Author Topic: Constipation issues and reduced appetite...  (Read 3372 times)

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Offline LaraAndrea

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Constipation issues and reduced appetite...
« on: June 27, 2017, 14:14:02 pm »
Like many other posters, my LO who used to eat everything put in front of her is eating less and is now some what selective.

I am pretty sure she is teething and I am sure this adjustment in appetite is part of the continuum of learning to eat etc.

My question is around constipation. When she ate pretty much anything offered it was not a problem. I would make sure she had enough fiber rich options to keep her poop soft. But now she is so unpredictable and I cannot garentee that she will eat much of her fiber options.

Since then she had had harder stools that are sometimes uncomfortable to pass.

Any tips to combat this constipation issue?

Offline *Ali*

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Re: Constipation issues and reduced appetite...
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2017, 15:27:24 pm »
Is she breast or formula fed?  Are you offering water in a sippy with the solid foods?

What sort of foods is she eating?  You could start off with the veg and fruit options and offer less or more of the protein, fat and complex carbs depending on how much she eats of the other stuff perhaps.

Do you offer brown versions of bread,  rice,  pasta etc? Those often have too much of the wrong sort of fibre for little tummies so white versions are recommended for babies. 

Is she feeding herself finger foods now or are you spoon feeding her?
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


Offline LaraAndrea

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Re: Constipation issues and reduced appetite...
« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2017, 16:19:12 pm »
She is breastfed and finger foods.

We do give her whole wheat pasta and bread. But they have a good mix of soluble and insoluble fiber.

I always offer the fruit and veggies 1st which used to work well, now she doesn't eat the fruit and veg until she has eaten her favs. Sometimes she will eat them afterwards, sometimes not.

Offline *Ali*

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Re: Constipation issues and reduced appetite...
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2017, 19:42:18 pm »
Too much fibre can cause constipation so I'd consider cutting back on the brown bread and pasta or replacing them with white versions at least sometimes. This is recommended until 5yo in the UK.

You could also consider giving orange juice to help with the hard stools.  Obviously it isn't ideal from a teeth perspective though. 

Does she eat things like porridge that you could mix prunes in with? Or give them straight if she'll eat them.

And breastmilk is a laxitive which also helps LOs digest solid food so maybe consider a little top up feed after solids,  especially if she hasn't eaten the fruit.
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


Offline LaraAndrea

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Re: Constipation issues and reduced appetite...
« Reply #4 on: June 27, 2017, 20:51:59 pm »
I mix pear in with her cereal and she used to gobble it up... Now she eats only half her cereal.

She gets a small amount of BM in a cup with meals.

She ate all of her fruit today, so hopefully it was just a phase. But I will keep in mind what you said about whole grains.

Offline creations

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Re: Constipation issues and reduced appetite...
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2017, 08:30:35 am »
replacing them with white versions at least sometimes. This is recommended until 5yo in the UK.
A tip if you like to eat brown pasta, you can cook a small portion of white pasta in with your own brown pasta which greatly reduces the number of pots on the stove and amount of extra work involved to provide LO with a slightly different meal. We eat white pasta but my DS was highly frustrated by spaghetti even though he had happily eaten it a couple of times, basically he couldn't get the food in his mouth fast enough and found it an ordeal to eat. For a while I dropped a handful of pasta twists into the pot with our spag and then just fished them out when I drained. Worked a treat.  I know some pastas have a slightly different cooking time but it always worked out fine for DS. I did this until the day he got upset that he wasn't served exactly the same as mummy and daddy.  Kids eh?

With bread, crumpets, pita breads, chapati etc you could perhaps by a white version and freeze it so that you can lift out one portion for LO and the main meal is the same but LO gets the white version until older.

WRT constipation. I found I could naturally control my DS's poo with prunes and carrots. If he was a bit too firm I gave him a ready to eat, pitted, prune or two as part of his meal (he loved them and would just eat them straight like that) and in addition I avoided serving carrots for a day or two. If he was a little too loose I served carrots (and  no prunes) which firmed things up.  I am sure other people use other foods in a similar way, it's great if you can discover a couple of foods like this which you LO likes.


Offline LaraAndrea

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Re: Constipation issues and reduced appetite...
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2017, 12:01:44 pm »
Is quinoa and barely ok?

Here I am trying to feed my baby the healthy thing that we eat and all the while I am hurting her tummy :(

I have been using pear as her laxative food. As long as she eats it, she dies ok :)


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Re: Constipation issues and reduced appetite...
« Reply #7 on: June 28, 2017, 14:09:01 pm »
Quinoa is a seed so IMO that is fine, not a whole grain
barley I'm not sure, it would depend on if its hull was removed or not. Pearl barley has the hull removed and is then "polished" to make like a pearl as far as I know. Perhaps Ali knows more about this.

Here I am trying to feed my baby the healthy thing that we eat and all the while I am hurting her tummy :(
Don't beat yourself up about it - no one needs additional guilt it's hard enough parenting as it is. We all try to do the best for our LOs with the information we have available at the time.
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Offline LaraAndrea

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Re: Constipation issues and reduced appetite...
« Reply #8 on: June 28, 2017, 16:46:22 pm »
Does the food throwing phase end? She used to eat her food. Now she eats almost nothing, but throws a lot.

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Re: Constipation issues and reduced appetite...
« Reply #9 on: June 28, 2017, 17:52:38 pm »
Try serving a very small amount in one go, like one or two pieces, keep the rest on a plate out of her reach and only serve another piece if the first 1-2 are eaten. You can try to gently catch her before she manages to throw if you are very alert and quick. I used to shove a bowl under DS's drops and say "tidy up" then "thank you" after it fell in. He learned to tidy up all his bits of food this way rather than throwing or dropping them to the floor.
If it's more than a brief phase you can just interpret it that she has finished, say something like "you've finished" and remove her form the high chair, meal time over until next meal.
I think dropping often increases when appetite drops due to teething.
It can also become a game so I would avoid picking anything up until meal time is over and she is out of sight.  You can also offer some dropping or throwing games in activity time which should help to fulfil the desire to learn about gravity :)


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Re: Constipation issues and reduced appetite...
« Reply #10 on: June 29, 2017, 20:58:28 pm »
Pearl barley is lower in fibre than hulled barley because most of the bran has been removed.
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011