23 Week Old, Daughter, Is Having Painful Bowel Movements, What Do I Do?

It's the food. She's way to young to digest it and it's not working.

Baby food in ONLY flavored goo. It has NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE. None. That's from the company themselves. They say that jars of baby food are for teaching a baby to chew and swallow but that breast milk and/or formula should always be offered FIRST and they should be allowed to fill up on that then take a few bites of baby food. Not the reverse.

You do realize that breast milk and/or formula is her entire nutritional need at this age, right? She doesn't need food and shouldn't have it until she's at least 6 months old. Stop the food and I bet she goes back to normal poop.

Then she can start with easy to digest foods like rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula in a runny consistency. SO she can digest it right.

I would cut out the food entirely - she doesn't need it, and so many food makes it hard to figure out what the problem is. Stick just with breastmilk and formula. No problem mixing them - I did it with both my kids for the bottles that I sent to daycare. If you have enough breastmilk supply, it would be better to go to all breastmilk for a few days, then try to gradually reintroduce the formula once her tummy is feeling better.

well, the first and most obvious solution is to take her to the doctor. surely that's a given, right? what does she say?
i would stop formula right away. formulae are loaded with all sorts of things that could constipate her. i'd also stop feeding her table foods until you get this sorted out. she's getting so many different and potentially constipating foods right now that you can't sort out what's causing the problem. put her back on straight breast milk and water.
use a good natural organic oil like coconut on her little bum, possibly stimulate her (lightly!) with an oil-coated q-tip.
but seriously, when a baby is screaming in pain, and your heart is 'breaking to pieces', get her to a doctor. there's just no reason to let her suffer while you wring your hands and flail about.
khairete
S.

Formulas are usually fortified with iron. This causes constipation for some babies. Also, changing formulas can be h*** o* little tummies. Mixing it with breast milk shouldn't be an issue at all. That's what so many of us do when we can't completely keep up with breast milk. Good for you for not just quitting and still giving her breast milk. There are dietary and over the counter remedies to deal with constipation, but this is something you want to talk to your doctor about.

Most pediatricians recommend no solid foods for the first 6 months, so you're a little early on the baby foods. Also, when you do give baby foods, you want to make sure you are giving foods that are high in fiber. While applesauce is actually very high in fiber and will soften her poop, bananas tend to really firm up the poop. I'm not sure about the fiber in sweet potatoes and butternut squash, but you could probably google that. Prunes are very high in fiber.

Because your daughter is so young, I would call your doctor. There are ways you can change her diet a bit that should really help. My niece's doctor had my SIL give her pear juice (mixed with water) to help her out when she was 2 or 3 months old. When our oldest would get constipated, we would give him a jar of prunes or some prune juice. There are also some products you can buy that would help. But I would call your ped and ask. I just wouldn't want to take any chances on irritating her little tummy any further. Ask her doctor what he/she thinks is best.

You really need to figure out which formula works or just nurse exclusively. Juice or water will not work when it is an intolerance to something in the formula. My youngest was like this but it wasn't an issue until much later because she didn't really get formula until she was 9 months old.

Just based on my experience you need to try to regulate this. When it came time to potty train my youngest it was a nightmare because she would hold it for days which made it even harder to poo..... She had to go on Miralax for a few weeks to clear things. Then off and on for a couple months until she understood holding it is worse, don't do that. You don't want to go through that, it wasn't fun.

Honestly, most formulas are loaded with iron. This caused both my kids severe problems. I had to find a formula without iron and then add a little back in. Talk to the doctor. Also, once you find a formula, STAY WITH IT. Don't keep changing. Little systems don't do well with changing all the time. They are just learning how to digest.

Stop with all the baby food. She doesn't need it. If you want to give a little baby food, I would do cereal. Apples and bananas can be h*** o* little tummies. Also, I would not introduce all at once. Generally, the rule of thumb is introduce a new food a week. If there is not a reaction, try another one the next week. At 5 1/2 months, you might be a little early.

Stay away from juices. That is loaded with sugar. Water would be ok but honestly, you little one should be getting everything she needs from the breastmilk and formula. Also, what are YOU eating? Remember, when you breastfeed, your baby is eating what you ate. I couldn't have anything spicy. Drove the kids nuts!! Good luck!

Congratulations on your baby! Welcome to mamapedia!!

