BabyWhispererForums.com
EAT => Feeding Solid Food => Topic started by: Jadynsmom on July 18, 2005, 03:34:48 am
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Ok. I feel strange posting this but it worked like a charm for my lo, so I thought I would share it.
My lo has been somewhat constipated lately (due to the fact she will not eat any solids that have fiber in them) and she has been turning red & purple in the face while straining to get poop out!! I didn't think nothing of it since she does get some out, though very little & very hard. My girlfriend watched my lo last week & she noticed how fussy she was due to it. She called me later that night & told me that she did a little trick her mom taught her kids to go to the bathroom when they were babies. That day my lo had 3 bm. :shock:
Today my lo was straining sooo hard that I got worried & called her & asked her exactly what she did. She said to take a bar of soap & shave a strip off of it and mold it to where it's like a suppository about an inch long & insert into her bottom. I did not want to do it, so I made my husband do it. :wink: Within 5 seconds, my baby went poop!!!! It worked sooo well and she was so happy afterwards. She did cry a little during but nothing too bad.
So there it is folks. I'm sure there are other measures that will work just as well, but I just had to share this. :lol:
Kathy
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Yes, this definitely works!
I am a nurse and we do this (modified) with adults. It is called a soap suds enema! It has been around forever. :D
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Wow, this really works?? I'm afraid to try it. Does it matter what sort of soap...?
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Probably a really nice smelling one? :lol: Kidding aside, my ped recommended the same with a rectal thermometer. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm considering it since lo seems to be struggling to poop and we haven't even started solids yet.
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I don't think so. But I would use a "mild" soap.
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Just did the "soap suppository trick" on my LO. Actually made DH do the dirty work. It only took about 5 seconds and then we had poop . . . boy did we have poop! We used Ivory (in case you are wondering). Mind you the grunts and squeals to get it out were a little more than I expected. I was thinking "Oh God, what have I done". . . . but then it came out. Earlier in the day I tried the thermometer probe and only got a little nugget - the soap suppository sure did the trick.
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Krice - :lol: :lol: :lol: My husband & I are still laughing because we thought the same thing when she went. It came & came & more came out!!!
Leann - We just used bar of shower soap (I think Dove) and made it very smooth. Don't worry, it didn't hurt her. She just didn't like something there, but once she went, boy was she smiling!!! :lol:
Kathy
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My friends baby had the same problem. Her ped told her to use a q-tip with a touch of vaseline on it. It worked fine for her so she didn't have to worry about "molding" soap or a skin reaction (which my baby has had to soap).
Corrine
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I'm debating about using this trick. I think Asher might need it, but -- is this a stupid question? -- I can't tell if he's truly constipated or if he just doesn't need to go yet! He sometimes will have a dirty diaper every day and sometimes he'll go for several days without having one. He's had some rice cereal for a few days and has been doing some "grunting"...but will I hurt him if I try this and there wasn't really much wrong with him? It's Friday and he hasn't gone since Monday. He's gone this long before, but.....!!
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Not too sure about the technique, but is it likely it works because a lot, if not most, soaps are glycerine based? Glycerine, & glycerine suppositries are a remedy for constipation.
My only concern with this method is that the nature of the anus & rectum is to 'draw' things into it, and I personally would be a little concerned of soap getting drawn to far in, especially with regards to infections and reactions. That said, I have no medical training, so I could be talking complete tosh. :wink:
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Well, here's an update for anyone who is wondering about this. We finally tried this tonight because Asher was fussy and obviously uncomfortable. Plus, we're visiting my in-laws this weekend to make things even more complicated! Thank goodness they are very nice people.
Anyway...he was already crying pretty hard by the time I even put the thing in there. That made him even madder and I had to hold him and walk around for about 5 minutes before he calmed down. He WAS able to poo, however, several minutes after we did it. And of course the thing came right back out with the poo. I had this irrational worry that it would get stuck I guess. There wasn't nearly as MUCH poo as I had expected but he seemed happier after it was over.
I think it's that darn rice cereal. I need to figure out now how to start him back on solids and which foods to use that will not do this to him again.
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Hi!
Thanks for the update. Well, at least he pooped!
Btw, our LO's have the same birthday!
Abigail also gets constipated from the rice cereal. I have tried oatmeal the last two days but so far, no improvement. I will try barley next if oatmeal doesn't do the trick.
