Constipation

[Astonsmum]

I have a 7 week old baby girl who has been bottle fed formula since day one. She has refulx so we use the S26 AR formula. Unfortunately it has given her severe constipation. I have tried brown sugar water, plain water and even watered down prune juice but all to no avail (the prune juice kind of worked but gave her really bad stomach pains and flatulance and just made her cry all day long). Does anyone know of any other remiedies for severe constipation or suggest any other types of formula? We are at our wits end and the poor little dear is in so much pain every time she passes a bowel miotion.

Please help!

[Elfin]

Dear Astonsmum

S26 has a reputation for giving some babies constipation due to its high iron content. It gave my son constipation as well. I switched to Karicare Gold and found it much better. No further problems with constipation. My sister in law is a midwife and she recommended it. I like the gold variety even though it is a bit more expensive because it contains long chain fatty acids which are supposed to help with brain development. It has the omega 3 fish oils in it. I used this brand as well for both my daughters and never had a problem with constipation.

Easterlily :)

[milkshake]

Hi there,

When my son was about 2 months old, he developed constipation, even though I was breast feeding at the time. Anyway, my doctor suggested I get "coloxyl drops" from the chemist. It's a brown liquid that smells like chocolate milk and you can add it to your babies water or milk or even give it to her straight. It worked wonders with my son and wished i had of stumbled onto it sooner..

Good luck :)

[razzle]

Hi Astonsmum,

My little one was SEVERELY contipated when she was about 6 months old. If you look under 'General Health Information' there is a post by me with the entire constipation journey! :o (It's from September I think, so you might have to change the display options to show all posts from the beginning)

Anyway, I tried everything - the brown sugar worked the best at first then I used the Coloxyl drops which is not a laxative but a detergent that softens the stool and is therefore safe to use on a long term basis. This gave up after about a week or so. I took her to her GP and he suggested Parachoc (which is choc flavoured parafin oil based stuff - mmmm yummy, and again, not a laxative but a lubricator). The bottle says that it's only for kiddies over 12 months but the doc said to give her 5ml - normal dose is 15ml - in her bottle and see how we go. I gave her only 1ml and she was pooing for the country!

As your little one is so young - I'd be hesitant to give her anything without the doctor's advice. If she doesn't like the water or prune juice, you could try adding an extra 20 or 30ml of water to her formula bottle. I still do that now for Eloise because she doesn't like to drink water.

Sorry to rabbit on - I hope this all helps. Good luck!!

[rebecca]

Hi there,

I have been told by my mother in law and sister in laws ( who are of spanish decent) that a little bit of Olive oil on cotton wool, dabbed on the outside of babies bottom has always worked well for them. My mother in law has had 5 children and my sister in law who uses this method, currently has 2 twin girls and also has a 9 year old.
I myself have done this whilst having issues with my pregnancy, however can not comment on doing this for my own child as yet. Just thought I would give some advice as to what I have been told...although I am not too sure how this is for a 7 week old baby....

Bec & Peanut

[Astonsmum]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have already tried coloxyl drops but to no avail. I think I will go with the advice to change formulas as I am running out of ideas and it is breaking my heart to see her in so much pain.

Thanks
Astons Mum!

[Lachlan's Mum]

Hi Astons mum

My Lachlan too had reflux when he was smaller and had to be medicated. We had the constipation problem too which we found made the reflux worse from all the pushing. We changed to NAN HA1 formula (now available in Gold with the omegas etc) at the recommendation of our CHN. It is not a thickened formula like the S26 AR you are using though - so initially we had to add a thickener (Karicare) - to be honest I think the thickener caused most of the consitpation problems!! Once we removed it we rarely have problems - well no more than usual and otherwise have found the NAN HA to be excellent for reflux babies as it is gentle on the stomach. I was also advised of a Karicare sensicare formula which comes in a HA/AR variety - so it is thickened and also is easy to digest (ie the HA bit) - maybe this is worth a try if you must use a thickened formula....if you can get away without the thickener by elevating bubs bed etc I would recommend that for the constipation. Good Luck......also if you need any reflux advice PM me.....I have experienced too much to put it all in here!! :p

Also - we use Actalax in Lachlan's bottles when he is constipated....but what you have to remember with this and with coloxyl is that they are a very MILD laxative and can take several days to work (not fun with a screaming baby) so the key to it with a baby who is prone to constipation is MAINTENANCE of the problem ie. don't just stop the medication as soon as they go - you must lower the dose and continue for a while to maintain the progress you've made - also you should look always at the texture of bubs poo and add the laxative as soon as you notice it getting firmer - I used to notice that it would be like "blue tack" for a day or two then he'd be consitpated!! So when I saw that texture I'd take action...it should really be like mashed potato for a baby on just formula and no solids.

