Constipation

[Vicki_Cream]

I started to wean my DD at about 4 days before she turned 6 months. I did the usual baby rice with breast milk, but she wasn't massively keen so I tried some veg/fruit purees instead. She couldn't get enough of these and gobbled them down. I was offering water after each meal and she'd have about 1/2-1 ounce. She ended up really constipated and didn't poo for about 8 days, and when she did she cried her little heart out, which is so out of character for her so she must of been uncomfortable! I spoke to the chemist and she recommended giving her watered down orange juice, which I think is what did the trick and got everything going again.

I was also advised to lay off the weaning until her bowel movements were back to normal. They went back to normal on Monday, so on Tuesday I gave her a spoonful of sweet potato puree, and again on Wednesday. She was SO excited when I walked in the room with her little bowl and spoon She didn't have anything tonight as she fell asleep far too early and didn't wake up until 9pm, which I felt was too late to give her anything. She hasn't pooed since Monday, and I'm so paranoid about making her constipated again as she was so uncomfortable before. I know bf babies can go a while without pooping, but I can't help feeling like I am putting her through unnecessary discomfort

Is there anything I can do to help? Am I being overly paranoid lol? Should I carry on offering puree?

Also, when do you know to increase portion sizes and introduce another meal?! She is currently having a spoonful at dinner time, which obviously I am going to stick with for a while, I was just curious.

I am a FTM so am new to all of this - give me a puppy to wean and I'll do it with my eyes closed standing on my head haha

 

[MindUtopia]

I'd say just keep doing what you're doing and try not to worry about it too much. Some babies do experience constipation (though for us, it was the opposite, only after starting weaning was my daughter NOT constipated all the time), but other that feeding high fibre foods, there really isn't much you can do about it. Her body just needs time to adjust and it will. I'd just take it slowly. Maybe stick to one meal a day for now and see how it is in a a few weeks, then consider adding in an extra meal. We started with just lunch at 6 months, then added in breakfast at 7 months and finally up to 3 meals a day by around 7.5 months. You might try some gripe water for the constipation and see if it helps. My daughter went about 4 days, sometimes as long as 6 days, between poos for a long time when she was little and gripe water always got things moving again within a few hours.

 

[Vicki_Cream]

Thank you for the advice, I hadn't thought about gripe water! I've added it to my shopping list!

DD had a huge poop today, with a consistency of runny peanut butter if that makes sense? Thicker than her breast milk poops, but not as thick and dry as it was a few weeks ago. She also wasn't uncomfortable when pooping so that has put my mind at ease. It looks like it was the baby rice that bunged her up last time!

She had parsnip and potato puree for dinner, again just a spoonful in a bowl, and she seemed quite cross when she'd scoffed it all!

As tempting as it was to give her more as she really enjoyed it, I'm going to do as you suggested and gradually increase the size of her meals and add another meal in about a months time.

 

[Night Flower]

How much milk is she getting at this time?

Food at this time is just about introducing solids, not nutrition. So she should be getting only tiny tiny amounts of solids and still be getting mainly milk for nutrition until she is almost a year old.

 

[Vicki_Cream]

I'm still EBF and don't express, so I honestly have no idea how much milk she is getting. I know she is getting enough milk as she has just had a massive growth spurt, plenty of wet nappies and her wee is clear in colour.

She is only having a spoonful of puree and a mouthful or two of water afterwards at the moment, I'm in no hurry to give her lots of food, I was just curious

 

[Rachel_C]

Honestly, I don't think there's any need to limit her intake. Yes food is mostly for fun but it's also true that babies know what they need. If she wants more food and you're not encouraging her (so you know it's really her wanting it), just let her have it You can do traditional weaning with purées and still be 'baby led', it's just not 'Baby Led Weaning'. If you're nervous and I understand why you might be after seeing her constipated, maybe keep it slow for a week but I wouldn't wait as long as a month to introduce more meals if she's keen. You could look at BLW too perhaps, or let her feed herself for some meals.

ETA: Do you BF on demand? It's a good idea to while introducing solids even if you don't usually, as it can take babies a while to realise what water is for! If you BF on demand, they can have snacky little BFs to quench their thirst. Letting her do that will help prevent constipation, although it does sound like it was baby rice that caused the problem anyway.

 

[Vicki_Cream]

Yes I do BF on demand

I'm kind of doing a little bit of both BLW and purees, she usually asks for food off of my plate so if there is something she can had I give her some. She eats a little and smushes the rest haha, but that's what it's all about! For the past few days she has had a segment or two of my daily satsuma, I thought it might be a bit sharp for her little taste buds, but her eyes lit up and she got really excited whilst sucking the insides out bless her

Thank you all for your input, it has definitely put my mind at ease and has made me feel a bit more confident