watering down formula to combat constipation

[Crosby]

Right, we seem to be going from one extreme to the other.

A little pre story - my 7 mo had a diarrhea 2 weeks ago for almost 3 weeks. After seeing numerous doctors were advised to put her on soy formula due to acquired lactose intolerance. All good but we have stopped solids back when she was having runny poos and havent restarted yet. Now she has a bad constipation - she passes really hard pellets, soooo dry they are almost crumbling(((

Getting her to drink water is next to impossible. Im thinking of watering down her formula. At the mo she takes 7 oz 4 times a day. I am thinkng of putting 7 scoops to 8 oz of water.

Whats stopping me is all the stories about water intoxication. Surely at 7 months its less dangerous? Plus im only adding at extra ounce of water, not like doing half and half.

Whats this water intoxication business all about anyway?

Btw - tried movicol she wouldnt take it. Lactulose - not allowed. Glycerol suppositories - im scared to push anything up her bottom. Havent tried prunes yet tho which is another option.

Your opinions on watering down formula?

Ps: its SMA wysoy, SMA is notorious for causing constipation i have heard.

 

[SpringCrane]

We were advised to add 1 oz of apple juice per 8 oz of formula once a day. 100% apple juice.

I'd personally be hesitant to water down formula, but I'm super anal and measure it to the nearest 0.1 g so I might just be nutty ;-)

 

[Crosby]

Its not exact science to start with. The instructions are 1 scoop per 30ml or 1oz. 30ml is not exactly 1 oz so by the time you get to 8oz the difference is quite noticeable (approx 0.5 oz). Eg if i fill it in mls then im adding more water than ozs already. So there...

 

[Diannam]

I don't think a small amount of extra water mixed with formula would hurt at that age especially if you have introduced solids. I haven't looked into water intoxication but I can't imagine 4 oz over the course of the day would cause it for a baby that is 7 months.

 

[minties]

I would add the water, to at least a couple of feeds, and give foods that soften stools also. Like the prunes you mentioned. I don't know how safe it is for infants but coconut oil is something I take when I'm bunged up. I melted some and mixed it into some yoghurt (but you could try it with something else obviously with the lactose issues) and gave it to Sophie at about that age when she was having trouble pooing once.