Does anyone know of anything other than meds that help with constipation? I don't know if Connor is constipated but his poop is very hard and he strains to get it out and sometimes cries because it hurts him? I'm sure the rice cereal in his bottles doesn't help things.

Poor Connor! You may have tried these things, but how about oatmeal cereal in the bottles instead of rice? How about diluted prune juice?

Thinking poopy thoughts for him.... :?

If you recently added the rice then it is normal for a little constipation for several days when 1st introducing it. My sister just started her little guy on it and he wasvery constipated for the 1st few days. I told her to add 2 spoons of applesauce to his rice bottle at night and that got things moving again. If you are planning on waiting to add foods then try some sugar water during the day to add some extra moisture to his system.

My ped first recommend that I add 2 ounces of Pedialyte to a bottle twice per day. DO NOT substitute pedialyte for the water used to make the bottle. The pedialyte is just an extra addition. This did not work for us.

Next, she had us give 2 ounces of prune juice mixed with 2 ounces of pedialyte in the am, and then the additional 2 ounces of pedialyte in the bottle in the pm. She said the prune juice shoud NOT go in the bottle, though, because it would not allow it to work well. Noah wouldn't finish the four ounce juice bottle, so I didn't think it would help, but the next day, he did have a more soft BM.

I recently got him to start eating some oatmeal baby food, and ever since, he has been going more regularly. So, I think the oatmeal in the bottles might have worked, but Noah would never take them this way since the consistency is more difficult to get correct.

Good luck, and I'm sure your ped would have some other options, as well. Hope he gets some relief soon!!

Rice cereal can definately bind them up, so I would try the oatmeal as Sheila suggested.

The applesauce in the bottle is not one I have tried for constipation, but our dietician said to give it that way to Iain to get him to try some solids that way. It did help to keep him regular if I recall correctly! :wink:

How often does he poop and is this a new problem for Connor?

The ladies have made some good suggestions, and yes, rice cereal can bind them up until their system gets used to it. ALso, diluted prune juice, applesauce, and sometimes homeopathic stuff can all help. Good luck! How is Connor doing now???

From one constipated child's mom to another...we've been battling this for mONTHS NOW and here's what we've been told/learned along the way:
Stay away from RICE, BANANA, APPLE or TOAST first off. These are known to "bind" the stools. We give prune baby food and we've also done karo syrup in his water which did not help. The only thing I've had success with was MINERAL OIL...i'd ask for dosage from your ped but we give one tsp twice a day. It was workign wonders for a while until we switched to enulose...then thatworked and stopped. Now we're back to mineral oil and not having great success w/that either. When he's all backed up we give glycerine gel suppositories/babylax...they work w/in minutes. Hope that helps.

Thanks for all the suggestions :D today he had one little rock hard poop and that was it. I'm wondering if its from one of the meds he's taking for his cough. We go to the ped tomorrow I'll see if she has any further suggestions. I'm dreading tomorrows appt. because he has to have his shots and last time he screamed all day and spiked a fever. Then his reflux seemed really bad for over a week afterwards :?

I hate vaccinations, too. :cry: Be proactive with some fever and pain management and give some tylenol a few minutes or a half hour before his vaccines. It can really help. Be sure to ask about the dose based on weight from the nurse as well as sometimes you can give more than suggested on the package.

Constipation issues are draining me here, so I can really relate. Do not give anything without consulting your ped or GI first and my fondest hope is that it does not become a habit or your child reliant on them. Not so much fun having an older child with these issues. (sorry, wallowing in self pity at the moment with poop issues.)

Do be sure to let us know how he does tomorrow. Wishing him well and a good nurse who is fast! :wink: