ongoing constipation
em...@bcm.tmc.edu
month. DS is now 7.5 months old and started solids at 6.5 months old.
Started with rice cereal and started slowly adding fruits and veggies.
And ever since, every times I try giving him cereal, he gets
constipated. Have tried rice and oatmeal and am going to try barly
next. He handles the fruits/veggies okay but not the cereals. I have
tried increasing his fluids (juice/water...but he isnt really
interested), avoiding the constipating things (rice, bananas, etc) and
adding baby prunes to his cereal (no help). Should I just not give him
cereal?? Dr recomends cereal because of the iron but has no other
suggestions as to how to deal with the constipation other than the
things we have already tried. Also, kindof graphic, but dr says poop
should be the consistancy of applesauce. Is this right?? His poop is
formed like an adult's would be. And when he is on cereal it is hard
and he cries when he poops. On just fruits/veggies he doenst strain
but it is formed. Have any of you had constipation problems with your
babies? If the barly doesnt work than I am just going to give up on
the cereal and stick with the fruits/vegies for a while. Thanks for
your help!
Diane
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Circe
>Okay, we have been battling constipation since we started
solids last
>month. DS is now 7.5 months old and started solids at 6.5
months old.
>Started with rice cereal and started slowly adding fruits and
veggies.
>And ever since, every times I try giving him cereal, he gets
>constipated. Have tried rice and oatmeal and am going to try
barly
>next. He handles the fruits/veggies okay but not the cereals.
I have
>tried increasing his fluids (juice/water...but he isnt really
>interested), avoiding the constipating things (rice, bananas,
etc) and
>adding baby prunes to his cereal (no help). Should I just not
give
>him cereal??
That seems the obvious solution to me!
>Dr recomends cereal because of the iron but has no other
>suggestions as to how to deal with the constipation other than
the
>things we have already tried.
Grrrr! Does doctor think no other foods on the planet contain
iron? And besides, the iron in cereal isn't there because it
occurs naturally, but because they fortify it. Essentially, when
you feed your baby iron-fortified cereal, you're feeding him an
iron vitamin embedded in some cereal. Given that, if you can't
get him adequate iron in foods (and there are foods that are
rich in iron that a baby your son's age can eat), you can give
him the vitamin drops instead. Sheesh. It's *better* for your
baby to be constipated and get iron in cereal than to take an
iron supplement and *not* be constipated.
>Also, kind of graphic, but dr says poop
>should be the consistancy of applesauce. Is this right?? His
poop is
>formed like an adult's would be.
When my daughter eats any amount of solids, her stools becomes
fairly formed as you describe. Other days, it's the applesaucey
consistency. It really depends on the ratio of breastmilk to
solids on that day (or the day before, as the case may be).
>And when he is on cereal it is hard
>and he cries when he poops. On just fruits/veggies he doenst
strain
>but it is formed. Have any of you had constipation problems
with your
>babies? If the barly doesnt work than I am just going to give
up on
>the cereal and stick with the fruits/vegies for a while.
Really, in your shoes, I wouldn't even try barley for a month or
so. Fruits and veggies are fine for a baby this age. For a bit
of extra iron, try peas, prunes, apricots (dried ones are best
but I don't think they make them in baby food, so get some dried
ones, add water, and grind 'em up in the blender), and beans of
all kinds (my daughter was eating and loving "frijoles" at about
8 months).
HTH!
--
Be well, Barbara (Julian [7/22/97] and Aurora's [7/19/99] mom)
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Alison Tooth
> cereal??
That would be my response.
> Dr recomends cereal because of the iron but has no other
> suggestions as to how to deal with the constipation other than the
> things we have already tried.
As long as you think a bit about what you're eating and giving him,
it'll be fine.
Alison
snowbird
> adding baby prunes to his cereal (no help). Should I just not give him
> cereal?? Dr recomends cereal because of the iron but has no other
> suggestions as to how to deal with the constipation other than the
> things we have already tried.
Not giving him cereal sounds like a plan to me. Stuff like carrots,squash,
pumpkin, sweet potatoes, beans, peas should be less
constipating
If your Ped. is concerned about iron, ask him for a recommendation
about vitamin drops (which kind and how much) to supplement iron.
