constipated 9month old :( | ExpatWoman.com
 

constipated 9month old :(

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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 21 May 2013 - 09:05

help! my baby seems to always have hard stools and strains quite a bit while passing them. I have been giving him a little bit of prune puree (not much admittedly because im scared they are strong) and trying to up his fruit intake. water is a massive battle - hes not a big fan so now we are trying with droppers and all sorts. Last resort is a laxative as his doc recommended but im still resisting :( any ideas? he is on aptamil 3.

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 29 May 2013 - 08:28
With my son I also kept him on stage 1 formula at the advice of my Dr and Health Nurse, he is 7 months old. In Australia I had also been using a powdered probiotic (one that's kept in the fridge and has live friendly bacteria). It was actually targeted for babies, it was called a babybiotic. I just put two spoonfuls in one of his bottles once a day and he has never had constipation issues again. I am yet to have a look for the probiotic here but intend on sourcing one and continue using it whilst in Dubai. Good luck! There is nothing worse than watching your baby struggle with constipation, my daughter struggled terribly :(
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 28 May 2013 - 14:32
1 tsp of honey with 1 tsp of lemon juice daily at night is a good home remedy for constipation in adults. Plz check with ur doc if u can give this to ur baby. It takes a few days for this remedy to work though. Best of luck, hope your baby feels better No honey for babies! That might be a good thing to try with an older child. But No honey for babies until they are at least 1 year old. Honey can have botulinum spores which are (in honey) harmless for an adult or older child as their stomach acid destroys them, but can cause serious illness in babies whose stomach acid is weaker. So no honey for babies.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 27 May 2013 - 13:19
1 tsp of honey with 1 tsp of lemon juice daily at night is a good home remedy for constipation in adults. Plz check with ur doc if u can give this to ur baby. It takes a few days for this remedy to work though. Best of luck, hope your baby feels better
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 26 May 2013 - 16:28
yeah I wouldn't go overboard, all the stonefruits (plum, peach, nectarine etc) have a form of sugar in them which passes right through the bowel drawing liquid in, but if you overdo it (easier to do when you use dried fruit vs fresh) then you can be in quite a bit of discomfort. (try eating a whole bag of dried apricots and you will see what I mean). So long as you avoid the constipating foods for a while (bread, pasta, cheese, yoghurt, rice, potato, firm bananas, peas, carrots, apples) then things should go back to normal without too much meddling. Then experiment with gradual increases rather than throwing the full arsenal at him. I think giving fresh foods as much as possible (meat, vegies, fruits) and just a small amount of processed stuff (or none) pasta, bread, cheese, yoghurt is generally the best way to keep the tummy happy. Probiotics can help but they are largely un-tested in infants and can cause an upset tummy too.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 25 May 2013 - 22:02
Thanks kiwispers - do I need to be careful how much prune I am mixing in his food you think?
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 25 May 2013 - 21:14
the lactulose stuff is basically exactly the same as giving prune juice, so don't stress about giving it, its not really "medicine" its just a type of sugar that attracts water into the bowel. I wouldn't give everything at once though, you are likely to give your baby a crampy, gassy, runny tummy which won't be much fun for anyone.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 25 May 2013 - 20:08
Ok ladies - I've reverted back to stage 1 milk, giving tonnes of prune, pear, apricot, peach and lots of water. Also started a sprinkle of probiotics for past 2 days. Still getting hard poos :( how long til I give in to medicine?
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 24 May 2013 - 17:38
again doesn't matter, main thing is that they don't cut back on milk. They can actually digest meat more easily than starch at that age (esp FF babies who can really struggle with starchy foods) so in many ways meat is easier on their system (and studies have shown better iron levels as a result) but so long as you either give meat or supplements then ok I guess. Watch for constipation with the rice cereal, its a common culprit, I actually never gave it to either of my babies.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 24 May 2013 - 16:00
Thankyou for replying kiwispiers. Always so helpful. I think i'l put of giving meat till she's 7 or 8 months old. Don't know why really, just scared she wont be able to take it I think il keep giving her ion fortified cereal ,fruits and vegs. Her milk intake is fine. Is there any suggestion as to many times should solids given? Once a day? Twice?
