My daughter is 14 month old. Here is what happened. When she was around 6 months I started feeding her fruit purees. She didn’t like it much but I still managed to feed her. When she was 8 months old, we went to Pakistan. For few months she was on formula but she wasn’t having any solids (I just didn’t know what to give her there weren’t many options as my i laws aren’t that well off) so I was feeding her cerelac once a day. Somewhere along the line she developed constipation. Also when she turned one, I switched her from formula to cow’s milk. So she was having nothing but milk. She got severely constipated where she would be screaming when she needed to go. Infact I had to use suppositories on the doctor’s approval. Also I was made aware that she had to eat other food ( being first time mom I never realized that) so at that point my daughter didn’t like anything that I offered her. So I force fed her. But the constipation issue is still there. And yeah she is extremely weak, still hasn’t learned to walk. Now that I am back in the US, I have cut down on her milk. I give her a bottle in the morning, afternoon and bed time and at night whenever she needs it. In between I am trying to feed her some solids (purees). What I want to know is how much portion should she be eating right now? She won’t eat anything on her own so I shove it in her mouth, is this a proper way to establish her eating habits? How much milk should she be having? Should I stop giving her purees and giver her some solid food (I am afraid she won’t eat it and go hungry because she bites it and spits it out) please help me. I need all the advice I could get. I am really struggling here.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
Oh gosh, I feel really bad for your daughter.. and you too. I really wish you would have asked for advice when she was younger. When you went to Pak, there was no reason for her not to start eating mashed solids. So basically whatever you were eating just mashed with your fingers and fed by hand. Babies really don't require lots of specialised products.
There are other far more experienced mothers on here but here is my experience, my son is almost 15 months:
He also drinks about 3-4 8oz bottles a day. It will be closer to 4 on the days where he doesn't feel like eating so much. He knows when he wants his doodhdoodh and brings me his bottle himself, so I don't force him to drink more than he wants. If he has enough after only drinking 40ml I don't try to force him to drink more. Overall in the day he will still drink the roughly the same amount.
Please don't force feed your baby! I know it can be very worrying when you child is not eating but hopefully you can encourage her to start enjoying food. If your daughter has teeth then definitely stop with the purees or only offer it after you have given her the chance to eat other things and if you find she hasn't eaten much.
You should sit her in a high-chair and let her experiment with food... she could be sitting for quite some time... let her get to know foods and develop tastes. It's not about quickly forcing some food in her and moving on. Put small pieces of different things in front of her one at a time and let her pick and taste. You can try small pieces of different fruits, vegetables, omlette, roti, paratha etc. When we make rice, usually pilau, my son happily eats that with a spoon but also likes to pick up rice from the tray himself and I put small pieces of lamb on his try too. He loves eating chicken, so I quite often make something with boneless pieces and then break them apart and put them on his tray. Give her sticks of carrot, cucumber or celery that she can hold and chew on, she might spit out once she's chewed but that's okay. It's lots of trial and error but you need to stay patient and not get frustrated. You can try porridge for breakfast. She might refuse or spit out 5 different things before you find something she actually eats... just don't give up.
I don't know if you need more professional help for the constipation and relieving pain, hopefully others can advise. But I would hope that if she starts eating real food and getting some fibre in her, she will start having proper bowel movements. One prob with continued constipation is that children associate a bowel movement with pain so will hold it in.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/household-affairs-and-cuisine-corner/661426-kids-meals.html
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
She needs about 12 oz of milk a day. Try giving her finger foods. Like chips, toast with peanut butter, chicken strips, vegetable and fruit slices. Keep them in front of her and let her get on with it. Don't force her.
If u leave them lying about you will be pleasantly surprised how much goes in. My toddler is quite fussy about food and feeds herself . she will not accept food if try to force it.
