Home » Misc » Baby constipation after solid food

Baby constipation after solid food


Starting Baby on Solid Food | Longwood Pediatrics

General information

You should generally start solid foods between 4-6 months of age. Starting solids earlier than this will not cause your baby to sleep longer at night and may cause digestive problems. For your baby’s first year, breastmilk or formula is the most important part of her diet. As you introduce solids, make sure that she is still drinking adequate amounts of formula or breast milk.

Feed your baby all solids from a spoon. Putting cereal in the bottle is not a good idea, and part of learning about solids is learning to eat with a spoon. You may want to start solids at a time when your baby is hungry but not starving, such as after he has had a little formula or breast milk, but not after a full milk feeding when he is not at all hungry.

Try to introduce new foods with enthusiasm, but do not force your child to eat something. If your child is not interested in a new food, put it away and try introducing it again later. When introducing new foods, there should be an interval of 2-3 days between each new food so that you will know if your baby is having a reaction to a new food.

If your baby develops vomiting, rash, or diarrhea, please do not give that food again and discuss this reaction at your next visit. If your child develops hives or breathing problems, please call the office.

What foods to introduce

  • Feeding suggestions for your baby (download)

Somewhere between 4 and 6 months old, you may begin to introduce first foods such as infant cereals, pureed fruits, pureed vegetables, and pureed meats. Start with about one or two tablespoons of food once or twice a day. It is important to make sure that some of your infant’s early foods contain iron, which is important for all babies’ health. Iron-rich foods include iron-fortified baby cereals, meats, and beans.

Once your child is about 8 months old and sitting up well, you may introduce finger foods such as biscuits, Cheerios, pasta, soft bread/toast, small pieces of soft vegetables or fruits, and shredded chicken or meat.

A note on constipation: Sometimes when a baby starts on solid foods, he will become constipated (hard stools). If your baby becomes constipated, use whole wheat or barley cereal instead of rice cereal and avoid bananas and sweet potatoes, which are constipating. All the fruits which begin with “P” (prunes, plums, pears, peaches) will help soften your baby’s stool, so give them often if your baby is having hard stools. If your baby is constipated, you may also give him 1 ounce of prune juice mixed with 1 ounce of water every day or two.

Beverages

For the whole first year, breast milk or formula should be your baby’s primary beverage. Typical amounts are listed in the table at the end of the sheet.  Fruit juice tends to be high in sugar and fills up babies so they eat less nutritious food. We do NOT recommend giving juice to your baby in the first year.

Food sensitivities and allergies

While food allergies seem to be more common among children than they were in the past, no one knows the reason for this. We do not recommend restricting any specific foods for babies because of concerns about allergies, but if you have food allergy questions or a family history of specific food allergies, please discuss this with your provider.

Citrus fruits and tomatoes may cause a rash around the mouth in young children, but this is not a true allergy and is not dangerous; if it happens, you may want to cut back on these types of foods and try them again at a later time.

Peanuts and peanut butter

Recent research suggests that early and continued eating of peanut products decreases the chance of developing a peanut allergy. Some children will still be allergic to peanuts, but introducing peanuts at 4-6 months can prevent peanut allergy for many children. If your child has other food allergies or severe eczema, (or if your family history causes you to be concerned), please discuss blood testing for peanut allergy before you introduce peanuts.

Other infants should begin eating peanut products at 4-6 months. You can mix a small amount of smooth peanut butter into your infant’s baby cereal or pureed food. Bamba, a peanut puff product (available online and in the Israeli or Kosher food section of some grocery stores) can be crumbled into baby cereal. Give a small amount the first few times, and if it is tolerated without hives continue to feed peanut containing products 3 times a week. Older infants and toddlers should continue to eat Bamba or smooth peanut butter (spread thinly on bread or cracker) 3 times a week.

Caution!

