Very Hard BM Since Changing Food...

When my daughter had the same problem, my Dr recommended feeding her prunes at least once each week. I had no trouble finding baby food prunes, and sometimes they are mixed with apples or pears to make them a little sweeter. The results were very quick. By the next day her bowel movements were much better and easier for her. I still include them with her meals at least once a week. She loves them! A. :-)

My son did have some issues with hard BMs or not going regularly when we changed his food. We gave him a couple of spoons of prunes and that seemed to help. Maybe try that and see if it works.

Sometimes this can indicate a deficiency in the Omega 3 oils. I have always supplemented my kids with these oils and it has always helped. I remember one mom who said it solved chronic constipation for her son and he was able to take him off his medication he had previously taken for it. Maybe you can put a little in her formula.

Hi K.,

The Next Step formula has more iron in it than regular formula. Too much iron will definately constipate! Also, try giving your daughter things such as whole wheat crackers, whole wheat bagels or bread. Also, green veggies such as green beans and peas have lots of fiber. Also, you can use a little more water in the formula than the can says too. Not much, just 1/4 to 1/2 ounce more water to each scoop than you usually do. The extra water will help to drown the opponent (the constipation)!

With the getting up at night, I dunno. My son is also 9 months old and has never slept through the night. He is always up at that time for a bottle. He is on a combo of pumped breast milk and formula.

The only thing I can think of is that the formula or new foods is giving her gas or a tummy ache. When babies have a tummy ache, they often want something to eat to soothe them. Getting a full tummy lessens the ache.

try giving her fruits that aren't the ones that are binding like bananas for example. Double check on me because it has been awhile since I had an infant but straight juice can make then a little more gassy so water always helps us adults have more regular BM as you put it so even just some extra water or even pedialyte would probably help. Hope I helped some. Best of luck to you and your little one.

Our girls sound very similar in the fact that they are the same age, both like table food, not keen on jar food and have started waking up in the middle of the night to eat. The one difference is I breast feed. My point is I know she eats enough solids and gets as much milk as she needs but she still gets up. From about 3 months up until she was 8 months she would sleep through the night. Now she gets up around 2/3am like clock work. Talking with other moms with babies her age, they have gone through simipar experiences. As far as the hard BM's, I am no expert but look at what you are feeding her. If she is eating a lot of rice and bananas, those act as "binders". Applesauce can do they same thing. I learned that early on when mine started eating solids. Good luck!

I would make a change in the formula again. If she is eating table food, what kinds? She shouldn't be getting any white breads, potatoes, rices, that don't have fiber. She may need more water....just offer it all the time because sips turn into larger amounts. Diet is key here.

If the bm's don't loosen up, and she holds and get fissures and that will create a cycle of pain and anxiety about going potty later.

An absolute last resort is to buy a stool softener for children or gycerin suppositories. S.

I would think that around 9 mos that the middle of the night bottle is no longer necessary, esp if she was not taking one before. What could be waking her is the constipation and associated tummy pains. She also may be thirsty when she wakes which could also be tied to the constipation. I would try water instead of formula if she wants a bottle in the middle of the night.
One thing you can try that worked for my son was prunes and apples. I would get the prunes and apples stage 2 and feed that to her over a period of a couple of days. Another one that worked was the stage 3 Blueberry Buckle (I think its made by Gerber). Something about the blueberries opened him right up every time.
Good luck!

Hi, I'm Kelly and a Mom to a 9 yr old. He had difficulty with hard bms too and I discovered he could not handle dairy foods. I have this problem too so I eliminated dairy for him and he has been fine since. It sounds like your child's diet changed drastically from a new formula to new foods, I am wondering if your doctor has an opinion about this effecting the bowels. Just a couple of things to consider. Good luck! This too shall pass (no pun intended).