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Happy 5 months old Abigail! :)
Yes...he did go, although he has hardly gone since then and I'm wondering if he still isn't a little stopped up. We are going home from the in-laws tomorrow and when we are at home I may try some juice or feed him some pears or something. Let me know if the oatmeal works any better than the rice. Anyone have any more experience with the different cereals? Does mixing them with veggies help at all?
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My mom told me about this method. We haven't had to use it yet though.
As for the rice cereal making them constipated, I've read that you don't actually need to start them on rice cereals, you can go straight to veggies. We started Luka on thursday, but as soon as he is used to the idea of eating, I"m going to give the cereal a skip.
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I will give you one more advise, which actually worked very well in my case. When my baby was about 3 mths old we had to introduce the formula milk, that is when he was very constipated (3 days couldnt poo). The pediatrician said to give him ...just water to drink!!! Or make a weaker formula milk. After that...no more trouble, has worked very well :D So try this as well
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Yes, we just started giving Abigail just a little bit of water yesterday. She loved it and gobbled it up! We'll see how her poops are.
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I tried teh water trick with Natalie but she just pees more. It goes straight through her. We had to do the cotton swab trick today. I called my peds office and spoke with the nurse. She said coated a cotton swab with a lil vaseline or KY jelly and insert it into the rectum just less than an inch. You can either swirl it in a circular motion or use the in/out method. She said sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. She said if it didn't to try pear, white grape, or prune juice (no more than 6 oz. for the day). That should do the trick. If not to bring LO in to check out any underlying problems. The swab trick worked fine for Natalie, and man was she holding a lot in, poor dear. She felt MUCH better afterwards, it was easy to tell.
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Yes, the water didn't seem to affect Abigail's poops either. The cereal definitely makes her poops firmer and she gets all red in the face when going but it doesn't seem to bother her too much so I think I will just see how it progresses.
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call me naive but I think my bella is constipated, she is makeing this low, grunting sound and seems to be holding her breath like she is trying to have a bm, she has no fever and she is eating so I am only assuming thats what it is. she eats 3 small solid meals a day and had one bm this morning, after much struggling. does this sound like constipation?
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I assume that anytime they hold their breath, get red in the face and push, it is constipation, but you know your LO the best.
I have found in the last month, prunes work the best with Abigail when she is constipated, I just buy the Gerber #1 prunes and give her about 1/3 of it, it works like a charm! HTH
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she just does alot of grunting type noises and seems to be pushing. She has been having little ones but it seems like she is going to blow :lol: sorry, I feel so bad for her, I have done the qu-tip prob and the prunes, i may have to up the prune intake.
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Hey all - Have had a lot of trouble with DS's constipation - Found out that adding a few drops from a gelcap of flax seed oil to baby foods works wonderfully! It's also an omega-3 fat and good for baby (and us). Asked the pediatrician about it and he was all for it. It works great - I give it every other day and we have been much better now!
Our Dear Little Aidan
(http://lilypie.com/pic/050727/98cd4fc.jpg)(http://lilypie.com/baby1/060209/3/15/0/-7/.png)
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i may have to try the flaxseed thing, my poor baby was up most of the night try to push something out, Aand she had 3 poops yesterday already, I have to give her poly-vi-fleur or something like that a multi with floride since we live in the country and the iron makes her constipated :cry: ..she was so miserable! I am not ready to try the soap thing, but maybe the flaxseed oil will work. any other advice appreciated.
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Anyone heard of putting a tsp of dark Kayro syrup in your lo's bottle? My girlfriend did this with her daughter and it kept her very regular. I'm about to try it myself b/c we just started rice cereal and I HATE the idea of putting something "down there"
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We've always used the karo syrup here. 1 tsp in one bottle a day does the trick! :lol:
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I've heard of the Karo Syrup but never had to try it. I really like the flax seed oil, I will need to ask my ped about it at the next visit.
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Hi - I was at the pediatrician yesterday for dd's 4 month check up and shots! :cry: Anyway, she was talking about constipation and said that many people in my area use karo syrup and that it is not safe. She said that it is the same as honey in that there is a threat of botulism. I was really surprised by that and thought I would pass this bit of info along. She is a great doctor, not at all alarmist, and I trust her completely. So I won't be using karo syrup if Lucy gets constipated eating rice cereal. :shock:
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I use light kero syrup (the clear stuff)...it's corn syrup. It works every time. It's pretty tasteless too. I use it in droppers though; she usually has a large bowel movement within a few hours. Her ped. actually recommended it.
*HUGS*
Sonya =P
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Just goes to show how these babies really DON'T come with instruction manuals if the doctors cannot even agree on what is best!!!! :lol:
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Just two quick things...
