Help with 5 month old baby who is constipated.?

Question

What is a good food or drink for a 5 month old baby who is constipated. My granddaughter is somewhat constipated. She goes everyday, but has a hard time and turns red. I never had this problem with mine because they were all breast-fed and went about 3 to 4 times a day.
They feed her formula, similac, bananas, rice or oat cereal.
I am watching her today and got apple juice for her. I am a little reluctant at introducing her to new foods, but I hate to see her struggle with each bowel movement.
Does someone have expertise on this subject.

Answer 1

for starters, stop the bananas, they are constipating. apple juice is fine, as is strained carrots and other fruit and vegies. if she is really bad, try giving her a little prune juice Its an old fashioned remedy, but it worked for my grandson who has nerve problems and needed help eliminating from day 1.

Answer 2

My 2 year old son has a bowel condition. He sees a pediatric gastrointerologist at least once a month. When we started with this he (the dr) sd try some light Karo syrup in water. If that doesn't work try diluted prune juice. She needs to have some fiber in her diet everyday. Bananas are good but they tend to stop u up. Also the rice and oats cereal are binding too. Make sure she is getting fruits and veggies everyday. U can also use that new stuff called benifiber. It is tasteless and u can put it on or in anything u want.

Answer 3

My daughter has suffered with constipation since her birth. I'm surprised that at five months, she has not been introduced to apple juice. That was the no. 1 way to alleviate her problem while still on formula. It seems, the formula definitely plays a big role in this problem. Especially until the child is eating solids on a regular basis. I'd check to make sure if there is a medical reason for not introducing apples into her diet first, then go for it . It won't take long for this natural laxative to take affect.

Answer 4

the bananas need to be stopped while she's constipated, and easy on the rice cereal too.
Apple and/or prune juice is good to add.
You are right to take this seriously though. It is decidely *not* good for them to constipated. It can lead to withholding and loong-term problems for them. Hopefully she is not yet bleeding from the small tears in the rectum that can start with such straining and hard-to-pass poops, but though that in itself isn't a big danger, it *hurts* them if it gets to that point and babies will avoid doing something that hurts, making the problem worse.
Babies do vary in how much they indicate 'strain' when they poop, though, so I would also attend to whether she cries. If she seems to be in pain, then steps must definitely be taken!

good luck!

Answer 5

Both my son and daughter had this problem until they were about 2yrs. old. I was told by their pediatrician that it's very common for babies to go through this. I was then advised to give them warm water; which does help. Also, to try to lessen the fiber in their diets; too much causes constipation. But what I found that works the best are good old-fashioned baby suppositories.
Hope this helps.

Answer 6

All of her regular foods can cause problems by themselves, and she's eating them ALL AT ONCE! I'd be stopped up too. Introduce some diluted apple, pear, or prune juice, like one ounce with two oz water, once or twice a day, and I'd also suggest they start introducing some "orange" foods, like peaches, apricots, carrots and squash. "White" foods tend to be very constipating. I had to do this with my son b/c he had the same issues.

Answer 7

Dark Karo Corn Syrup (about a tablespoon) diluted with water in her bottle. This seemed to work well for my son when he was having problems. Prune juice works, but almost too well.

Answer 8

My mother-in-law is a nurse and she has talked about this A LOT. She always recommends putting a little prune juice in their bottle of formula. It loosens them right up. People have always had good results with this.

Answer 9

I find drinking water first before a meal helps with constipation.Or make sure she eats a bit of vegetable first than the other foods. Vegetables like pumpkin, spinach, broccoli. Maybe the rice is to bulky for her system.

Answer 10

my daughter had the same prob
The nurse at the Dr. office recommended putting a 1 oz of dark Karo syrup, to 4 oz milk in her bottle, and I thought well what could it hurt? and it worked! if you wanna do something a little stronger, try pear or apple juice instead of milk.
This really works well!

Hope it helps