Avoiding/addressing constipation in 8 month old

[hannahbanana]

Hi,

I've been having recent issues with constipation and multiple nightwakings with my breastfeed 8.5 month old.  The problem, for both, I think, revolves around food.

My LO is 8.5 months old, but we didn't really start giving much solids until the beginning of January--and that's when we started having multiple night wakings and problems with constipation (meaning long periods between hard, scant poops).  The reason I think the nws and constipation are related is that they started at the same time.  Nothing changed in our schedule and my LO has never been one for waking more than once (twice during a GS) to feed.

I've read the thread on laxative foods and have been experimenting.  But I don't know if my approach is right?  I say this because my instinct is to almost cut out solids until my LO is having bowel movements again.  I did this once.  But when she still wasn't pooping, I fed her some pumpkin and diluted prune/grape juice and that got things going.  Is it a bad idea to fluctuate, like this, with solids?  Should I just changed what I'm feeding her?

Currently, we are OFF cereals (with no plans to return).  We reintroduced pears successfully (meaning, she had a poop following pears).  S, I didn't wait three days, and I started again with carrots!  Now, no poop for three days, and today, a tiny rabbit pellet of a poop!  So, this morning, I gave her some pumpkin mixed with applesauce and apricot (not ideal, but I didn't have any pears and the pumpkin didn't freeze well and needed so help with texture). 

My questions, I guess, is: Is the best way to deal with constipation to continue with solids as before, just different foods or should I backtrack and give her system a chance to recover?  Currently, I have gone back to feeding every 3 hours, to up my supply, treating it as a GS.  If/when I offer solids, it's about 1 to 1 1/2 hours after nursing.

Thanks,

sophia

[Freya'sMum]

Hello!

I think it is normal to expect a baby's poo to change when solid foods are introduced, after all the waste products of different foods (milk, pear, carrot) are all different substances, so are likely to look and smell different

There are 2 questions here I think - how to introduce solid foods, and how to help the constipation...

...as your lo is 8.5 months and has had little solid food experience to date, I would seriously consider skipping the puree phase altogether and introducing solid foods as finger foods - the baby-led weaning FAQ, and finger foods for young babies thread in Recipes would give you all the info you need to get started, and you could join the BLW support thread for additional thoughts and ideas as you get going with it.

As dd's digestive system seems to react differently to different foods, I would be quite vigilant with monitoring what you offer and when, introducing only one new food at a time so you can work out what causes what reaction - doing this myself for a time I worked out that wheat makes me constipated, and salad leaves do quite the opposite - this would be 'modified' rather than 'pure' BLW, and that's ok ...

...as for the constipation, I find that drinking plenty really helps to get things moving - as well as the regular bf, do you offer cooled boiled water in a sippy cup at other times (solid food mealtimes generally)? Some others have added a small amount of prune or orange juice too.

HTH a bit?

Ax

[hannahbanana]

Thanks.  I discovered that pumpkin really helps her, not that she can eat that exclusively.  I am being careful about what foods to offer and am doing BLW to a degree.  At present, I'm focusing on bfing, because I think that's key to getting her sleep through again.  Yes, I'm tackling multiple food-related issues at the moment.

sophia

[benandmichelle]

Sophia, ripe banana baked inside a date and whizzed helps constipation...try it maybe?

[hannahbanana]

I've never heard of that before.  I'll keep it in mind, thanks.