Constipation Crisis Resolved

Little Bear was constipated last week due to too many bananas! She gobbled them up so joyously I kept giving her more of them ... only to discover that too much banana can cause constipation in babies! I felt terrible. It took her a few days, and some uncomfortable poops, but we finally got past the worst of it.

As mentioned in my previous post, I decided to take a natural route in dealing with the constipation. It was obvious she was uncomfortable while pooping, yet it had only been a few days since her last poop - so I figured I'd let a few more pass before I got overly concerned. I cut out all solids from her diet and went back to the basics: exclusive breastfeeding. We nursed a lot the past few days. I had been feeding Little Bear solids both morning and evening, so cutting out both meals meant more time at the breast. It also meant waking up at night more often (at least, I think that is why she woke up three times last night and twice the night before).

The first day of exclusive breastfeeding ended in her finally pooping! It was painful for her, though, and the stool was harder than I liked. So we exclusively nursed again yesterday. This morning her stool was much softer and didn't appear painful. Today we exclusively nursed, also. Tomorrow I will begin adding solids into her diet again, but will definitely avoid too many bananas! For now we will stick with peas, pears, sweet potatoes, and other non-constipating foods! That was one lesson we learned the hard way!

Bananas + Little Bear = Constipation

Several weeks ago we began adding various foods to Little Bear's diet. We started with avocado, sweet potato, and pear. Last week, I added bananas. And oh how she loved bananas! Dad even had a song he would sing to Little Bear as she gobbled them down: B-A-N-A-N-A-S, eat bananas, let's eat bananas! I mashed them into everything, since she seemed to enjoy them so much. I added them to her sweet potatoes, her avocado, and her peas. So yummy!

Until yesterday. We've been using Elimination Communication with Little Bear, which means that she uses her little potty for peeing and pooping. Her poops have been much more solid since beginning solids, and it takes her a lot longer to go now. Yesterday, however, I noticed that she sat and pushed and cried. And not a whole lot happened. Just a little bit came out. She got very worked up and I could tell she was uncomfortable. Later that day, she tried pooping again, with the same result. I got online and read about babies, adding solids, and constipation. What I gathered from my research is that there are certain foods babies should either avoid altogether, or only eat in small amounts at first. These foods include: rice cereals, apples, and bananas. Yes, that's right, bananas. I really had no idea!

Several of the suggestions I read included giving prune juice and checking her temperature rectally (to stimulate her to poop). We decided that we would simply skip all solid foods today and stick with just breastmilk. I think I'll keep doing that until her poop is softer and less formed, then slowly start adding back the non-constipating foods like sweet potato and peas.

As a mom, I felt terrible, knowing that I caused this. It's an awful feeling knowing that something I did made her physically uncomfortable. Today she sat and strained for a while on the potty while crying, still very unhappy. I'm hoping that by tomorrow or the day after we are back on track. Until then, I'm watching her carefully and breastfeeding her a lot.

Things I read NOT to do: give water or glycerin, unless instructed by your nurse or doctor. Suppositories can be given to babies, but I don't feel it is necessary yet. Everything I read states that babies can go quite a few days without pooping before we need to worry. It has been about 3 days since she has had a good poop, so we'll wait it out a few more. Mixed with the teething, the change of environment (our family is in the middle of moving), and now the constipation, it has been a more difficult week than usual with Little Bear!