Maiya is five months old, and the doctor told me to start thickening feeds. As I am breastfeeding, on 2 days, I gave her 1 teaspoon of cereal with lots of breastmilk. SHe has not had a BM since. Now she is pushing and straining and nothing is coming out. She has been wimpering and is obviously uncomfortable.

4 days ago I gave her tempra, post vaccine, which usually gives her diarhea- nothing.
The doc is not in today, will only be back tomorrow.

Any ideas???

jojo

Are you using rice cereal? Perhaps she needs oatmeal since rice can cause constipation. I'm not too good in this department but I know a lot of mom's will be able to give you some good advice.

Poor thing! I so relate to the heartache of seeing your baby unable to poop! This is what our doc told us: The first choice would be to treat it naturally, from the top. For example, diluted prune juice, diluted apple juice, oatmeal cereal instead of rice, etc. If that doesn't work, it sometimes helps to use a bit of vaseline up the bootie, just right inside. Also, a warm bath sometimes helps. A couple times, we have had to use a liquid glycerine suppository, but check with your doc on that one.

Thinking poopy thoughts for you!

Ditto what Sheila said (Nathan'sMommy)...also, we used to put the Vaseline on a rectal thermometer and *sometimes* got results that way.

Is Maiya in any meds? Sometimes those (along with certain foods, like rice cereal) will really aggravate constipation, too. Before starting another cereal or juice, check with the doc. If you give Maiya something she's not ready for or is sensitive to, it can really gum up the works!

Poor baby...I really hope she is able to poop soon!

That is a long time. Prune juice may help. If not, we use glycerine supp. or baby lax and they work well for Sam when he gets constipated. My GI also told us we can use Milk of Mag if needed.

when we thickened Sam's formula we used oatmeal because it did not constipate him as much as the rice.


good Luck.

I tried oatmeal cereal first- real bad gas. The rice, even worse. I tried pablum (with soy)- and she had no diarhea so I was happy she was not allergic as she is milk protein allergic. I had introduced soy in my diet without a problem so thought it would be ok. Now i am not so sure.

I called the doc- will be back tomorrow. Not sure i should wait. Tried water and rectal stim- nothing yet. Dont want to give her fruit juice as she is so young and refluxing so badly these days . Cant see a Gi until May here in this stupid country. Not sure - might go to the ER


Thanks

Hi JoJo the others had some good advice. Connor's only had trouble going poop one time so I'm not much help but Our ped suggested to add about an oz of prune juice to his bottles to see if that would help. Could you maybe try using simply thick in her bottles instead of the rice or is the rice because the Dr. wants her to start solids? I hope poor Mayia's tummy feels better soon!

Try a small warm bottle of boiled water and 2 tsp of sugar first thing in the morning- always worked for us. Usually best if used around the 4 day mark. Just do it anyway, before she gets really constipted- I hope you get results.

9 days is more than long enough. You should always consult a ped before using suppositories as you do not want to exacerbate what may be causing a blockage rather than constipation.

Is she intaking well still? Is she in discomfort? My kiddo went 8 days without a stool and he was on 8 tablespoons of mineral oil a day at the time. That is far too long and our GI said he could have waited a few more days yet. I disagree as it becomes a quality of life issue. Plus, my kid was 3 at the time and your child is only 5 months, so there is a difference there as well.

Mineral oil and lactulose is my speciality. Mineral oil does work, but really you need to know what is causing the constipation at this point. IF there is a lot of pain, lowering of intake, etc. a trip to the ER or another clinic may be in order. Although it may just plain and simply be wretched and stubborn constipation, there are blockages that may need to be ruled out first before stimulating the intestines for a poop. Do you have a on call ped you can consult? Anyone like a clinic over the phone?

One thing that will not hurt is trying a warm bath with epsom salts as it does stimulate blood flow to the rectum and may produce a poop naturally that way. Really, after 9 days I would expect you need help from a ped and that your first stool is going to be some wicked foul smelling diahrrea followed by a ball of constipation. Icky.

I do not mess around with wee ones. Let us know what you decide to do and keep us posted.

Just wondering what happened and how Maya is doing. Hope all is well.

Yes, has there been any um, "movement" yet? Hoping so.:xmas1:

Yes...how is she doing? Emma went 6 days once, (when she was on milk-based formula), and I was just about having a nervous breakdown just waiting for her to poop. The ped finally scheduled an ultrasound to see what was going on, and the night before the explosion happened, (with a large "plug" first, and then TONS of liquid poop), at 2 a.m. I was sooooooooo excited to see that poop..even at that time of the day! :-D

Catherine went 10 days without pooping, starting when she was just a week or so old. She was x-rayed and checke for pyloric stenosis. That's how this whole journey got started. Putting her on Alimentum took care of things, and it looks like we're headed back in that direction.