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 24 May 2013 - 15:39
For iron (unless you are vegetarian) then its simple lamb, beef, chicken, fish. Meat (especially red meat is the best way to get enough iron. All meats can be given from 6 months (latest advice by WHO and other health bodies is that meat, eggs and dairy can and should be given daily from when solids are introduced as weaning fooods should be nutrient dense. (if you are just giving fruit and veg for 2 months then your baby is actually better off not having solids at all as these are lower in calories and nutrients than milk) Its best to make your own baby food but if you are using jars, at least do your own meat purees (slow cooked lamb shank or chicken thighs are very tender and high in iron) as the jars/sachets are usually 95% apple and 5% "meat" if you are lucky so not really a good enough source of nutrients. If for some reason you don't want to give meat then you can give iron rich vegetables combined with a source of vitamin c to help absorption, or baby rice which is iron fortified. My 7 month old had lamb as one of her first few meals. lilypad so long as your baby has milk before solids (so still drinks enough milk) then let her eat as much or as little as she wants. My son would never had stood for 1-2 spoons, he cried if he didn't get a whole bowl from the day he started.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 24 May 2013 - 14:54
Thanks for the suggestions ladies. Iv switched DD back to Aptamil 1 for now. Wondering exactly what to add to her diet to keep her iron levels up. Also how much solids should a 6 month old be taking? DD just started solids. yesterday she finished a whole pear (pureed) later when i checked online, it was written to only give 2-3 tea spoons to a 6 month old. Quite confused here. Oh and OP sorry for hijacking the thread
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 24 May 2013 - 06:56
The biscuits are really just refined sugar tbh. If they are the only way to get your baby to drink milk then maybe they are worth it but an alternative would be to add your own fruit purees to the milk to vary the flavour/sweeten it. If you have a constipation issue then you could add date/ prune or apricot purée for example. I would only do this if they are rejecting the milk as is though, much better not to introduce sweeteners and juices if you don't have to.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 23 May 2013 - 20:22
DD is 10 months old, I tried Aptamil 2 when she turned 6 months old and it made her constipated so I switched back to 1, then a few weeks ago I again tried Aptamil 2 and it made her constipated again! So I'm back to 1 now and she poops every morning like clockwork. Her pediatrician said it's fine to stay on 1, as long as I give her iron etc in other parts of her diet. I'm very strict with her food, I make everything at home freshly pureed, lots of variety like avocado, potato, apple etc (very little banana, makes her superrrr constipated) and none of the supermarket premade food. So personally, I think it's okay if she has the biscuits since the rest of her diet is pretty balanced - they are quite sweet, but I add quarter of a Farleys rusk to the milk which becomes about the size of a dirham coin per 180ml bottle, so it's not a lot. I don't let her eat the biscuits as a snack, as big blue said thats not a good habit to get them in to and there are much healthier snack options for them. It just makes the milk more appealing for her, she was getting bored of the taste of just formula and milk is still so important for her, so I think it's worth it, but of course everyone has their own parenting style and opinions on what they want to feed their kid, so do what you feel is best! For soluble biscuits I use Farleys rusks which comes in flavours (DD likes the date ones but they are hard to find), but you can try the Milupa ones too it says 'Soluble buscuits' on the yellow box. I use teat #3 of Tommee Tippee, the flow is just fine for DD but she has always preferred a slow flow (if there's no biscuit and the milk is thin, she chokes on teat #3, so I use teat #1!) [b'>mols[/b'> have you seen any improvement yet? <em>edited by sourskittleashnut on 23/05/2013</em>
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EW GURU
Latest post on 23 May 2013 - 14:32
Good point! i will certainly try switching back and see what happens! All my friends keep recommending the farley biscuits - but dont they have alot of sugar in them? Hi Mols, at a time when I was a bit desperate for DD to have ANY solids I did give her Milupa buscuits and I also tried Farley's. Luckily she wasn't a big fan and with hindsight I'm glad this was the case because they are quite sweet and in any case getting used to eating biscuits from this age is not something I'm in favor of. DD started solids just before she was 5 months, enjoyed for about 10 days and then almost entirely stopped for a month. She's now eating very well, practically everything I make for her and I am avoiding ready made cereals, biscuits, meals etc. A lot of fresh fruits, home cooked meals and yogurt along with her milk make up her diet. If you're going through a difficult phase it may be worth waiting for a while to see what happens (not about the constipation, about your baby's diet!) rather that do what I did and risk developing bad habits:-)
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 23 May 2013 - 13:23
Good point! i will certainly try switching back and see what happens! All my friends keep recommending the farley biscuits - but dont they have alot of sugar in them?