  • Nuts, whole grapes, spoonfuls of peanut butter, round slices of hot dog, hard raw vegetables, popcorn, hard candies, and ice are all choking hazards and should not be given to your child until at least 4 years old.
  • All foods you give younger children should be soft and in small pieces.
  • Do not give your baby honey until he is over 1 year old (honey can carry botulism spores that are dangerous for a young baby but not for older children or adults).
  • Do not home prepare beets, turnips, carrots, spinach, and collard greens while your child is an infant. These can be high in nitrates when prepared at home, but are safe if given as store-bought baby food.

How to Help Baby Constipation After Starting Solids

Have you had to deal with baby constipation after starting solids? Or maybe it’s one of your concerns with starting solids?

A change in bowel movements is almost inevitable after starting solids, and it is not out of the norm to see a 6 month old not pooping after stating solids. But there are some things that you can do to help your baby out!

Constipation in Babies

Many parents are understandably worried about constipation and having a baby constipated after starting solids. It can cause our babies to be uncomfortable, and no one likes to see that! But what exactly is constipation? And what is it not? 

Symptoms of Constipation in Babies

Not having a bowel movement every day is NOT considered constipation. I know it can be worrisome for your baby to all of the sudden go from being regular to not having a bowel movement every day after starting solid foods.

But not having a bowel movement daily does not mean that anything is wrong, or that you even need to be concerned!

The same thing goes for some straining. Straining can often times just be a baby’s way of figuring out how their body works, and isn’t a sign of constipation.

So just what is considered constipation? 

Here are the symptoms you want to be on the lookout for: 

  • Hard, pellet like stools
  • Pain or blood with bowel movements
  • Excessive straining

How you can help with constipation in babies starting solids

Any dietitian will tell you that the number one thing you can do for constipation is to work on fluid, fiber and movement. For babies, these take on a little different meaning.

Fluids to help constipation in babies

With babies under one, we really don’t want to be giving much water at all. Breastmilk and formula are all the fluids they need to stay hydrated. So while it is important to ensure that they are getting a good amount of these, you do not need to stress about getting them water.

Fiber to help constipation in babies

Fiber is something that you can focus on for babies fairly easily! The foods that will give babies the most fiber are going to be fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. All of which are fairly easy for babies to eat. Ensure that you are offering a variety of nutritious foods, and your baby will likely get in a decent amount of fiber to help keep them regular.

Movement to help constipation in babies

Movement is another difficult one for babies, especially when they are first starting solids and might not be mobile. Try focusing on things like moving their legs in bicycle kicks, or doing a baby tummy massage to help with getting their bowels moving if you have a baby not pooping after starting solids. 

Learn How to Set The Best Foundation For Feeding Your Baby!

Learning what to feed your baby is helpful. But what about all the rest?! Things like how they should be positioned for eating, what you should say at meals, and how to set up an environment that fosters a positive feeding relationship-for life!

These are the things your parents and friends don't have the answers for, and they're the things that make the biggest difference!

Grab the Foundations course where I walk you through it all.

Best baby food for constipation

Now let’s get into some specific foods that you can try incorporating into your baby’s diet to help with constipation after starting solids.

Keep in mind though that there is no magic pill when it comes to constipation! There is some research out there about specific foods, but really not a ton. And every baby is going to react differently to different foods.

Some of these will work for some babies, but many will honestly not. It’s all about experimentation when it comes to what foods work. 

Focus on trying several different fruits and vegetables as well as whole grains, pureed or in finger food form, whatever you give your baby. You never know what will work!

I know with my daughter, cherry tomatoes, kiwis, and sweet potatoes always seemed to do the trick when she was younger, but we discovered those just by accident!

Baby Foods for Constipation

Try serving these foods to your baby to help with keeping their bowel movements regular.

Sweet Potatoes

Coconut Oil

Apple Juice

 Chia Seeds

Flax Seeds

The P Fruits

(prunes, peaches, pears & plums)

All of these are suitable for babies as soon as they start eating, or around 6 months of age. For apple juice specifically, I recommend using this as a last resort as we want to avoid juice for kids under 2 usually. 

For flax and chia seeds, these are great to help with constipation and are very nutritionally dense. Try soaking them in water or liquid first, or simply sprinkle a few on a moist food that they will stick to. 

