The younger the baby, the more likely it is that any foods other than human milk will cause food allergies. While solely breastfed, the baby is protected by components in mother's milk that prevent foreign proteins from entering the baby's system and causing an allergic reaction. At about six months of age, the baby begins producing enough antibodies to prevent such allergic reactions. This benefit is especially important for a baby whose family has a history of allergies.
Infant first solid foods constipation
Foods like rice cereal are very constipating due to the extra iron. Plus your baby may appear ready but her stomach and bowel's may not be. Talk to your doctor but usually 2 or 3oz of water per day can help formula fed baby out a bit with constipation. Most likely it’s the iron in her formula that's causing the constipation in the first place so the extra cereal will really make it bad. But don't switch to a low iron formula, she does need the iron.
Mix pureed solid foods with breast milk instead of water-especially during the early stages of solid foods. In addition to aiding with your baby’s digestion, this mixture will also help ease him into eating solid foods as the milk will add a similar taste to the new ones.
Gently massage your baby’s abdomen in a clockwise motion. This gentle pushing will encourage the waste to move in the right direction.
When you are ready to try a new food, choose a vegetable first such as squash, peas or carrots. After your baby is enjoying several different vegetables, you can try fruit. Remember that cereal, applesauce and bananas can cause constipation. If your baby becomes constipated, you may want to try giving him or her ounce or two of diluted prune juice or trying other fruits, like plums. Also, bananas can cause little black threads to appear in your baby's stool -- this is nothing to worry about as the black threads are just the center part of the banana.
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Increased fluids. Adding an extra serving of juice (pear juice worked wonders for our daughter, but any fruit juice should help) to your child’s diet can help to soften his or stools. Also try to give at least a few sips of water after feeding your child solids.
But baby constipation can arise as his intestines learn to cope with this new form of nutrition. The resulting hard stools can sometimes tear the delicate skin around the anus. These tiny but painful tears can cause your baby to sub-consciously hold back his stools. Unfortunately, this compounds the problem - his body will absorb the water from these stools, making them even harder, plus the large amount of stools in the intestine will cause discomfort and pain.
When solids are introduced or supplemented with formula, there is an increased chance of constipation. Common culprits of constipation include formula, rice cereal, and bananas. Natural stool softeners may include prunes, apricots, peaches, peas, and green beans. Keep in mind that all babies react differently to foods: what may help one child may not help the next. What constipates one child may not bother the next.