Also get your baby bloods checked. She will surely be anemic if she has only been on milk for a whole year. And anemia can result in loss of appetite.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
Also don't hurry her feeding. If she makes a mess don't worry. I placed huge mats under the high chair and usually ending up giving my toddler a bath after her meals as she made so much mess.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
And yes to solid food. I never gave my daughter purees. Even at six months. At 15 months your baby is well capable of eating normal food. I give her cereal for breakfast (ready break) that is like cerelac sometimes bit otherwise I give her normal food.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
Cut milk out as much as possible and completely at night. She is filling up on milk and is not getting enough nutrition from it. Just give her two bottles a day. She can get calcium from cheese, yogurt etc.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
Don't worry about the spitting out. She is getting used to the taste and texture. I would suggest the Annabelle karmel website. It is quite good. And also please read up on toddler eating and foods. You can use the internet. Search search search. I am actually feeling quite upset for your daughter.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
My 17 month old is quite fussy but although I force fed my older 2 kids she just would not let it pass through her mouth, she would just spit it out. I have actually now learnt that if I just put the food infront of her, she will pick it up and eat it herself. It doesn't matter how much mess it makes, put it on the highchair tray and let her experiment. Don't give purees, mine hated the texture of soft foods and she is past that stage now.
Try bits of roti, paratha, rice, potatoes, pasta, chunks of apple, carrots, bananas, toast, the list is endless. I just gave what we were eating. Put her in the highchair beside you while you are eating and she will soon copy. Don't expect a miracle overnight it will take time for her to adjust to new tastes. As a last resort most kids like biscuits or French fries, know I shouldn't say that but it's food and they don't have to be the unhealthy type.
What I don't understand is why u stopped when u went to pakistan, you could have given her mashed up banana or pears, baby cereal, potatoes n chicken. I took my older 2 when they were both under a year old because I knew they would b easier to manage at that age, I took formula milk from here and dried cereals but most of the time they ate what we had.
Definitely get her bloods checked as my middle child is anaemic due to drinking too much milk at one stage, and not having a varied diet but alhumdulillah with time and experimenting it got better quite quickly. I just cut back severely on the milk and he has Mashallah developed a healthy appetite.
Just keep trying and dont give in by giving her a bottle of milk as it will seem like the easy option.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
There are a number of things you can try for constipation but if it has gotten to the point that she is in pain, then definitely seek medical help.
Home remedies are great but at this point you may want to try something a bit stronger.
Once the problem has become better, change her diet so that she is getting enough fibre. Also try getting her on a regular routine of prune juice diluted with some water. That will help to keep her from becoming constipated again.
Just like any other situation, avoid going to far in any one direction. Moderation is key once you have established a healthy balance.
As for food, she should definitely be on solids now and a variety of them.
Figure out if your daughter prefers sweet or savory and use that as an enticement. For savory try using chicken broth (yakhni) to cook soft rice. Add a tiny amount of garlic/ginger to give it flavour. Work your way up to giving her the chicken as well as the rice.
If she prefers sweet then try mashing sweet potato with the rice that's been cooked in chicken broth. This will give it a sweeter taste.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
Thanks for the replies. Today I gave her toast for breakfast. She didn't even swallow a bite of it. Then I offered her blueberries for lunch. She picked one up tasted it and spit it out. I gave her some rice with Veges, she ate very few rice and that's it. So now I feel terrible she hasn't had much food. There is nothing she is willing to eat. And ofcourse when she doesn't eat she will be screaming when she has to go potty. I feel so sad. She has like nine teeth and still doesn't walk. I do have her appointment tomorrow, but I come to tears when I see she is so weak and far behind.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
Why are you giving her rice if she is constipated. Have tried prune juice? Use a medicine dispenser and give her as a medicine.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
All children have different development stages. If her health is otherwise good, she'll walk in her own time. But do get a general assessment and tests done by a paediatrician.
One of my kids is a bit weaker. I give multivitamin drops. Check whts available in your area.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
Sorry but what does feeding your baby has to do with rich or poor in laws. I never bought food puree for my kids. When they turned 6 months, I would simply mash whatever we were eating for the baby.
You have to shove it in her mouth as she doesn't know how to eat and I am sorry but your excuse of in laws is pretty lame one.
Advice: keep offering her a variety of food excluding food that causes constipation.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
Offer her food more often and keep it lying around. You can't just offer her breakfast lunch and dinner and expect her to eat it all. Give small portions but offer every 2 hours or so and if she doesn't eat then don't stress. She will start eating when she is hungry. Also did u reduce the milk? Try sweet things. My daughter loves anything sweet and I have to be a bit creative to hide veges and other healthy things in it.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
Have u tried French fries? Home made. Those are always a winner at my house
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
She is not used to eating solids so you have to offer her tummy foods to get her to eat. Try:
Pasta
French fries
French toast
Kheer (sooji, sawayyian)
Boiled vegiies with butter (kids love peas)
Oranges
Mangoes
Melons
Remember she wont eat the first try. Put 2-3 things in front of her n go do your own thing . when kid see mama is anxious to see me eat, she will put more fuss. So ignore her and do your own thing.
