Chronic constipation

[CARNAT22]

James has suffered painful stools pretty much since starting weaning.

It has varied in degree of severity but at one point he had a month long supply of Movicol which helped but didn't "solve" the issue.

He goes almost everyday, but always has some level of pain / discomfort.

He can show signs of discomfort long before he actually goes. Rocking back and forth is his main sign. Normally once he does this he will go within the next 30 minutes.

He has massive poo's, very solid and will sometimes have a little blood.

We have been to the GP about this 5 times now (and seen 5 different GP's). Only one properly examined James - looked at his tummy and bum etc.. gave him the OK that it was nothing serious.

The main issue is James doesn't drink much water - we have tired everything (different cups, juice, adult glass, adding water to food, syringing water in )

Also James has become really fussy so he has gone from having a pretty balanced diet to only really eating carbs.

I am really concerned as obviously potty training is around the corner and I don't want him to have negative associations.

Food allergy has been mentioned before - not by any professionals though?

Could it just be a case of him not having enough water?

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[JD.Deedee]

I would say so, I had this switching from BF to FF immediate difference as formula is just way thicker therefore takes longer to digest but can cause horrible constipation that's why with weaning we're a bit slow, for me it was more important to up that water/juice intake before upping the foods too and at the moment it works well. I prefer to give diluted juice like caprisonne or if I have it even more diluting baby juice which my lo takes fine to the extent.. I don't mind him getting messy because that's part of it, I get him changed and possibly bathed after dinner in the morning and so he can get changed after tea again if it gets messy again... He likes to take control and drink the caprisonne out of the actual pouch it comes in and I have a doidy cup where I'll put a bit of juice in for him to drink out both ways work fab for drinking.. Don't bother with any touch flow - non spill nonsense because I've tried myself it's a very weird way to get to drink compared to bottles and then free flow! My physio give me a little teaching on poo and hydration as I had a tear in my backside from labour which then still bled during my sessions and she got a chart out with different textures of poo and I had to fill out my wee's and water intake to see if I was hydrated enough. Can imagine it's a bit tough to be measuring baby's wee while still in nappies. Even try thinning down the milk he drinks? Apple juice from the concentrate is meant to help towards stool movements if you get the hipp organic bottles at least I can tell you that is the same as what you'd get in a carton just very very diluted compared to the carton versions Hope that helps x

 

[michelle35uk]

Have you tried cutting out dairy? Could be a dairy intollerance

 

[CARNAT22]

I'm going to speak with the HV on Thursday as the Dr's have been useless.

Have looked into Diary intolerance and the symptoms include the opposite to constipation though... James has never had diarrhoea.. Also he doesn't fit the other symptoms. I am leaning towards some kind of intolerance but he doesn't fit the bill for the most common food intolerances - IE diary / wheat.

I am open to any suggestions though and will look into anything.

In the past week I have been watering down his milk.

He has gone from 10fl oz of milk a day (x2 5oz servings) to 6fl oz a day with a whopping 9fl oz of water.

I am giving him 2fl oz milk mixed with 3fl oz water three times a day in the hope that his constipation is caused by lack of water.

I have started to put James on the actual toilet when I know he is ready to go. His normal signs are getting on the sofa and rocking... if he does this for longer than a few minutes I know he'll be going soon. He seems more comfy on the loo and seems to pass stools easier.

It's hard as James is otherwise happy and healthy but this is definitely not normal.

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