Hi, I am little ashamed to make this posting, but still want to get some inputs from experienced moms out here. My little one is 8 months old. I feed her solids three times a day, rice with daal & veggies or curd during lunch. Irrespective of whether she has poo-ed in the morning or not, she poos when she is about to complete her meal. That too she tries hard to poo at that time. My worry is, one it is not a good habit to poo everytime while eating. Two, she tries very hard to poo and after that does not eat. Why is she behaving like this? Is it a concern? Has this got something to do with constipation or overstuffing her with food? Please share your thoughts. L, Niru
Dear Nirupama, Just sharing my thoughts - willing to be corrected by anybody ! For a 8 month old, solid thee times is not necessary. Solid once, semisolid once is better till the child reaches 1 year. Give her the last meal at night heavy, so that the child will not wake up & cry of hunger in the night. Soups can be given, varying the vegetable combinations. Try to introduce variety for the baby to develop liking for everything. Mashed, stewed fruits can also be started. Happy times with your Laddu ! Love, Chithra.
hello nirupama, Here goes my 2 cents- My DD's pediatrican suggested me on her last well checkup that to give her water and fruit juice to avoid constipation. If you think your baby is constipated then may be you can try giving her more of fruits and vegetables. happy motherhood sree
hi Nirupama, True looks like your child is constipated and also that seems like you are a bit too overfeeding her. yes for a 8 month old 3 times solid is bit too much. Also check the quantity you are giving her. The stomach is so small and dont expect her to eat the entire quantity you prepare. Also dont force. I think you have forced your child to finish off the entire quantity that you have prepared. So she has mentally prepared herself to eat the whole thing and so when her stomach is full she is forced to poo. If you are giving 2 spoons of solid or semi solid give her 1 spoon or 1 sip of water. It is not a bad habit for a baby. Let me share with you the diet chart that my daughter's peadiatrician gave her. Morning (when she wakes): give her milk. (Assuming she gets up by 7 to 8 am) After 1 1/2 to 2 hrs : give her home prepared kanji(pulungarisi kanji is better) By 11.00 give her a meal consisting of dal, rice, mashed vegetables. At the end of the meal give her little curd. This will make her feel full and she will sleep for atleast 2 to 3 hrs. Keep freshly made fruit juice or soup ready and when she gets up give her that and after 45 minutes give her milk. Make the night dinner as a steamed one like idly idiyappam. After that give her some curd. I dont know where you live. If you are living in a cold place then you can avoid curd in night. Then give her milk and make her sleep. Hope this will be helpful
Hi lovely ladies, Thanks for all of your responses and Rajmiarun special thanks for a detailed diet chart. Here is the diet chart that I follow for my little one. All of you, please suggest any changes that will help. Morning (around 4am or 6am) - she wakes up for a breastfeed Breakfast @ 9am - Ragi kanji or cerelac with pureed fruit - I give water during this feed Mid morning @ 11:30am - another session of breast feeding (mainly this is to pacify her to sleep) Lunch @ 1:30pm - rice with daal, mashed veggies, little curd (at times) - I give water during lunch too Around 3:30pm - another session of breast feed again to pacify her to sleep Evening snacks @ 6pm - mashed fruit or biscuits wet with water Dinner @ 8pm - cerelac with pureed fruit When she gets to bed @ 9:30pm or 10pm, I breast feed her to put her to sleep I haven't started any bottle milk for her since I breast feed. Sure your advises further will be useful for a new-mom like me. Niru.
Dear Niru, babies take some time time to regularise their bowel movements. So do not worry about such matters, after all she is a baby only. All the others have given you the right suggestions, so I am not going into it. Only recently my 15 year old son regularised his bowel movements, so be peaceful and enjoy the baby. Happy motherhood.
The reason for bowel movement immediately when tummy is filled up could be as simple as a good gastro-colic reflex. This reflex is defined by an increase in colonic motility, triggered by eating, when food passes from the stomach into the upper part of the small intestine. Its a normal reflex action... there's nothing to worry about. It can be triggered with larger amounts of food during meal times. But having said that, as long as you demand feed your baby you should be fine. Don't dishearten when your baby doesn't complete the meals as long as they are healthy. Too much of fiber in the form of fruits & vegs, dhals, lentils also cause increase in bowel movement. Ragi, cerelac, dhals, fruits & vegs are pretty high in fiber. You can substitute cerelac with rice based cereals (in 1 or 2 meals) if you think that your baby has too many bowel movements. This will be easy on the baby's stomach. The reason your baby doesn't eat after straining is because the reflex makes the stomach tired in a sense & gives a feeling of fullness. Hope it helps. L.
Dear Nirupama, I too think that you are overfeeding her and also she is not getting enough liquids to digest the food. Your feeding chart looks ok to me.....but the amount you are giving her might be more. Try reducing the food amounts for 2-3 days and see how she does. Also as others have suggested give her some apple or sweet lime juice soon after her afternoon nap. I have seen the same thing with my daughter too...one some days when she eats more she tends to increase her bowel movements by 1-2 times more than her regular bowel movement schedule and as in your daughter's case, it happens immediately following a heavy meal. This is from my experience...hope it helps. Sihi
Dear Ladies, Thanks for all of your wonderful diet change suggestions. I will try them. But I feel my question is understood different. I am not worried that my baby is poo-ing many times. My worry is she poo-s while having her meal, irrespective of whether she has poo-ed early or not. Also, when she poo-s during her meal, she strains too much for it. So I was worried if it is constipation? However, I will try to include more fluids in her diet. N.