10/02/2009: Rachel from Anna, Tx, USA: "Help with baby constipation

Please help- I have a nine month old girl at home with a chronic constipation problem for the last 6 months. If I let her go on her own she may have a BM once or twice a week and they are very painful for her to pass and very large. The doctors are not much help and I've done everything they have suggested with little change and even that only temporary.

I have tried the following: baby laxative consisting of magnesium citrate, changing formulas (from Enfamil lipil to Enfamil gentle ease-helped for about 3 weeks, earths best organic, and a couple of others), raw milk from Jersey cows, omega 3 supplement, probiotic, fresh fruit including peaches, pears, apples, apple juice, pears juice at least 4-5 oz a day which worked for 2 days then stopped working I stopped giving it to her because I feel that is too much juice, fresh blended spinach, Epsom salt baths, massage with almond oil and lavender essential oil, q-tip with Vaseline,
thermometer with Vaseline both inserted to stimulate a movement, steamed broccoli, raw garlic, dark corn syrup, concord grape juice diluted, aloe vera juice and now against what I believe to be nutritious soy formula. I give her liquid suppositories to make her go but she is now holding her BM in because it is so painful for her. I am trying enemas to help but she tenses up before I can insert them and I don't want to hurt her. Please if anyone knows of something I have missed please tell me.

I don't know what else to do for her. She's had an X-Ray which came back normal- nothing keeping her from having a BM. Also she only began having this problem when I began supplementing her with formula when I wasn't producing enough milk. While she was on breast milk she had no issues. But when I went back to work I slowly lost my supply and since then she has had this problem.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated."

10/03/2009: Merryanne from Orange City, Florida, USA replies: "To Rachel with the constpated baby: Read the material in EC about magnesium, and you will have to get the baby to drink more fluids, and fruit for fiber, or make your on nutrious smothie and use the flavors the baby likes...I hope this helps. Merryanne"

10/03/2009: Tricia from Ireland replies: "I first noticed my newborns poop problems in hospital but the nurse told me that she was having a reaction to the baby wipes we were using and to use cotton wool and water. Oh, foolish me. I went home thinking she would be fine. Anyway the problems got worse (is every new mother REALLY that apprehensive as they kept telling us?). All we got was a prescription for permanent laxatives. Eventually a very kind doctor rightly guessed that her back passage was slightly too small for her body. There is no way of testing to prove if he is actually right. This may not be the reason for your child's constipation but his advice at the time was to give her prune juice. Now she was only 10/12 weeks old at this stage so we had to water it down to 1 oz prune juice to 3 oz water and she had to take this in 1 oz lots in between her bottles (my milk didn't kick in). Her feed also has to be changed to a softer formula with pre-biotics added. We learned the hard way that we should have started this early in the morning rather than at night. We walked the floors with her for 12 hours. It took 3 days to work and the first day of pooping was pure liquid and projectile. Oh, and also foul smelling.

By the time she was your baby's age, we administered the prunejuice in 4 oz lots 2 times per day still watered down so that it is only 2 oz of prune juice and there was a BM every day. If we missed one it didn't matter. If we were away and missed 2 it did. When solids were introduced we had to wait longer to introduce proteins and starches. Her diet was mainly fruit and vegetable, no potatoes or rice or meat till much later thn the norm.

We also kept her on her bottles to guarantee her intake of liquids for longer than usual. We had no problems with toilet training.

At the ripe old age of four she has now started school and because the teachers don't check to see if they eating and drinking their lunches and breaks, we are having a few problems again but at least she is old enough to tell us what is happening her or when the pain is building up so that we can do somthing about it.

My main problems with the prune juice were personal. In a babies bottle it looks like coca cola. People would take the bottle away from me and throw it in the bin before I could explain. They were usually interfering busybodies who loved their own voices so much I couldn't get a word in edgeways. Having to get that extra liquid into her made her less hungry so getting enough solids into her to keep her asleep all night took extra time. And travelling abroad we would have to make up extra to drink in front of security at the airports and make sure that we could get the brand that worked for her wherever we were going or bring loads of it with us.

You have my sympathies. Yor post has brought back all my feelings of frustration and I am even shaking as I type this."

10/04/2009: Rachel from Anna, Tx, USA replies: "To Merryanne and Tricia- Thank you so much for such a quick response and support. I have tried the magnesium citrate and it didnt work. I cant imagine why it didnt. And giving her prune juice didnt either but prune baby food works occasionally if I give her a warm bath right afterward. Which is why I tried so many other things, I also give her water daily. I wondered if she had a milk allergy but the soy milk had no effect on her either. I recently started giving her flaxseed oil in with her milk and this seems to be working, at least for now. Most of what I have tried has come from this site so I thank you EC for having such a wonderful site with so much great information. I am always here looking for natural remedies for all of my family."

