Baby constipation...
For the past 5 months (or even longer now that I think about it) my son has been dealing with MAJOR MAJOR constipation. I stopped breastfeeding him at about 13 months old... not by choice but I got pregnant shortly after my son's 1st birthday so the doctor did advise to wean him off and start him on cows milk...
Cows milk. My son LOVES LOVES, did I say LOVES? milk. He started drinking cows milk and we were going through 2-3 gallons of organic whole milk a week. He was drinking it morning, noon and night... about an estimated 34 oz a day. YIKES! As first time parents little did we know that his constipation started around the same time he started drinking cows milk. It was cute at first. He would sit down in a corner, clench his hands into fists and have this cute/sad/pitiful look on his face pushing trying to poop. This quickly became a horrible site for me because I just wanted him to poop and be free of this constant pushing!
I should add here that we give our kids mostly organic fruits, vegetables and meats. Most, if not all of the snacks we buy are organic too so its not like we're feeding him garbage. Just thought I'd add that :)
We took him to the doctor several times about this. Every time he visited with his pediatrician, our doctor told us to change up his food intake and cut down the milk. We changed everything BUT the milk. Honestly he liked it so much that I was too scared to take him off it. I could have sworn it was something else. We gave him everything from PRUNES, OLIVE OIL, APPLES, FIBER GALORE and LOTS OF WATER. Nothing worked. We then started giving him MYRALAX with his milk. MYRALAX is the bomb! its a total safe medication that is EXCELLENT FOR ALL AGES to help constipation. At first we didn't know we had to give it to him everyday so after a couple of days, we'd stop and then our son would go right back to being constipated.
A few weeks ago we had our worst case of constipation where he pushed for 4 days straight and I changed maybe 50 diapers in those 4 days. It was AWFUL!! All the poops (yes too much info but whatever if you are a parent you'll understand) were super small and the BIG one never came. This time, when we went to the doctor, they gave us strict orders.
-NO MORE THAN 8 OZ of MILK A DAY
-7 GRAMS OF FIBER A DAY
-CAP FULL OF MIRALAX A DAY
Would this really work? I was desperate and with a lot of hesitation, we cut off LJ's supply to 8 oz. That's 2 oz in the early afternoon before naptime and the remaining 6 oz before bed.
By simply following these simple 3 changes, LJ has been pooping like a CHAMP! We have been poop-happy for the past 2 weeks, no problems whatsoever (knock on wood). IT WAS A MIRACLE. In case you are a parent experiencing something similar, I would highly recommend you see a doctor but maybe try some of the things I did that I wrote in this blog post. Being constipated is awful (i'm sure everyone can attest to that) and being able to recognize what is causing the problem is KEY.
Does LJ miss his milk? Yes he sure does but sometimes we add 1 oz of water to his 2 oz before his nap to make it seem like he's drinking more. I will say this, he is eating SO MUCH more food now! its crazy! he has 3 square meals a day whereas before he'd eat a little here and there. YAY!!! OK. enough about poop. Have a spectacular day.
Cows milk. My son LOVES LOVES, did I say LOVES? milk. He started drinking cows milk and we were going through 2-3 gallons of organic whole milk a week. He was drinking it morning, noon and night... about an estimated 34 oz a day. YIKES! As first time parents little did we know that his constipation started around the same time he started drinking cows milk. It was cute at first. He would sit down in a corner, clench his hands into fists and have this cute/sad/pitiful look on his face pushing trying to poop. This quickly became a horrible site for me because I just wanted him to poop and be free of this constant pushing!
I should add here that we give our kids mostly organic fruits, vegetables and meats. Most, if not all of the snacks we buy are organic too so its not like we're feeding him garbage. Just thought I'd add that :)
We took him to the doctor several times about this. Every time he visited with his pediatrician, our doctor told us to change up his food intake and cut down the milk. We changed everything BUT the milk. Honestly he liked it so much that I was too scared to take him off it. I could have sworn it was something else. We gave him everything from PRUNES, OLIVE OIL, APPLES, FIBER GALORE and LOTS OF WATER. Nothing worked. We then started giving him MYRALAX with his milk. MYRALAX is the bomb! its a total safe medication that is EXCELLENT FOR ALL AGES to help constipation. At first we didn't know we had to give it to him everyday so after a couple of days, we'd stop and then our son would go right back to being constipated.
A few weeks ago we had our worst case of constipation where he pushed for 4 days straight and I changed maybe 50 diapers in those 4 days. It was AWFUL!! All the poops (yes too much info but whatever if you are a parent you'll understand) were super small and the BIG one never came. This time, when we went to the doctor, they gave us strict orders.
-NO MORE THAN 8 OZ of MILK A DAY
-7 GRAMS OF FIBER A DAY
-CAP FULL OF MIRALAX A DAY
Would this really work? I was desperate and with a lot of hesitation, we cut off LJ's supply to 8 oz. That's 2 oz in the early afternoon before naptime and the remaining 6 oz before bed.
By simply following these simple 3 changes, LJ has been pooping like a CHAMP! We have been poop-happy for the past 2 weeks, no problems whatsoever (knock on wood). IT WAS A MIRACLE. In case you are a parent experiencing something similar, I would highly recommend you see a doctor but maybe try some of the things I did that I wrote in this blog post. Being constipated is awful (i'm sure everyone can attest to that) and being able to recognize what is causing the problem is KEY.
Does LJ miss his milk? Yes he sure does but sometimes we add 1 oz of water to his 2 oz before his nap to make it seem like he's drinking more. I will say this, he is eating SO MUCH more food now! its crazy! he has 3 square meals a day whereas before he'd eat a little here and there. YAY!!! OK. enough about poop. Have a spectacular day.
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