Constipation problems since beginning solids...

Hi All,

DS#3 will be 7 months old on November 15th.
I started solids with him about 2-3 weeks ago.
He has had small amounts of the following foods: home made rice cereal, sweet potato, carrot, pear and mashed banana
However, he got very constipated so I took him off all solid foods and returned to only breast feeds and one serve of pureed prunes each day for 5 days.
On the 5th day he did three large, messy poos so I ceased the prunes.
He has not had prunes for 48 hours now but also has not pooped for over 24 hours.
Should I resume the prunes?
Any other suggestions?
Is this a concerning enough issue to warrant a trip to the doctor?
I would appreciate any ideas anyone has!

Cheers!!

If he's fully breastfed, it wouldnt' be unusual to go several days without pooing at this age, so if he's not eating solids, it's probably not a worry, so long as the poo is not hard or formed.
My daughter had a lot of problems of this sort in the first few months of eating and I think her gut just wasn't ready for the food (she thought she was, mind you!)

I wonder if some baby probiotics might help?!?

We've had this problem with DS (now 14 months) ever since he started solids. He has continued to breastfeed with gusto but was still going for days without a poo and then grunting and straining (and occasionally crying)to produce little, rock-hard poos. I've mostly managed to keep him fairly regular by avoiding bananas, potato, white flour and giving too much meat. He has large quantities of fruit in his diet and has a pear for breakfast almost every day. When it's gotten particularly bad I've added stewed prunes to his porridge, encouraged extra fluid intake by giving him extremely dilute apple juice, and once he's ended up needing coloxyl for about a week until things got moving again.

I find I really need to stay on top of things - if my Mum gives him a banana at the wrong time, it can affect him for a week as he gets blocked up and it takes more of those other foods to clear. Hope this is just a short term thing for your little guy. Who would have thought we'd get so invested in someone elses poo, eh?!!!

Thanks so much for the quick replies... I've already decided that when I do resume solids it is going to be ONLY fruit and veg until we see how he handles that.
He LOVES his boobie and I demand feed so I know he is getting plenty of fluids there...
He has no idea what to do with a sippy cup yet so some evenings (after the two older boys are in bed) I sit and give him 5mls of water at a time through a Children's Nurophen medicine syringe but that is just tedious.
Where would I be able to get hold of some baby probiotics if I wanted to give that a try?
Before we started solid foods he was pooping 2-3 times a day so I just naturally assumed that if I stopped the solid food he would go back to that!

Your local health food store should have probiotics, they will be in the fridge :)

We had the same problem with DS when he started solids. He was doing these little rock solid poos and straining. I was also BFing and I wasn't so worried about him going a long time between poos, I was more worried that he was in so much pain doing the ones he was doing. The solution was we started offering him water. He messed around with it for a week or so and then "got it." We offered him water through a straw cup, I skipped sippy cups. I found the new nuby ones have this straw that can be tipped upside down and doesn't drain out.

Also banana's can constipate so maybe remove them until a bit later on.

both mine had tummy issues adjusting to solids. i figured it was just their tummies adjusting to the new sensations. i would just offer less or no solids for a few days if they looked like they needed a rest.

I just had a quick look in other forum posts about probiotics for babies and the one that's reccomended is baby biotics.

Here's a post from Kelly on the topic....
A naturopath would have far greater access to decent probiotics - Nicole Tracy the BB naturopath is brilliant and based in a few locations, East Melbourne and Park Orchards. Some members were talking about this in another thread about babies getting sick alot, I think they recommended Baby Biotics? Or something like that. Hopefully one of them will post but its a cold winters night on a Sunday, you might have to wait a little for a reply! You could also get Fast Tract which is a bit more exxy but very potent and organic, gluten free. They deliver very fast. Great for the whole family.

And here's some product info...
BioCeuticals - Baby Biotic 0+ yrs

Baby Biotic 0+ yrs

BabyBiotic 0+yrs® is a dairy-free probiotic supplement specifically designed to help maintain healthy digestive function in neonates, infants and children. It may assist in the management of allergies, provide relief from the symptoms of eczema, and strengthen gastrointestinal immunity. BabyBiotic 0+yrs® combines Bifidobacterium breve, B. lactis and B. bifidum - three of the most common species of bifidobacteria present in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of healthy breastfed newborns and infants.

You may be able to buy it online or over the counter at a health food shop that stocks the BioCeuticals range. You may need a naturopathic script for it though but I recon Its well worth it.
Good luck, lets us know how you go.

My DS had constipation problems too and we've fixed it with home made stewed apples and lots of pureed fruit at that age. He's 2.5 years old now and we're still big on apples which keeps his poos nice and soft.