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 22 May 2013 - 20:52
Hi, I had the same problem, DD got really constipated on Aptamil 2 (the equivalent to Aptamil 3 for you) and I put her back on Aptamil 1 and she's fine. I recommend you switch back to Aptamil 1 and for the iron etc your baby needs, add other things to the diet, you can even put soluble biscuits in the milk bottle, they have added iron and calcium etc. DD was going off drinking milk she wanted solids instead (happens to a lot of babies) so I add Farleys date rusks (quarter of a biscuit to 180ml) and she gulps it down. With every meal give lots of water, my rule is 2 bites of food and then I give her her sippy cup, that's also really made a difference. So since the last 2 days iv noticed DD is throwing up alot with the Aptamil 2, never happened with Aptamil 1. I hope its okay to switch back to Aptamil 1. Sourskittleashnut how old is your baby, is she still on Aptamil 1? Has the doctor approved it aswell? Also these soluble biscuits, from what age can they be given? Can you please tell me what's the teat size your using if your mixing it in the milk and giving through bottle.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 22 May 2013 - 20:13
Hi, I had the same problem, DD got really constipated on Aptamil 2 (the equivalent to Aptamil 3 for you) and I put her back on Aptamil 1 and she's fine. I recommend you switch back to Aptamil 1 and for the iron etc your baby needs, add other things to the diet, you can even put soluble biscuits in the milk bottle, they have added iron and calcium etc. DD was going off drinking milk she wanted solids instead (happens to a lot of babies) so I add Farleys date rusks (quarter of a biscuit to 180ml) and she gulps it down. With every meal give lots of water, my rule is 2 bites of food and then I give her her sippy cup, that's also really made a difference.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 22 May 2013 - 20:13
Hi, I had the same problem, DD got really constipated on Aptamil 2 (the equivalent to Aptamil 3 for you) and I put her back on Aptamil 1 and she's fine. I recommend you switch back to Aptamil 1 and for the iron etc your baby needs, add other things to the diet, you can even put soluble biscuits in the milk bottle, they have added iron and calcium etc. DD was going off drinking milk she wanted solids instead (happens to a lot of babies) so I add Farleys date rusks (quarter of a biscuit to 180ml) and she gulps it down. With every meal give lots of water, my rule is 2 bites of food and then I give her her sippy cup, that's also really made a difference.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 22 May 2013 - 18:36
Mols this happened with my son around the same age, doctor told me to stay on number 1 (the blue label one) he said there was hardly any difference with the follow on milk and it was more of a marketing ploy..as soon as I changed back to number 1 he was fine.