10/06/2009: Merryanne from Orange City, Fl replies: "To Rachel,,, Good luck with the constipation problem,,keep trying different things, different foods, juices, high fiber,,low fiber. But good hydration is essential, and exercise is important, or massage might help,, Merryanne"

01/21/2010: Susan from Ohio, Illinois replies: "My daughter experienced similar problems. We tried everything the doctors told us to. With no positive results. Several months and several biopseys they recommended surgical modification. I revolted at that idea. We refused to follow this path. My daughter was found later to have dairy allergies. At this time the leche insisted my daughter could not be allergic to breast milk. We switched to soy. Still stooping was painful and impossible. Around this time a complete stranger told me her daughter suffered this way until she put barley cereal into her bottle. Truth be told she started pooping freely. Once the concrete was passed. By this time we had to manually stimulate her movements bc her sphincters were not working properly. To this day we remember how horrible this episode was and thank the good fortune of the barley cereal"

[YEA]  04/24/2011: Hermes from Princeton, Nj replies: "Hello, dear worried mothers. Have you tried taking your babies to a chiropractor? I did take her when she was 6-month-old after I had tried everything - more liquids, prune juice, thermometer in the rectum, etc. - and just happened to mention of my desperation to the chiropractor I normally see. He did some gentle manipulation of her legs and upper body over a few sessions. The results came in a few days when her bowel movements started to normalize and became more regular. I know that there are plenty of options but if you have tried them all, you may consider this too. It may be a subluxation that is causing it all of a sudden."

03/31/2012: Dayna from Newburgh, Ny replies: "Not sure if anyone posted this but my pediatrician recommended putting brown sugar in my daughter's bottle. Only need about a teaspoon for every 4 oz. But it totally helps - we also gave pedialyte. I would switch her bottles one with formula and brown sugar the next feeding would be pedialyte. I hope your baby is doing better."

08/10/2012: Alt-rocks from Suffolk, United Kingdom replies: "For constipation in babies: When changing the nappy, push the legs up and down in alternate motions. (Bicycle motion) slowly a few times, then push both legs up towards the tummy, and straighten slowly a few times."

[YEA]  05/05/2013: Harms from Austin, Texas: "I cloth diaper my son and for some reason every so often he gets this horrible rash. I think it's his over night diaper sitting on his skin for so long. He pees A LOT. But he sleeps 12 hours now (17 months) so I don't want to disturb his sleep. Anyway, about once a month this horrible rash that bleeds and makes him scream occurs. I started bathing him in colloidal oatmeal and putting coconut oil on his bum after baths and in the morning it is almost gone. So, I decided to make my own rash cream. I use virgin coconut oil, a few drops of witch hazel and enough colloidal oatmeal to make it a thick paste and voila! He is forever cured of the nasty rash. I keep it in the fridge, not sure why, but I think it helps it stay fresh? Try it try it try it!!"

05/06/2013: Kathy from the USA replies: "Just thought I'd mention if you use fabric softener, that prevents the diaper from absorption. One of my brothers would sometimes get a horrible rash. Hindsight is 20/20."

05/06/2013: Kathy from the USA replies: "My previous post was sent before I finished. I must have pushed submit instead of edit... I'm doing a thousand things right now and my husband was leaving for work. My mom used fabric softener on everything and it causes fabric to repel water so the diaper was less absorbent and the urine or stool would irritate even though she used powder. Anyway, the point I was trying to make was, prevention of diaper rash is better and you can pick up a tube of Vitamin A&D ointment at the drug store to use on your baby when you change the diaper. This ointment also takes away the pain from diaper rash. I was only offering another remedy for anyone who didn't have the time to prepare your method."

05/06/2013: Kathy from the USA replies: "Just use the A&D at night when the baby goes to bed if you prefer."

08/10/2012: Mmsg from Somewhere, Europe replies: "Alt-rocks, is this what we call corn starch?"

08/11/2012: Alt-rocks from Felixstowe, Suffolk, United Kingdom replies: "Hi, In the UK and SA it is called corn flour, however I believe you are correct, it is cornstarch in the USA, and other countries."

01/06/2012: Jen from Bozeman, Mt, Us replies: "Sounds like it draws the yeast away. Great post. I will definitely keep that in mind for my grand babies (when they come in about 10 more years hopefully;)"

[YEA]  07/03/2012: Feqa from Amman, Jordan replies: "Hi mothers, I used ACV for my nephew bad diaper rash externaly and when it dry I wipe sesame oil over it at night, the next day it disappear completely."

