Hey guys! During the last day or two I continued to experiment with the brown sugar. To begin with it appeared to be working a treat (maybe you saw in my last post) but it seemed to work for the initial day then didn't have much effect afterward. Seems that may have been a fluke or maybe fact that it was something new to his system it got things moving, if perhaps for a short period.
The next day I moved to orange juice which has not really been recommended to me (the doctor said I could use apple juice or orange juice but most mums seem to mention apple juice) however I thought I'd give it a chance because we had ran out of apple juice. I watered it right down, 20mls of orange juice and then filled it up to 90ml with cooled boiled water. The weather was really hot on the day that I was trying this method, therefore Ralph was extra thirsty and drinking more regularly and so I gave this to him in between his milk feeds. I'm still using the Aptamil comfort formula, as I think it's too early to change back to the usual milk as this may cause even more trouble down below! He managed to have one poo in the space of these three days but I don't think this was down to any of the juice or sugar, they didn't appear to help. The orange juice got things moving, but again it was short lived and as soon as we returned to regular milk feeds he was still stuffed up inside.
A few days later I popped straight to chemist and sought advice from them about Ralphs constipation along with the fact that he had only been once in three days and was consistently straining and crying a lot with pain. They suggested I try Lactulose, a really gentle baby laxative and provided 300ml which was quite cheap. Since then I am giving him 2ml twice daily through a syringe for medicine into his mouth that was recommended by the chemist. The usual dose is 2.5ml twice daily but as Ralph was premature they advised that we lower the dose slightly. I started this treatment yesterday and he has already had 4 poos in 24 hours and seems a lot calmer, more content and not really straining anymore! The bottle says you might have to wait 2-3 days for the solution to begin working however it seems to have taken effect immediately. I'm really pleased as during the last few weeks he has just been in constant agony and all tensed up. For once he seems relaxed and content.
I am going to continue on the Lactulose to make sure that he resumes a standard routine (before he got constipated he was having 3-4 bowel movements a day) so I would like to get him back to that. Once he gets into the routine I am going to slowly begin to lower his Lactulose dosage. I know it might appear harsh to have him on a laxative every day but the Lactulose is so gentle that it can be used twice daily for long periods of time to regulate bowel movements in constipated babies.
We may have finally cracked it yet as always, I am going to keep you updated in our progress over the next few days. We're off on our first family holiday to Center Parcs this weekend which should be nice, although hopefully Ralph's new found freedom doesn't mean he poos in the pool! Haha!
The next day I moved to orange juice which has not really been recommended to me (the doctor said I could use apple juice or orange juice but most mums seem to mention apple juice) however I thought I'd give it a chance because we had ran out of apple juice. I watered it right down, 20mls of orange juice and then filled it up to 90ml with cooled boiled water. The weather was really hot on the day that I was trying this method, therefore Ralph was extra thirsty and drinking more regularly and so I gave this to him in between his milk feeds. I'm still using the Aptamil comfort formula, as I think it's too early to change back to the usual milk as this may cause even more trouble down below! He managed to have one poo in the space of these three days but I don't think this was down to any of the juice or sugar, they didn't appear to help. The orange juice got things moving, but again it was short lived and as soon as we returned to regular milk feeds he was still stuffed up inside.
A few days later I popped straight to chemist and sought advice from them about Ralphs constipation along with the fact that he had only been once in three days and was consistently straining and crying a lot with pain. They suggested I try Lactulose, a really gentle baby laxative and provided 300ml which was quite cheap. Since then I am giving him 2ml twice daily through a syringe for medicine into his mouth that was recommended by the chemist. The usual dose is 2.5ml twice daily but as Ralph was premature they advised that we lower the dose slightly. I started this treatment yesterday and he has already had 4 poos in 24 hours and seems a lot calmer, more content and not really straining anymore! The bottle says you might have to wait 2-3 days for the solution to begin working however it seems to have taken effect immediately. I'm really pleased as during the last few weeks he has just been in constant agony and all tensed up. For once he seems relaxed and content.
I am going to continue on the Lactulose to make sure that he resumes a standard routine (before he got constipated he was having 3-4 bowel movements a day) so I would like to get him back to that. Once he gets into the routine I am going to slowly begin to lower his Lactulose dosage. I know it might appear harsh to have him on a laxative every day but the Lactulose is so gentle that it can be used twice daily for long periods of time to regulate bowel movements in constipated babies.
We may have finally cracked it yet as always, I am going to keep you updated in our progress over the next few days. We're off on our first family holiday to Center Parcs this weekend which should be nice, although hopefully Ralph's new found freedom doesn't mean he poos in the pool! Haha!
About the Author:
Check out an article I wrote in relation to Constipated Babies, about umbilical hernias.. This article, Using Lactulose to ease a constipated baby has free reprint rights.