I know that there are some wives' tales out there about chia seeds not being safe for babies, but this is not supported by the research. They are a perfectly safe, and nutritious, option for your baby!

More: Head here for an example 6 month old feeding schedule to help with the timing of feeding your baby!

Should I stop solids if baby is constipated?

The general answer is no, you should not stop offering foods! It's important to continue offering your baby foods, but pay attention to what you are offering and any patterns you see. Focus on including the foods and strategies I mention here. And if you continue to have concerns, be sure to talk to your baby's healthcare provider.

The Bottom Line for Constipation

The best thing you can do is focus on fiber, fluid, and movement for your child. From the diet standpoint, try the foods I’ve mentioned here but know that they are not going to work for everyone! Keep your focus on serving a varied diet to your children to help cover all your bases.

Have you found that any of these foods work for your baby? Or do you have another food that you have found to work better?

Get the

Starting Solids: Setting the Foundation Course Today!

Answers and guidance that you never knew you needed. The foundations course will set you and your child up for a lifetime of positive feeding and eating! 

Other articles you might be interested in...

PIN IT FOR LATER.

..

Tags

Baby Nutrition, BLW and Starting Solids, starting solids

You may also like

What to do if the baby has constipation after feeding vegetables.

- Anastasia Anatolyevna, is it true that after the start of complementary feeding, constipation is less common in a child with natural feeding than with artificial feeding?

- Constipation can occur in children receiving both breast milk and formula milk. Therefore, there is no direct dependence of constipation on the type of feeding.

When introducing complementary foods, it is important to observe the diet. It is necessary to feed the baby at certain hours, and give new products for him in the morning in order to have time to track the body's reaction to the food being introduced.

- What features of the diet or diet increase the risk of stool retention?

- The rarest cause of constipation in children, not related to nutrition, is a congenital pathology of the intestine. Constipation with the introduction of solid food is more often due to a violation of the rules of feeding.


Constipation after first feeding: causes

  1. Failure to meet deadlines, eg starting complementary foods early.
  2. Initially large portions of food - although you need to start with microdoses in the amount of 1/3-1/2 teaspoon.
  3. First complementary food with multi-component products - according to the rules, first give mono-component complementary foods (white and green vegetables, such as zucchini, or gluten-free cereals from one cereal).
  4. The introduction of several new products at once - in fact, it is important to observe gradualness, in turn with a weekly or even slightly longer interval.
  5. The beginning of complementary foods with semolina or rice porridge - they strengthen.
  6. Water deficiency — stool contains a large percentage of water, and if it is not enough supplied to the body, the stool becomes hard, it is difficult to go to the toilet.
  7. Individual sensitivity, food allergy.

- Constipation from complementary foods - what to do to quickly alleviate the child's condition?

- If a child has constipation with the start of complementary foods, first of all, it is necessary to interrupt the introduction of food products and analyze the possible causes of stool retention in order to isolate and eliminate the real one.

If the delay in bowel movements does not cause discomfort to the child, he is gaining weight well, cheerful and cheerful, then this condition cannot be called constipation. You can wait a bit, observe the behavior of the child. If the stool is restored, complementary foods can be continued.


Read also
  • about digestive disorders in infants.

Constipation during the introduction of complementary foods: how to help a baby at home

— What are the most common mistakes parents make when trying to relieve constipation after introducing complementary foods?

“This is an emergency enema and laxative suppository. Parents try to alleviate the condition of the babies as quickly as possible by mechanical means, but they ignore the additional administration of fluid, massage, and regular laying on the stomach. Sometimes the anus is stimulated with a cotton swab, which is undesirable, since the reflex must be fixed on its own , without outside help. This delays the timing of self-defecation.

- With home-prepared complementary foods, constipation is less likely to occur in a child's life. This is true?

- This is an absolute delusion, since the cause of constipation has nothing to do with the method of preparing complementary foods. It is important to identify the food that the child does not tolerate, add more fluids and reduce the amount of food eaten.

- Are MAMAKO 9 purees suitable?0076 ® with goat curd for the first feeding?

