Time to stop solids?

VTbride05 · October 2011

Poor Stella. We have been working on solids for 2.5 weeks. She still seems to hate them, pushes most of it out of her mouth and maybe eats one cube a day (we have tried sweet potatoes, peas, avocado and banana). I have given her prunes for the last two days hoping it would help our problem but it hasn't.

My baby who used to poop 8 times a day or so is struggling all day to poop once every other day or so. She is straining, it's waking her from her sleep and she is all over miserable. She cried and cried and pushed and pushed for an hour tonight

So we are going to take a break from solids. Maybe her digestive system isnt ready for them? Anyone else experience this?

cwhitloc · October 2011

How are her wets? i'm saying this because maybe she's not getting enough to drink? Is she eating any cereal? I've heard this could constipate.

I've heard banana constipates and we had a little trouble with sweet potatoes, but peas and avocado should not make her constipated. I would try giving a call to your pedi's office. This might warrant a sick visit.

VTbride05 · October 2011

cwhitloc:
How are her wets? i'm saying this because maybe she's not getting enough to drink? Is she eating any cereal? I've heard this could constipate.

No cereal yet. Her wets have been good, the same, but this weekend I am going to try and nurse her a bit more to make sure that she is getting enough. She won't take a water cup yet and I dont think that it's a situation where she needs a bottle of water, but maybe, it wouldnt hurt. Thank you for your thoughts!

rmm17 · October 2011

I had the same issue. We kept offering but didn't push the issue. We avoided all cereals and stuck to foods that didn't constipate (foods starting with "P": prunes, pears, peaches, peas, pumpkin). That seemed to help. He is just starting to really eat more than 1 cube at feeding now (8 months). Still, like tonight, he didn't want anything so we didn't push it.

texasgirl26th · October 2011

The prunes should help, or you can also try giving her diluted apple juice which can cause a bowel movement. My LO struggled at first with solids and we had to do the apple juice.

Also you can do rectal stimulation with the thermometer is what our doctor told us. Just put the thermometer in like you are going to take their temp and move it in a circular motion a couple times. We even had to do glyverin suppositories in a small dose--it's usually the cereal (rice cereal in our case) that constipates them. If none of this help I would call her doctor to just to see what else they advise, and I would give her a break on the solids, at least reducing the amount she has until she has a bowel movement.

BADERA · October 2011

Yes our baby did begin bouts of constipation.... as mentioned in other posts try water or even a mixture of water / apple juice. We also were advised by our doctor to use the glycerin infant suppositories to releive the baby. The solids in her diet will produce a bowel movement. Though, rice cereal for use make the baby constipated right away. This is normal, for your child however its important that you keep introducing the solids and keep the baby hydrated

barista411 · October 2011

We use HappyBellies cereal which has pre/pro-biotics. It has really helped regulate my LO's digestive system.

CutieBean79 · October 2011

I would call your pedi and ask. A had constipation when we started solids and our doctor said we could give her up to 3 oz of apple juice a day. This helped tremendously. Now that she eats more, it isn't necessary anymore because she eats a cube+ of pears every morning and I always mix a "binding" food (like rice or banana) with something else (like sweet potato, peas, squash). My pedi said not to stop solids because that would be a step in the wrong direction, but I would also consider your instincts in your decision. GL

CarolinaDaisy · October 2011

I have not experienced this to such an extent. But our older DS didn't really eat solids consistently until maybe 7 or 7.5 months. If it were my child, I think I would take a break from solids. If she is pushing it back out of her mouth, I'd say she isn't ready.

Wait a couple of weeks and try again. She doesn't really have to have any solids yet anyhow unless she's nursing or taking bottles too close together and it's driving you crazy.

Solids should be supplemental to milk at this age, not replacing any feeds. So unless she's super hungry between her normal feeding times, I'd say you can relax and lay off the solids for a few weeks and try again. Every baby develops differently and so does her digestive system. You definitely don't want her to be miserable.

Now, I can say that my DS #2 did have constipation when we first started solids, but not to the extent you are talking about. We just backed off the cereal and increased the fruits like pears and it worked itself out in a few days. He still is much gassier than he was before we started solids. But I think he needs them in addition to nursing because he already nurses close enough together in the daytime for me. He sleeps 11.5 to 12 hours without feeding at night, so he has to fit his 6 feedings into a 12 hour day and still fit in his naps. I'm hoping he will drop down to 5 feedings soon, but I don't want to mess with his nighttime sleep!

bootsnbananas · October 2011

We didn't have constipation issues but Jules just didn't want/like food. so we would stop and wait a few days and try again. She is 8 months and really has only been consistently eating solids for about 2 weeks (and she only eats dinner right now) she doesn't like fruit really at all so I have been trying to mix a little in to her veggies and I know cereal can cause constipation but I added it to her purees to thicken them up and she liked much better.

