Is "watering" down formula ok??(contains constipation)

My friends almost five month old bub has just in the last two weeks gone from BM to FF and he is having really hard poo's that literally wont come out.

She has tried the prune juice and boiled water between feeds, and is looking at switching formula, but so far her lil man is in a lot of pain.

He finaly just did a poo after three days which was so hard and got stuck (TMI she had to literally help scrape it out of him!!! :o ) So while they are visitng here tonight we were wondering if maybe watering down the formula would maybe help a little???

I have also seen in a few threads something about brown sugar, but not how much to give and at what age its ok!

Any advice or info is greatly appriciated!!!!!

I don't think watering it down will necessarily help, I'd suggest changing formula or seeing their gp.
DD1 was really bad when we changed formula once no matter what other fluids she was having.

Hope she finds the right thing for him soon.


Sent from my iPhone, more than likely while I should be doing something else!

I'mpretty sure they don't recommend watering down formula...beena while since I read a tin though, sorry.

Brown sugar in water, I used with DS at around 3 months, I was told by the nurse on call people 3 teaspoons in warm water, (240ml bottle) worked within an hour, but he was BF, just having trouble letting go ITMS?. :)

i did the brown sugar as well after ds (around 3ish months) hadn't pooed for a couple days, which was out if the norm for him. My mum suggested I give about half a tsp in 150 ml warm water, within a few hours he had pooed with alot of wind so i think it helps with tummy aches too.. Hope the little guy gets better!

ETA: DS is breastfed but my sisters used to swear by it :)

poor little guy, i don't know what to suggest, but if it was me, i'd be asking the baby's GP for advice. Poo is pretty important (even though we never talk about it as squeamish adults), this needs to be sorted pronto, so everyone in this family can breathe easier.

Thanks everyone!! I think my friend is going to look into in further once she gets home. He was so upset last night and he did eventually poo, but it wasnt nice!!! I think if he looks like having more trouble while they are here we will give the brown sugar a go! I didnt really think watering it down would do anything, but i dont know i thought maybe it would be a bit easier to digest or something!

Thanks again!! :-)

I've heard the Gold formulas can cause constipation, like Heinz nurture gold etc just get Heinz nurture. Hope that makes sense. I've heard karicare is gentle on tummies. We had the same prob when dd was having a top up once a day, I watered it down but she was getting most of everything she needed from me. I don't think watering it down would be a good idea because the quantities are important for nutritional needs. Not sure how old the bubba is as I'm on my phone but can you offer some boiled water in between feeds?

With DD1 when we went from BF to FF, we had the same issues and my GP suggested adding an xtra 10-20ml water.

Watering down is not recommended as then they won't get the full nutritional benefit of the milk (filll up on water).
Probably a good idea to talk to her nurse or GP and maybe consider a different formula.