How long can a 7-month-old baby on solids go without pooping? 

The baby in this Q&A has not pooped for four days. What should the parents do? 

7-month-old on solids not poopingPin

Mom’s Question:

My 7-month-old baby has been eating solids like peas, sweet potatoes, applesauce, pears, oatmeal cereal, and prunes once or twice a day for nearly 2 months. I sometimes give her apple prune juice, and pear juice.

But it is four days since my baby pooped. She never had a problem with her poop as long as I was breastfeeding her. She didn’t have a problem when I was giving her formula, either. It looks like she all of a sudden caught up with this problem. Sometimes, she cries if her poop is hard and if she poops after three days. Sometimes, though she poops after two days, her poop is soft, and it doesn’t affect her at all. Though she has not pooped for four days now, she is active as usual.

Kindly suggest what I can do to get things right.

Thanks in Advance.

SN


Baby on Solids Not Pooping: A 2-Step Approach Needed

Your daughter reminds me very much about my youngest son. His tummy took the longest time to get used to solid foods.
Becoming constipated when introducing solid foods is quite common, particularly among breastfed babies. You probably need a 2-step solution. The first step is to mitigate constipation right now, and the second step is to make sure it doesn’t come back.

Step 1: To mitigate immediate constipation, you can breastfeed as much as possible and combine it with baby massage in a clockwise direction, starting at her navel and moving outwards. A warm, relaxing bath can also help. You can also read about more remedies here.

Step 2: To prevent future constipation, the best thing you can do, if possible, is to go slowly with the solids. If you can increase the share of breast milk or formula again (breast milk is better than formula), it will help mitigate constipation. Then, continue breastfeeding or offer formula as a bigger part of her diet for some time more. And when you give her solids, make sure they are not contributing to her constipation.

It seems like you are already doing a good job of offering her prune and apple juice and so on. You can also try apricot puree and prune juice. No carrots, white potatoes, dairy products, rice cereal, and unripe bananas for example. Apple sauce can also contribute to constipation, so you may want to stop giving her that.

Avocado, sweet potato, and pears are great for preventing constipation, as well as prunes, peaches, and peas.

In this post, you will find a number of foods that soften stools.

I hope this helps a bit,

Paula

More On Babies That Won’t Poop

Find comments below.

Comments for “7-Month-Old Baby Feeding On Solid Food, Doesn’t Poop”

Mar 06, 2019 Thank You …

by: SN

Thank you, Paula, for your thoughts on my problem and for suggesting things. The tummy massage and warm bath worked out really well with my baby.


Mar 16, 2019 Try green juice or more breast milk
by: Alisa
Did you try giving your baby some green juice? I’ve had this with my daughter, and it helps to breastfeed more or add more liquids to the diet.
Juicing is great for babies’ health, too; it gives them all the nutrients they need and is easy on their digestion. (Green juice = greens of choice; can add apple and carrot for sweetness).Also, a tummy massage with almond oil can work really well! Let me know how it goes, good luck! :)

Note by Easy Baby Life: Just make sure you do not pick any greens that can be dangerous for a baby younger than 1-year-old. You can read about foods to avoid for babies here.


Apr 03, 2019 Pawpaw is a good remedy
by: Maggy

Get fresh pawpaw, slice a bit, mash it with the back of the spoon, and add some lukewarm water to create enough juice for the baby. Give the juice often even twice a day, every day. Baby won’t have constipation ever.

May 02, 2019 7month old son is Having a hard time pooping!!

by: Anonymous

Hello,
I just want to say Thank you for taking the time to answer my Question… I have a 7-month-old son, and He is now slowly eating solid Foods and is drinking two percent. I try feeding him different formula and he keeps throwing up. So I put him on 2 percent; he doesn’t throw up but does have a hard time pooping and its Hard and Yellowish. Is that bad or ?????
Thank you again


May 12, 2019 Don’t give 7-month-old two percent milk!!!!
by: concerned pediatrician

To the lady who is feeding her baby two percent milk- STOP! Babies need fat actually for brain development. Babies should not get low-fat foods until AFTER they are usually about 2 years old.
Prior to that, the fat is for developing the myelin sheath around nerves in the BRAIN. Maybe you should look into another type of formula if you are not breastfeeding- like something a little more predigested. His throw-up might be reflux; ask your doctor. Also, giving a young baby real milk (cow milk) before age one can lead to pretty severe anemia, allergy, and difficulty pooping! I hope that helps!:)

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  1. Worried Parents

    Hi there,

    My baby is 7 and half month old. she started pooping rarely around 4 months when we presented her first time some solid food.Since then we have tried all our effort to have her pooping by herself by she always have used. First time our family doctor gave her something that i don’t remember the name. second time the doctor gave her Apo LActulos, it was the same situation, she didn’t poop by herself. then the doctor said us to use some suppository. from now then she stays up to 6-7 days without pooping.Only when we use suppository she poop. Does anyone know for how long this situation can go on? We are trying even to change her feed. Now we are giving more natural Kiwi, Olive oil, Prune peach juice. When she poop with the suppository she never have hard stool. it’s always wet and normal.

    Please help because we are really worried.