putting a tiny bit in with her potato (if she tastes it she wont eat it.).

To make matters worse, she won't drink much water, and has never taken a bottle.

She has tried tiny bits of pasta and bread and LOVES them, but I'm terrified to feed her normal meals like spag bog etc in case it blocks her up.

I breastfeed her about a zillion times a day/night as she seems really hungry and I don't give her much food.

I give her coloxyl drops which she loves, but I've been told they aren't a great long-term solution.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as it is AWFUL watching her scream and poo, it's almost like she is having a fit she shakes and screams so much.

Thanks.

[melski1]

I'm so sorry that your bubba is struggling.

My DS2 is almost 9 months and went through a phase of something similar, but perhaps not as bad. He's breastfed too.

I increased the amount of water and fruit he had, so if I was giving farex (which seemed to be part of the prob) I'd have a lot of fruit (normally pear) in it too.

Then I changed to Rafferty's Garden cereal and things seemed to get better. Also we stopped banana.

Do you mix her food with expressed milk or water? You might also try giving her water in s syringe until she gets used to it.

Hope something there is of use.

Good luck!

[sparkles30]

Thanks for your reply. I do try using a syringe to get some prune juice into her, but mostly she just spits it out. I mix as much water as I can into her mash, but too much and she won't eat it.

She plain refuses any kind of pureed/mashed fruit (I think I have thrown out about 50 of those baby food twist top packets!).

I stopped the Farex just after she got constipated the first time as I figured the iron fortified element would make it all worse (even though oddly it didn't seem to constipate her at first, though it was only a spoon or two).

She loves finger food - broccoli, zuchini, bread, pasta. But no finger-food fruit! Closest to fruit that she will eat is Avocado... will this help or make it worse?

[sparkles30]

Anyone else?

[Pup-pup]

I'd keep up the coloxyl, it's just a stool softener and I wouldn't hesitate using it for a few months even until she starts to drink more water or eat pear/prunes etc. My DD who is now 2, has chronic constipation since about 8mths. We started on the coloxyl too. I don't think avocado will increase constipation, but bread, cheese, cereal will. Juice is good. I actually think the avoidance of constipationn is very very important. My DD at 2 literally eats less than my 6mth old, has very poor eating habits and is very underweight. Veges are good, less on the potato and more other veg. Still give pasta etc just not too much. Actually, you can mix pear with veg too which should help. I'd keep persevering with different cups for water, try a normal 3 hole sippy cup. My 6mth old refuses a bottle but will drink a little water out of a cup.

[Rosiebutton]

Hi. All 3 of mine had constipation when going on to solids. I also suggest raffertys cereal but mixed with prune juice instead of water. I do also add pureed pear sometimes. My kids never liked farex but loved rg and bellamys cereals. I also give prune juice mixed with water in a sippy cup. My last baby is 6 months now and he has actually had poo stuck half in, half out and screaming, so I know how upsetting it is. Good luck.

[misslaurel]

Hi, I just wanted to say that I feel for you as I am currently in your position - but am very lucky my boy eats fruit - which is pretty much all he eats. He has been very constipated in the past. What I did was:

1) I weaned him from breastfeeding and put him on Novolac constipation formula at 7 months. This helped enormously - and I added water to the formula just a bit to get water into him.

2) He also couldn't/wouldn't drink from a sippy cup but I ended up trying the soft spout tommee tippee and he managed to learn how to get water from that. A number of babies in my mothers group couldn't drink from a sippy cup and that helped them too.

3) Went to the GP and got him on lactulose. He was eating pear/prunes and zucchini and still getting constipated so she agreed that he needed a laxative. Lactulose is osmotic and draws water into the bowel so the poo comes out softer. It is very safe for babies.

We are now making progress and I was giving him a lot of milk each day to make up for the lack of solid food. He is now down to three bottles (at 11 months) and 3 meals (still mostly fruit and veg).

I feel for you - as I was in tears each day if he hadn't done a poo as I couldn't stand him screaming and crying as his bum bled. It is heartbreaking. I would go back to your GP and see if they can help. Good luck and if I can help in any way let me know.

P.S. I know this probably hasn't helped much with your little one not eating fruit/drinking water but I just wanted to let you know what I did.

[Pssst...]

We had the same problem with DD who is now 15 months so technically I don't belong here...

It took her weeks and weeks to learn to drink water. In the end it was a mag mag straw cup that she preferred. And we added a little dash of apple juice to the water and gradually reduced until it was just stright water. Not everyone is comfortable with this - even I wasn't! But it did the trick and now she drinks lots and lots of water. She also gets pear slices with her weetbix each morning which helps keeps constipation at bay these days.

Good luck!

[sparkles30]

Thanks so much for the advice everyone. Just wondering for those with constipated babies, how long did it take before it got better? Thanks again.

[Paddlepop]

My daughter (now 2yo) has had constipation since birth. She has been formula fed from 2 days after birth so that probably contributed to the constipation.

I understand the pain of watching your baby cry and scream and shake from trying to poo, and having to almost pull the poo out of their bottom because they are exhausted and don't want to keep pushing. It's so distressing. My daughter has been much better since I started her on Parachoc (liquid paraffin) about six months ago. She now poos at least once a day, maybe even twice! It isn't a laxative, it works by lubricating the bowel and poo so the poo can slide easily through her body and out the other end. Unfortunately it isn't suitable for babies under 12 months.

I also give her coloxyl drops and have since about 6 months old. I also put a bit of Benefibre in her milk. It completely dissolves and is tasteless.

My daughter wouldn't drink water from a normal sippy cup because she doesn't like to tip her head back when drinking. The solution (after lots of expensive sippy cups) was cheap $2 Sistema straw sippy cups from Kmart/Woolworths/Coles. They are a clear cup with red, blue, pink or green lids and a soft plastic straw. I think the label also has "Dinkee Drinkee" on it too. Best thing ever for her! Initially she didn't know to suck on the straw so we would put the straw in her mouth and tip the cup up so water would flow down the straw and into her mouth. She eventually got the idea and sucked for herself. She still doesn't understand normal sippy cups and only likes straw cups.

Also, my daughter is particular about the temperature of the water she drinks. She prefers it icy cold with ice cubes in it, and won't drink room temperature water. We also drink filtered water because we don't like the taste of the tap water since Brisbane put flouride in the water a few years ago.

Don't be too worried if your daughter doesn't like fruit yet. Give her lots of fibrous vegetables instead. Pumpkin works well in our house. Perhaps you could stew some apples or pears and mash them into your daughter's normal vegies. My daughter used to only like fruit and hated vegies but now prefers her steamed vegies to fruit (apart from apple slices).

We found that Farex gave our DD stinky hard poos. We changed to Nestle Cerelac rice cereal and her poo was less offensive smelling and slightly softer.

I hope some of the things I did might help you and your DD.