[dana]

:confused: My daughter Anahi is 5 weeks old. Since we left the hospital we have had nothing but problems with constipation. After several calls to the midwifes at the hospital and being tolsd not to worry about the fact that it was coming up to 10 days since her last movement as this was normal for a bottle fed baby I decided to take her to my GP. I was giving Anahi S26gold and was adviced to change to Infasoy as she may be lactose intolarent. I tried the Coloxyl drops and brown sugar with water but nothing seems to help. Im now in the fourth day/night of only having 2hrs sleep as she has colic. What can I do now!!!!.

[Astonsmum]

Well here is an update. We have fixed the constipation but in a round about way. She also has reflux. . We also switched to the Karicare HA AR formula but that did nothing for her reflux but did fix the constipation (Dana - and you can get it in non AR version - is easily digested). The paed put her on liquid zantac to fix the reflux and lucky for us it causes very runny poos. Combine that with the S26 AR formula which used to be the source of her constipation and we now have lovely poos!

Dana - my advice is to try another formula - perhaps the Karicare HA one. I found it fantastic for the constipation. I know how you feel as well. My paed also advised that introducing solids early on can also help with the constipaton - especially vegies. we will be starting Aston on solids in 3 weeks to help with everything! (She will be 12 weeks).

Now she appears to be teething - at 9 weeks of age. Yes you heard me right! She is getting 2 teeth and this is our new source of tears! I think it never ends.

Still fighting the good fight!
Astons Mum

[Astonsmum]

Dana

Another thought - I have done soooo much research on the issue it is not funny. I have found on many sites and from many other mums that S26 is notorious for causing constitpation due tot he highg iron contents or something like that!

No fun I know!

[Elfin]

Thank you for the update. It is great that the problem has been fixed for Aston. Constipation is just awful.

Easterlily :)

[RonelMartin]

A tip I read recently and passed onto a friend that said it is working wonders is to add a drop or two of olive oil into the formula bottle. It appartently works from day one. Try it!

[melzy]

Hi there,
My daughter suffered and did suffer from constipation up until about 2yo. She was on S26AR formula and we got coloxyl drops also from the chemist which was referred to us by our paediatrician. It was great. I found that once my daughter was toilet trained that she became regular. It was heartbreaking as I used to watch her try to do a poo and her face would balloon out and go all red. You could see her push. I tried prunes, prune juices, apricots and was told that watermelon helps. You name it I felt like I tried it. It may sound silly but I'd also try a greasy meal - like bacon to "loosen her up" or regular massages. I would also bath my daughter every day because it may assist her to loosen her bottom up (without sounding grose) but that would mean the risk of her doing a number 2 in the bath :p . If coloxyl drops don't work there is something else which my paediaitrian told me about - I will try and find the name of it for you.

[bonafidevixen]

Hello All!

My daughter is now 6 months old and has suffered from constipation from 3 months on after I started her formula, s26 gold. S26 (especially gold) is not good for constipation as all the other mums stated...My doctor said Nan is really the best brand for constipation...and for me, that proves to be right...My daughter is now pooing every day and not straining as much...

Coloxyl drops only make stools softer, not really for constipation...

Things have sorta improved, but it has gotten so bad to the point where she now has a skin tag and an anal fissure (google it!)...She cries and has pain every time she poos...We are going to see a paediatrician and we'll see what he says...hopefully she won't need any surgery and her new diet of solids will help...I am also doing prune juice...She doesn't take much but it's something...She's been on coloxyl drops for a couple of weeks now and I will continue to use it until her stools are softer by themselves...

So yeah, constipation is a real problem with my bub...At least most babies don't have pain when they poo or even if they can't...Although, this might have something to do with the fact that my husband has a family history of coeliac diesease...(google that too!)...