Formula making her constipated

emz8

I'm breastfeeding my baby but giving her a bottle in the evening and sometimes one at lunch time. The morning after she's had a bottle she's really constipated, grumpy and unsettled.

We are using aptimil and have been for the past few weeks but it's only started happening last week, maybe because she's taking a good bit more now. (Would previously only take 2 ounces) now nearly doing the full five.

It's almost every morning and heartbreaking! Should I change from aptamil or any other suggestions?

cbyrd

Have you tried giving her extra water? maybe and ounce or two? Or a little fresh orange juice in an ounce of water, or... if its really bad, the remedy I was given by my Old school GP, when my 1st was tiny is a spoonful of sugar (brown or white) to an ounce of water.. all of the above work

emz8

cbyrd wrote: »

Have you tried giving her extra water? maybe and ounce or two? Or a little fresh orange juice in an ounce of water, or... if its really bad, the remedy I was given by my Old school GP, when my 1st was tiny is a spoonful of sugar (brown or white) to an ounce of water.. all of the above work

Yeh tried the water and brown sugar! She wasn't to impressed! Don't think it made much of a difference! Never heard of giving her juice! I Imagine it's something the PHN will tell me not to do!?

Pawwed Rig

Define constipated. Is the bowel not moving at all or is it just less regular? Our lad will only poo once every 2-3 days since going on formula which we were told is normal. Extra water should help as highlighted previously.

emz8

It's only about 12 hours which for a formula fed baby is grand but she's breastfed the rest of the time and goes at least 5-6 times a day.

It's not the frequency that's bothering me it's the pain she's in. Her stomach is rock hard, her legs are going ninety, she's pushing and straining and howling and not getting anywhere. I've tried the water, massage and neither have done much.

Seeing the PHN tomorrow, last time she said she just has to adjust to it but at this stage I'm not willing to let her be in that much pain. Just afraid changing formula will make it worse.

Sligo1

Have you tried giving her a nice warm bath? Or perhaps eat some fruit yourself? My baby is exclusively breastfeed and was having bowel motions 5 times a day. But the last couple weeks it's just one every 2-3 days. I found giving her a bath gets her going. Also if I take some fruit (I'm terrible for eating fruit)... Like a pear or some prunes it sorts her right out.

Soooky

Like you, our little one is breastfed and we have started giving a bottle of formula at bedtime. However, prior to this she did suffer from constipation - pooing once a week, straining etc and very dry poops due to her reflux medicines. We give her a bottle of Aptimal Comfort (the Colic & Constipation one) and she is going every day now which is a great relief to her. We've been giving her pear juice a few times a day also along with extra water....

Soooky

Also, something else we found worked for our LO was giving some watered down prune juice - but be sure to give an extra drink of water after as prune juice like the brown sugar can be dehydrating for babies : )

Jambo

emz8 wrote: »

It's only about 12 hours which for a formula fed baby is grand but she's breastfed the rest of the time and goes at least 5-6 times a day.

It's not the frequency that's bothering me it's the pain she's in. Her stomach is rock hard, her legs are going ninety, she's pushing and straining and howling and not getting anywhere. I've tried the water, massage and neither have done much.

Seeing the PHN tomorrow, last time she said she just has to adjust to it but at this stage I'm not willing to let her be in that much pain. Just afraid changing formula will make it worse.

Op we feel your pain , our little girl had the same horrible symptoms, and when she did manage to go to the toilet the little she would do was rock hard.

Phn and gp were reluctant to do much at the start, but we changed from formula from Aptamil to cow and gate which helped a little, we then tried very diluted prune juice, which again helped some more but eventually the gp prescribed lactulose which over a few weeks more or less sorted the issue.

On another note our little girl was using gaviscon infant for reflux which was not helping either.

Hello Lady!

OP before giving juices etc which whilst not terribly bad for babies aren't ideal either, try a comfort blend milk. We had the same problem on aptamil, so we tried aptamil comfort, no good. Then cow and gate comfort - no good. In the end SMA comfort was the one for us - unlike aptamil and c&g it isn't thick so also more close to breastmilk. A lot of times you need to try a few milks as some just don't agree with some babies.

cyning

I went through hell with my first little girl who was exclusively breastfed and constipated. She saw three different paediatricians the one thing they all agreed on was no juice and no sugar.

It's a pain in the neck and my 16 week old is quite constipated by anti reflux meds too. Things like baths, slings, tummy time, massage and extra breastfeeds all will help. Soothers if they are straining can help too. We have had to use lactulose with both ours.

Hello Lady!

BTW lactulose can cause terrible painful wind so I found that if they are really badly bunged up a glycerine suppository works brilliant and is much easier on them than lactulose. It works on the same basis as sugar and water - causing water into the bowel by osmosis - but avoids giving baby a sweet tooth!

Another thing is that bad wind can cause constipation as the poo is literally stuck behind wind. The cramps from the wind make passing stools difficult as the baby tenses up. When your baby does poo is it hard or dry or thick? Because if its still relatively soft then almost certainly its wind causing the pain rather than thr stool itself. So maybe change your bottles too. A mixture of comfort milk, dr browns bottles and gripe water generally keeps wind and constipation at bay here (gripe water is also a very mild laxative and antacid). If that mixture for whatever reason doesn't work then its a glycerine suppository and within a half an hour things are moving and without too much pain.

emz8

Hello Lady! wrote: »

Another thing is that bad wind can cause constipation as the poo is literally stuck behind wind. The cramps from the wind make passing stools difficult as the baby tenses up. When your baby does poo is it hard or dry or thick? Because if its still relatively soft then almost certainly its wind causing the pain rather than thr stool itself. So maybe change your bottles too. A mixture of comfort milk, dr browns bottles and gripe water generally keeps wind and constipation at bay here (gripe water is also a very mild laxative and antacid)

Thanks for that, the stools are soft enough, wet with lumps so I imagine it is wind. Gave her lactease in the bottle last night and it helped things. She was still a bit bunged up but had farted all night so wasn't as grumpy today. was with the PHN today who just told me to give her water, pretty useless advice as its what I've been trying.
Will try the SMA and gripe water!
Thanks for the advice

Hello Lady!

Hopefully she'll get some relief soon. Maybe try a probiotic as well to help digestion in the gut - udos choice infant blend is great. Sometimes all that extra wind is from food sitting in the gut and fermenting - if it is the probiotic will improve it no end.

fall

Second the probiotics. They are excellent for both adults and children. I use dr. Udos and while they are not cheap the results are worth every penny. They balance out the bad bacteria in the intestine that can cause bloating, constipation etc. I always see an improvement after using these.