Rice - Constipation

MomsABoo · January 2010

I exclusively breastfed until last week when we tried rice cereal. His poops have died down (10 times a day when he was first born to about 1 a day or every otherday). All seemed normal at first until we then went more than three days without a poop. He doesn't normally seem uncomfortable until night where he no longer sleeps and keeps his legs in the air and grunts. I stopped the cereal immediately. The pedi suggested to use a vaseline q-tip to lubricate and relax him. It worked! ten minutes later our changing table was a war zone of poop!

I think this was only a quick fix though! Bc he went another two days with nothing. I had no choice to use a q-tip again this morning. This time it worked in about 3 minutes! We've also been giving him diluted prune juice as a snack. My question is, has this happened to anyone? I'm glad we can get the poop out if we really need to, but I'm hoping he regulates soon! We both are not sleeping a wink at night bc this is when it bothers him most. I read that some fruits and veggies can help but we hadn't started those yet and i feel like I just want things back to normal beffore I start something new again.

Oh and constipation must be a misnomer bc once it comes out, its a waterfall! I thought it would have been hard!

minipyro · January 2010

no offense to other moms, but this is why Im waiting as long as possible to start any solids. i keep reading their digestive system isnt ready, despite acting ready and pedi's saying they are ready

afg · January 2010

Are you still giving him rice? If yes, then I'd either switch to oatmeal or mix the rice with a little oatmeal.

If you stopped the rice completely, I'd give it a few days to see what happens.

DD seems to be a bit constipated lately and I have no idea why.

MomsABoo · January 2010

yes, i stopped the rice before the pedi call. I knew it had to be the reason. Yes, time has heeled all my issues with him! So i assume this will pass too!

Mee83shell · January 2010

Rice cereal has helped my kid poop like you wouldn't believe!! Usually he goes every day now, but sometimes it's every other day. Try pear juice instead of prune--the pedi told me it was more effective. We have always used pear juice and have same day (sometimes same hour) results.

GL--also, check with the pedi, maybe you could use a little juice once a day (for a small amount) to mix his cereal. That's what we do in the afternoons for his "snack."

Btw, we're on cereal early for reflux.

Mrs_mam · January 2010

We have been on the rice cereal for about a week, just once a day after a regular feeding, and I did notice yesterday that he had far fewer poopy diapers. I will keep an eye on it now in case he stops. We usually get a poopy diaper 5-6 times a day.