Sounds like your son's digestive system just doesn't like cereal yet,
why fight it? Easy for the Ped. to say 'feed cereal' he doesn't have
to listen to your baby cry!!!
Sydney
Sherry
>Have any of you had constipation problems with your
>babies? If the barly doesnt work than I am just going to give up on
>the cereal and stick with the fruits/vegies for a while. Thanks for
>your help!
My personal opinion is you could skip the cereals. But what helped my
daughter was pear juice. I just gave her pear juice first thing in the
morning when I fed her. Or I would mix her cereal with pear juice. Yeah I
know kind of silly to give her something to make her constipated and mix it
with something to loosen it. But she really likes oat cereal even now at
13 months that is one of the few things she really likes in the mornings.
And as few solids as she eats I figure she needs whatever I can give her.
Anyway mixing pear juice with it and giving her some to drink really helped
a great deal, and has made life much easier.
Naomi Lynne Pardue
> adding baby prunes to his cereal (no help). Should I just not give him
> cereal?? Dr recomends cereal because of the iron but has no other
> suggestions as to how to deal with the constipation other than the
> should be the consistancy of applesauce. Is this right?? His poop is
> and he cries when he poops. On just fruits/veggies he doenst strain
As others have said, I'd ditch the cereal for a while and stick to less
binding foods. If baby is anemic (doctor can test for this), he can get
iron from other sources; either vitamin drops, or other, iron-rich foods.
As for the poop question, once baby starts any solids his stools will
usually be more 'formed' than they were on milk alone. As long as they are
soft and easy to pass, that isn't of concern.
Naomi
Carol L. Novak
>
> If your Ped. is concerned about iron, ask him for a recommendation
> about vitamin drops (which kind and how much) to supplement iron.
This is the second person on this thread to suggest that iron drops were
more acceptable than iron-fortified cereal, and I have to ask: have you
or anyone on this group successfully given iron drops?
I ask because my experience is that they taste horrible (like liquid
rust!) and that a baby will very quickly learn to fight taking them. I
think cereal is a lot kinder to the baby, assuming you can get the
constipation under control.
Also, if you believe that iron-fortified cereals cause constipation,
wouldn't you also think that the iron drops would too?
To the original poster: if you continue to give cereal, I hope you are
mixing it with something non-binding. Avoid apple juice which is
supposed to be constipating. I used EBM; pear or prune juice sound like
good bets too.
Good luck!
Carol and Marshall (4/11/96) and Spencer (5/27/99)
Higgins
>
> snowbird wrote:
> >
> > If your Ped. is concerned about iron, ask him for a recommendation
> > about vitamin drops (which kind and how much) to supplement iron.
>
> This is the second person on this thread to suggest that iron drops were
> more acceptable than iron-fortified cereal, and I have to ask: have you
> or anyone on this group successfully given iron drops?
I didnt read the OP but when my baby was around 9mths I think it was, my
Dr. told me to give him iron drops for anemia. I checked around and
after hearing that it could cause his teeth to become dark I simply
boosted both of our iron intakes and started taking my prenatal again.
I never gave him the iron supplement and in 3mths his iron had shot way
up. I never gave cereal either. I believe that cream of wheat is high
in iron though. I ate a lot of spinach, refried beans(nonfat), red meat
and wheat germ. You really can do it without using supplements.
Kim
em...@bcm.tmc.edu
"Carol L. Novak" <c...@scr.siemens.com> wrote:
>
> To the original poster: if you continue to give cereal, I hope you are
> mixing it with something non-binding. Avoid apple juice which is
> supposed to be constipating. I used EBM; pear or prune juice sound
like
> good bets too.
>
Yup, make it up with EBM or prune juice and add baby prunes to it as
well. We started barley once a day today so I will see how that goes
over. If it constipates him I will just stop the cereal for another
month or so. I still take my prenatals so hopefully he is getting
plenty of iron from the bm. He will get checked in 6 weeks at his 9
month appointment for anemia if the dr thinks it is necessary. Do
babies show symptoms like adults do? (like being really tired?)