weaning to formula & constipation - 5.5 months

[carlag]

My nearly 6 month old is making the transition from breast milk to formula. As we have decreased his breastmilk, his stools have become quite firm (turd like) & he's going once every 1-2 days, after lots of straining and grunting. He's on Isomil as Similac gave him the opposite problem of diarroahea!  Is this considered to be constipation and if so, what can I do to help him out?

[Pirate Mom]

My ds gets constipated due to the fact he is on Enfamil AR b/c of reflux.  Our Dr. suggested an afternoon snack of 2 oz water to 1 tablespoon Karo syrup.  This has really helped with his constipation.  His poohs are soft and he has no straining or problem.  He also goes every day.  The one thing I make sure to do is to wipe is gums down with a cold cloth after he drinks so the sugar doesn't stay on his gums. He loves this part too b/c he can chew on the cloth.  Maybe this will work, Good Luck.

[The Vern]

I just went through a bout of constipation with my 6- month old due to us changing from liquid concentrate formula to powder. I have since learned that the powder is harder to digest so we're back to the liquid. In any event, her poos were rock hard and made her cry they hurt so bad to pass.  I'm not sure that just straining and grunting would qualify as constipation, neither the frequency - she often skips a day or two when she's regular.  Know also that formula fed infants don't poo as often as breastfed.  If your lo is on solids try foods such as pears, peas, peaches, apricots, and diluted pear or apple juice. Those all worked great for us. She was back to normal within a day of eating those foods and going back to liquid formula.  HTH.

[Mom2katiebug]

We had an extreme case of constipation and ended up with a perscription solution after trying several other things.

My pediatrician recommends water with just a splash of prune juice, believeing that the prune juice is less likely to cause a sweet tooth later on.  Apple and pear are also good laxative juices. 

Have heard to avoid the Karo syrup cuz it's not pastuerized, but have also heard that it works well.  Have also seen suggestions for white sugar and brown sugar in the water bottles.

We have aslo used the gylcerin suppositories when we know DD is having tummy pains due to not pooing.  I wouldn't recommend these for a long-term fix.

If your starting solids and your LO is taking to them well, it could be as simple as giving plenty of those purees each day to get on a "regular" schedule.  Also, we started giving water in a sippy (alternating with formula) to get some additional fluid in DD when she eats the solids.

[The Vern]

Just adding another thing I've read recently.  Adding plain water to los diet won't loosen up the stools; it will merely be absorbed as more urine.  You need to use some kind of liaxative juice diluted with water.

[Southernbelle]

The GI doc that we saw confirmed my belief that Soy formulas can cause constipation.  Soy is very binding and even adults who take in a lot of soy tend to have the same problems.  My son drinks soy and is constipated often.  My 5mos old DD is on  reguilar Good Start and goes regularly with nice easy poos.  I didn't want both my kids to suffer from bad constipation.  I don't think the soy was the only cause of DS's problems, but it seems to make it worse.  Poor DS was on meds for his constipation and still bleeds sometimes from hard stools (sorry if TMI).  Some of it seems to run in families.  Good luck!