Also, with toast u said have offered her more variety. Breakfast:Eg toast, omekette, cereal (dry for now or with milk), blueberries.
Lunch: veggies, alu, roti, cucumbers, yogurt
Dinmer: pasta, veggies, meat(chicken or meat), etc
You have to be creative. Offer variet. She wont eat all but she will have more variety to chose from and may like something that you offer. Remember goal is to introduce solids as so far its been forced feedi g or no feeding.last, dnt shove it down ,she is resisting, she will resist more if u force her.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
Wellements concentrated prune juice...I've seen it at most pharmacies and drug stores in the US.
I would not offer a morning bottle until after you've offered her food. I notice with my son he eats better if I skip the morning bottle and start the day with food. He will have a bottle 1 hour after food anyway.
No bananas or rice during constipation.
I would start small - I also have a picky eater. I experiment a lot and try different things with him to keep him interested...feeding your child the same thing everyday will have them doing exactly what an adult would do: not eat it.
I don't dare hope he will ever finish his food...just that he at least tries it and maybe makes it halfway through.
Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs (made with cream and cooked in butter)
French toast
Pancakes
Paratha (cut up in small pieces with a bit of honey)
Oatmeal (we're still working on this as he hates mushy textures)
French toast with peanut butter also tastes good
Lunch:
Pasta (small orzo pasta or similar) with butter/cream sauce
Patli khichri
Rice cooked in butter with chapli kabab (lightly seasoned)
Daal chawal (easy meal)
Rice cooked with butter and a side of chicken (boiled and cooked in a cream sauce with butter, parsley and fresh black pepper)
Simple PB&J on white bread with the crust cut off - definitely a winner
As you can see, I use a lot of butter and cream because he usually won't finish anything...so I sneak in calories where I can.
Snacks:
Homemade applesauce/pear sauce with a touch of cinnamon
Fruit chaat
I will also offer granola
Cheerios
Something I read recently was...instead of focusing on quantity...focus on quality. Quality of mealtime. Sitting down at the table, eating as a family and enjoying the meal will allow her to associate mealtime with happiness. Meaning, you may have to just put the food in front of her and let her eat a few bites and throw the rest on the floor for a **looooong while **before she realizes she isn't being forced anymore. Which leads me to my next point...force feeding. I have force fed Deen for a long time and recently have backed off completely. If he stops, we stop. I don't know if its working yet but we definitely are fighting less and he doesn't run as soon as he sees me with a plate in my hand.
Its a very emotional time...this whole feeding journey...you never know whether what you're doing is right or wrong. So my only advice is...try to help her stop associating food with struggle.
Re: 14 month old and severe constipation
My kids are not babies and still have to be supervised when they eat as they would rather not eat. Both are low on weight ( husband used to be 103 lbs at 5'9"). I started putting desi ghee on my son's food when he turned one. It did help. My daughter did not walk either until she was 15 months old. We bought a push toy that looks like a walker that adults would use and that helped. We let her use it supervised and in the lower level only.
Both my kids are very picky eaters despite feeding them everything as per the baby books and timeline. Started my daughter on salan roti at 8 months but she still hates it even though she is ten. Yes, I still force feed her when its stuff I want to give her versus what she would like to eat ( fruit etc). Try the kichdi with chicken yakhni. Its good. Slowly, she will start eating things. My son after many many years has just started eating biryani etc. ( but I still have to stand on his head to make sure he doesn't run away).
Ask the doctor about the constipation. She might give you a medical remedy for that. The prune juice as others suggested helps too. Yes, she doesn't need milk at night at all. When she gets up at night offer her water. It will be tough for a week but then she will sleep through the night IA. They usually want the comfort of the bottle at that time not the milk itself. Lesser milk will help her become hungrier. I would suggest foregoing the cereal, it made my son constipated too when he was a baby.And oh, don't wait till she is very hungry to offer her food as she would just want milk at that point.