Laxative Foods

[themarlatts]

I say try some juice (we started with pear, and then did white grape) - it worked wonders for my DS.  Use it diluted as much as you want, and keep reducing the amount of water every time you give it till it gets things moving.  I too was worried about all the sugar, and him getting used to it, but he still loves water, formula etc. and doesn't seem upset when he doesn't get it.  I HAVE to give him a full cup diluted a day or else he has issues.  My doc told me it was better to give him juice than to have him straining so much.

Oh yeah, I also found that in order for prunes to work for us we have to give  A TON of them - at least a whole jar.

[LŠuren]

I can vouch that pureed prune and baby rice does the trick 

[squeaky's mum]

I would vouch for this recipe along with lots of water between bf and with meals

put 60g each of dried peaches, apples, apricots and prunes and one dried fig in a saucepan with a 2cm piece of vanilla pod, just cover with water, bring to the boil then simmer for 1/2 hour.

Once done, puree to desired consistency put in ice cube trays for freezing

hope this helps, dd and dh love it

[MPalmer]

I just wanted to add that my DS is 5 1/2 mo's old and after a few weeks of solids (rice cereal, butternut squash, sweet potatos, pears, bannanas) that he was getting quite constipated.  His stool was very firm but still tubular in shape?!?!  So, I gave him 2 1/2 oz of prunes last night and again today and they worked well cuz we had a huge blow-out diaper!  DH said it was very similar to a breast milk only BM. 

Just wanted to add that sucess story for anyone else w/ a young baby.

[courtneyandmiles]

my 6 mo. old is const., too. I've done research and found:
yes:  green beans, peas, peaches, pears, prunes and prune juice
no: banana, any form of apple (incl. juice), squash, carrots, cereal  (darn, my baby LOVES squash!)

kind of limits Baby's diet, huh?  I offer lots of water.  She takes water better (warm) from an old-fashioned sippy-cup ( no handles, fast-pouring spout).  When Baby's in pain while pooping, I read to put her on the changing table, hold her legs up and rub her lower belly.

Glycerin suppositories work short-term, but it's important to do water and poop-inducing foods 'til Baby is regular.  then add the const. foods in small doses.  I go to the ped. tomorrow, so I'll find out more.

Funny that the "first foods" everyone recommends are const.-causing!

[Mom to M&M]

Just an FYI that we've had a lot of luck with banana as a mild laxative - despite it being constipating for some. We only use a very ripe organic banana and puree about 1/3 of it with some peach puree and a tiny bit of water. DD loves it and it has softened her up more than plain peaches. We are trialing peas tomorrow.

[Mia and Lily's Mom]

OK, I am glad we found this post.  Dd has been constipated for about a month now, similar to Marisa's mom, pooping every day but only little hard pellets.  We have tried prunes, peaches, oatmeal with apple juice (now my pediatrician said that applesauce is bad but apple juice is supposed to help  ), water with sugar (another pediatrician recommendation because it is supposed to draw water into the intestants).  So far nothing is working.  Now I was told squash is OK and green beans which are really the only two vegetables left, and she is not fond of green beans so if the consensus here is that squash is no good, does that mean she will get no vegetables for a while.  This is really frustrating and it is hurting her sleeping because that is mostly when she tries to poop and gets really uncomfortable and of course wakes up.
Maybe I will try the superripe organic banana as well, do you have to puree it, I always thought you could just mash it up, or is the pureeing what helps it be more of  a laxative. 
I have learnt more about this stuff than I ever wanted to know, and it is still not working

[Mom to M&M]

I puree the banana because DD doesn't like it just mashed. If your DD is ok with it mashed it should work the same.

Also, have you tried peas? We are trying them tomorrow - supposed to be a good food to help them go because of all the fiber. Fiber is the same reason green beans help - have you tried mixing the green beans with a food she DOES like so it tastes better to her?

I would avoid apple juice - can cause tummy cramps. If you must give juice, white grape juice is much gentler.

