baby daughter is constantly constipated...

[dmax]

hi, our baby dauter (18 months old ) has come off breast milk 2 months ago, then we gave her ordinary full cream milk, my wife who is asian gives her rice for most of her diet , sometimes sticky glutinous rice which i would imagine would bung the babies insides up like glue. anyway we had her at 3 different hospitals last month as she was in real pain and had big really hard stools like rocks. doctor got them out then gave her some sugar based lactalose medicine to take 3 times per day, its not working she is still constipated. i bought mandarin oranges and squeeze them to make juice with for her , she drinks the pure orange juice but she is still constipated ? :-( i cannot figure out where we are going wrong, is it the rice in her diet ? baby will not eat cereal , i have bought every cereal known, weetabix, shreddies, readybrek, all hi fibre , i try add banana but baby but will take a few spoonfulls of it and not take any more. i am thinking of taking her to a peadiatrician .

advice please . could she be allergic to milk ? lactose intolerant maybe ?

 

[Trina]

Definitely consult with a pediatrician. Some kids are more prone to constipation than others. My sister-in-law gave my niece 8 oz. of 50/50 apple juice and water daily as a toddler to help relieve constipation.

Actually, rice is one of the safest gentlest things for the digestive tract. Oatmeal is another. Plain oatmeal, not the processed, flavored kind. You can add things to it to make it more appealing. (Raisins, fruit, etc..) People with Celiac Disease (wheat/gluten intolerant) and IBS eat a lot of rice and oatmeal. Is she getting any meat or veggies? A well balanced diet is nutritionally sound and keeps the plumbing working smoothly.

As far as food allergies.... A true allergy would bring on symptoms of anaphylaxis (nausea, hives, difficulty breathing, etc.). A food intolerance can create digestive issues and crankiness. My daughter did not handle milk well as an infant/toddler. She breastfed for 16 mos. and *I* had to cut dairy out of my diet because it affected my milk and bothered her. When she weaned from breastfeeding we put her on a soy formula and she did OK with that. Thankfully, she outgrew the dairy intolerance by the age of 3.

 

[bssage]

I agree with all that Trina said and would add that you have to be cautious with laxatives and such for any treatment other than Acute constipation.

Talk to you Md. Taken over time some laxative's can do more harm than good. We have a ongoing problem with my DD. And I could relay what the doctor has told us. But its to easy to miss-quote him.

We spike applesauce with stool softener daily. But you have to use the right stuff. There are long term effects to some of these.

Talk to your doctor.

 

[dmax]

it was the doctor who gave us the lactalose for her , i know laxitives arent good long term , he gave us a 1 litre bottle !!!! to be taken 3 times per day.

is porridge good ? with added raisins and honey ?

 

[Xero]

I agree with everything Trina said as well, especially the part about seeing a pediatrician if you can. When you do, include everything you told us here, like her daily diet and everything else. I personally recommend a cup of apple juice a day if you can, it seems to be good with helping constipation, and otherwise always try to make sure she is properly hydrated. Fluids will keep things running smoother.

It COULD be a problem with the milk, unfortunately its so hard to say. I would suggest prune juice because its great for this, but obviously its not so tasty lol so its hard to suggest giving it to a little one with sensitive taste buds. I think they make mixtures though to make the taste better, you could look for that. One more thing is that rice is definitely easy on the digestive system, so that shouldn't be the problem, BUT her entire diet shouldn't consist of it either, its really important to try to balance things out with fruits/veggies/meat etc. Fruit especially will help moisten things up in the digestive system, so try to encourage fruit often. Either way, I hope she feels better and good luck!!

 

[stjohnjulie]

My niece has a lot of trouble with constipation as well. She has been on laxatives since she was very small (she's now 7).

I would say that since your daughter is still very young, you need to be very careful with what you give her and I would try and find a doctor that is going to try and help you, not just with medicine, but with diet. If the doctor you have now doesn't seem to be addressing the whole problem, maybe you should start looking for another doctor.

Is she hydrated enough? Drinking enough water? You can do a internet search and find a 'calculator' where you put in the child's age, weight, height and they will tell you how much water your child should be drinking every day. I think a lot of kids and adults alike are not drinking enough water. Even mild dehydration can make you really constipated.

 

[dmax]

i would say my 18 mth old girl is drinking an average 1 litre a day of water, with added no sugar blackcurrent and apple juice. i would say thats plenty ?

might just take advice and change her doc as he hasnt addressed the problem properly in my view .

 

[mommy2yaya]

Rice, while very gentle to the digestive system, is very binding. Perhaps cut the rice out just for a few days as an experiment. Also, I agree that you should consult another doctor as the first one did not address the problem.

 

[Xero]

Wow actually I did a google search and SEVERAL websites list white rice as one of the main culprits to constipation!!! I would look into cutting it out or cutting down in how much she gets, definitely.

Just google "Foods that cause constipation". White rice is always at the top of the list.

When I was thinking of highly digestible rice, I was thinking about how they make all the high quality dog food with rice (I work at a pet product store, sorry LOL) but now that I think about it, its BREWERS rice, not white rice. I think brown rice is fine too, but white rice apparantly is processed and has the fiber actually removed from it, which is the main reason is causes constipation. You NEED fiber to digest properly and especially not to get constipated, and if almost your entire diet consists of something that has no fiber in it, then you're more likely to have constipation problems.

I think a diet change might be the answer now that I did a little research.

 

[Jeremy+3]

Rice can make you constipated, thats why many people eat rice when they have an upset stomach.

Giving her something oily should help her go to the toilet, such as oily fish or nuts, I'm not sure if you can give children that young cod liver oil or not, you would have to check that one out. Remember while laxatives are good when you need them, they do lose effectiveness over time.

 

[Xero]

Its funny now that you mention it Jeremy, I remember my aunt going on a diet consisting of a lot of white rice when she was having problems with diarrhea.

I agree try to give her things like that along with some fruit, and foods that are in general high in fiber.

High-fiber foods - MayoClinic.com

 

[marypulido]

Diet change is the only answer...mashed ripe bananas and warm milk can be helpful. I think this shall help in case you do not wish to go with the laxatives.

 

[muscaria10]

Just a word of caution though. With your DD being less than 2 yrs old, you may not wish to stuff her with too much fiber that she becomes full too fast and therefore take in insufficient calories. Also, yes, fiber is required to alleviate diarrhoea, but it must also be taken with adequate water to allow the gut to form bulk. Only increasing fiber and not water intake will take you back to square one - constipation.

 

[artistinspired]

the B.R.A.T. diet for diarreah. my mom taught me this.

Bannanas
Rice
Apple Sauce (not apples)
Toast

there could very well be too much rice in your childs diet.