Okay, I need some new ideas about what to do about DS's constipation. We switched him up to a transition formula last week. The one with the extra calcium for bones, teeth ect. Doctor had no problem with that. Unfortunatly DS has been having some major problems with constipation now. We tried prune juice, as well as brown sugar in his formula. He's also been taken off of solids except for prunes which he's been eating almost every day much to his displeasure since I don't think prunes are up there on his fave list. Finally after nothing happened we had to go in for a suppository. It worked and things seemed to be getting back to normal but now they are starting to get hard again. Is there anything else we can try? We have not reintroduced solids but I'm really getting sick of having to put sugar in his formula. That can't be good to do for too long. Do you think it's just the formula or something else?

One more thing, we've been using the baby apple/prune juice. Should we try the adult stuff instead. The baby one doesn't seem to work very well.

:wave: Celestine:

My son went through that for MONTHS!! It was the formula. So many formulas constipate children because they are high in iron or their little bellys cannot digest the protein in the formula very good. Once we put him on Carnation Good Start - never had that problem again. It might be something to think about. I swear it is the best stuff for them!!

Melly :angel:

How old is your baby? My daughter went through constipation no matter what formula we tried. I can tell you that once she started solids (4 months) she goes at least twice a day. She has not constipation since.

The one thing that did work for me every time was a warm thermometer with Vaseline.

Our daughter was actually holding her poo. Yes, a tiny baby can do that and it results in extra constipation. We had to keep it as soft as possible. She still to this day does not like to go poop, though it's better now that she is a year and can stand and go. She just stands, looks at me like "I hate this whole pooping thing Mommy".

Anyway, I agree w/the other poster on Carnation Good Start, it worked well for us. She gets a prune juice bottle daily, even now. When it was really really bad, she also had a dose of Citrucel mixed in with her morning cereal/fruit whatever. You can also add it to the prune juice bottle. It's a natural fiber and alright for kids. We gave half the kids' dose per the Dr. We've been able to stop the daily Citrucel, but like I said, she does still get the prune juice and probably will until she's old enough to understand that poops a part of life and she has to go.

She's a fantastic eater too and gets a huge variety of foods, so it wasn't food issues at all with us. I had honestly never heard of a baby holding their poo and frankly wasn't believing it, but sure enough, that's what she was doing.

Hang in there.

If he is not crying during pooping, then it's not a problem. My son's poop has been hard ever since we started solids. He did cry initially, but not anymore. So don't worry about it, at least that's what our doc said.

DS went thru a poop holding phase. He associated it with pain 'cuz he had gotten constipated, so then he'd refuse to go. Just caused a horrible cycle. We ended up having to use milk of mag a few times off and on from 6 months to a year.

I don't think he's holding it in. He seems to be trying extremely hard to go. The only real pain he's been in was after the suppository the other day. That one he screamed! I felt so bad for him. I'm worried he's pushing so hard he's going to get hemmoroids.... do babies get those? We were told to keep giving him 4 oz of juice a day and they suggested we add some bran to everything once he's tried some cereal with wheat in it. They are thinking it's just the change in formula. He is using the Nestle brand formula. Not the Good Start but the Follow-Up Transition. I'm not sure what the difference between the 2 is. They think he's maybe just really sensitive to change in his diet. I was hoping he'd have grown out of that. I guess I should have mixed the old and the new for a while. If it doesn't stop soon, we might just go back to the other kind.

If it's ongoing, I'd ask the doctor to recommend a laxative -- miralax is a prescription. Milk of Mag worked for us -- basically draws draws water out of the colon, so it's not a stimulant like some are. We tried prunes, prune juice, more fruit, more fiber -- NOTHING worked!

DS had such a tough time for awhile -- when we switched from formula to whole milk that one night -- tmi -- a piece of stool got stuck halfway in and out and he was crying and I was crying. It was horrible! A lady I work with had it much worse, she had to take her child in several times to have an impaction removed. Not good! I can't imagine how horrible that must've been!!!

DS had such a tough time for awhile -- when we switched from formula to whole milk that one night -- tmi -- a piece of stool got stuck halfway in and out and he was crying and I was crying. It was horrible! A lady I work with had it much worse, she had to take her child in several times to have an impaction removed. Not good! I can't imagine how horrible that must've been!!!


Eeesh, the impaction was what I was worried about when we took him into emerg. He'd been trying hard for days and at that point, nothing at all was coming out. I know what you mean on the tmi bit, he had it stuck halfway after the suppository. I don't think I've honestly ever heard him cry like that. It was horrible. There's nothing mom can do to help other than try to comfort him a bit.

I had the constipation problem alot throughout my preg. I know exactly how he's feeling.

Well, by the time you notice him pushing so hard it's hurting, he may have been "holding" it for several other times. I feel like I'm reading myself in your posts, seriously. I thought there was absolutely no way a little baby would/could hold their poop. My Dr. had us hang out for hours at the office to monitor and sure enough, when you we were very focused, you could tell she was indeed holding it. It's very very similar to pushing, they get the same little look on their faces and stuff. I was convinced she was trying to go and just couldn't. By the time she had held it so many times and her little body finally had to get rid of it, it was awful. Crying, screaming, straining, stuck in her bottom.

I finally found the combination that worked and still works for us and I'm not deviating. I feel the worst about the fact I didn't believe the Dr. that she was holding it. Not saying this is what's going on with your baby for sure, but it could be.

I'd never heard about poop holding before and the director of the daycare told me "he's a poop holder", when I said we were going to try prunes, lots of prunes after a difficult week. Figure she's got 25+ years of experience, she probably knows.

When DS was first born, he pooped contstantly, all the time until we could get his digestive enzyme issue figured out -- needs them to digest his food. And he hated, just hated having a messy diaper and would scream and throw fits. Guess he figured out how to hold it in to prevent it. Noticed it for sure when he was in the bath tub. He would get upset and act like he was pooping or in pain. I'd pull him out of the tub and a couple hours later he'd poop. Once, he pooped just when I got him out, he turned around and looked and screamed!! He was horrified that something like that came out of him and fell on the floor.