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 22 May 2013 - 14:31
It depends I guess on whether your baby is eating healthy complementary foods, if it were me I would want them to have the closest formulation to breastmilk and to get their iron and calcium from healthy foods (like a breastfed baby would) but if your baby is not a good eater then perhaps you might prefer the follow on milk. It's the fact that it can contain flavours and be sweetened with things like corn syrup etc that would concern me and obviously some babies struggle to digest it. It would pay to check the ingredients per brand though as I'm sure they vary.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 22 May 2013 - 11:43
You could go back to the from birth formula, it's easier for them to digest and more similar to breastmilk, follow ons are allowed to use cheaper ingredients and are more similar to regular cows milk, there is actually no reason to switch to a follow on and many drs advise against them. kiwispiers, that is interesting... do you have any insight into whats the difference between 2 and 3... aptamil's official website suggests aptamil 3 for 6 month onwards... no mention of aptamil 2....DD has had no issues with taking on aptamil 2, although i only did notice that the powder itself is of much less finer quality than aptamil 1. when asked , her doctor said its fine to move to aptamil 2 , but can stay on 1 if she has problems with it Not specifically sorry, basically there are stricter rules regarding from birth formulas both in regards to ingredients and marketing, the main reason follow ons were invented is because since they are strictly speaking not formula they are allowed to be advertised in places where formula advertising is banned. If you think about it, breastfeeding is recommended for two years and cows milk is not better fir your baby than breastmilk at 12 months, it's just an option. Here is a good explanation http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-infants-toddlers/bottle-feeding/follow-formulas I did a bit of research on this before switching DD at 7 months and if you look at the ingredients you will notice that although not dramatically different from stage 1, stage 2 milk does contain more protein, iron, calcium etc (as also mentioned in the website Kiwispiers attached). As babies grow older they do need more of these nutrients and to me this was a good reason to switch. Whether they could get the same from cow's milk or some other type of follow on milk I do not know so can't comment....
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 22 May 2013 - 11:05
morning ladies - perhaps i hsould have said that i use the aptamil readymade cartons? rather than the powder. aptamil 2 is for hungry baby - aptamil 3 is the follow on milk. may not be the same in the powder? Todays food menu is purely fruit and veg (with dolops of prune puree mixed) (minus apples and bananas which i have been steering well away from) Ive started giving water through a dropper and it seems to be going well. he doesnt seem to mind the water as much as drinking it. I havent found the perfect sippy cup yet :( will try to get to organics store to buy some probiotics today Fingers crossed! There is no reason not to just add the extra water to her bottle so long as she still drinks it all
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 22 May 2013 - 11:03
You could go back to the from birth formula, it's easier for them to digest and more similar to breastmilk, follow ons are allowed to use cheaper ingredients and are more similar to regular cows milk, there is actually no reason to switch to a follow on and many drs advise against them. kiwispiers, that is interesting... do you have any insight into whats the difference between 2 and 3... aptamil's official website suggests aptamil 3 for 6 month onwards... no mention of aptamil 2....DD has had no issues with taking on aptamil 2, although i only did notice that the powder itself is of much less finer quality than aptamil 1. when asked , her doctor said its fine to move to aptamil 2 , but can stay on 1 if she has problems with it Not specifically sorry, basically there are stricter rules regarding from birth formulas both in regards to ingredients and marketing, the main reason follow ons were invented is because since they are strictly speaking not formula they are allowed to be advertised in places where formula advertising is banned. If you think about it, breastfeeding is recommended for two years and cows milk is not better fir your baby than breastmilk at 12 months, it's just an option. Here is a good explanation http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-infants-toddlers/bottle-feeding/follow-formulas
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EW GURU
Latest post on 22 May 2013 - 09:06
good luck Mols! I found this to be a good summary btw: https://baby-toddler-club.coles.com.au/recipes-nutrition/nutrition-guides/baby/food-for-constipated-babies/
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 22 May 2013 - 09:00
morning ladies - perhaps i hsould have said that i use the aptamil readymade cartons? rather than the powder. aptamil 2 is for hungry baby - aptamil 3 is the follow on milk. may not be the same in the powder? Todays food menu is purely fruit and veg (with dolops of prune puree mixed) (minus apples and bananas which i have been steering well away from) Ive started giving water through a dropper and it seems to be going well. he doesnt seem to mind the water as much as drinking it. I havent found the perfect sippy cup yet :( will try to get to organics store to buy some probiotics today Fingers crossed!
