# Are Cheerios constipating my baby?



## mother4good (Mar 16, 2003)

My 10 month old eats only bm, plus one fruit/veggie meal a day. She also eats cheerios during our meals or if we are at the mall or somewhere where she is bored and needs something to do. She drinks no water really, just sips of mine from time to time, no formula or juice. A few times I have let her have a Gerber fruit wheel (baby junk food), but not even every day or every other day. When she eats the "meal" I usually sprinkle organic brown rice or oats powder into the veggies to thicken it just a bit, but I do not feed her "cereal" meals. What gives? The poor thing has to strain and strain to poop and then only the tiniest hershey kiss comes out. It is black and thick (not to be gross). But the volume seems WAY different than when she was all BM. But I guess it is just all condensed or something. I can't figure it out. I have not been to the ped. about this. Should I? I am giving her prunes as I type, but do I really have to add an whole new mealtime to her day just to keep her regular now that she is not 100% bf? My hubby is concerned that too much table food/water will encourage her to wean. I am just confused. My boys NEVER got constipated. Do you think it is the cheerios? Thanks Mommas!


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

It might be the Cheerios, but I don't know. I find Cheerios have the opposite effect on me, and I can't imagine it would be different for a baby. Then again, maybe you want to stop them for awhile and see if it helps. The only other thing I can think of is that some fruits tend to be constipating-- bananas and pears come immediately to mind, but I know there are others. Also, rice is very constipating, although brown rice is less so than white rice. Could it be the fruit/veggie meal that's causing it?

On the other hand, there is no bringing back the soft stools of the exclusively breastfed days, alas...


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## benharperfan (Jun 21, 2003)

:

don't have time to post now, but my dd just went through an identical situation. i will tell you about it a little later. hope your baby's feeling better soon!


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## Felicitymom (Jul 28, 2004)

I would guess that it is the cheerios. You could try adding a little more water to her diet and yours. I find that this really helps my baby be regular (she is also slower to go now that solids have been intro'd). She has probably less than an oz of water a day - I try more, but she isn't super interested. I drink as much water as I possibly can - at least 8-10, 8oz glasses a day.

I would do what was already suggested... cut out the cheerios (for at least a week) and see what happens. Maybe you will just need to cut down on them, or find a new finger food that is convienient. I think they make wheat free ones (wheat is probably the culprit).

Also... I don't think your doctor will have any good advice or suggestions.

Nancy


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## mother4good (Mar 16, 2003)

benharperfan, I am dying to hear back from you!

After I posted, she began squatting and screaming. I finally gave her a suppository and it didn't help. They just poop them out! Who can hold it in long enough?? Not to be gross, but her little bottom was so sore and the poop was like clay. She was sort of "stuck in neutral" trying to push it out. I tried to help her but it didn't do any good. My poor baby! I called the doc and you are right, they told me prune juice and possibly mineral oil, which is fine, but WHY IS SHE CONSTIPATED??? My hubby would have me take her off all solids again, but at some point that will no longer be an option. ( and she would giht it, she is starting to really look forward to her little snacks) Her diet is so limited because I am trying to avoind wheat and dairy and all the major allergens till age 1. Is constipation a sign of allergies? I know diarrhea (SP) is. We had her tested for a few things because she had bloody stool for a while, but it is gone and the tests were neg. The doc though maybe she was just straining. The fecal occults were neg too.

I just want her to get better. She is SO little!

I think I will try pulling her off the cheerios, but we are on out way out of town, so I am not sure I can do it this week. What else can I give her to snack on that is portable? I will try some cut fruit. She only really has 2 bottom teeth.


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## Felicitymom (Jul 28, 2004)

Still lurking here. All glutenous food (wheat, oats, barley, etc...) make me constipated... I never go the diarhea route myself.

So... I too have tried suppositories (my baby was on day 8 of not pooping after eating a new food - barley) and I literally held her butt cheeks together while carrying her around for like 10 minutes. She kept the supp. in for another 10 - 15 minutes and then pooped it out... another poop followed the next day.