[YEA]  02/03/2013: Viavapor\'s Mommy from Bentonville, Arkansas: "Hello everybody, Children's remedies-activated charcoal and turmeric for kids diarrhea - I am so happy to have found the feedback on turmeric and activated charcoal for children's diarrhea. My 17 month old had severe diarrhea from a stomach flu that has been going around our home. He had already had 4 diarrhea diapers before I hopped on earth clinic (wasn't aware they started a children's remedy section) it immediately helped!

i mashed up one banana and mixed it with 1/3 280 mg capsule and est 1/3 tsp of turmeric, I added a little honey too to make sure he would eat it. Normally he feeds himself and gets 1/2 of it on his bib and high chair tray. So instead I approached him in the living room and just kept shoveling in his mouth (he was willing but I didn't want him to sense any after taste) while saying "mmm mmm it's good" Lol! That's stopped diarhea for another 5 hours so I just kept giving him it more frequently afterwards sometimes just a 1/2 banana and would you believe it has kept his diarhea at bay! ?! I was beginning to think I'd have to take him to the E.R. Room or something. Please, please everybody please submit your feedback so we can build up this portion of Earthclinic!!!"

07/19/2009: B from NY, NY replies: "Have you tried the BRAT diet? Bananas, Rice, Apples and dry Toast? No butter or sugars. I have also read that coconut (like macaroons/shredded) helps. Good luck..Poor baby."

07/21/2009: Sumeysh from Mumbai, India replies: "BRAT diet is ok... but if if its too severe .. perhaps your baby needs a different antibiotic like ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin ...pps ask your doc regarding this ...i personally used BRAT plus curd set at home using low fat milk (unsweetened)..it helps...you can also use mashed boiled potatoes (skinned)....with a pinch of salt"

07/25/2009: Dianne from Tampa, FL replies: "My toddler had a really bad recurring case of a stomach virus we had all picked up, but gotten over. I tried all the typical things that had ALWAYS worked in the past...colloidal silver, slippery elm, oil of oegano, with no results. My chiropractor told me to give him hydrated bentonite (you'll find it at the health food store). I gave him one tablespoon before bed and one in the morning and his diarrhea completely disappeared. This also worked for a friend who was going to admit her toddler into the hopital for diarrhea with the same results. When I researched it on the internet, I found that Bentonite as a cure for diarrhea has a 96% success rate."

12/24/2011: Julie from Toronto, Ontario, Canada replies: "Two thumbs up for BENTONITE! My 21 mos. old had diarrhea for 8 days, had lost over 1 kg, and nothing was helping (meds, doctors, etc. ). Finally I found this posting about bentonite. Within 8 hours of taking it, he had solid poops again! Unbelievable. I gave him 1 Tbsp of bentonite in about 10 oz of diluted apple juice; and I did this twice in one day. Thank you so much for this information."

08/01/2012: Kanika from New Delhi, Delhi (india): "I have a question regarding my daughter as she is 4 yrs old and has digestion problem. She is going to lu 4 to 5 times in a day. so just wanted to check, is there any medication she requires. Adding to that, just for ur information, she was colic baby when she was born..... "

01/23/2010: Jam from Windsor, Wi: "Ice Chips for Ear Infection?

Recently went to the Dr. - my 3 YO complaining of ear pain. Dr. said that if a child has inner ear pain/ear infection, to take small ice chips and let them slide down the ear canal, and this alleviates pain. I think it sounds a bit "off" to me... has anyone ever heard of this?"

09/27/2010: Ag from Toronto, On replies: "Oh my goodness, I would never recommend this! Water in the ear is what the bacteria grows in, and once the ice is melted, what is it? WATER! No way! That does not sound smart at all. My son had 2 ear infections. The first one was so bad that the swelling was in the bone and it was causing his ears to protrude. For the second one (he was just under 2 years old) I eliminated all sugar from his diet (no fruits, no juice, no honey) as well as glutens and dairy. I added a tiny bit of ACV to his sippy cup throughout the day, and put a tiny bit of Colloidal Silver into his sippy cup of water at night. I bought an organic ear oil (main ingredients: olive oil, garlic, and oregano) and swabbed his ear with it 2 or 3 times a day. 10 days later at the checkup, his pediatrician said "Ooh, looks like the antibiotics worked" and I told her we never took the antibiotics! That we were just vigilant with watching him and were under the supervision of a naturopath. She wasn't pleased about us not having taken the drugs, but she was happy the infection was gone."

02/03/2012: Kathie from Houston, Tx / Usa : "I wanted to update my son's situation since I have taken him off of the flax oil and seeds. His breast is much smaller now and he has not grown any more pubic hair. I have also noticed that he does not have emotional outbursts like he used to have."