As you may have presumed from the title, Maggie is having trouble in the pooping department. She always has been a reluctant pooper (even as a breast-fed baby, she'd often take 10 days between poops). Things slowed down again with solids, then started to pick up this summer and early fall! She was becoming a more normal pooper - or so it seemed. Her diet was wide and varied (with lots of veggies, fruits and grains) and I was very appreciative to have such an adventurous eater. It took a little work, but she was pooping 1-2x a day, glory be!
Note the past tense I just used. Yup, in the last two months or so (?), Maggie gone from cutting back on nursing to completely weaned. She drinks a couple bottles of milk a day, which I think is good overall since she has become much more difficult to feed. Part of this has to do with feeding herself (a crazy messy independence-building experience) BUT not being sure how much she is taking in) and part of it has to do with her narrowed scope of foods. Not very into fruits, except in yogurt and the occasional handful of raisins. Likes her veggies, but how much does she actually ingest? It is very hard to tell. Used to drink a juice/water blend, which didn't work miracles in the pooping, but helped. Now, she only wants milk. Or water, which I do give her to assure she's not dehydrated, but she doesn't slug that down like she does the milk.
She used to eat pureed prunes and drink a prune juice/water blend, but is not interested in those anymore. I have tried sneaking some cut up prunes into her raisin piles, but she is on to me. (I am going to keep trying though.) I do also slip some infant probiotic powder into her yogurt and milk to help her immune system - with hopes it will help her little body digest and keep things moving. Not much luck with that at all lately. :(
At all her well-baby check ups when I would be concerned about the poo factor, the doctor would feel around her abdomen and thankfully, he never had any concerns about blockages or obstructions. He just explained that some kid's muscles do take longer to "figure it out." I plan to ask again at her next one, but like I said, I worry now that along with her biological pooping reluctancy that a lot of it is diet related.
Do any of you wise parents have suggestions for me? On helping to make her diet well rounded AND/OR in helping her in the elimination department? Am I missing some ideas for foods that might help her eliminate? I can't help but think the two are connected and honestly, it is SOOOO hard to watch her yell and struggle and cry as she tries to poop. :(
You may want to look into black cherry juice. Better tasting than prune juice and not TOO hard on the tummy... Good luck!
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