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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Child Has Constipation. Given Livoluk Without Relief. Safe To Give Medicine Long-term?

Hi,
I am a mother of 6 month old baby girl and want your advice as to how do I help my constipated daughter. Its been a month we started feeding her solids. I started feeding her with Ragi (Finger Millet) malt cooked in water which she loves. I slowly increased its quantity to 8 teaspoons of Ragi malt, however , she always felt hungry again within an hour to hour and half. I have been feeding her Ragi once a day. Initially her bowel movements were regular, but after 15 days of starting Ragi, she has been having severe constipation since 2 weeks. Visited the hospital during the first week of trouble and the pediatrician felt her lower abdomen and said that we should wait for some time and her stools will get back to normal.
She has terrible constipation where she is crying to pass her stools and the stool is very hard. Sometimes she gets tired of forcing her stools out in the middle. I then started giving her 2.5ml of livoluk twice a day since last week and see that she is still having trouble passing her stools. She has been passing hard stools with same amount of difficulty almost every day.
I have changed the following to help my daughter get over this constipation, but nothing seems to help:
1. Tried Cerelac Rice instead of Ragi, but she disliked it! so, have reduced the amount of Ragi malt from 8 tsp to 2 tsp and am mixing 1/2 spoon of cerelac(Rice) to it, as I think Ragi might be more complex food than Rice and rice might be easier to digest.
2. Changed the consistency of the above said solid food to more watery.
3. I am feeding her 20-30 ml of water after her solid feed and twice again the same amount during the rest of the day. I'm little concerned as the pediatrician said I could give her 50-100ml of water, but I am not sure if I should give her this water only after the solid feed or distribute it across the day.
4. Tried giving her apple puree, but again she disliked it.

Nothing seems to help. How long should I continue to give livoluk? Is it safe?

She has been on formula (Nan1) since birth and has been having lot of gas trouble. In the last 15 days we also changed to Stage 2 of Nan. I tried keeping her on just the formula (Nan2) one day and then her poop was normal 2 days later, so I am not sure if I should keep her only on formula and discontinue the solids.

Note: Her poop has been dark coloured ever since I started feeding her Ragi.

Thanks & Regards,
Vinitha
Mon, 5 Aug 2013
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General & Family Physician 's  Response
Welcome to HealthCare Magic

I hope you are doing good. You did not mentioned that from which month did you started her semi-solid food. Usually babies should be given semi-solid food after 6 months when they are neck with holding. During these 6 months it is very difficult for them to absorb semi-solid diet. Sometimes they cannot even digest Milk, So doctor counsel them about feeding tactics like do not lay the baby after feeding rub there backs etc.


There could be many causes of her constipation at this stage. If your baby is still having constipation try to reduce semi-solid diet and specially ragi. Increase her milk for awhile and fluids.

You can use Livoluk as it has Lactulose. It can help you baby for awhile but dont use it for long term. Focusing on her diet will be better option.
Tummy Massage.
A Warm Bath.
Bicycle Legs - Place your baby on her back and lightly hold her legs in a half-bent position. Gently begin to move your baby's legs as if she is riding a bicycle.

These tips will also help her with her constipation.
I hope have answered your Query. Feel free to ask if you have any query.
Wish your daughter good health.
Regards

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Child Has Constipation. Given Livoluk Without Relief. Safe To Give Medicine Long-term?

Welcome to HealthCare Magic I hope you are doing good. You did not mentioned that from which month did you started her semi-solid food. Usually babies should be given semi-solid food after 6 months when they are neck with holding. During these 6 months it is very difficult for them to absorb semi-solid diet. Sometimes they cannot even digest Milk, So doctor counsel them about feeding tactics like do not lay the baby after feeding rub there backs etc. There could be many causes of her constipation at this stage. If your baby is still having constipation try to reduce semi-solid diet and specially ragi. Increase her milk for awhile and fluids. You can use Livoluk as it has Lactulose. It can help you baby for awhile but dont use it for long term. Focusing on her diet will be better option. Tummy Massage. A Warm Bath. Bicycle Legs - Place your baby on her back and lightly hold her legs in a half-bent position. Gently begin to move your baby s legs as if she is riding a bicycle. These tips will also help her with her constipation. I hope have answered your Query. Feel free to ask if you have any query. Wish your daughter good health. Regards