Hi K.,
It seems your daughter is having a hard time digesting table food and may need to have the table food mashed in a baby food masher for more easy digestion. It could be this or she may have a food allergy. Is there anything completely new that she is eating like wheat, dairy, corn, soy, etc.? The Next Step is a good supplement but should not be a meal replacement. Diluted prune juice a few times a day esp. at night before bed should help with her BMs as well. Make sure she is getting plenty of fluids. Good luck.

K.

I would go back to the formula that she was on. It's h*** o* their systems to do too many changes at once. I would also back off of the straight juice since it is so bad for them (sugar-wise and for their teeth).

If nothing else seems to work, you can by Myralax over the counter now to get her regulated agine.

P.

Hi K.
My name is S. Hein. I am a Family Herbalist Consultant here in Wilmington, NC and a mother of a 2 year old. I reccommend probiotics. This is the "good bacteria" that lives in our digestive tract. It helps our body digest food and absorb the nutrients. Since she is making a dramatic change in food and formula her GI tract is a little disrupted. Plus probiotics will support her immune system. They are also great for her skin and many other things. You can buy these probiotics at a health food store. If one isn't available, JarrowFormulas.com is a great spot for them. I reccommend a powdered infant probiotic. Something easy to put in her formula once daily. This will help tremendosly Don't hesitate to look probiotics up on line!
Love and light,
S. Hein

Introduce new foods to her 3 days at a time. Do not give her a new food this morning and another new food tonight. You have to allow her body to adjust to each food. She is a baby and her body is developing. New food introductions are what is causing the cramping in her stomach and intestines. So just give her something new keeping her old diet. Then introduce another new food but remember one at a time.
As far as sleeping goes this usually works. Give her a bath at night before bedtime and feed her cereal mixed in with her milk. When she wakes up give her water instead of milk or formula. After 3-4 nights she will not wake up anymore as her body will adjust to only being given water and will not wake up for it. Water is great for her especially as her teeth are developing. This will also prevent bottle caries.
She may also be one of those babies that do not need to take long naps during the afternoons but limited time frames or not at all.
Good luck.

just a shot in the dark here, but does your new formula have more iron in it than the previous formula? Iron can constipate and give a child an upset stomach which could be contributing to why she might be waking in the night.

Prunes are our magic food for getting things going again. But if she isn't interested in pureed foods anymore that might be a hard sell. My 9 month old son is really good with cut up soft fruit like bananas and pears, and gets especially excited if he sees me eating the same food he's eating.
Good luck!

Oh my gosh, this has given me an ahh haa moment. We just switched my ten month old to next step formula. And he started waking up at around 5 every morning. He has slept through the night since 6 weeks and he was breastfed until 9 1/2 months. Now at 10 1/2 months I switched to next step since it was a little cheaper. I think we will give him the regular formula for his night feeding and stay with this during the day. Sorry I don't have anything to add about the bms. We are not having a problem with that, we are still on babyfood for the most part.

Are you giving her a lot of apple juice? That will actually constipate her worse. I don't know if pediatricians still mention it, but when my daughter was little (she's 10 now), I was told to put a small amount, maybe a teaspoon, of dark Kayro syrup in her 8 ounce bottle once a day. That did the trick and she has no side effects now - she is a perfectly normal and healthy kid. My sister's daughter also has this same problem and she puts chocolate syrup in one of her bottles, and watches the dairy intake. Good luck!

Try giving her more fruits and veggies instead of juices. Also give her more water instead of juice. Bananas taste great to kids but are not considered roughage - try apples or apple sauce - chunky and sweet potatoes. Good Luck!

Liz

I would say from the start follow your instincts, I have been advised alot by doctors and they aren't always right, each child is different. Is your daughter drinking enough water to begin with? Also, it sounds like she is still hungry if she is waking in the night. Does she have a bottle before she goes to bed? If not a bottle could you give her a little something to eat just before bedtime. These are only suggestions but I do hope they will help, remember, you know best.