DO NOT give your daughter ANY juice without consulting your pediatrician first.

WHY are you mixing breast milk and formula? DO one or the other. Her system is young and figuring things out.

Bananas are what people get when they are having diarrhea. So your daughter's young system is reacting to them by slowing it down.

You need to pick what you are going to do with regarding to breast feeding or formula. I know there are people that mix it. I wasn't one of them. Breast feeding is FREE!! Why spend so much on formula?

Did your pediatrician tell you to start her on foods? Did he/she tell you to introduce ONE food at a time - like a week at a time - to make sure there were no allergic reactions??

I would NOT give my infant water unless my pediatrician told me to. I would breast feed and pump to keep my milk supply up. Figure out what you are going to do - breast milk or formula - then stick with it.

If your daughter has wet diapers? And they are NOT bright yellow? She's not dehydrated. If she's not having wet diapers as well? Call your pediatrician.

Good luck!

A baby that little should not have hard poops. If at all possible, I would go back to breast milk only for a while. With both of my kiddos I was barely starting a few little bites of food at that age. I agree with the other moms that the solids are to blame. We gave my oldest formula a couple of times, each feeding had a noticeable change in his diapers. Food did to a certain extent, but much less because we introduced it very, very gradually. She may have an especially sensitive tummy and need a long, gradual introduction to solids. Just slow things down. If the issues continue after a couple of days on breast milk only, or if she has any other symptoms, I would take her to the doctor.
Hang in there, it will get better!!

My daughter was always constipated as a baby. Most formulas are loaded with iron which is usually the cause. I would not give juice unless you discuss it with the doctor first, but at the time mine allowed me to give one once of apple juice with three ounces of water once a day.

You can also put some coconut oil on her bum to help her BM's (the coconut oil is better and safer then Vaseline and just around the outside not inside). I would also avoid bananas and rice cereal they can cause constipation. Sweet potatoes and squash should be OK, but solid foods are more for getting a taste of different things not for nutrition, that comes after the first year.

I'm so sorry you're going through this -- it's tough to see your baby crying in pain because she's unable to do what should come natural. My daughter suffered from constipation, too so I feel ya.

Since your daughter has already tried stage 1 baby food, give her stage 1 prunes. Prunes have a special type of sugar that's suppose to help bring moisture back into the stool to make it pass easier. So give her prunes then put her in a jumper if she's been in one before. The jumping action she does should help the bowels move. The prune/jumper combination works real well. If she's not using a jumper yet, don't worry about it. Prunes work well by itself.

I found that the stage 1 prunes work MUCH better than prune juice. Prune juice is too diluted with not enough prunes.

After that, you need to work on finding the formula that works for her. Try to keep her mainly on breastmilk.

Since bananas are a binding food (part of a BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast) to get through diarrhea), don't give her any bananas and/or applesauce.
Prune juice might help.
It could be she's not ready for solid foods yet.
Our son was about a year old before he took to solids.
There's no rush - they get everything they need from breast milk or formula for their first year.

stop feeding her anything that is not breast milk. feed her as often and as much as she wants it. your body will respond with the proper nutrition for her needs.
formula constipated my son. he was only on it for a few weeks while i was figuring out the whole breastfeeding thing and waiting for my body to produce enough milk for him. first time we gave him solids he had a solid poo... i stopped solids for a few more weeks and let his body prepare for it better. i restarted the solids around 6.5 months and he did better with them.
dd didn't start solids till she was closer to 7 months becasue she refused to be fed. so untill she could gum down foods on her own she only got breastmilk. and it was all she needed.

I don't understand why you aren't comfortable with juices. You're giving her food. What is the difference? Give her watered down prune juice. Like half water, half prune juice. Probably 3 ounces. She needs to get some help.

If this doesn't get better, you need to get her to the doctor.

She is constipated and it hurts. Formula can cause constipation and you are giving her foods that bind you up - bananas and apples! That will make it worse. Quit solids and don't give any juice unless the pediatrician recommends. Try to exclusively breastfeed if you can - and if you don't want to or can't - than don't change formulas. Use just what your pediatrician has recommended. When you introduce foods, do it slowly, maybe one every 3-4 days. It is okay to wait until 7 or 8 months for solids if your baby isn't ready yet. Hang in there!