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What to do when your baby or kid can’t poo

Once you introduce your baby to solid foods, you can expect them to get constipated at least a few times. Here are some tips and tricks for tackling – or heading off – constipation after starting solid food, so that your child can get back to smooth movements.

What to do when your baby or kid can’t poo

Written by: Jessica Diamond, MPH, RDN

Once you introduce your baby to solid foods, you can expect them to get constipated at least a few times. This is because solid food is harder to digest than breastmilk or formula so their gut is adjusting to digesting new foods. 

So, don’t let your child’s red and straining face send you into panic mode! Here are some tips and tricks for tackling – or heading off – constipation after starting solid food, so that your child can get back to smooth movements.  

  1. Monitor the consistency of their poop. Take note of the consistency of their poop each day and keep an eye out for harder poop. Ideally, your baby’s poop should be slightly softer than Play Dough, like soft-serve ice cream. If you notice it getting harder than Play Dough, then you’ll want to employ the following strategies to soften up their poop.
  1. Replace constipating foods with fruits that start with P. You might be surprised to learn that bananas (especially unripe ones) and large amounts of animal dairy (like milk and cheese). If you notice your baby’s poop is hardening, replace these foods with any fruit that starts with a P: plums, prunes, peaches, pears, etc. You can also try 4oz of prince juice or apple juice diluted with water if you kid won’t consume the whole fruit. 
  1. Add in more fiber, healthy fat, and probiotics: Fiber (especially hydrating produce), healthy fat, and probiotics are so important for digestion and bowel regularity. While fiber is key for bowel regularity and overall health, you want to make sure you’re also offering healthy fat and probiotics because fiber alone typically isn’t enough. 
  • Fiber: Focus on adding in other fiber-containing foods such as hydrating produce such as greens, berries, mangos, and watermelon, beans, whole grains, ground flax seeds or ground chia seeds, and constipation smoothies to help ease constipation. While fiber is so helpful, there is such a thing as too much fiber without enough fluid so sometimes very high fiber foods, like Ezekial bread, can be constipating. 
  • Healthy fat: Avocados, olive oil, and coconut oil can help ease constipation. Many parents notice that adding coconut oil into smoothies or their kids diet helps ease constipation. It’s unclear whether it’s the MCT (medium-chain triglycerides) in the coconut oil or some other property of the coconut oil itself that helps with digestion and ease constipation.
  • Probiotics: Probiotics are live microorganisms that when taken in adequate amounts have been shown to have many health benefits including more regular bowel movements in kids. You can get probiotics from food such as kefir and yogurt and you can also take a probiotic supplement. In fact, you can start a probiotic as early as infancy which has shown to help improve your baby’s gut flora which helps aid in digestion and overall health. Always check with your pediatrician before starting a probiotic, but here’s our favorite probiotic supplements: 
    • Newborn/Infants: Evivo (for breastfed babies), Mary Ruth Infant, Genexa Infant, Klaire Labs, and Bio Gaia.
    • Toddlers: Mary Ruth’s Kid/Adult
    • Kids & Teens: Seed Pediatric (for kids aged 3-17) is an amazing product. It contains 9 probiotic strains and a fiber-based prebiotic and has been shown to specifically to support digestive function and regular, healthy bowel movements in children with fewer than five bowel movements per week. (use coupon code: LIVING to get 20% off your first month) 
  • Try a constipation smoothie: Jess’ dietitian created constipation smoothie is a great natural way to help ease and prevent constipation!

Blend these ingredients together:

Berry Mango Constipation Smoothie

  • ½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries
  • ½ cup frozen mango
  • 6 fresh or frozen strawberries
  • ½ cup spinach 
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 4 pitted dates
  • 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds
  • ½ tablespoon hemp seeds (optional)
  • 1 cup plain kefir 
  • Add water, ice, or diluted apple juice as needed

Blueberry Mango Constipation Smoothie

  • 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
  • 1/2 cup frozen mango
  • 1/2 cup chopped or sliced zucchini
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 cup plain kefir
  • Add water, ice, or diluted apple juice as needed
  1. Offer water with each of their meals. For babies: provide about 1 ounce of water with meals to aid in digestion and ease constipation. Just don’t overdo it with water because you don’t want it to displace breastmilk or formula intake which is providing the majority of their nutrition. For kids: provide water throughout the day to keep them hydrated. A good rule of thumb is to offer the 8 ounces of water per day for each year of life (for example, a 2 year old drinks 2 x 8 ounces of water per day or 16 ounces). 
  1. Try some simple exercises to get things moving! Give your baby a nice belly massage after a warm bath and/or do some bicycles where you take their legs and move them in circles as if they were riding a bike. Once your baby becomes a kid, help them with a calm potty routine so they know have some time to focus going poop daily. 

Now, some kids are more prone to constipation. If this sounds like your baby, then you may need some more regular interventions besides the strategies listed above. Reach out to your doctor (and a dietitian, if available) to come up with a personalized plan for your child.  

Have more questions about baby poop? Check out our article, Breaking Down: Baby Poop where we break down what’s normal and what’s not so you know what’s typical versus what warrants a call to your pediatrician!