[Mia and Lily's Mom]

Good to know about apple juice, I tried Pear Juice as well but she hated the flavor.  I was actually thinking about going straight for the prune juice, but have not done it yet
Its funny that you were told peas were OK, we were doing Peas (and she likes them OK) but our pediatrician said that they are bad for constipation because they are starchy.  How are we supposed to make heads or tails out of this if our pediatricians can't even keep their story straight?
Anybody know about spinach, I was going to try her on that, unless that is a bad one as well? How about Yoghurt?  Great idea about mixing the foods, maybe I will mix some pears in with the green beans to make them more yummy for her.
Thanks

[MPalmer]

I just wanted to add the same thing that CourtnetandMiles said about helping them poop when they're having trouble....   

Our little guy was trying so hard to push out his firm stools, to where we would have him on the changing table and we would watch him strain to push out a BM while we held his legs in the air to watch...  Well... we found that by holding his legs up in the air, it somehow makes it easier for him to push that BM out and whatever else is backed up behind it! haaaaaa   

I'm assuming it's not the best thing to do to always help him poop like that...but when we suspect he's having trouble, we put him on the changing table and hold his legs up and whooooooaaaa nelly...a whole lotta poop comes out EVERY time!!!   I'd much rather try this before doing a suppository.

[mandykittie]

Jasper also has reflux, and struggles with constipation.  We've avoided grains, since even homemade whole-grain oats seem to bind him up.  Also no apples, and definitely not bananas, since even the ripest seem to be trouble for him.  I've been giving him 50% white grape juice, about 2 oz once per day and it's REALLY helped.  Having an older one, I can tell you that he won't get hooked on juice (we used it with Josie too, until she was around 1 year, then stopped...now she gets very little juice [only orange, and only with weekend breakfasts] and never missed it).  We also give a lot of yogurt, which he loves and has been a help, as well as pears, yams, peas (mixed with applesauce), and mango.  Oh yes, mango is very fibrous and works great. 
Finally, if she's struggling with other things, you should definitely AVOID blueberries until 1 year.  They're a very common allergen (same with corn & strawberries). 
I used "The Super Baby Food Book" by Ruth Yaron with Josie and Jasper, and it's been very helpful on figuring out what foods to feed when. 

Goood luck,
Amanda

[ryan's mum]

i agree with the yoghurt , i have mentioned this before on a similar thread to do with constipation , and nearly everyone disagreed . most said with reflux , dairy should be avoided and yoghurt was constipating. we have always found yoghurt works really well , we had Ryan on a prune yoghurt at 10 months and he would have some daily , now as he's got older vertually any yoghurt is good ! . this is the reason i held back on this thread about suggesting yoghurt . we use white grape juice , but Ryan loves water aswell , most of the time he will want water rather than juice .

[Mom to M&M]

Actually, blueberries are not a common allergen at all. See below from wholesomebabyfood.com:

**Many believe that blueberries fall under the "no berries until after age 12 months old" rule. Blueberries are not really a common allergen - they are not in the "berry" family. Blueberries are related to cranberries - cranberries appear on many lists of "least allergenic foods" Blueberries are not related to
strawberries, raspberries and the like. Those "true" berries may be mild to highly allergenic. In the book, Managing Allergy and Intolerance in the Allergic Infant (published for Health Care Professionals and The General Public), blueberries are recommended between 6-9 months old. There are also several
other pediatric allergy books that say that blueberries are ok from 6-9 months old as well.

[Mia and Lily's Mom]

We achieved success

In fact we had 4 poopies yesterday, two of them huge.  What finally worked was giving her oatmeal made with undiluted prune juice, and that seems to have done the trick.  In fact we are going back to diluting the juice again today because 4 is a little much 

Thanks for everybodys help

[ryan's mum]

YAY ! now that she has had a good empty , try and keep on top of it .try putting less prune juice in but tiny amounts just incase it back fires on you . i'm glad she has had some relief .