Baby Constipation UPDATE

I think the prune juice worked!
It took a couple days to 'kick in' - but when the time was right, the BOMB dropped. About a weeks worth of backed-up poop all in one diaper! Now, he poops nearly every day, and we feed him the prune juice about every other day. He actually takes it in really well...we thought he'd reject it at first, after having been used to milk his entire life. But he sucked it all up...ahhhh!

Well, speaking of poop, after every diaper change, we always put the soiled diaper in our DIAPER CHAMP. It is actually our SECOND one. The first one we got as a gift (we actually got two of them). We returned one to Target, and kept the other. I guess we picked the wrong one because it was pretty defective. When you turn the turnstyle, it always got stuck, and you needed two hands to turn. We thought that it was difficult, but normal - until we visited our friends home where she easily, and smoothly turned hers with two fingers, and a baby on one arm.

I was willing to complain to Baby Trend, but we would have had to go thru the process of mailing the product in, then waiting weeks to possibly receive a new one. Not worth it, so we just bought another one at Babies 'R Us. Now we are happily using it, while the defective one sits in our laundry room. I can't bear to throw it away even though it is of no use to us - so I somehow take comfort in letting it sit in storage and collect dust. Strange, I admit it.

Anyway, we stuck with the Diaper Champ because alternatives need a proprietary trash bag system where you'd spend more money to replace. Didn't make sense - in the end the DC was cheaper and still worked well. So I do recommend, just hopefully you won't end up with a broken one.

Baby Constipation

We've been trying to transition to formula - not because my wife can't produce, but because it actually helps him sleep thru the night. The experts say that it is more complex to digest than breastmilk, so he doesn't get as hungry in the middle of the night.


One evening, we tried doing a half-and-half bottle: 2 oz. of breastmilk, 2 oz. of formula. And it seemed to work - where he used to wake up consistently around 2 or 3am, this time he slept thru til about 6am. But then we realized the trade-off: constipation. He last pooped Monday...it is now Friday, and no signs of poopage. Back in the pre-formula days, he had a BM every single day, pretty regular.

We called our doctor and she said it's normal, as long as he's not in pain. She also recommended giving some prune juice to help with digestion. We'll see what happens, I bought some today, and gave some to him. Can't say I miss changing poop-filled, smelly diapers, but seeing that oatmeal, curd stuff would be welcomed at this point.

Stay tuned...

Pee Pee Tee Pee Really?

Now they really thought of everything!
I never even knew these existed until a friend gave us these Pee Pee Tee Pees as a gift. I guess it makes sense, but I didn't even know that there was a need for something like this. Of course, naive me - after my first shower-shot, I realized, these things are a must. It's pretty amazing how absorbant they are, and they save a diaper from being prematurely peed on.

Sometimes I get lazy, or am too rushed to put the tee pee on, but I do it at my own risk! 50-50 chance he gets you. But then my wife so observantly noticed that when he's about to shoot, his little thingy actually grows - that's a surefire sign that the tee pee is needed.

Toilet paper or tissue would do the trick as well, but these are more fun!

How To Make His Poop Not Stick!

My brother of all people gave me this tip before I had my kid. Put some vaseline on the diaper so that when he poops, it won't stick to his bum. I gave it a try, and it worked! Sometimes I get lazy and don't put the vaseline on, only to be punished later when I have to srub his butt with a babywipe to make sure the dried poop comes off.

Pampers or Huggies should come up with a 'non-stick' diaper...not only does the poop not stick, but also moisturizes the bum. Sounds marketable right?

The Straight-Jacket Swaddle

I can certainly vouch for the effectiveness of swaddling your infant - it provides him/her with a sense of security and safety, plus they don't end up hitting themselves and waking up! From the "Happiest Baby..." DVD, we learned the correct way to swaddle, and worked great on our boy, in the beginning. But as he grew in size and strength, he regularly broke out of the swaddle prematurely or mid-sleep, and consequently woke up.

Then we remembered the Miracle Blanket that we received as a gift from a friend of ours - we thought we'd give it a try. It's virtually a straight-jacket where the arms are snug and secure, and the entire body wrapped fully. He never once broke out of it, and we continued to use it each night until he turned four months. It costs anywhere between $30 and $40 and can be found here. Give it a try, and let us know how it goes!

Happiest Daddy On The Block

A few weeks before our due date a friend of ours lent us a book & DVD of "Happiest Baby On The Block". She and her husband convinced us that it worked and helped their baby to sleep and/or calm her down. So, the next day my wife and I popped in the DVD, and I was amazed at some of the clips. Wailing, uncontrollable babies, suddenly calmed by the author of this book (certified Pediatrician), in what appeared instantaneous.

His premise is that there is a 'fourth trimester' where the baby continues to form and develop. Of course, the infant is forced into the world a month early, but has the behavior and expectations of a fetus in the womb. For example, he/she is used to being in tight quarters (in mom's belly), is used to movement (as mom walks around), and is accustomed to regulated noise (organs functioning, body fluids moving, etc.). So the key is to try and re-create that setting for the baby with 5 S's:
1. Swaddling
2. Side
3. Shhh
4. Swinging
5. Sucking

Once my son was born, I was eager to try the doctor's methods. To my surprise, they actually did work (though some more than others). Swaddling is definitely critical to creating a secure, tight space for him. Shhh'ing works as well - especially when he starts wailing. Laying him on his side, sometimes works, sometimes didn't...my conclusion was that it wasn't a big of a deal. Swinging also works, it's more like light shaking (if you watch the video you'll know what I mean). And sucking, we didn't need to use too much - he usually calmed down by step 1-4.

Anyway, I whole-heartedly recommend buying the book and DVD. It makes a lot of sense, and you'll find that the steps are pretty remarkable in settling baby down. Ultimately, it'll make baby happy, as well as mommy & daddy.