I would of course check with your pedi but maybe you just need to wait and try again.

JCrew&Kittens · October 2011

I wouldn't stop. My baby has been through the exact same thing. Would wake up so many times a night with gas, wouldn't poop for three days, etc. We finally have found ways to avoid the constipation, but it still comes and goes. We switched from rice to oatmeal, I give her pear juice w/ water after some meals, we do prunes probably every other day, and I basically avoid the constipating foods (for us: bananas, apples, squash, green beans). But now that she's doing better I am giving her more of those things; I just have to be really careful about when, in regards to what she ate the last few days. I also try to make sure she still nurses every few hours.

And for me personally, I am careful with the suppositories. I don't use them unless it's been 4 or 5 days, or if she's really in pain, just because I think their bodies need to "learn" to pass those movements on their own and I don't want to mess up her flow.. so to speak. Good luck! I think it gets better as their systems mature over time.

shaindelr · October 2011

I haven't needed to try this, but I've read that if a nursing mother eats dried apricots, it helps her LO stay regular. It might be worth a try.

kayleighgarrett · October 2011

Had the problem before, but not because of solids...

Baby has acid re-flux reallllllly bad. We have so many visits to the pedi to find out how to or if there was anything to help from him doing it so much. He mentioned an tsp of rice cereal per ounce of bottle. It worked and we did it for about a month & realized that the baby was straining to poop almost everyday for a week. I was so freaked because he was straining so much that he would have little red spots on blood on the wipe sometimes... We though maybe he was just constipated? Well, apparently the rice cereal was just making him have a hard time going. We started putting about 3 drops of karo syrup in his bottles and it eventually worked. Now we just have to put up with the throw up because I don't want go through the whole constipation step again. Especially since it messed with the sleeping routine! I feel your frustration. Good luck!

JasperDsmommy · October 2011

We had this problem with my son when he was about a month old. He wasn't eating solids of course, but I did have to ask the docter about him straining to poop.

My docter told me unless the child isn't pooping for a solid three days, it is not classified as constipation. He said parents rush to say their child is constipated, but this isn't the case. You could mix some juice with water or just give some water. This usually fixes the problem.

Try not to worry so much. It is awful to watch and listen to, but nothing to worry about unless she is not pooping at all for three whole days.

LordValuemart · October 2011

Ronan had a little bit of constipation issues when we first started solids as well, have you considered diluting apple or pear juice and giving that to your LO? It'll alleviate the constipation, it always does the trick for us, that plus belly massages and bicycling his legs almost always heals Ronan of his poop ailments. Also if you can get your LO to eat pears those are great for digestion.

VTbride05 · October 2011

Thank you ALL for your thoughts! I appreciate them!

I think that it's best we stop for now, even just for a few days. I am not worried about her getting enough, she is nursing and will be fine. I know that it might not be "true" constipation issue, but for her, things are off. Way off. I don't think that we need to try suppositories yet but I myself will try dried apricots and see if that helps in addition to extra nursing a small bits of water.

Thanks again! Have a good weekend!!

kwitt22 · October 2011

Have you tried giving him oatmeal mixed with pear juice. I always mix DDs cereal with pear juice it keeps her moving. Also try giving her diluted pear, apple or prune juice.

sonya_00 · October 2011

This was us exactly. We started solids at 4 months per our pedi, and I took her off at 5 months because even though she loved the foods and was doing great, she was struggling with her bowel movements, at her 6 month checkup on Thursday, I voiced my concern to our pedi who said give her back the solids, some times it just takes a while to adjust and said we could give her 4 oz of baby prune juice a day to help. I know its only been a few days but already she's back on her foods and juice and having no problems going to the bathroom now. Hope this helps

wifeofadam · October 2011

Don't worry about your LO not getting enough food if you stop solids right now. My second son didn't have his first solids until he was almost 11 months (per pedis orders) and was always high on the growth charts. There is actually more nutrition in the milk than the solids. You just may end up having to nurse a little more through the night to keep an older baby full.

My DD is 7 months old and hasn't had anything but BM yet either. She is growing fine and my pedi supports my decision to hold off. Many cultures don't introduce solids prior to a year. In fact, some research shows that a baby's gut isn't even fully developed until at least 12 months. Some babies just can't handle solid food early.

Time to stop solids?

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