thickened (reflux) formula ----> Constipation

[lexies mum]

My DD had an 'event' on monday night where she choked on her vomit in her sleep and almost suffocated to death. My doctor recommended reflux formula which we put her on straight away (monday night). I noticed yesterday she was really straining to do a poo and when she finally did one it was hard and it had made her rectum bleed, and it happened again this morning except more blood. Shes passing wind really well its just the poo she is having difficulty pooing. my doctor told me to try diluted prune juice but its not working. I dont want to put her on more medication, because she is already on infacol... any suggestions???

:confused::confused::confused:

[naiwen]

DS has reflux so I can sympathise, I use a teaspoon of brown sugar in his bottle when he is constipated and it seems to get him moving!

[lexies mum]

thank you i will try that with her next feed

[kerrysinead]

Hi there, :hugs: to you and your bub, reflux and constipation are the pits arent they? Which anti-reflux formula are you using? When I first changed to formula I used S26 AR and my DD got quite badly constipated. I changed to Karicare and just added Karicare thickener, that way I could adjust the thickness. Its a bit exey that way though but it worked for us and she never had any more issues with constipation. When she was constipated i tried giving warm water between feeds or added a bit extra water to the formula, like 20-30mls. This helped a bit. Other people recommend prune/pear juice diluted in water or brown sugar diluted in water, although Im not sure of the quantities as Ive never used it but Im sure someone else would know. I must admit I did resort to using coloxyl drops that time and they worked really well after just one dose. I think the trick with constipation is to get that extra water into them to soften the poo making it easier to pass with or without a stimulant such as juice or coloxyl. Good luck, hope this helps.:)

[Woogy]

Oh wow, I bet that gave you a terrible fright! I hope that you don't have any further experiences like that. Poor little thing though, we know what it's like as adults to be constipated...it can make us irritable, unsettled at sleep time and generally out of sorts and I have noticed that my DD isn't much different when she's constipated.

My DD1 is also a reflux baby (on Zantac and Losec medication at present) and we tried most of the anti-reflux formulas (unfortunately with little improvement for her due to allergies/intolerances). I agree with kerrysinead in the previous post, the Karicare thickener was good in that you can also control how thick you wanted to make the formula.

You didn't indicate in your post which AR formula you were using, but of the AR formulas I found that the Novolac AR (you can only get from pharmacies I think) was the one that caused least 'pooing problems'.

If it's one thing I've learnt though, every baby is different and what works for one may not work for others and unfortunately it becomes a game of 'trial and error' (which can get expensive but some CHN's may have trial sachets of formulas like Karicare AR that you can try without purchasing a whole tin).

As for treating the constipation, I too used the Coloxyl drops and they worked a treat. I also give DD Infant's Friend (instead of Infacol) regularly which is used for treating wind, colic and keeping the bowels regular amongst many other things. Things have improved heaps for her since (though again I have heard that this hasn't worked for others). As for the brown sugar that the previous poster recommended, our paediatrician suggested half a teaspoon to 60ml of water. This also works a treat if you are not keen to use anymore medications.

I hope this helps.

[bAaM]

How did it go??

Which formula brand are u using??

I found S26 constapated DS more then the karicare.

But its normal for them to have some trouble pooing till there bodies get used to the formula.

Coloxal (sp) drops are great, i used half the dose ur ment to and only did it once or twice a day instead of every bottle.

[lexies mum]

thanks so much for your help
ok the formula i am using is karicare AR formula
the prune juice ended up working, but it gave her the opposite... the runs... so im never doing that again. She was on novalac in the hospital but i didnt get a chance to see if that worked because i put her on karicare when she got home
Where did you get karicare thickner from? i looked at coles and couldnt find it

[kiwibird27]

Karicare thickener will make her constipation worse. Bleeding is never good. Would by pass all advice and go talk to a Paediatrician, Aspiration is definatly worse than constipation, and diahorrea but no aspiration is better too, unfortunatly with GI issues it can b a bit of a trade off.

If she was on Novalac at the hospital, would use that....for everything else would go to the doctor

[reAllytee]

Karicare thickener will make her constipation worse. Bleeding is never good. Would by pass all advice and go talk to a Paediatrician, Aspiration is definatly worse than constipation, and diahorrea but no aspiration is better too, unfortunatly with GI issues it can b a bit of a trade off.

If she was on Novalac at the hospital, would use that....for everything else would go to the doctor

:iagree:

She is too young to have prune juice & you are much better speaking with someone about it before resorting using something harsh that will cause more problems iykwim !

The runs btw could be a could thing as KB said above as its a trade off but also because she is still clearing the amount she has blocked if that makes sense. The runs doesnt actually mean she is no longer constipated at this point.

But yep see a doctor !

[lexies mum]

i went to see her doctor before i started talking about it on here. He told me to give her prune juice to get things moving, and he also told me if i want, to start putting her on solids (rice cereal) if her reflux gets worse, but it is definatly to early for that. I also rang the clinic midwife and she said the same thing or to try brown sugar. I would never do anything i thought would hurt lexie, i always ask for a doctors opinion first.
she was only on novalac in the hospital because they have no karicare
Im just asking other people what they have tried to see which methods are successful

[naiwen]

Also if she is upset with a sore tummy a warm towel or bunny rug gently pressed against her tummy can help to ease the pain a bit, I would do this when DS had diahrohea!

[kerrysinead]

Hi again Lexiesmum. I used to get my karicare thickener from the larger chemists. Could never find in any of the supermarkets. Maybe your local chemist could order it in for you, thats what I did at first, then found it to be much cheaper at the chemist warehouse. Im not using it much now as her reflux has improved heaps now. When I did use it with the ordinary Karicare I had no problems with constipation. Hope things are improving for you both?:)

[MummaMerlot]

Hey Lexie's Mum,
What a big scare you have had. No one told us that parenting would be so terrifying!!

My girl has had a lot of trouble with crying, we were thinking it could be silent relux. (That's a stupid name if you ask me, there is nothing silent about it!!) We found S26 too bad on constipation and have Karicare working mostly for us. Her crying stopped on full relux but left her so constipated that she would bleed and scream like a banchie. Brown sugar and water only worked once, and coloxyl didn't do much at all.

What my Pead suggested was to mix the reflux and normal formula in the same bottle and try and find a good balance. We are down to 1 scoop reflux and 3 scoops normal in each bottle. She still has dry pebbles come out first and then the right consistancy, and she is pooing aver 2 to 3 days and not every 1 to 2 days like previously.

We are lucky that she is 4 1/2 months and we are getting solids into her now, that are looking like a good releif but the crying can still go on sometimes. It can be so frustrating.

Good luck with finding a balance, try mixing the same brand formula of the normal and reflux to see if that helps. And remember that advise will come to you and not everything will work, just persist with experimenting. I hope you get some releif soon.
Cheers.