Hi everyone

This baby is now almost 9 months old but is constipated almost since birth.
The mother performs enemas on him almost everyday because he just can't @#$%& on his own...



She needs some help with a natural and safe way to help him with the constipation.

The baby is breast fed and also fed some cooked and raw fruits and vegetables. He is usually not fed anything like bananas or pears that slows down the bowel movement. And he has 4 teeth. He is a very active and happy baby but often has trouble falling asleep because of this problem.

Thanks a lot.
Please help us out.

Liana

From talking to mothers and reading lots.... babies that drink breast milk have very little by way of bowel movements. The food is so perfect for them, that there's very little left. Babies on formula however have profuse and stinky BM's. I wonder if it was this comparison that might have led her to think there was a problem in the first place?

Daily enemas even in an adult can cause the body to stop moving things along without help. It sounds slightly dangerous to me to resort to enemas on an infant.

Poor little one being in painand having trouble sleeping. Hope someone can help.
Sheryl

Hi, my daughter (now 3) @#$%& once every 7-10 days for the first year of her life. She was exclusively breastfed. I was told by my midwife that doing more than a few enemas on an infant are NOT good, they only encourage the bowels to function less on their own. When (if) a natural BM non enema induced occurs, does the @#$%& look normal? If it looks extremely thick/hard to pass, low moisture, that is common of dehydration. Even though you breastfeed, once solids are introduced, pure water is very important to add as well. Another idea, sometimes what the mother eats affects the baby's BM's. Have her just take note of that and look for possible ideas...ask a proffesional about it too. And be wary of the advice of a western doctor too....a mom eith a western doctor for her little one has to be very well educated so she doesnt fall into the "doctor knows best" attitude. Some are great, but others dont know a thing about real care. For example a doctor might prescribe a medicine for the poor little baby to treat constipation but fail to find out and address what is actually CAUSING the constipation. I'm no expert, these are just my experiences with my little one. By the way, my midwife said that a breastfed baby can @#$%& only once a week and that is within normal range. Good luck!

I never heard of bananas and pears slowing down bowel movements. At that age, 9 mo, my baby lived on bananas. If he didn't do it everyday I got concerned and gave him prune juice.

Ok, I was interested in if I did the right thing for my baby (long ago) and it seems that I did. Here is one of those Yahoo answer things and prune juice is mentioned a few times.
[answers.yahoo.com]

(from the above link) At 4 months when my son was constipated my Dr. recommended an ounce of prune juice in a morning bottle and an evening bottle until he poopies. He said to taper it down to keep him managed. I used the prune juice to get the works moving and then I started him on an ounce of pear juice (you can get it in the baby food isle) in a morning bottle everyday. It keeps him pretty regular. If for some reason he gets a little constipated again I try a second ounce of pear juice in the evening and then if he still doesn't poopie I give him an ounce of prune again in the morning.

You have to be careful with the prune juice though because it can work VERY well. It may give him diarrhea. So you need to make sure you switch back to the pear juice as soon as he poopies again.

Bananas DON'T cause constipation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who told you bananas cause constipation? I did a search on bananas and constipation and found every source saying bananas normalize the bowels:

[www.compassionateacupuncture.com]

Foods which lubricate the intestines:

• Spinach, BANANAS, sesame seed oil, honey, pears, prunes, peaches, apples, apricots, walnuts, pine nuts, almonds, alfalfa sprouts,, soy products, carrots, cauliflower, beets, okra, seaweed.

[www.finetuneyou.com]

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

[www.doctorndtv.com]

Q. Can you please tell me whether bananas contain enough of fibre in it and do they cause constipation as per one belief and if yes why? Can you also tell me about the digestion process of bananas as a lot has been said about it and people has a lot of conceptions & misconceptions about it.

A. Cooked or ripe bananas are very well digested and the nutrients are absorbed well. Ripe bananas have a mild laxative property and hence are very useful as a remedy for constipation. At the same time the fruit is helpful to combat diarrhoea and dysentery. Bananas are of great value both in constipation and diarrhoea as they normalize digestive tract functions and absorb large amounts of water for proper bowel moments. Their usefulness in constipation is due to their richness in pectin, which is water absorbent and gives them a bulk producing ability. They also possess the ability to change the harmful bacteria in the intestines to the beneficial forms (acidophyllus bacilli).

[www.femhealth.com]

Bananas, like most fiber, tend to help both diarrhea and constipation. Some people cannot take fiber supplements every day for more than a few weeks, but anyone can eat several bananas a day for many years with no problem.

Hi Liana,
My kids were raised vegetarian - plenty of fibre...
My youngest son had chronic constipation from 4-9 months. He was in agony, we saw docs and specialists, they all told me the usual; "increase his fibre", apart from eating straw he couldn't eat much more!

Eventually we saw a great paedriatric osteopath who diagnosed a premature gut and dehydration. He told me to spoon feed him water every 20mins to re educate the kidneys to recognize thirst. (I had no idea he was dehydrated, as he was on the boob all the time....).
He made a good recovery.
Good luck
Regards
Anna

weeeell Ladies/Moms - bananas do constapate ME, i'm not a baby of course, but 56 by now, & my digestive system is rather on a slagish side....all i can safely have is half a banana, if more will be consumed my movement will be delayed for quite a few hours...i get same from pasterized dairy....if i ever had it....
also GREEN SMOOTHIES make my bowel movements REEEEEEEEALLY YUKKY= pasty/thin/not easy to pass!....while chewing vegies/food with my own mouth/teeth results in beautiful movements....sooooooooo....there we r....there's all sorts of addities on this plante...though i know/have heard of others having same ...'challenges' with bananas...& by the way, i do love their taste...& i do chew them till they liquify....
oh well...

as to such frequent enema for the baby!!!!...that sounds scary/crazy....i agree with those of U who said IT shouldn't get any enemas...
BLESSINGS & LOVE, Basia

Basia Holy Healer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> weeeell Ladies/Moms - bananas do constapate ME,

Quick question: at what stage of ripeness do you eat them? Do you wait until all the green is gone and they have brown spots? Mat be the people who have problems are the ones who eat the unripe bananas.

NEVER NEVER NEVER WOULD I TOUCH AN UNRIPE BANANA! i eat them 99.99% of the time quite ripe-with black spots, tried few times ripe ones but witout spots -
NO DIFFERENCE! SAME EFFECT! that must be my ....quirk?
by the way i wouldn't also touch any other fruit that's unripe - i'm a health nut for years so know the difference, for example when i pick now here blue- & black-berries i do pick off the branches only the ripe ones, only those r sweet & yummy to me & i CAN tell the difference

LOVE & BLESSINGS, Basia

Cool Basia! Thanks for the reply, I guess that rules out the unripe fruit theory. That would make it a little difficult for me to be raw without bananas, I think my shopping cart is 50% bananas! But I'm sure you are used to it, at least it's not like you have to go to the emergency room if you eat a banana like some people have to do with peanut butter.

Thanks to everyone for all the amazing advice.

Anna, I have a question and maybe you could give me a follow up

Anna67 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Eventually we saw a great paedriatric osteopath
> who diagnosed a premature gut and dehydration. He
> told me to spoon feed him water every 20mins to re
> educate the kidneys to recognize thirst. (I had no
> idea he was dehydrated, as he was on the boob all
> the time....).
> He made a good recovery.
> Good luck
> Regards
> Anna

Can you tell me me more about this and how much water did you give him every 20 minutes? Thanks a lot.

I think dehydration may very well apply to him. He gets hot really quickly when he goes outside now in the summer and his skin turns redish because of the heat. The mother gives him water once a day, but not much, maybe a few spoons. He also drinks prune juice, eats cooked beets, and also drinks Gripe. Nothing seems to help that much.

thanks for all the help!
keep it comin' plz

Hi Liana,
We gave him a teaspoon of water every 20 mins to introduce the idea of liquids little and often to re awaken the kidneys, gradually increasing the amount to a small bottle or cup. There was a massive health improvement in a week, inconjunction with the osteopathy. He became a different baby when he was rehydrated, could pass stools without pain and expel toxins. (Oh, what I let that poor baby go through... ) Like your friend I tried every thing, but the osteopath was our saviour!
He is now 7 and will only drink on his own accord when already dehydrated, so still has to be reminded but has no constipation, but boy does he hate fruit!
Good Luck
X Anna

Anna67 - if he hates fruit - what does he like to eat? (being a kid of a helth conscious mother) - what's his favorites? just curious? human beings r soooo interesting...
BLESSINGS & LOVE, Basia

Ah Basia,
I have so much to worry about with this ones diet. His elder 2 brothers could live of fruit!

The kids are still cooked, we are working on this, but I figure that as they are exposed to the importance of living Raw Vegan foods, that it something they will embrace as they get older (wishful thinking?)

Vin likes things like:
veg soups; carrot, sweet pot, lentils, squash, garlic, onion etc
Dhal and rice with spinach and carrots
spelt/kamut pasta with broccoli
OccassionalRaw choc energy balls with dried apricots, dates, nuts and seeds


He will occasionally drink a fresh apple or orange juice. Hates smoothies.
Will only eat fresh apple and sweet citrus.

Live yogourt and raw honey.

3-6-9 oil

School packed lunch, mainly seeded wholmeal bread and yeast pate, soya yog or grain/seed cereal bar and juice/water, repetative and basic I know, but either that or he won't eat. He never eats much lunch, prefering breakfast and supper. He is a light eater and chews well, wheras his brothers throw their food in!



He'd be happy to live on JUNK JUNK JUNK Pizza and ice cream.

Any help hints and tips appreciated, no one be afraid to state the obvious or appear condescending!!No offence taken at help. My silence will be due to being away for the next 2 1/2 weeks sunning my self and georging on mediteranean fruits in Barcelona!!!

P.s thinking back to my childhood, I ate similar to Vin, except I was a massive carnivore(yuk), but never touched veg or salad other than potato untill I became vegetarian at 16. My sister who was a more varied and healthier eater now has a much poorer diet than me....Hope for him yet???
Adios Anna

Anna - (that's my sister's name...)
...what U'r son does eat doesn't sound sooo bad...don't worry about it, i know, for us mothers it is an easy thing to do, we're prabably programmed to worry as part of carrying about & for our kids...
of course U wish he would take advantage & enjoy of all the wide variety of fruit & vegies that r available to us, ..BUT
let him eat the way he does....after some time, it might change..if his body/system will need different nutrients, or he just might go on being fine/happy/doing well, on what his present diet supplies...
though, most of us go through phases, each one might last for years....
& each body/system has it's peculiarities that's often sooooo different than of those around us...
THE KEY IS FOR HIM TO EAT AS LITTLE OF JUNK AS POSSIBLE, the rest is does not matter,
remember, some people lived for long periods of time on dates & water...
apples & oranges sound good! as long as he eats them
- try maybe to introduce to him the idea/practice that in order to have any cooked food or junk food, he has to eat first some raw ....salad or vegie(s), to balance it off for his system...
the acid forming (junk) or lesser quality(cooked)foods with the intake of alkalizing ones....
he'll be all right if U'll manage to introduce this
&&&&&
U'r soooo blessed to spend the time in Spain!!!!!
U'll do it for all of us who won't be there but would love to...
LOVE & BLESSINGS, Basia

update: he's much better from the water

does his business on his own every day now

thanks for all the help

Wonderful!!!!!!!!!!

GREEEEEEEEEEAT!!!! SOOOO HAPPY FOR U BOTH!!!

LOVE, BLESSINGS & BLISS, Basia

My daughter had this same problem as an infant and we had her anal muscles tested which were just fine. I consulted with some of my more healthier eating friends at the time and since I was breast feeding, they suggested that I needed to look at what I was eating that may be effecting her. The other thing is the drs. did suggest enemas and I did try it once but was uncomfortable with the idea of possible dependence and a friend suggested lubricating (vseline is what I used) my pinkie and slowly and gently insert it (not fully) into her anus to stimulate movement. I did for a few days as well as adressing my diet and all went well. We never had any more problem. Oh yeah, I also juiced pears (organic is best) for her, diluted it with water (preferably mineral, spring or distilled) and gave her about an ounce every day (she was too young for more); at nine months, the baby can take more than an ounce of pear juice. The other thing to consider is the iron that is in formulas and having her give her a formula that doesn't contain iron. Hope this helps.

My nephews were breast fed and they @#$%& several times a day. If I baby sat for even a few hours there was a good chance I'd be changing a dirty diaper.

Also Google: baby @#$%&

[www.mamaphonic.com]

Dear Basia ( I love your name, Polish?)
Thanks for your email about my youngest's diet.

I have been managing to get more raw juices and nut milks (sweetened) into him and have found that he is complaing much less about vegetables and will eat more of them (and reminds me that he hasn't made a fuss) and has increased has changed his taste a little, oats for breakfast again, more pulses and less complaining about eating in general (also taking more water without prompting). He's obviously thinking about it a bit more as he reported to me that his friends mum was 'drinking diet coke... in the playground!!!'
So you are right when you said:

>>"after some time, it might change..if his body/system will need different nutrients, or he just might go on being fine/happy/doing well, on what his present diet supplies...
though, most of us go through phases, each one might last for years....
& each body/system has it's peculiarities that's often sooooo different than of those around us... THE KEY IS FOR HIM TO EAT AS LITTLE OF JUNK AS POSSIBLE, the rest is does not matter,"

Thanks for your advice, some of us mums do like to beat ourselves up!

Spain was wonderful, I ate tonnes of the most heavenly figs!
Wonderful news that the baby improved with water!
Prior to Vin taking water, he was SO sickly and toxic, now he is a bundle of energy, and surprisingly when the older two got mumps last year, he was exposed to it, but didn't get it. But when he had chicken pox at 6 months he was terribly ill, then had a 2 month flu like illness (postviral?), lost a 1/3rd of his body weight. I don't know how he is so strong now. I digress...
X Anna