I don't know what finger food to suggest since my baby isn't eating finger foods yet - maybe well cooked carrots? They will keep out of the fridge for a while.

I would try another suppository if your little one is squatting and screaming or







if you are desperate (which I would have to be) put her in a tub of warm water and try a baby enema. I would only do this with a specific baby enema and only put the tiniest bit of warm water up there. Do it several times if at first you get no results.

Good luck
Nancy


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## beanma (Jan 6, 2002)

no, no, no cooked carrots. they can be constipating. bananas can, too. loosening foods are things that have Ps in them like Prunes, Pears, aPricots, Peas, Plums, also greens like sPinach if you can get them in her. i would also encourage extra water for both you and her. it won't cause her to wean. certainly hasn't caused my two to. my 4 yr old still nurses and will probably wean sometime before college :LOL.

www.askdrsears.com has info on constipation and do a search here. there have been numerous threads.


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## Ravin (Mar 19, 2002)

Bananas did it to my DD, as did our first experiments with dairy, so I backed off completely on the latter and the former I strictly limited to a small piece a day. She seems to have grown out of it, though. Frozen Blueberries helped balance things w/ my DD, and frozen they're yummy for teething/chewing practice, then get nice and mushy to swallow.


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## mother4good (Mar 16, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ravin*
Frozen Blueberries helped balance things w/ my DD, and frozen they're yummy for teething/chewing practice, then get nice and mushy to swallow.

Great idea! Thanks!

I gave her some canned peaches cut into little bits last night and she LOVED them. Also the doc told me to give her prune juice, so I am trying that. She is understandably not fond of it.

I am glad to hear water is OK for her. And possbily it is my own dehydration aggravating this. I know I have cut back on water as we are also dealing with frequent night wakings, so I have recently turned to caffeine to keep myself awake for the other 2. I am making an effort to rehydrate and hopefully that will help.

She finally grunted through a small BM last night, which again came out black. What is up with that color? It kind of concerns me. Mine is never black unless I have had chocolate.

Thanks for the help mamas! I am going to drsears now.


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## beanma (Jan 6, 2002)

oh yeah blueberries worked great for us, but be prepared for some very interesting poops with those :LOL!


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## wrzos (Jan 15, 2005)

I just posted the same thing to another thread - but basically I had some of what I call rabbit poops when I started solids. I nursed like crazy to increase his fluids, and he takes little sips of water while eating, but what really helped was to thin down his solids. I am making most, and he'll take them kind of thick - but I watered them down. In addition to this, I started giving him prunes & oatmeal for breakfast most days. We are back to a peanut butter consistency and he doesn't seem to strain anymore.

All that said, I can't imagine since you aren't doing a lot of cereals what could be causing it - not just a few [email protected]? Sorry - I'm not much help...


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## Vicitoria (Dec 17, 2004)

My son doesn't eat the fruit wheels very often but when he does it can slow down his poop a bit. Cheerio's actually have fiber in them so I don't see how they would constipate but every baby is different. I FF so ds is used to bottles, when he was going through a constipation phase I would give him a 4 oz bottle with 1 oz of apple juice and fill it up to the top with water. Apple juice definitley helps constipation and it gives the other 3-4 oz of water flavor so he'll drink it up. Pears or peas help as well. My so grew very quickly when he was little, every bit of formula he ate just stayed right in there and made him grow. He would only poop every other day and it would often be difficult. When his growth slowed down pooping got easier. He was also older so he could have the bit of juice with water.


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## laurenalanna (Feb 14, 2005)

Not sure if it's the cheerios, but I wouldn't offer them just because they contain wheat (I'm pretty sure) which is an allergenic food. I think it's best not to introduce allergenic foods until at least 1 yr (I'm going to wait longer with wheat.) Plus they are really refined and not that nutritious. But believe me I know it's hard not to offer cereal as a snack - it is so easy for them ot pick up and play with while you feed them other foods. I give my baby (14 mo) little pieces of rye crackers, you could also do rice crackers.


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## gina (Aug 30, 2002)

def. give some juice flavored water- those cereals are processed and need fluids to digest properly


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