- This puree contains fruits and cottage cheese. Dietary fiber has a beneficial effect on intestinal motility, and it is easier for the child to go to the toilet. Goat curd is easily and comfortably digested in the baby's stomach, unlike a cow's milk product. In addition, the features of goat's milk increase the bioavailability of macro- and microelements, and cottage cheese itself is a source of calcium, phosphorus and essential amino acids. Therefore, children's fruit puree with goat's cottage cheese is a healthy complementary food and a delicious treat for kids.


Children's constipation is not an enemy, but parents need to understand what caused it, and then eliminate the cause correctly and in time. A small increase in fluid intake and physical activity is often enough to prevent constipation in a child. Sometimes it makes sense to simply reduce the amount of food or remove complementary foods for a while. Depending on age, type of feeding and nature of complaints, relief for constipation may vary. Therefore, it is better to discuss the problem with the doctor in order to exclude constipation in the child and not return to it again.

* Breast milk is the best food for babies. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of a child's life and continued breastfeeding after complementary foods are introduced until the age of 2 years. Before introducing new products into the baby's diet, you should consult with a specialist. The material is for informational purposes and cannot replace the advice of a healthcare professional. For nutrition of children from 6+ months. The product is certified.

Child constipation: symptoms and management

Constipation is a common problem affecting children of all ages. In most cases, the cause of this phenomenon is not hidden in any disease, although it often requires the help of a pediatrician or pediatric gastroenterologist. In this article, you will learn about the main causes, symptoms, and prevention of constipation in children.

Parents often worry about how often their children go to the toilet. This anxiety begins during the infant's infancy. However, each child has a different frequency of bowel movements, and what is normal for one may not be normal for another. A cause for concern should appear if the feces become more solid and the child has become less likely to empty the intestines. It is in this case that we can talk about constipation in a child.

Infants have bowel movements from several times a day to once every few days. The frequency of these emptyings does not matter very much. Another thing is important - normally, feces should be soft and come out of the rectum without effort. Babies who are breastfed by their mothers tend to have thinner, mustard-yellow stools. A newborn can "walk" into a diaper after each breastfeed. Although for some babies, bowel movements once a week may also be the norm.

Formula-fed infants typically have 2-3 bowel movements per day and move large amounts of diapers. Although the frequency of bowel movements may vary depending on the type of formula fed to the baby. As a rule, the smell of the feces of children who are fed formula is more reminiscent of an adult.

When babies transition from breastfeeding or bottle feeding to solid foods, their stool changes color and smell. Along with this, the frequency of bowel movements may also change. Usually the stool becomes thicker, darker and smells much worse. The stool will change depending on what you feed your baby. Some high-fiber foods, such as raisins, may come out almost completely undigested. As the child grows older, there may be further changes in the regularity of bowel movements and the consistency of feces.

The inability of children to relieve themselves of great need has characteristic manifestations:

  • The stool of constipated infants looks very hard or looks like granules. During the attempt to “go” into a diaper, the smallest children may cry.
  • If a child is constipated, he will visibly strain and his face will turn red when he tries to have a bowel movement. Although, if after a few minutes of pushing the child still goes to the toilet, and his feces are soft, he most likely does not have constipation.
  • If the usual frequency of trips to the toilet has decreased, this is a clear symptom of constipation in children. For example, if a child usually goes to the toilet 1-2 times a day, and after that he does not go to the potty for 2 days, this indicates a problem. This also includes children's complaints of pain during bowel movements.
  • Other signs of constipation in children include poor appetite, complaints of general malaise, changes in behavior (the child becomes sad or irritable), and nausea.

How can you tell if your baby is constipated if he is not yet talking? To do this, you need to pay attention to his behavior. If the child feels the desire to empty the bowels, but does not do so, strange actions appear in his behavior:

  • The infant arches his back, squeezes his buttocks and cries.
  • The baby sways back and forth and at the same time squeezes the buttocks and muscles of the legs, crosses his legs, stands on his toes, wriggles and moves restlessly, squats.
  • Sometimes the child tries to hide in a corner or other secluded place, and then performs the actions from the list above.

