Constipation

[summersusu]

My LO is on Lactoss Free formula and it really constipates him.  I mean will take his breath away when he tries to push it out.  Last night I thought something was wrong with him the way he was making noises, but it was only a bowel movement.  I have been giving him a tbsp of Karo in about 3 or 4 of his bottles.  I tried pear juice (two tbsp for two days) but it didn't work.  Are there any other suggestions?  The Karo works but I hate giving him all that sugar.  He doesn't seem to mind though.  I was just wondering are there any healtheir alternatives.

[becky1969]

I'm sure one of the moderators will help  you, but man have I been through THIS one! My LO is on a low lactose formula - Enfamil Gentelase - so it has the same effect as what you're talking about. My poor LO when we started it would scream when he had to make a poo. I almost cried the first time because I thought he was going to have an aneurism!

We tried pear juice too, and it didn't work at all for us. But prune juice has worked really well. You have to water fruit juice down 1:1 with water because it can cause gas (which is just as annoying as the constipation!). You should ask your pediatrician how much juice/water your LO can have in a day. When we started at 2 months, he was only allowed 2 oz of juice/water combo total. Now he can have up to 6 oz juice/water combo total. We usually find 2-3 oz does the trick. I've also found that I can't give him more than 1 oz with every feeding or it gives him really bad gas. So I spread the 2-3 oz throughout the day. That's enough to keep his poo smooth enough that he can pass it comfortably.

It may take 3 days to a week before the juice begins to work (depending on how long you've been on the lactose-free formula), so don't give up if it doesn't work after the first day. But once it begins to work it should keep working as long as you continue the juice. Ours was working so well, I thought I could start watering it down more (worried about gas and sugar). Boy did I pay for THAT little experiment! 

[summersusu]

Thanks for the advice.  Any particular brand of prune juice?
Does it need to be made by Gerber or some other baby producer or do I just get some off the shelf at the grocerer with the other juices?
Can you mix it with his formula? Maybe 1 ounce a day of prune in his bottle?

[becky1969]

I use the baby prune juice (no particular brand), but I think it's actually prune-apple. I wouldn't put it in his formula bottle, though, because I don't think it would taste good. Try giving the prune/water mixture in a separate small bottle. Some babies take to it better than others. My baby is nearly 20 lbs at 5 months, so obviously he's never seen a food he doesn't like, so he pretty much drinks it down just fine! However, I do give it to him with a higher flow nipple so it goes down quicker. Try 1 oz at first and see how LO does.

[* Paula *]

You can also try diluting fresh orange juice (without the bits) that also works really well.

[summersusu]

Tom Tom's Mum, do you mean freshly squeezed orange juice that I squeeze from an orange?
He hated the prune apple juice, I tried it yesterday and he gaged.  He even cried when I tried to feed him his milk later because he thought I was giving him that yucky stuff again.
Has anyone ever heard of giving ml's of milk of magnesia?
Another mother told me to try that.

[Mom to M&M]

Be careful with orange juice - citrus can be an allergen at a young age - you may want to check with your Ped first. Prune juice works for some but only gave my LO tummy cramps. What has finally helped us is a product our Ped recommended called Fiber Juice (http://www.fiberjuice.com) literally just regular juice with a lot of added fiber. We give 3-4 ounces a day and DD has big mushy poops now at least every other day. We use the apple.

Milk of magnesia works well and is quite gentle, you can use 1/2 tsp I believe. But you wouldn't want to use that long term.

Also, chronic constipation can be a sign of milk allergy/intolerance so you may want to look into that. Your baby may do better on a formula like Alimentum or Nutramigen - which are also lactose free but the milk proteins are broken down and thus more easily digested.

[* Paula *]

We just used store bough orange juice - we diluted it and only gave DS a couple of teaspoons and this seemed to help.

I do agree about the alergy part so would check with your Ped first - our HV recommended it to us.

[summersusu]

haven't tried the orange juice yet but he will not drink the prune apple at all.  I have tried it with water, with his bottle, with pear and he refuses so I am back to the syrup.  I am not sure if I should switch his milk to the Alimentum or Nutamigen.  How do you know if they have a milk allergy?  Is this something my doc can tell me?  I was thinking maybe trying to add the regular formula back into his diet, thinking maybe his system can handle it now and that would stop the constipation.  What do you think?

[becky1969]

Your pediatrician should definitely help you determine if your LO has a milk allergy. Why were you put on Lactose-free to begin with?

I see that your LO is 4 months old. You might be able to talk to your pediatrician about adding some fruit to your LOs diet - like prunes or applesauce instead of the juice. Perhaps that might help? I'm sorry he wouldn't drink the juice. I know some babies just won't accept it. There are suppositories you can use, but my pediatrician warned us that your baby can become "addicted" to them - in other words, will only be able to make a poo with suppositories. But it might be a short term solution until you can get on another formula or find something that LO will accept.

[Mom2katiebug]

We tried prune juice and water and other formulas but finally got a perscription from the pediatrician for lactulose and it works very well.  DD would push so hard, we both would be in tears.  I'm not happy about giving her this "medication" but it's SO better than her having poo issues. 

The lactulose is actually the same thing as Splenda (the sugar alternative that's made from sugar).  It's not absorbed by the body, but passes through and has a laxative effective.  I've heard this from so many doctors - even my OB okayed me to use it while pregnant cuz I wouldn't absorb it let alone have it pass to the baby.  And, trust me, if you've ever had too much Splenda...well, you know it!!!

If you want more info, PM me!

[summersusu]

Thanks for the info.
He has his 4 month shots this Monday so I am going to talk with the dr.
I am thinking that maybe we may slowly get him back on regular formula.  The only reason we switched formulas in the first place was because he was fussy.  Looking back, I don't know that he ever had milk problems, maybe we just didn't know how to sooth him or what he needed, but the Lactose Free seems to do fine so I hate to switch anything.  Now that his system is a little more mature and I can read his cries, I will be able to tell if it really is the formula.
We will see, I will keep you posted.
Thanks

[Mom2katiebug]

We used Similac (regular and soy), Enfamil Prosobee, Enfamil Lactose Free and Costco formula before trying Good Starts.  Within 2 days of starting GS DDs sleep changed like night and day.  She was still fussy but only when something was wrong, not that constant whining/fussing.  And, like a switch her naps got longer (I do take a little credit for the weeks of patting/shhing but only cuz I don't want it to feel like it was wasted time).  After being on GS for about a month, we tried Similac again and overnight had the same old problems.