neocate part 3 :(

[Anonymous]

ahhhhh ok…this gas is disgusting! i cant believe a 3 month old can
produce a smell like this! his farts are now the silent but deadly
kind…

and no poop in 2 days now. on the alimentum it was twice a day.

we have a family friend that had her baby on neocate at one time and
she said he became so impacted they had to surgically remove his poop
!!

okay so im wondering if he will poop little hard balls to let me know
he is constipated or if it can get that bad and become impacted without
giving me any warning signs with hard poop (sorry tmi)

i dont know if i should give him some karo or if i should just keep waiting for him to go.

help!

[Anonymous]

Are you still thickening with rice? The first thing I would do is stop that and

instead thicken with Simply Thick or at least oatmeal (if you need to thicken

at all). It is pretty normal on Neocate though not to poop every day – I’d only

be concerned if it goes another day or two or if he acts uncomfortable. The

gas could also be his body trying to expel all the milk proteins and clean

itself out? Will he drink water? Sometimes just a little extra water is enough

to make them go.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Karen. I wouldn’t thicken with rice if he’s constipated. Hailey also had to go to the ER to get disimpacted (but they did it with an enema)… she screamed so hard it was awful and actually tore her bum from the poop being so hard.

From my experience, I usually found that when the farts got so smelly that you could pass out, it was usually because Hailey hadn’t pooped in days and was backed up. When that happened, I’d give her a tiny bit of prune juice, or a bit of warm water, or a bit of diluted pear juice and see if she would go. If she didn’t go by the third day on her own, then I’d give her a bit of a suppository to clean her out. Sometimes the poop would get so hard that she couldn’t pass it. We found out for her that she didn’t go after 3 days then she wouldn’t go on her own, and we had to help her out.

You can also lubricate the end of a baby thermomether and help him out a bit that way… kind of disgusting, I know. Good luck. Constipation is awful and seems to make the reflux so much worse.

[Anonymous]

thanks guys

yes we are using rice i just never saw that as a problem because he has
always had more of a problem with diarhea. i guess i should try the
oatmeal though. im still debating about ordering simply thick.

i tried prune juice a couple times about2 months ago when he was
on AR lipil and became constipated. the juice was diluted and still
gave him horrible stomach cramps and gas. i heard white grape juice is
better because its more gentle on the tummy is this true?

also, i have some suppositories on hand just in case which i got from
the baby section, however the directions say to ask a doctor if the
child is uner 2. im assuming i would just use half of it on him? and
how do those work…do they go all the way up the bum or do i let some
stick out? ive never used one before…do they dissolve up there or do
you need to remove them? ugh this is annoying!

[Anonymous]

I have heard from other moms that Neocate is constipating. I would definitely talk to the doctor. Abby is on Lactulose b/c the Prevacid constipates her. I have also heard about adding the dark Karo to their bottles.

[Anonymous]

We couldn’t use prune juice – it really upset Marisa’s tummy. We had to use

either diluted pear juice or white grape juice but neither worked all that well.

You can also try adding 1/2 tsp or 1tsp of brown sugar to some warm water.

The problem with the suppositories is that they will only get out the hard

stuff already in the rectum, not soften it up to all come out – but they are

good for a once in a while emergency use.

[Anonymous]

The suppostories go up the rectum, make sure that you feel it go over the edge since they can easily be pushed back out. We had to use suppostories when Taylor was on Neocate. The dietician also said we could use 1 tsp of benefiber to help soften her stools. Since us adults have fiber in our diets and it helps with soft stools and children do not it can cause constipation especially with the Neocate. We used 1tsp of benefiber a day in her bottle to help and it definitely made her stools much softer and she had no reactions to it. It is MSPI free no milk, soy, or even corn. She said they too would use the benefiber in the NICU at the University of Chicago hospital. She recommend we use 1 tsp with 2oz of water but Taylor hates water. She wanted us to try it once a day for 1 week and it could be used up to 0.5gm of benefiber to 1kg. So at the time Taylor was 13 lbs she could have had up to 3 tsp a day if needed.

[Anonymous]

We would just use a tip and shove it all the way up. Most of it usually dissolved and softens up the poop, but if it’s already so far gone that it’s really hard, it might not get it all out like Karen said. You usually can tell if it’s gotten it all out, because you have the hard part followed by a full mushy poo. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Poor little guy. Myles is miserable when he doesn’t poop. Lori’s right…when the gas starts smelling really bad it’s usually because they are backed up.

All the advice you’ve gotten so far sounds good to me. I’ve tried many of them with Myles. He tolerates prune juice and it helps to some degree. The brown sugar with water often works. I mix 1 teaspoon with an ounce of warm water and give it to him with a syringe. Trace might take it in a bottle if he’s a good bottle drinker.

I’d definitely stop the rice. Rice is so binding. If he can drink unthickened formula that would be the best thing because the more fluid the better. But if not, I’d try oatmeal.

The thermometer works well for Myles. Just stick it in about the same distance you would to take his temp and wiggle it around gently. This relaxes the anal sphincter and will sometimes help them to move their bowels. I usually have to do it a few times to get Myles to pass his bm. Not fun (I feel like I am assaulting my own child) but it works almost every time.

If he doesn’t go soon I’d try the suppository. I’ve used them a few times, and it’s not that hard. Just use your pinkie finger and push it in just past the little sphincter. You’ll know if you put it in far enough because if you don’t it will come right back out. Maybe use the thermometer after the suppository and bm come out to get the rest of it out. Like Lori and Karen said, usually only the hard part that was holding everything back comes out with the suppository.

Good luck. I hope he’s feeling better soon. If he doesn’t in the next day or two I’d call the doctor.

[Anonymous]

OK – I think this gets the “Grossest Topic of the Week” award.

Robin

[Anonymous]

thanks guys!

haha yeah…it is gross-but important!

[Anonymous]

We’ve been using benefiber lately with Hailey as well. It has no smell, no taste, no grit, can be mixed into virtually anything. But I’d ask your doc about it just to make sure. The pediatric dose in children ages 6 and up is max 2.5 tablespoons a day, we gave Hailey 1/5th of a TEASPOON and she was pooping almost diarrhea so I’d be careful. The first day we gave her one tsp, and she had two huge mushy poops that day. Then we went down to the 1/5tsp, and she was still passing tons of gas and waking up with soft poop in her diaper. Their systems are all so different. If your doc does give the okay, I’d start off small.

[Anonymous]

Natalichick,

How’s Trace doing today?

Sue and Lori, Thanks for the tip about Benefiber. I may try that with Myles as he was constipated again yesterday (even on antibiotics for an ear infection ). His doctor suggested COLACE, but I wonder if benefiber would be better.

[Anonymous]

well he went twice last night by himself-so i am glad! i did notice
that was getting firmer though so maybe today or tmw i will give
him some juice or sugar water.

[Anonymous]

I like the benefiber b/c it’s so easy to give… can go in anything. But it does seem to be a bit too effective sometimes. I would ask your doc about it just to be sure. Ours had never heard about it when I asked so I asked around on other sites, and there were others who were told by their docs that it was okay. So I gave it a try. It’s really good stuff… just fibre, nothing else in it. Again, I’d check it out with your doc since all babies are different. It is OTC by the way, but doesn’t have any dosing for babies.

Natalia, glad to hear that Trace did the deed on his own.

[Author]

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