Constipation

hey I had the exact same problem with my son when he was a baby and prune juice really helped. The coloxyl was awful and made him even worse with the pain. Also another great thing to use is quality castor oil and rub on their tummy every night before bed. If you want to research that more and all the benefits it's amazing

I'm so sorry you and your bub are going through this, it's so hard seeing them struggle with constipation. My daughter had the same issue when she was younger. She has CMPA too (which was why she was struggling with constipation - we didn't realise at the time). How long has your bub been on the rice formula? If it were me, I'd try a different formula. If you can, see a paediatric allergist. We saw one for my daughter once we figured out she had food allergies. They were able to prescribe us with Alfamino formula (amino acid based formula) and it worked wonders for our baby girl!! Im pretty sure you can order alfamino tins from chemist warehouse but if you get a script for it (from allergist) it is SO much cheaper!

@Adriana we can't get into the Paediatrician that diagnosed her who is also an allergist. The only people we can get into without a really long waiting list is a paediatric registrar and they're more concerned about her weight and if the symptoms have eased which they have a little bit and just after starting on the formula she was pooping very regularly but in the last few weeks she been constipated again She's been on it for about 8 weeks

@Jess can she even have anything other than formula at 3 months

@Emily oh sorry I thought you said 13month old. A better option would be pear juice from the actual pear you buy instead of getting the juice which would have all sorts of bad stuff in it. I have also heard good things about a natural tummy oil from lively living and it's little bubs. Definitely look up the castor oil aswell

My daughter has the same and she definitely struggles with the formula but she also has breast milk which helps a lot.

@Emily Gosh im so sorry, I know how hard it can be 😟 that's exactly like what happened with my daughter. We kept trying different formulas and initially it would get better, then she would go back to being constipated all over again. We tried everythinggggggg under the sun, and nothing helped. The only thing I can suggest is switching formulas 😕 I'm not sure what else is on the market nowadays in terms of what your bub can have considering her allergies, but try and switch if you can and give it a few weeks to see if the constipation has really stopped or not. See if your local chemist warehouse or pharmacies can stock/order in Alfamino formula, too! That was a lifesaver for us.

Try gripe water

@Catherine I've tried that as well

Have you tried the lactose free formula? My friend used that for her lo

@Emily I’m so sorry I think you are doing everything you can sometimes warm baths or warm running water helps I did see something on instagram on how to help gas and constipation

@Shania she has a Cows Milk Protein Allergy, Soy Protein Allergy and can't have goats milk either so unfortunately a lactose free formula won't be able to help as it still has milk protein in it

Water, apple or pear juice.

Given the other allergies, she's probably allergic to rice. It's actually reasonably common (in the allergy world) Ask GP for Neocate, it's an amino acid formula. Edit: whoops Neocate has rice in it 😭

And you'd better hope she's not allergic to corn. That's what constipates my girl. She also has multiple allergies. There is no corn free formula. I breastfed her on a very limited diet. ....have you considered relactation?

@Ella I was never able to breastfeed her because my milk never came in

It's a really hard position you're in. You're unlikely to be able to get donor milk to fit all her allergies. I'm not sure what you can do, I guess you have to find whichever formula causes her the least pain. You can expect her to have troubles with her gut and solids, possibly food aversions, when she's ready to start solids. You are going to need to do gut healing. At 3 months old I would be making home made bone broth and giving 2 TSP of it a day. At 4 months I'd increase to 50ml twice a day. Bone broth is very helpful for gut healing. You can google a recipe but it's basically chicken bones, carrots and onions. I wouldn't add extra ingredients due to allergies.