what can i give my baby for constipation?

Question

My baby is 3 weeks old and she has been getting constipated. I was breastfeeding her and she was fine but now I dont have any more milk so she has to drink formula. Could it be the brand of formula?

I had to stop breastfeeding because my baby wouldnt latch on and my pump dried me up.

Answer 1

papaya
or a banana
yes that can be
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee no no no ask a doc -- damn 3 week i thought 3 years sorry --

i will pray good for baby

Answer 2

How can you possibly "not have any more milk" if you were breastfeeding her? Breastfeeding is supply and demand. If she is latched on correctly and nursing often enough, she will get milk and you will have a supply. WHy did you think you didn't have milk? Was she gaining weight? Having wet and poopy diapers?

I'd encourage you to ditch the formula (which is absolutely what is constipating her) and go back to breastfeeding. Talk to a Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and/or a La Leche League Leader to help you get breastfeeding reestablished and rebuild your supply.

EDITED TO ADD:
Did you work with an IBCLC or a LLL Leader to get your little one to latch? Did you use a good (hospital grade) pump?

DO NOT GIVE YOUR BABY HONEY. Honey can cause infant botulism which is SERIOUS. It can KILL your child. The daughter of a friend almost DIED from infant botulism (not from honey...they never figured out how she got it) and it is some SERIOUS SCAREY STUFF. NO HONEY UNDER THE AGE OF 12 MOS!

Answer 3

If you want to keep breastfeeding it is probably not too late. Have your OB prescribe you Reglan (generic name: metocloperamide). It greatly increases your milk supply while you are taking it. You'd take it for about a week...and it is safe for babies. I took it 3 different times in the 14 months I nursed, and it worked well.

Otherwise...my pediatrician recommended a small amount of juice. They said try pear first because it is the most mild. If that didn't work we were to move on to prune. It should be diluted with water and only an ounce or 2 given at a time. When we tried it we got results within a couple of hours.
Good luck!


Someone after me said try honey. Please DO NOT do that. Under no circumstances should a baby have honey. Not until after they're a year old.

Answer 4

OK. No honey. It could kill her.
I really don't recommend juice yet. She is VERY YOUNG!
You can try to switch formula, but this just happens when they switch from breast to formula. The baby didn't have try really try to poop on breastmilk since it was so soft. Now the poop is harder since it is formula. The body doesn't break it down as well. It will take the baby a while to get used to using those mussles. The best thing to try is a warm bath when they seem to have problems. It relaxes them. If it has been more than 3 days call your doctor. They may tell you to try something else. DO NOT GIVE AN ENEMA OR SUPOSITORY TO YOUR CHILD WITHOUT A DR. CONSENT. Your child is only 3 weeks old.

Answer 5

You need to talk to your health visitor or doctor. Breastfed babies tend to poo less than bottlefed because the breast milk is better designed to be absorbed by their bodies with less waste. But that doesn't mean they are constipated.

However, if she is constipated, literally she is struggling to pass stools, there are very mild laxatives that can be prescriped. My son had difficulties passing stools from the time he was born until he went onto solids (a very stressful 4 months!) and I spent a lot of time arguing with different health care workers before someone finally took it serious and gave him a laxative. They kept saying that because his stools looked normal when he passed them he couldn't be constipated (despite the fact that he was so cranky and strained so much he ended up with an "outie" belly button when it had originally healed as an "innie".) You will likely have to argue with them a lot, but you know your baby better than anyone. don't let them fob you off.

Also, I was advised to give him bottles of cooled boiled water between feeds. But I have to admit, it didn't work for him and since weight gain was an issue with him, I didn't like doing it anyway. But you probably will be advised to try it.

As a secondary note, if you still wish to breastfeed, you should be able to. How long ago did you stop? It may not be too late to resume. As long as you continue to feed, and the baby is latching properly, your milk shouldn't dry up, unless you have an illness that causes it. I breastfed Daniel up to 11 months, but I did have a rocky start of it, and we needed to be taught how to do it properly. If you want more information about breast feeding, please feel free to contact me. I truly believe breast is best if you are able to do it.

Best wishes!

Answer 6

yes, most formula are iron fortified, which can cause constipation. but is it REALLY constipation? that means she hasn't pooped in 2-3 days, and if she did, it'd be hard, which is hardly likely for someone only on liquids. When you change diet (milk to formula), sometimes it takes a few days for the baby to adjust. If you haven't seen poop in 3 days, you need to take her to a pediatricion.

Answer 7

My 3.5 week old was having same probs. I talked to doc she said 1/2oz prune juice 1/2oz. water will help. She also said apricot nectar mixed same way. It seemed to help in about an hr. Some docs think differently so you may want to call and ask before giving your baby anything. Could be brand, but it could also mean baby's tummy is adjusting or taking longer to process things. Good luck

katrina

Answer 8

It probaly is the brand of formula you need to check it to make sure it does not contain Iron . Iron causes constipation if given regularly. Change the formula that you are using if it continues take her to the Doctor.

Answer 9

I just went through this with my baby. I know everybody is saying go to the Peditrician. I asked my Ped. at my baby's appointment and she told me to take a tsp or two of the clear Karo corn syrup and mix that with the baby's bottles. She said do that to as many bottles as it takes to unconstipate the baby. If it is taking to long and you can't take seeing the baby in pain (which I couldn't), give it diluted prune jiuce (caution: baby needs bath after this one, doesn't smell great, but it works) or apple juice. The apple juice worked the best for me.

Answer 10

i breastfed my son for 3 weeks then gradually switched him to formula bc he wouldnt attach right....he was constipated sooo bad i was in tears. I told his doctor that he hadnt went in 2 days...she said thats normal formula would do that and there wasnt anything i could do for him....the next day he screamed for hours bc he had to go but couldnt....after some prying for a few hours it finally came out....after that i started giving him an ounce or two of water inbetween feedings or right before a feeding....this helped but if it gets really bad you can always get 100% juice and make a half and half with water...that will get your baby moving a little faster....but i would stick to the water since babys arent really supposed to have juice...i gave the juice to my son when i had to....he didnt have a bad reaction to it or anything but it got him moving

Answer 11

Sometimes switching to a soy formula can help. Iron in formula can also be hard on babies. We tried several different types before we found one that was compatible. We ended up with the soy one.