Thursday, January 20, 2011

just another way being a parent changes your life forever.

Today I cheered and did a happy dance. Why? You might ask?

Poop. The Little Pirate pooped, and I was so excited I had to share the good news!

You see, no one warned me that adding a bit of rice cereal to his diet could clog him. And clog him, it did. My SIL told me that her doctor told her not to worry about it unless it had been 4 days, then you'd need to do a suppository. Well, it had been 3 and 1/2 days, and I'm not gonna lie, I was getting nervous about having to... well... make him poop.

I really can only come up with a couple things that might be less pleasant than pushing
something up my sweet baby's bum. One being actually using my fingers to dig out what won't come out on it's own. Which is what some mothers I know have had to do.

Motherhood is not for the weak.
This is what I'm coming to understand.

So question...
If I slow down the amount of rice cereal I give him, will it prevent this problem in the future??

14 comments:

The Pearce Family said...

My ped told me to go with prune juice. There is no way I wanted to do a suppository on my little baby! Try that, of course you will want to water it down too. We did it and it woked for her!

Rachel Sue said...

I was going to say the same thing. Make sure it's good and watered down. And yes, juice works too. You could start with apple juice and work your way to prune if you wanted. (Don't take my word solely. That is just my experience.)

And you're right. Motherhood is not for the week. BUT- becoming a mother helps with that too. Throw up pre children put me over the edge. Now, it's just really annoying.

Melinda said...

I would be careful with suppositories, if when they do poop it comes out soft, then everything should be fine. Even if its been nine days (happened to us), you still don't have to give them a suppository as long as it comes out soft when they finally do, thats what our pediatrician told us, so I guess you could call your ped. and ask them what their stand is? (From what I've been told, baby's body gets dependent on a suppository, so they won't learn how to do it on their own.) We did the prune juice thing too, worked for us. :)

Laurie said...

I would just make sure he drinks a lot of water. His body will get used to the rice cereal eventually.

Sam said...

Probably not. Try mixing it with apple juice or prune juice. Or, better yet, just add some pureed prunes to his diet. It will help and his little body will adjust. It just takes a little while. Good luck, I've had to dig out poop and it's not fun for anyone.

Momza said...

thin it out with liquid--it can be water or formula or juice.
Infant suppositories are made of glycerin and are really very small and easy to use. If you want more instructions, email me.
The baby won't become dependent on them if you use them once in awhile.

Kyla said...

My little guy has had digestive issues his whole life, and he only poops every 2-3 days anyway and it is normal! As long as his tummy is not hard and you do not notice any change in behavior he should be fine! His little body has to adjust to all this growing up too!

Celeste said...

We had the same problem and our pediatrician had us switch to baby oatmeal instead of rice cereal since it's easier to digest. Or, give him pears since that's about the easiest thing to digest.

Cynthia said...

Prune juice does help....be careful with apple juice, if there is pectin in it then it won't help. Adding a little fruit to the cereal can help as well, or mix it with the juice...my first had horrible issues with pooping (still does if he eats too much dairy) and I have tried everything to help him out, except dig it out. Good Luck! I hope he feels better soon.

Emryn said...

Austin had the same issue. I started to give him rice cereal one day and the next day oatmeal cereal, it seemed to keep things flowing. Then I switched him to just the mixed grains after about 2 months.

Erin said...

Kaitlyn couldn't do rice cereal because of the constipation issue. I switched her to oatmeal after only one week, and we haven't had too many problems since. The watered down prune juice works too, or the Gerber 1st foods prunes (as soon as he can start solids). And we routinely went 7 days between dirty diapers with Aidan, so it's not TOO much of a worry. Just so you know.

sarah said...

That time I saved the "ball" is all making sense now isn't it?

Caroline C. Bingham said...

Okay, so instead of mixing his rice with milk/water/formula, use apple juice.

that is all I have to say.

not really. I don't remember if you are starting to do bottles or not, but you can also add karo syrup to his bottles, and that'll work too. how much is up to you, anywhere from a teaspoon to a tablespoon.

NOW I'm done. really really.

the Petterson Family said...

We gave Hannah oatmeal too. And mixed it with prune juice or pear juice. We hardly ever gave her rice cereal. Rice is a constipating food, I don't know why they recommend it for little babies, who are still getting used to their own little digestive systems!