Constipated...

[razzle]

My poor little angel hasn't done a poo since last Thursday! We've tried diluted prune juice (raspberried it out), Heinz apple & prune juice (raspberried it out), brown sugar diluted with 40mls of water (liked it but didn't make her poo), and for the last two days has had Coloxyl drops in her milk (hasn't done a thing). She's been consitpated before - coincidently around the same time she started solids - and the brown sugar and only one dose of coloxyl did the trick. But this time - nothing! She doesn't seem overly upset... so who knows, maybe she just doesn't need to?? :confused:

So I took her to the doctor this morning, he had a bit of a feel and couldn't feel any blockages in her bowel but said that if she hasn't pooed by the morning to come back and see him.

Anyone else got any ideas? :confused:

[H&B'sMum]

Hi Rach,
Sorry to hear about Eloise, it's annoying when they don't poo for a few days and then it all cames out at once. A friend of mine tried apricots. She got it in a jar from Woolies in the baby food section, I think it was something, something and apricot swirl. I know for older children apricots work really well. I hope this helps. What will the Dr do in the morning if she hasn't?
Good luck overnight.

[Rosie]

I guess that you've probably tried gentle belly massage? If not, once when I was constipated my naturopath suggested to massage generous amount of castor oil in clock-wise motion (if you are looking down at your own belly) on tummy following the natural direction of colon and to do this just before going to bed and to leave the oil on to absorb, it worked for me but maybe not quite so much oil for bub. Hope this helps, it's all I can think of seeing as you have already tried the prunes. Good luck!

[Gemma]

Hi Rach,

Is she getting enough fluids? That can constipate. Otherwise keep with the Coloxyl in every bottle, try some melon...has fiber and liquid, and don't give banana as that constipates. Is she passing wind?...if so she is not obstructed. Go back to Dr tomorrow, she might have a big mass in her rectum which is stopping the rest getting through.

Hope you have some luck.

[razzle]

Thanks girls.

I have tried massage Rosie although not with oil, plus the riding the bike action with her legs but it doesn't seem to do anything except make her giggle. She's been having an extra 100ml or so of water throughout the day inbetween feeds for a few weeks plus whatever prune juice she doesn't raspberry at me plus 4 feeds of about 220mls per day so I'm assuming this is enough liquid. I've taken her off solids for the last couple of days as well in case this was interfering somehow - she doesn't seem to be missing it.

She has done a couple of "bottom burps" Gemma - not her usual rip roaring make dad proud ones( :o ), but a couple of little "pffttttts". And she had a skid-mark in her nappy about an hour ago so maybe we'll get some action tonight!

The doctor I saw today was not our usual doctor so he was reluctant to do anything other than feel around her tummy. I have an appointment with my usual doc tomorrow at 9.30 - I guess the only other thing they can do is have a feel up her bottom (poor little bugger - he has HUGE fingers) and maybe use a suppositary??

When I spoke to Child & Youth Health hotline nurse last night she told me that coloxyl is not a laxative (I was a bit worried giving it to her for long periods in case she developed lazy bowels) but a detergent that softens the stool and is therefore safe to use on a long term basis. This sounded a bit odd to me - what do you think Gemma, being a nurse yourself?

She's having a nap now - maybe she'll follow on from the skid-mark whilst she sleeps!! :D

Cheers

[jakobsmum]

I have heard that pear juice is good for constipation. Good luck with it though :)

[xkwzit]

Hi Rachel
I've also been told that pears are good for constipation. If she's on solids, just stew some in the microwave until soft and mash...(I've been surprised by how good stewed pears smell). I should also mention that a doctor I've been to said that little kids should not eat too much (more than the equivalent of one piece of) fruit a day in case it makes them too loose (so to speak)

[razzle]

Thanks for all your advice guys! She's done poos! And lots of it!! YAY! :D

When I changed her late yesterday afternoon she started to do "the push". After much screaming (awfully upsetting high pitched ones) and crying and pushing she managed to do a huge hard chunk. A small trickle of blood followed which worried me... (OK - so I completely freaked out and burst into tears)... and immediately rang the hospital where she was born and spoke to a midwife. She reassured me that this was perfectly normal, she may have a fissure inside, not to worry, but definitely take her to the doctors in the morning. She did another two chunks later in the evening and had ANOTHER chunk in her nappy this morning. I took her off to our doctor this morning and he said that some kids have runny poos and some have hard poos and she is one of the latter. I'm feeding her all the right stuff and doing all the right things, but she may get constipated more easily than some other kids. The other thing that he suggested was Parachoc, since the Coloxyl obviously wasn't working. It's a lubricant (paraffin oil) and is therefore safe to use on a long term basis - won't create lazy bowels - and is also recommended for kiddies over 12 months, but he said just to use a small dose - say 5ml a day - until things are back to normal. I gave her 1ml in her bottle at lunchtime and 15 minutes later she's doing the push and out comes MORE!! And it was soft!! (Honestly - the things that we get excited about!!) He also said it was safe to use infant glycerol suppositories. The suppository is smaller than the poo she's pushing out so it'll be fine.

So... we'll just have to see what happens from now on. I bought a couple of pears on the way home (thanks for that advice girls) and I'm going to stew them in the microwave to see if fresh fruit makes a difference compared to the heinz jars.

Thanks again guys. Cheers!

[H&B'sMum]

That's fantastic news Rach, Well Done Eloise.
It is amazing what we get excited about, but they are our little ones and these things matter. At least we know who to come to on advice about poos :p .
I'm so glad everything has work out for you two.

[jakobsmum]

Good to hear that it is all systems go. Have heard some horro stories about constipated babies. Jakob has never had the problem just the opposite in fact :p

[Rosie]

Yeh! A poo :D I'm glad Eloise finally did one. Bet it makes you both much happier.

[razzle]

Yep - I am the expert on poo now! The parachoc works a treat let me give you the tip!!

I can't believe how much happier she is - I thought we were having a bout of teething at first, until I realised that she was just clogged up.

She was so funny this morning - our doctor stuck his finger up her bum to have a feel and she didn't even flinch - just grabbed her feet and blew a raspberry! :p I cracked up!

Cheers