Night Waking to strain

[Lil Bugs Mummy]

My dd is nearly 9 months and has been straining alot when she poos and also getting very upset when she poos, her diet consist of only fruit vegetables and rice cereal i rang parent helpline they said try stewed prunes which i have, and brown sugar dissolved in water but i am not keen on that at all, last nite it just kept waking her up it has been happening on and off for a month, and her diet has been the same, she has tried meat once, otherwise she has the same they said it will take awhile for her to transition to her bigger poos but it is taking ages anyone had similar issues She woke 7 times last night and just needed a cuddle to get back to sleep, if its not this its teeth.

[NonnyMouse]

There's not much difference in sugar content between a small amount of stewed prunes, and a spoonful of brown sugar dissolved in water, if that's why you're not keen to try it.

I've heard pear juice works well (about to try it myself actually!) but also increasing the water intake helps heaps. I find I need over 3 litres a day to make a difference, which is obviously way too much for a baby, but maybe offer a bit of boiled water to her in addition to her usual feeds? You could also look at a suppository (about $5 for a pack of 12 and very gentle to use) to help clear out the blockage while you also attack it from a dietary perspective.

Just so you know... you need a balance of both types of fibre to have proper poo... most fruits are mainly soluble fibre (unless you eat the peel) which is good for keeping things moist and moving through the gut quicker, but the bowel needs the roughage type of fibre as well because this is the stuff that triggers the muscle wall to contract and help move it out the other end. I'm not too sure what baby-safe roughage foods there are... but I'm sure you could google it and find something suitable.

[avagracesmum]

Hi,
My DD is nearly 10 months old and we went through a similar thing!!! I found that stewed pears everday and extra water to drink at each meal made a huge difference. I also found that if she had banana with her rice cereal that made her constipated!!!

Hope you get it sorted!

Nic

[crazymuma]

I tried nearly everything with my kids and the only thing that worked was the brown sugar - its not like its a huge ammount of sugar every day of the week. You have to remember you are giving it to them to ease the discomfort - its not like you are handing them a lolly pop every day.
I only ever put a quarter to half a teaspoon in a bottle of water (luckily my kids would drink the whole bottle) and no it won't make it hard to get them to drink plain water - my kids don't have anything but milk and water to drink and never complain.

[ALHmum]

Have you thought of coloxyl drops from the chemist? My GP said that if i ever have that prob then give those a try

[c38]

Is she actually constipated??Is the poo hard and dry?
Is she breast fed or formula fed? Breast fed babies in particular often grunt with bowel motions as they are unused to the feeling of the firmer poos, its doesnt necessarly mean she's constipated.
She may have wind or tummy pain for some other reason. ? something in her diet.

You could also try gving her oatmeal (ie porridge) instead of rice cereal. The iron in the cereal can constipate them as can the rice starch. It's best to use normal oatmeal, start with quick oats then move up to normal rolled oats, as they are less refined so have more fibre. You can mix in some stewed fruit just as you do with baby rice, though steer away from banana whihc can constipate. Oats have more fibre then weet bix, and it's kinder on little guts then wheat.
To replace the iron from the baby rice then you can introduce small amounts of meat, which she should be ready for a this age.

Stewed pears are just as good as prunes. As is pear juice, but you need to use the canned juice with the pulp in it rather then the baby prestrained brand.

I have also heard of some parents using juiced raw carrot with great success. Cooked carrot for some reason can be constipating.

[Lil Bugs Mummy]

Thanks for the replies ladies, she is breastfeed and she is not constipated her poos are nice and soft when they come out they are just large, which hurt her and she just seems to always be straining,i am not putting her on anything wheat diary or egg related till she is at least 12 months, i will try stewed pear idea though she drinks at least a cup of water a day also with still about 8 breast feeds each 24 hours.

Thanks