How can I get my 9 mo to drink more - she's constipated!

[Mommy2Cait]

We have been having a real rough go with my little one since starting solids. She's EBF angel/textbook baby that really does love eating solids, the problem is drinking. Besides nursing her, I can't get her to drink anything else

Let me back up some. We started her on rice cereal at 6.5 mo. She ate it well and loved it. After a couple of weeks, we noticed she wasn't having regular bowel movments. When she was EBF, she would only poop every couple of weeks, which was completely normal. However, she got in a real mess and she got so constipated that it took her about 12 hours of painful pushing when she finally passed it - it was awful. So I stopped all solids and gave her little belly a break and just BF for a few
days. I contacted a dietician and she suggested barley or oatmeal cereal instead and to mix with a juice like pear or apple and to add prunes as well. So
that's what we did and it's worked well until recently
 the proplem is she's not drinking enough. She's a great little eater, but not when it comes to drinking and that's where I need help.

I BF her 3 times a day, an hour before each meal (7:30, 11:30, 4:00) and then again once before bed and once through the night. I offer her water with each meal, she loves each cup
I have tried her with but she just let's it run down her face. I have tried prune, apple and
pear juice and she does the same thing.

She just went several days again without pooping and had another very painful one again today . Stool suppositories don't work, she doesn't keep them in.

Thank you in advance for any help you may have.
 

[We Three]

UGH...I'm sorry your lo is going through this. My dd was chronically constipated since day one!  I used to buy baby food prunes and mix them with baby food pears...that worked for a while, but she seemed to build up a tolerance and then it didn't work so well.

Please forgive my ignorance here, I know next-to-nothing about Bfing... but how do you offer her the water? Sippy only? Does she have bottles at all?  How about a straw cup, you know the cuos with the flip-up straw? Sometimes the new-ness of something can entice them? Does she eat table food at all? Maybe some watermelon in one of those feeders...she would get alot of fluid that way too.  ? 

I would avoid apple and banana at all costs too....

[~inbalance~]

You might find some ideas on this thread:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=54820.0

Definitely try different cups if you can.  At that age we had the most success with a regular cup as opposed to sippys or bottles. 

Have you talked to your LO's doctor for ideas?

I wonder if offering your LO probiotics would help her system out a bit.  Just thinking out loud.

HTH

[~ Vik ~]

Sorry your lo is going through so much trouble!

I agree completely with Anne - avoid apple and banana like the plague.  Rice too (as you've discovered) as it is extremely constipating.  (Think the BRAT diet for diarrhea - if you're having problems with constipation then avoid bananas, rice, applesauce, toast because they'll only make things worse.

In addition to water and juices, there are some foods that you can offer to help move things along.  The 'p' fruits (prunes, pears, peaches, apricots) all soften the stool.  Do you have one of those mesh feeders?  In addition to watermelon, you could put ice cubes (or water or fruit juice) into them for her to suck on.  Messy, but effective

The straw cups were a big winner here.  Once Dylan figured out how to suck on them and get the liquid out he was in love!

Hoping something here is helpful for you

(ETA posted at the same time as Martina)

[Mommy2Cait]

Thanks so much everyone for your suggestions.

I have offered her water, pear, apple and prune juices in a bottle (takes ebm well with bottle), sippy cup and regular cup. Each time it's the same result, the liquid just pours down her face. I like the idea of a straw though , we will defintely give that a try.

She has been to the doctor after the first constipation with rice, that's when he told us that she was having a gut reaction to rice cereal. We do avoid banana and apples.  The fruit she gets during the day is pears, peaches and apricots.  I have started offering her fruit in mesh bag, but haven't tried watermelon yet, will give that one a try too!

I hadn't thought of probiotics yet. Can you get probiotic yogurt for babies or can I just give her the full fat ativia brand, for example?  Any other probiotic sources other than yogurt?

All great suggestions, thanks everyone!!

[~inbalance~]

I would give her a full fat yogurt.  As long as the ingredients say "active bacterial culture" or something like that it will have some probiotics in it.  You might also be able to buy them on their own for children at a health store.  Here I buy a kind in powder form, I get it from our naturopath.  On that note, it might not be a bad idea to consult with a naturopathic doctor is you can.  I find they tend to think outside the box a little, so might have some more ideas for you to try and would be able to recommend an appropriate probioitc. 

[Mommy2Cait]

Thanks, that sounds good. I do have an NP that I use for myself, I will consult her for my daughter.

[We Three]

Couldn't agree more about the probiotics.  Yogurt is a great source, but then alot of dairy can be constipating...so we give my dd the powder in her morning cereal. 

[masonsmom1209]

I had to take obscene amounts of antibiotics after my c-section and we got a probiotic product called Bio Gaia for our son http://www.biogaia.com/. I ordered it from the pharmacy and kept it in the fridge. I know it helped the poor lo. Hope this helps.

[~inbalance~]

Our paed recommended the BioGaia.  Right now I'm using one that the ND recommended, but I've heard the BioGaia is supposed to be very helpful for all sorts of things.  I might look into it as well. 

[Mommy2Cait]

I actually have some BioGaia in the fridge that was recommended for my son. I completely forgot about it. Thanks, I will give it a try.

Well, she's really not getting any better at taking in liquids. I offer her several different kinds (water, juice, formula) with each meal and she just let's it drain down out of her mouth. I try a bottle, a sippy cup and a cup with no lid - and she does the same with all of them. I'm trying to offer her more fruits in the mesh bag that she can suck on to get the juices, but even that's limited in terms of how much she's actually swallowing. I also tried a straw and she really has no clue what to do with it.

I'm going to make an appt tomorrow with the naturopathic doctor. 

Thanks again for your suggestions!

[~inbalance~]

Hang in there.  DS1 was EBF and it took him up to a year to get the hang of any kind of cup really.  It wasn't as much of an issue for us as he wasn't constipated, but what I'm saying is that keep offering her liquids in cups just as you have and she will get the hang of it soon I'm sure.  In the meantime I do hope you can find other ways to help with the constipation.  I'm sure the naturopath will have some ideas for you. 

[paintingfire]

One more thing you may not have thought of... My little boy was constipated so I did some research, and it turns out that iron fortification can cause some icky digestive issues. Even if you switched from rice to another grain, you'll still be getting the effect from the iron fortification. You might try reducing or eliminating cereal entirely for a while and see if it helps.

For me, scotching bananas did the trick... for a while.