Prune juice for constipation in babies

[AliBaby]

Hi girls,

Hoping you all can help me, help DD to do number 2's! Kind of a strange request!

DD is on one solids meal a day and has about a gazzillion breastfeeds a day/night (well it seems like alot to me)!

Anyway I cant get her to do a poo. She has only had 2 nappies where there was jsut a tiny bit of poo and I mean a tiny bit.

Ok way TMI but we are talking poo here!!! It is kind of thick pasty looking, not nuggets, not watery.

I have tried the puree pears, didnt work.

Doesnt like boiled warm water so that didnt work.

Tried the bicycle legs and massage....worked a bit but not much, just a smidge!

SO have gone out an bought some prune juice.

My questions are do I water it down (it smells quite strong) and should I warm it? How much do I give her? How often?

I am hoping with your help my little DD will do a massive poop!

Especially after being awake from 12-3am last night with tummy pains!

TIA

[Olive]

these are some bits from the RCH in melbourne

If you think your baby (less than 12 months of age) is constipated you should consult your family doctor or maternal & child health nurse.
You can give your baby strained, stewed prunes or apricots- up to 3 tablespoons three times each week or prune juice diluted with water.
Prune Juice - this is a mild natural laxative that works in some children. Prune juice may taste better if mixed with another juice, such as apple, apricot, or cranberry juice. You can freeze prune juice to make icypoles

[AliBaby]

Thanks Jols.

I stopped solids altogether the last 2 days but still not happening so think I need to try this and if it doesnt work we will ahve to go to the doctor tomorrow as its been almost a week since a decent poo has happened.

[2CheekyMonkeys]

yeah i used to water it down, but it still doesnt taste the best you might have trouble getting it down her. i think a trip to the GP is a good idea.

[Olive]

id probably ask the dr too hun! hope she poos soon for you!

[~Raven~]

Thinking about it like this...

If she wasn't on solids it wouldn't be a worry because it's normal for a BF baby to go a week or longer with no poo.

So maybe because she is only on one solids meal a day its kind of similar because there isn't really much food going through her system to come out the other end. Is the poo soft when she does it or is it hard? If it's small but soft then I wouldn't worry as she will do one soon enough but if it's hard and dry then give her something to help move it along.

[Acacia]

Hi AB,

I would try the stewed prunes. Maybe a teaspoon or two. Because they don't taste great, trying mixing them with either stewed apricots or pear, the same amount. I've done that when my DD has been constipated and it does help. I give her prunes regularly now - she loves the taste of them mixed with pears!

If you end up having to go to the doctor I think they may ask you what her poos have been like in the last week. The medical profession don't class a baby as constipated based on how long it's been since they did a BM. It's based on whether your baby is having hard, nuggety poos. Is the small amount of poo your DD has done been pasty, or as soft or softer than, say, peanut butter?

With the one meal a day your DD was having, what were you giving her to eat? There are a few things that some babies can be quite sensitive to getting constipated with - my DD has been like that. These things include too much stewed apples, pureed carrot, rice cereal and potato.

HTH, and that your DD is feeling better before long

[AliBaby]

THanks for all the advice girls. It really is appreciated.
Last night for her dinner I jts gave her a jar of puree pear. SHe ate the whole jar. I tried a bit of prune juice watered down which she had a few sucks on her sippy cup but she made an awful face about it. I think next time I will mix it in with the pears.

This morning when I changed her nappy there was some more poo! YAY! Like peanut butter paste which leads me to think that Raven is right. Because she is only have one solids meal a day she must not have much to poo.

I dont feed her any rice cereal. Tried once but she hated it (dont blame her really). I tend to mix certain veges together like potatoe, pumpkin and pear or combos like that. Sometimes I will give her a piece of banana to gnaw on, she doesnt eat much of it but she has fun chomping on it. She loves avocado as well.

I also am not really pureeing the food unless its the pears or apples which I buy in the jars. I am just mashing it lots and lots which I thought could be contributing but maybe not.

She did sleep much better last night and I heard lots of fluffs in the night.

[Daydream Believer]

We used to put a dried prune into a cup of warm water & let it soak until it swells a bit, the take it out & give DD the water. Since she's been feeding herself she has 1-2 prunes with breakfast

[ll80]

if I don't give my DD2 prunes at least every second day she gets horribly consitpated.
I just get a whole packet and blend them up into a paste with water and then every second day give her a couple of teaspoons with her oats in the morning.

If she is especially backed up then I give her a couple tablespoons on its own mixed with some water to make it not so thick.
She seems to love them which is good, poor thing doesn't know any better

Works a treat and she feels so much better for it.

[Sterla]

Raven is probably right. My DS is on 2-3 solids meals a day, and still having plenty of b/fs. He'll still go quite a few days without a poo. I'm waiting on one right now actually (it's been 5 days). But when he finally does poo, while it's thicker, he's certainly not constipated.

HTH

[Softy]

YOu'll definately know if your DD is consitpated!! My DD went from heaps of b/f and little bit of solids 3 x a day to total wean and onto solids. But cause she wasn't used to it and didn't drink much water got terribly constipated for 4-5 days Was horrible watching her screaming in pain, squatting and wanting to be held for cuddles while she
pushed. I bought a packet of prunes and stewed and strained them for her, that combined with encouraging more water eventually worked. Then once they started they kept coming hard rocks for a while, so you'll know when your DD is constipated it's horrible!!! I think it's good that your DD is still pooing as others have said maybe she's not eating enough solids to poo?? Good luck and watch out for rocks!!