Although this behavior is perceived as an attempt to empty the bowels, in fact, in this way children try to endure the urge. This is due to their reluctance to empty their bowels or the fear that they will be hurt during the passage of feces.

Another possible sign of constipation in a child is panties stained with feces. If the baby often suffers, he may experience fecal blockage - when a large amount of feces accumulates in the rectum. Sometimes, under pressure, part of the stool leaks out and gets on the underwear. In this case, parents mistakenly believe that the child has diarrhea.

What are the causes of constipation in children?

This problem occurs when stool remains in the large intestine for too long. The latter absorbs too much water, due to which the fecal matter hardens and cannot come out. The most common reasons why feces harden and remain in the colon for a long time include:

  • Ignoring the urge to void,
  • Lack of fiber in the diet,
  • Drinking insufficient liquids,
  • Switching from liquid to solid foods,
  • Switching from breastfeeding to formula milk,
  • Changing environmental conditions - traveling, going to school after kindergarten.

The causes of constipation in children may be hidden in functional disorders or bowel diseases. These include:

Hirschsprung's disease - a congenital disorder in which the large intestine lacks nerve cells. Because of this, insufficient signals are sent to the muscle cells of the intestine that cause muscle contraction. As a result, feces do not move forward and remain in the rectum for a long time.

Functional disorders in the work of the gastrointestinal tract. In this case, despite the absence of pathology in the large intestine, the work of the organ is disrupted. The most common causes of functional constipation in a child are three:

  1. When the baby transitions from breastfeeding to formula or when switching to solid food,
  2. When the parents are trying to accustom the baby to use the potty and the child learns to control the bowel movement,
  3. When a child goes to school and avoids using the school toilet in an attempt to endure the urge to pee.

Sometimes constipation in children is caused by a functional disorder called irritable bowel syndrome. You can read more about this disorder in this article.

How can I help my baby with constipation?

In most cases, parents can help their child themselves. If the problem is not solved, you need to seek help from a pediatrician or pediatric gastroenterologist. Below are the main recommendations for dealing with constipation.

To help an infant (under 1 year old) you should:

  • Give him extra water between meals.
  • For an infant over 4 months old, give 60 to 120 ml of fruit juice (pear, apple or plum), dividing this volume into 2 times a day. Infants aged 8-12 months can be given up to 180 ml of juice per day.
  • If your child is constipated and has begun to eat solid foods, try giving him high-fiber foods twice a day: peas, beans, apricots, prunes, peaches, pears, plums, and spinach.

To help older children (from 1 year old):

  • If a child is 1 to 6 years old, give him up to 180 ml of fruit juice per day. Children over 7 years of age are recommended to consume up to 240 ml of juice per day.
  • Drink plenty of fluids throughout the day.
  • Increase the amount of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in the diet.
  • Avoid hard cheeses, fast food, ice cream, do not eat a lot of meat.
  • Teach children to go to the toilet regularly after meals and never endure the urge to pee.

A diet for constipation in children should include sufficient water, fruit and vegetable juices, and soups. This will help keep more fluid in the stool and avoid intestinal blockages. The latter can occur if the child consumes a lot of fiber, but little fluid. Most fiber is found in vegetables, fruits, whole grain breads and cereals.

If a child has not had a bowel movement 24 hours after you have applied the recommendations, call your pediatrician. Children aged 1 year and older need to be examined by a pediatric gastroenterologist.

How to treat constipation in children if dietary changes did not help?

If the situation does not change after dietary adjustment, the child may need an enema or laxatives. In most cases, doctors recommend using an enema first. Only in the last turn, when the correction of the diet and enemas do not solve the problem, children are prescribed laxatives. Never give your child a laxative without seeing a doctor. Only a specialist decides which remedy is suitable in each individual case.

When do I need to see a doctor urgently?

Call your pediatrician or gastroenterologist immediately if your child complains of severe abdominal or rectal pain. You should also seek medical attention in the following situations: