Bowel Movements

[Anonymous]

I don’t know where to start, I need some advice/opinions about what is going on…………….

Before my daughter was ever diagnosed with GERD, she has problems with bowel movements, she would go about every 3 to 4 days and they ranged from very hard and painful to watery.

Now that we have seen the specialist and gotten the GERD under some control, her bowels are still a problem. She is on Alimentum, eats only the “go” baby goods as the Dr. called them (green beans, peas, and squash), drinks 2-4 oz of juice daily, and we attempt to get her to drink water. However even with these dietary changes she still only goes every 3-4 days and is in a lot of pain and very gassy while trying to go. Her bowels arn’t hard anymore but when she doesn’t go her GERD symptoms seem to come back.

She was also diagnosed with the milk protein allergy, could this be a sign of an allergic reaction to Alimentum? Could it be DGE? Any advice? We go back to the specialist on the 26th.

[Anonymous]

It does sound like it could be DGE. My son also had this. Are you giving her pear juice or apple juice? I found pear juice to work best for Myles. I also gave him prunes daily (1/2 of a stage 1 container) and flax seed oil (1 tsp daily). These remedies kept him regular for the most part. In fact if I missed one day he’d be constipated and miserable.

Peas can be very gassy. Have you tried eliminating them? I haven’t heard of the GO foods, but what worked best for Myles was pears, squash, and peaches.

Is she on cereal? Rice can cause gas and constipation.

What meds is she on for her GERD? You said her GERD is under some control. Mabye she needs a higher dose or different med. The right medication and right dose really should give more than just some relief.

Also, constipation can be sign of MSPI and some babies with MSPI cannot tolerate even the broken down proteins in Alimentum and they need an elemental formula like Neocate. Just something to consider.

Have you looked at Laura’s intro link? It is “stickied” in the Introduce Yourself forum and has lots of valuable information which may help you.

Good luck. I hope you find answers soon. I remember how hard it was, but once I had the right meds, right foods, etc. things were fine with Myles. I hope you find all the right things to help your little sweetie soon.

[Anonymous]

She isn’t on any type of rice or fruits per her GI. As far as the juice goes she is very picky she will only drink the apple cherry or apple grape. I can’t get her to drink any of the others. I have thought about trying prunes, but her GI said no fruits, so I have been hesitant to try it. I haven’t tried eliminating the peas yet, she really doesn’t like them so she doesn’t get them very often. Usually its just green beans and squash.

She is on 15mg of Previcid daily. I tried to get her Dr. to up the dosage, but he refuses. She had a ph study done and he says that 15 mg is sufficient enough for her reflux.

[Anonymous]

This sounds a lot like my son when he was younger. He would constantly be straining and grunting with gas & constipation. He would only have a bm about every 3 to 4 days and was just miserable. At the time we were fortifying his breastmilk with powdered formula to increase the calories so he could gain weight. We tried several different formulas, but nothing helped. We ended up switching to goat’s milk to fortify and that did the trick for Bryce. His bowel movements were finally normal & he was comfortable.

So it might be the formula. It might be worth it to try another formula. Also, when he was having these problems our dietician suggested we give him prune juice and pear juice. This really helped him. We also would massage his tummy. My husband is a massage therapist, and he taught me this infant-massage move to help constipation & gas: Start on the abdomin above the baby’s right leg and massage clockwise up to the ribs, around the belly-button, and back down – kind of in an upside-down “U” shape. This really helps too.

Good luck! I hope you can find out what’s bothering Morgan.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Heather that it might be the formula, and also that pear juice or prunes may help. If she won’t drink pear juice you can try adding 1/2 ounce to her formula. I did that for Myles for a long time because he wouln’t drink any juice at all, but if I added it to his formula he didn’t notice it. You can add prune juice the same way…I’d probably only try about a tablespoon initially to see if she can tolerate it. Myles and Eliana both did fine with prunes from an early age (4 months) but some babies get gassy from them.

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