Be careful if you're going to forgo baby cereal all together because babies actually need the iron in it until atleast 1 year old.
And babies poop consistency and frequency will change when starting solids and after adding various items so be careful not to assume constipation when it could just be their system getting used to the new item. With solids, they'll start getting firmer poops and less frequently.
I'll have to keep some of these recommendations in mind though for when #2 comes along... Also, my MIL says upping their sugar intake will do it every time (same with adults) so that's why the syrup works. She recommends brown sugar diluted in a bottle of water but I never had to do it with dd1...
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apricots work really well too.pureed if you're lo's are still young.2 cubes of apricots and 1 of pear worked well for ds
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forgot to add that a yoghourt actually helped ryan.it's danone activia yoghurt prune flavour.when ds was 9mths we used to mix it in the pot ( prunes at the bottom and yoghurt on top ) and then sieve it so he didn't get too many bits.half of the adult size pot a day worked really well.we used this up untill a few months ago.ryan got a bit bored of the flavour!!things are better for us now.although he has been constipated for a very long time,he doesn't strain now and goes everyday.custard works now but didn't when we were desperate.
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I still do the Flax seed oil - Flax seed is what works for adults, too. I mix it in a batch of prunes or bananas or carrots (whatever I am making that week). It works like a charm every time! ;)
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My grandmother has been telling me to do this before I even had my LO. She said if he ever gets constipated, use the soap. I thought it was silly, but she did it to my niece who was very constipated and she had a BM almost immediately. When my LO became constipated I didn't dare stick a soap in him. I wasn't sure what to do. In fact I'm still not sure. From reading this post I'm assuming you make it like a suppository and insert it all the way in? Then my LO will poop it out?
I'm just wondering because I've tried just about everything. Nothing seems to work for my LO. He gets very constipated. I have seen the kind of stools the poor boy has been trying to push and I feel so bad for him. I've tried glycerin suppositories for infants, that kinda worked. The first time I stuck it in he pooped immediately. The second time, a few weeks after he didn't poop so that got me worried. What happens if I use the soap and he doesn't poop?
I've also tried giving him lots of water but he won't have it. I would be lucky if I could get an oz in him for the entire day. I've tried mixing water and prune juice, grape juice and apple juice. No luck. I started the whole formula thing today though, and he did have a BM and he was not constipated. Not sure if it's the fact that I kinda diluted his formula. But I heard that's not good for the baby either because it cuts off their nutrition.
Sorry for babbling, Im kinda known for doing that. So soap and insert all the way in?
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I have the same question as Kyan's mom...Do you insert the soap ALL the way...and what if they do not have a BM...then it's stuck in there?????
Well - it's typical of me to do first and ask later - but here goes. I read all of this last night as I was stressed that my BF dd had not had a BM all day and she had just started the (evil) rice cereal. Anyway, this AM, I tried the Q tip with vaseline. That seemed safe. No poo. A few minutes later I went and got the soap, cut up an end and (here's where I interpreted the posts and NOW I ask) inserted it and pulled it out - never left it in. I probably inserted it about 3/4 inch or less a few times and then she poo'd. I should have been more prepared for success - but I was quite happy. She had another on her own a few minutes later. Darn rice!!!
So if you hare hesitant about leaving it in....try that - it worked for me, but I can't say wether it was the vaseline or the soap - or just Mother Nature. Good Luck.
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Hi Gippie,
I can't answer the second part of your question (i.e. if they don't have a BM), but I did just do this today, and did insert the soap pellet all the way until he'd swallowed it up. He had a pretty surprised look on his face, let me tell you! But bingo, he started passing gas almost immediately, then straining. My poor little guy.... He was crying and having such a hard time. He was trying so hard that he was making himself pee too.
In the end I combined advice, set him on a towel, took off the diaper and got ready for mess. I held his feet up in the air, and using a cotton bud, I nudged the little pellets out as he tried to push, otherwise they would disappear back in. We got about four inches of poop out that way (as well as the original piece of soap).
I then bf'd him as it was time for his feed. I did the soap thing first in case he needed comforting after. I felt him straining again, and when I checked afterwards there was this entire softer dark mass of poop in there -- the prunes chaser that I sent down two days ago!!
Hopefully we're back on the right track now. But I had to say that the soap trick totally helped us out in a pinch.
I never thought that being a Mom would see me a) doing some of the things I do or b) talking about them in such explicit detail!
Katy