Should I be adding more liquids to diet?

[Liam and Shane's Mommy]

My 8 mos.ds has been having some mild constipation lately.  Actually for past 3 weeks.  Not sure why.  The only things that have changed are that I've added a solid for lunch but oatmeal cereal still only 2x per day and I've even cut back on the amount at each serving.  I try to bf as much as I can.  It ends up being about 5-6x per day and I still try to bf before meals so he's getting enough liquid.   Also I've tried giving him water in sippy cup or bottle.  Both are new experiences for him. 

Am I giving him too many solids at this age.  He gets about 5-6 tsps. of fruit for breakfast plus 3 tbsps of cereal.  At lunch its 5-6 tsps. of veggies plus maybe 2-3 tsps of fruit.  He keeps wanting more!  Then same proportion of veggies and cereal at supper as at breakfast.

His bm's are on the firmer side and he seems to have some discomfort passing them and also prior to going.

Not sure what else I could be doing.  I've been giving prunes in small amounts, peaches, pears, green beans, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes etc.

Should I be giving him juice after meals or even formula in a cup.  I thought the breast feeding often would be enough.

[tylersmommy]

Not to get too graphic here, but what do his BM's look like? If they're on the firmer side, that's normal. As solids become a larger part of the diet, they start to look more like adult BM's. It's even normal to be a bit uncomfortable passing them sometimes...it feels different, and can take some getting used to. And the frequency changes too. Solids cause them to go less often. That said, if his poos look like little marbles or he cries while he's passing them, then he is constipated. Juice can help (so I've heard, my DS would never drink it ), and you might cut back on the oatmeal to 1 meal each day. Iron fortified cereal is a notorious cause of constipation. Hopefully things have sorted themselves out...please post back and let us know!

[JacobMarksMummy]

I did just the same as you regarding BF and solids I thought my DS ate too much but I knew he was hungry he would howl if I took it away before he was finished. He went through a stage of really seeming to struggle to have a bm and were as he might go twice a day he would go every other day. I think it happend when he became more reliant on solids for his nutrition. He is fine now and if I am honest he only started having water out a cup about two weeks ago because for a while I thought it might be due to not enough liquids so I spoke to my MIL who is a helath visitor and she sed what I was doing was fine and that DS was fine.

Have you tried as melissa say to cut back on the oatmeal I found if I mixed DS with some fruit puree every time I gave it it seemed eaisier for him to pass stool later.

HTH

Nome

[JacobMarksMummy]

p.s foremilk is intented as a 'drink'

[EASYconfusedMom]

I was wondering something similar regarding my DD.  Even though she is already 8 months, we have only recently started her on fruits and veggies (pears, applesauce, bananas, peas, carrots so far), and until last weekend, had little interest.  She now gets about 2 - 3 tbls twice a day.  This past week though, she had no bms and was very irritated so I gave her a suppository to get something out.  I talked to my mom and MIL and they suggested more liquids with her meals.  The lo now gets a sippy cup with water but hasn't quite figured it out yet (any pointers would be great!).  Other than increasing the number of BFs, how should I increase liquids?

My second question though is if your los had a very red area around the anus.  Not large, just quite red and localized.  At first I though it was the beginning of diaper rash, but it didn't grow and given the constipation I thought it could be related.  Haven't mentioned it to the dr yet.  Wondered if you ladies noticed something similar with your los.

[Idahomom]

My 4 mo. DS has had the red area around the anus since a couple of weeks old.  Ped recommended A&M ointment or bag balm.  She said not to use zinc oxide creams.  We put the ointment on with last diaper change of the night and it clears up over night.  He has never been constipated, has had tastes of rice cereal the last 4 days.

[themarlatts]

My DS had struggled with constipation since he was just a couple of months old.  Doc told us to give him a little bit of juice and extra water - it didn't make any difference.

Last doc appt. she said since that wasn't working to give him 4 oz of full strength clear juice a day - it immediately fixed the problem.  Now he's older he won't always take it, but he seems to get enough to not have major problems anymore.  She also told me never to give him Rice cereal and that I should give him lots of oatmeal or barley cereal - the fiber in those helps to push it all out!

I've had pretty good results with prunes, too - but he has to eat a lot - a whole jar to get it to work.