Fair warning, this isn't going to be the most pleasant topic...and could fall in the realm of too much information.
Background info: When we were in Vietnam, Chloe was a VERY fussy baby. It always took me FOREVER to get her to sleep. I'd have to walk around with her for hours. When I laid her down, she'd kind of push her little butt up in the air so that she was on her face and feet. From this, I gathered she was probably having gas issues. She cried ALL the time!
Whenever she had a bottle, she would vomit most of it up. If you remember my posts from Vietnam, it was actual gross, watery, acidy vomit. Not spit up. Plus constipated a lot.
Towards the end of the trip, I was really at my wit's end. Not that I couldn't handle it, but I just felt REALLY bad for her. I was at the point where with every bottle I was giving her Tylenol and gas drops. One of them helped a little bit, not sure which, but figured some relief was better than nothing, though I didn't know which one was doing the trick.
Once we got home, I switched her to a lactose free formula-cold turkey. (I was going to do it gradually as I had a small can of formula from VN, but after closer inspection, I realized it wasn't exactly the same) It isn't soy, it's actually milk based, just without the lactose. Well, instantly she stopped vomiting and spitting up so much. And she became much less fussy.
Present
For the last month and a half or so, she has been VERY constipated. I mean, to the point, where anytime she has to poop she gets hysterical and cries. I can tell when she has to poop because she starts with the little grunting sound, then gets this hysterical painful look on her face and she can't breathe. At this point, I usually lay her down on the floor, take her diaper off, push her knees to her chest, and help her. This really is a pitiful ordeal. And it probably takes a whole five minutes. I feel bad for her because you can just tell how much pain she is in. At the risk of becoming too graphic, I've been watching this show called Baby Story, which documents the birth of babies. It actually shows the mother in labor. Well, this process with Chloe reminds me of the baby version, as she has to keep trying, she's breathing hard, crying in pain, and it takes several tries.
So her poop is always rock solid, and bigger in circumference then any baby's poop should be. It's so bad that she'll wake herself up at night by pooping and then just be inconsolably crying.
She also has gas a lot. A lot of times I'll hear it and think she has a diet diaper, but no. And not everyday like in Vietnam, but occasionally, like tonight, I'll be trying to put her to bed and she'll be pushing her little butt up in the air again, crying in pain.
We tried giving her prune juice, but it's disgusting and she didn't seem too in to it, so I scrapped that. Her pediatrician recommended Pear Juice, 2 oz juice, 2 oz water. Well, she's just not into drinking juice. So I mix water and pear juice into her cereal. Since I started this, she occasionally has softer poop. Occasionally.
Is this normal??? I'm wonder if we might want to try going to complete soy formula. I really want to avoid that if at all possible, but I don't want her to keep having to deal with this. I'm also wondering if the lack of lactose might be causing the constipation. I thought about going back to regular formula, so see if maybe her improvement was just a coincidence, but it really did immediately fix the vomiting. So I don't know...
We've been trying to limit what she eats, as it could be food related among other things.
Thoughts???
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Poor Baby...
Posted by Angel at 12:37 AM
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6 comments:
Angel, call the doctor right now and explain the problem to her. She should be able to tell you the best way to treat this. Maybe it is the formula-she should have experience with it.
I really don't think you should go back to the old formula. Mom H is right talk to the Dr because any advice we give is guess work, UNLESS someone out there has gone through this and has an answer. Have you tried the suppositories?
Our Lucy went through a similar problem a couple of times once we were home from China. We used Similac's soy liquid formula which she did well on. From the sound of the "poop", she's a bit dehydrated. To help her, you can put some vaseline on a rectal thermometer and insert it. That stimulates pooping. Are you trying water or watered apple juice? But, do call your doctor!
Angel you do need to call Chloe's doctor but until then you might try putting a little Karo syrup in a bottle of water and giving it to her, a girl that works with me has a three week old and when she was 10 days old she became constipated she called the doctor and this is what he suggested, Kim said it worked almost immediately, but this is only a temporary fix if it works, you need to find out what is causing the problem.
One of my sons has the same problem. I do the same thing to help him poop and feel so badly for him. The poops are WAY too big and I can see why he cries. OW!!! However, he's not ALWAYS this constipated and he's been on milk-based, regular formula the entire time - from Vietnam to now (mix of formula with milk). He also is not terribly gassy - occassional toots, nothing that seems to bother him. I am very curious to hear what other advice you get. I just try to make sure our son gets plenty of the P's - peas, pears, prunes, peaches, etc - and liquids. Some days, apparently, we do better than others.
Good luck to you!
Erin
Angel,
My Bella has the exact same problem...my Ped recommneded putting Karo syrup in her bottle...it was helpful but not enough. She then tried 1 teaspoon Miralex in both her am bottle and pm bottle and that worked to keep her soft & regular for a few months. She is now 13 months old and will drink watered down juice(70% water to juice)to keep up her fluids and has teeth, so she eats raw fruits. We have now stopped the Miralex as this seems to fix the problem naturally.
Regina
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