Pooooooooo

[jennyh]

Calling on the good people of ED to lend an ear...

Second baby so have a more relaxed attitude but could do with some opinion on constipation! The little lad is nearly 7 months and was mixed fed for the first couple of weeks and then formula fed. Have always had problems with his bowel movements and lots of digestive issues with wind etc. was eventually given lactulose about 2 months ago and instructed to give twice a day, made no difference and so then added an apple juice/water dose twice a day...again not amazing results but got us through a few weeks. He has been on solids for about 3 weeks and is eating like a beast, problem is that it made his constipation worse than ever. I've never heard him scream so much in pain whilst trying to go.

So...I started boiling apricots and prunes and giving him the water to drink which seemed to help but was a massive pain to do every day and he wouldn't always drink it. So have him prune juice (5ml) which has helped loosen things up but he seems to be in pain a lot so not sure if this is giving him belly cramps??? Up until the last couple of days I was giving him lactulose but having increased his dosage with no great effect I have decided to stop that as its been 3 months and is doing very little!

Since weaning him he has also been more unsettled in the evenings and spends a lot of time straining (even when his poi is soft) and just writhes around a fair bit. I've taken a step back and reduced the amount if food he was having and slightly increased his milk intake as he was also waking hungry around 4am so trying to regain a little balance and not flood his tummy with new things. I've probably swamped him with new things to eat because he liked it so much, maybe having too many foods is too hard for his tummy to take??? I've stopped giving banana and cut down on anything with apple and carrot.

So...any ideas?? I need to keep giving him some juice and additional water to help with the poo but any ideas which could be more effective and am I making mistakes?? I also wonder if much if this is behavioural as he has somehow decided that you should make all manner of awful noises during every poo despite the fact it's much easier on some days! The GP once said his body will be in a routine of sorts and he needs to learn to go regularly and quietly!

Any thoughts do share as the poor guy is having all manner of syringes down his throat and his belly is taking a real battering with all this different stuff! He is so much more screamy and I'm sure it's all related to his tummy :-(

[Saffron]

That doesn't sound like a very high dose of lactose. But to give more you definitely need to speak to a specialist. My daughter (breastfed) had similar problems. She was taking a couple of ounces of prune juice in water most days. Things did eventually get better. Avoid senna preparations. They can make cramping worse. Persist with the GP/HV if you feel you're not making progress at home. xx

[Gooders79]

We tried cranial osteopathy with spectacular results, screaming upset evenings with up to a week between movements to daily within 1 treatment....

[shaunag]

My 9 month old boy has trouble going too. I've not been prescribed laxatives, but avocado is brilliant. I get the ones ripe and ready to eat from waitrose. He has 1/5 with some pur?ed pear (not good for no2s but his absolute favourite); this really helps to soften things. He has this for breakfast every morning. I also do pur?ed prunes which he loves-a total faff but easiest way I've found is to use the ones from waitrose tinned in pineapple juice; remove stones first then simmer for 10 mins and run through a sieve. I then freeze in ice cubes and give to him as a pudding occasionally. I'm doing my best to ply him with fluid too-apparently dehydration is a big cause in Los. Will watch this thread with interest for any other tips-it's awful watching them strain.

[jennyh]

Thanks everyone. Do you mean the dose of lactulose? The GP upped it from 2.5ml to 5ml, twice a day but that's not solved things for us. Or perhaps I should give more prune juice, I'm giving 5ml twice a day, not mixing with water...perhaps I should.

I will def try the avocado, he's turned his nose up a few times but that was as finger food, I'll try mashing some and mixing with pur?e. I'm also going to limit the foods I'm giving him so he's not having different stuff every day in case that is clogging him up more and hurting his belly.

Cranial osteopathy sounds good, I took him when he was tiny because of breathing problems but it cleared out the bank and money is tight so I will maybe consider again of he's still struggling in a couple of months!

[BB100]

My son had constipation when he turned 18 months. The doctor said it was from having a cows milk intolerance. He was on 20ml of lactolose and 10ml of senna . He had half a bottle of prune juice twice a day and that lasted two years. I saw a private consultant who said that he probably had internal fissures that were making him feel uncomfortable and I was also messing about with his diet and medication which wasnt helping him. She pointed out that lactolose isnt absorbed by the gut so to keep giving it with lots of fluids. My son one day sat on the potty and happened to do a poo. I think because of the seating position it helps it come out easier. I know yours is v young but it might be worth trying the potty if he is making a fuss. It was very stressful so I feel your worry. Its not pleasant but it does get better over time.

[Ellie78]

Jennyh- there's a charity in Wandsworth that specialises in cranial osteopathy for kids. Or at least there's was 18 months ago when my son was this age.

Guide price for treatment is 30 quid but it's guide only and you pay whatever you can. You can always make a small donation now and more when finances are better of you value the treatment.

At least that takes the finances out of it. If it's still open....

[devsdev]

The OCC in Wandsworth is open and they have a weekly clinic in Shoreditch if that's easier to get to. Also try reflexology - search "reflexology baby constipation" on YouTube and a basic method shows up. I used this with DD1 and for the first time yesterday with DD2 - I think it works (there was poo!). Good luck!

[Bluedark]

I had a period of very bad constipation for baby #2 when I was weaning her 2 months ago. We were prescribed lactulose but she is already on reflux medication so I didn't want to give something else. I spoke to health matters store and got a jar of probiotics for infants from there. Not cheap but we have used it regularly for 2-3 weeks and she seems to be back to normal now. I don't know whether it was a period for her and it was meant to get better regardless of the probiotics I wouldn't know, but I think worth a try. Probiotics protects the gut and I felt like with weaning and everything she might appreciate that little bit of help:)

[jennyh]

Thanks everyone. Going to try the OCC and also the probiotics, stupid of me really because I have a jar in the fridge from health matters but didn't think to use it!! Thanks for the tip.

[devsdev]

I just went to the OCC and it's now ?35 for first visit and ?25 for follow ups. They have a clinic in Shoreditch on Thursdays. They were great btw, highly recommend going.

[minimac]

Have you tried baby massage using oil on baby's tummy. My baby had problems when little and my hv gave me tips like gently massaging clockwise in a circle and holding his ankles and making his legs go like on a bike. They helped him become less windy. It also helps baby to 'go'. There were other exercises too - only took about 5 mins at bath time. Also, with my 3 year old we had awful poo probs until only two months ago and our hv said he needed 2 pints of water a day - obviously way more than your little one would need at his age but my point is I was really surprised by how much liquid a little one needed. We increased his drinking by getting a gimmicky drinking cup and it worked wonders! Your son is probably too young to fall for that 'trick' . It's worth looking at if he really does have enough liquid intake.

[jennyh]

Hi

I've tried the leg rotations and massage, think its a bigger beast if you see what I mean. I've tried all sorts of hands on methods to help him go with little effect. I def think part of it is behavioural and def liquid related. He gets plenty of milk but water is the issue I think, hard to get him to drink it but will keep persevering as I am currently listening to him crying in his cot and making his 'poo' noises. Strange thing is that water day he did two massive and fairly wet (sorry tmi) ones but today was like a pebble again and he's writhing around as if he hasn't been for weeks.

[goldilocks]

Have you considered that rather than solid food related it could be CMPI? My second child has CMPI and rather than resulting in explosive poos it means she struggles to poo.

Would also recommend going back to the GP and asking for movicol rather than lactulose. Some GPs insist on a paediatrician prescribing for under 2s, but our GP prescribed it for my son aged 1 (with hindsight suspect he also has CMPI but in any event, movicol has helped for him).