I'm sure every one of us has tried constipation some time in our life. So imagine our baby Jaiden going through that ordeal. It really breaks our heart seeing our baby crying, sweating, turning red then turning pale while painstakingly releasing his waste. Oh! CONSTIPATION! can you please spare our baby?
Jaiden started eating solid food two days after he was six moths old, that was December 31st of 2010. We fed him just a pure stage 1 Cerelac, wheat and milk flavor. Later on we unconcsiously fed him a stage 2 Cerelac, rice and banana flavor. Partly it was his papa's fault. His papa was so excited to feed him with all the Cerelac flavor he could avail but he wasn't aware of the stages of infant food.
One Sinulog Sunday, we contented ourselves by just staying in our house and enjoyed bonding with our baby. Baby Jaiden was at a playing mood, smiling when suddenly he let out a cry as if from an excruciating pain. I didn't know what had just happened that made him helplessly cry. Then I smelled something and realized that he had just poop. We found out then that he had just had a constipation since his feces was very hard like that of a peaniato ( a peanut brittle but shaped like that of a finger). I called up his pedia for her comment though her phone rang but she wasn't able to answer it. Immediately we resorted to the internet and learned that we just have to massage his tummy and while lying down, hold his legs and move them like his doing a bicycle ride. At that moment we though that it was just an isolated case but we were wrong. In the days that followed, it was days of finding the culprit. Hence an elimination (or identifying of food) process occurred.
Jaiden usually defecates at most, two days after. So it took us really long to realize that he was really having a constipation problem. We started to think what food did he eat before he his constipation started. We thought that there was not a significant change of his poop during his first days of eating Cerelac.My hubby commented that it could probably his eating of Cerelac and I told him it couldn't be. We continued feeding him and advised Mama (Jaiden's devoted grandma) to let him drink much water. Days after he was still constipated. So I searched in the internet again. I found out that the juices of apple, plum and prune have natural mineral components that would help loosen a hard stool. However, I've just read an article today that prune juice is the most effective. Originally it was prune juice that we were supposed to buy but it was hard to find. In fact, my hubby just bought apple juice during his first purchased. Consumption will have to be at most four ounces a day. However, mama and I thought that it wasn't enough since during his first day of consuming only four ounces, it had no effect. He had disposed a clay-like mixture feces which just made him cry again. So mama thought that four ounces maybe wasn't enough so with my awareness she had Jaiden's juice consumption to a total of six ounces a day. True enough, he disposed a soft stool but he still cried which is probably due to abrasion.
Later on, infant food stages sprang to my realization. I said to myself that infant food stages must've some reason why they are labeled as such. I searched the internet and learned that stage 2 foods are for those who are now capable of handling not so soft or smoothy food or for those seven months old and above. So I thought I found the culprit since at that time Jaiden was still six months old. WE think it was due to the banana content because it didn't occur before when his very first solid food was just a plain Cerelac flavor.
The constant disposal of a hard stool had inevitably abraded his anus. At first we applied Petroleum jelly but it didn't alleviate. Once when we visited his pedia for his booster vaccination, she said that for any abrasion just apply Calmoseptine but I never realized that it was okay for anus. I thought that anus is one of those sensitive skin areas of our body. So it has been quite some time that he was suffering in pain even if he was disposing soft stool already (we attributed it to his six ounces of apple juice consumption) every time he defecates. Also, she was aware of his apple juice consumption. I remembered she asked if he vomits and we said he didn't. I never realized what she meant by her question then. As to his constipation she said that it's hereditary and that there's not much we can do about it. She said that it's okay not to dispose everyday as long as our baby farts once in a while and he isn't bloated to which what Jaiden is.
Jaiden's constipation has been to a great extent already. In fact, as of this moment he's still having it. One instance, we had stopped feeding him solid food for a day to see if he would still discharge a hard stool. This was also due to the fact that his papa wasn't totally comfortable with the idea of his son taking apple juice due to it's acidity. The result was promising. He didn't have constipation. After which we resumed his Cerelac eating and mama and I realized that without the six ounces of apple juice, his constipation returns.
One day he wasn't able to take his juice since his papa wasn't able to buy immediately when it was totally consumed. Hence, when there was a need for him to do it, he was trying with all his might but with crying. Pitying his son, his papa then decided not to have him eat Cerelac on that afternoon. However, he didn't realize that Jaiden had already consumed few ounces of apple juice. By the time I arrived from work, Jaiden was already whining. I didn't understand his behavior. I tried feeding him his bottled milk but he won't take it and still continued to whine. Mother instinct told me that he must've been looking for his usual afternoon solid food eating. So we hastily prepared his food since he was also sort of sleepy already. Indeed, I was right. He ate with much gusto but after a few teaspoon of Cerelac, he was overpowered by his sleepy eyes. Poor Jaiden, he wasn't able to finish eating. In fact he wasn't able to swallow the last teaspoonful of food fed to him because his eyes were already closed. Around 9PM he woke up hungry so his papa bottle-fed him of his milk. Few minutes after, while I carried him to burp and to resume his sleeping, he puked an unusual amount of milk. I was concerned. Minutes after while his papa carried him because I would change my soiled clothes, he vomited again and still an alarming quantity of already processed (insided his tummy) milk came out. After which he fell asleep, so we put him to his crib. However, I noticed his stomach moving as if it's bouncing. This made him awoke so I got him immediately just in time for his another vomit. If my memory serves me right, he vomited four times that nigh, his face turning pale and he would helplessly cry. I called up his pedia and for reasons which I didn't know, even though it rang but she didn't answer it. Since we didn't know what to do, we decided to bring him to Chong Hua hospital (for his pedia to get inside the hospital if in case he would be admitted). Fortunately his vomitting stopped while we were travelling.
The resident doctor said that it must've been the milk consumed after four hours of preparation, meaning the bottled-milk was no longer fit for consumption and as a result Jaiden had a disturbed tummy. However I wasn't convinced that it was the milk. I had think of the possible reasons and blurted out that he consumed ounces of apple juice. The resident doctor was sort of surprised and then was convinced that it was the culprit. She said that apple juice is too acidic for him. She also said that putting ripe mango or papaya in his Cerelac to add fiber in his diet would hopefully ease his constipation. Later on when I talked to his pedia, she said that they would usually allow juices in the diet when babies are already at least ten months old. Shocks! Well, I didn't confront her though knowing she was aware that we had apple juice for our Jaiden. It would be very rude. So you see, in our attempt to help our baby we had led him to hyperacidity. Lesson learned, always consult your pediatrician first.
Until now, we are still struggling Jaiden's constipation. We had him take Lactulose Lilac per his pedia's advise and changed his milk to Similac and his Cerelac to Gerber stage 1 prunes. With this combination, he didn't have constipation. But we weren't really sure if it was due to the change of his diet or due to the laxative drug. So we went back to his usual Nan 2 HW together with the Lactulose Lilac and Gerber food, still he didn't have constipation. So we stopped the laxative drug ang had his Nan 2 HW and Gerber. The result? he had again a constipation though he already disposes everyday. Now we'll go back to Similac, the laxative drug and Gerber. We'll be doing an elimination process to clearly know the culprit.
Now Jaiden is already eight months old. I hope his constipation will now disappear. Our baby is a very happy, smiling baby and only "constipation" makes him shed his tears.
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