When my daughter went from breast milk to formula, she had a terrible time with BM's. They were really hard and she usually cried trying to get them out. I switched to Soy Formula. This helped a lot. Now that she is over a year old, we give her soy milk and have not had any problems. Good luck!

I'd get back in touch with your dr as soon as you can and let him/her know she's not digesting it well. If you have any of the previous formula left, I'd go back to it if it's going to take a while to get a hold of the dr so that you can both get some rest in the meantime.

It may be that she's really just uncomfortable--not necessarily hungry--at those night wake-ups but takes a bottle for the comfort of it, so I recommend helping her go back to sleep the same way you put her down at night.

Wish you the best! My dd (nearly 2) has barely started sleeping through the night, so I know what it's like to have those nightly interruptions!

I know when my kids were smaller and they had this problem my mom told me to put about a teaspoon of Karo syrup in their bottle. It actually does wonders for them by helping to keep them regular. It can't hurt to try! Hope it helps!

My daughter had issues with constipation around that same age. She too prefered table food vs. baby food. However, when she was constipated I would offer her baby food prunes & pears....no applesauce or bananas or any type of iron fortified baby cereal. I would just spoon them in while she was in between eating her table food. I would also avoid anything starchy...potatoes or sweet potatoes. I always breastfed my daughter so I can't really offer advice first hand on the formula situation, but I guess I don't understand what the benefits would be of switching formulas when the one you were using before was fine. I would also try changing back to the formula she was on before, but maybe talk to your pediatrician about her issues first. I also agree with many of the other replies....if you are going to give her juice, definitely do at least half juice & half water (I also did this with my daughter...prune juice or pear juice!) and I would definitely give her water at night vs. more formula since she was sleeping thru the night before. My daughter never took a bottle so I give her a sippy cup with a little water to take to bed with her. That really helped her night wakings a ton! Basically she was just waking at night b/c she was thirsty not hungry. Think about it....don't you wake up thirsty at night?? I always do & always have water next to my bed for that reason. Hope this helps some!

hello,

i'm a single mom who had natural child birth to 2 beautiful girls.they are healthy teenagers, now...and need me around more than ever!
i am a professional yoga therapist, so am in the business of offering advice....
there are several natural ways to relieve your child's situation.
#1...yummy tummy rubs. the intestines need to be moving the food through all of the time. you can help energize this movement by rubbing the childs lower belly in a clockwise direction. children love this. and a bit of pressure is ok and helpful.
#2. give your child lots of water...the warmer the better. children will be more inclined to drink water if you have kept them away from sugary stuff...like commercial formula...just check labels alot.
#3. vegetables and fruits move easier than meat. this is just a good basic food policy. the animal products in this country are full of hormones and chemicals, anyway. if you feed her meat, use farm-raised animals that are treated with respect and fed only natural feed.
#4. children are most likely to cooperate if 'monkey see monkey do.' if you are eating and drinking things that are good for her, she will know what is good for her, because she wants to be beautiful like her mommy!

(sing to her. it deeply calms the nervous system, which allows the organs to be happy and work better!)

peace to you and yours ____@____.com

i would feed her cooked greens like chard, and other cooked veggies with fiber. Next step does not seem (looking at the nutritional line up) to have significantly better nutrition than whole milk- check out the nutritional line ups of each at:

http://www.elook.org/nutrition/dairy/738.html

http://www.elook.org/nutrition/baby/872.html

I am shocked that infant formulas supply such small percentages of nutrients. I would have thought that given what they cost they would contain more vitamins.

Why not just give baby whole milk and make sure she is getting lots of fruits and veggies in her diet?

I would say, stop the Next Step stuff, since it may well be the culprit, and either go back to what she had before, or go to something else, like I gave my son Almond Amazake from the fridge drink section of Weaver Street Market as a beverage once he was taking table food.
And it is GREAT stuff, yummy and filing and he called it "mamazake"

Also your choice of table food may be what stopping things up, need lots of high water contect food, ie fruit and fresh veggies

S.
wwwbodyandsoulwellness.net