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EW GURU
Latest post on 22 May 2013 - 08:45
Depends which company website you are using when you check for milk, bear in mind most that come up are usually UK or Oz but the products we buy here in the supermarkets may be a range produced and marketed for a different country, hence differences in packages, names etc. DD is almost 9 months and I also use Aptamil 2, my understanding from looking at the boxes is that Aptamil 3 (or Aptajunior as is branded now) is for 12 months plus. Duphalac is not a "medicine" so I wouldn't worry about giving it in the sense that you are giving medicines to your LO, however I also resisted that; I always cook her lunch with olive oil, usually one teaspoon, not sure if that helps. Most fruits we tend to give babies can actually cause constipation (apples, bananas...), the trick is to have more fluids but as at this age they seem to be resisting that an alternative is tro increase the fibre content in their diets. That's why prunes are good for constipation, not because it is fruit but because it is high in fibre. I also add a couple of prunes (the pitted soft ones that come in a bag, can't recall the brand) in the fruit I prepare for her in the morning. And if she seems to be having a hard time I switch to prune juice mixed with water instead or plain water, I use one that has no added sugar and I do 2 parts water 1 part juice. I am told that by 10 months they are happy drinking water and I'm noticing now the weather is getting hotter DD is more willing to have it so there's hope! (edited for spelling!) <em>edited by Big blue on 22/05/2013</em>
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 May 2013 - 19:29
You could go back to the from birth formula, it's easier for them to digest and more similar to breastmilk, follow ons are allowed to use cheaper ingredients and are more similar to regular cows milk, there is actually no reason to switch to a follow on and many drs advise against them. kiwispiers, that is interesting... do you have any insight into whats the difference between 2 and 3... aptamil's official website suggests aptamil 3 for 6 month onwards... no mention of aptamil 2....DD has had no issues with taking on aptamil 2, although i only did notice that the powder itself is of much less finer quality than aptamil 1. when asked , her doctor said its fine to move to aptamil 2 , but can stay on 1 if she has problems with it
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EW GURU
Latest post on 21 May 2013 - 19:11
thanks ladies - thats so interesting about evian! i actually give him volvic - do you think that could be the cause? have been adding apriocts and prunes to all his fruit (altho small quantities) will try flaxseed and olive oil. Also - any particular child probiotic you recommend? Shibelle - the [i'>[b'>aptamil 3 is for 6months onwards..[/b'>[/i'>.. mols ...bit confused here....DD is 6 months old now and on Aptamil 2. The box says, from 6-12 months old...Follow on milk...any idea whats the difference between Aptamil 2 and 3 if both are for babies aged 6-12 months old edited by lilypad28 on 21/05/2013 that's what I said. haahha..
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 21 May 2013 - 18:37
You could go back to the from birth formula, it's easier for them to digest and more similar to breastmilk, follow ons are allowed to use cheaper ingredients and are more similar to regular cows milk, there is actually no reason to switch to a follow on and many drs advise against them.
263
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 21 May 2013 - 18:26
thanks ladies - thats so interesting about evian! i actually give him volvic - do you think that could be the cause? have been adding apriocts and prunes to all his fruit (altho small quantities) will try flaxseed and olive oil. Also - any particular child probiotic you recommend? Shibelle - the [i'>[b'>aptamil 3 is for 6months onwards..[/b'>[/i'>.. mols ...bit confused here....DD is 6 months old now and on Aptamil 2. The box says, from 6-12 months old...Follow on milk...any idea whats the difference between Aptamil 2 and 3 if both are for babies aged 6-12 months old <em>edited by lilypad28 on 21/05/2013</em>
 
 

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