Solids and BM's

[juliemom23]

Dd is 6.5 months, breastfed and we are starting to play around with baby food. She has been getting some rice cereal (mixed with breastmilk) since about 5 months (3 or so times a week). Her bm's had been pretty regular, about once a day. Now that we've started some solids she will go 3 to 4 days without a bm. That just doesn't seem normal to me. I think in the last two weeks I have given her baby food/cereal 5 times (varying types) and now she's all irregular. She doesn't seem to be to bothered by it, but does it mean she allergic or something?

Thanks in advance! I've been holding off on any more solids (except the rice cereal with breastmilk) because of this.

Julie

[bfoster2000]

As long as it's not bothering her, it's probably not a problem. Rice cereal can tend to be binding. When a baby has diarrheah, they recommend the BRAT diet - bananas, rice, applesauce, toast because those foods will slow things down. For foods that get things moving, think fruits that start with "P" - prunes, pears, plums, etc. It's pretty normal for their patterns to change when you introduce new foods because their bodies are having to figure out how to deal with it. For DJ, he actually got a lot more regular when he started solids. On just breastmilk, he was constipated quite a bit (yes, I know that breast babies can go weeks without a bowel movement because there is so little waste and it is very rare for them to actually be constipated on just breastmilk...but rare does not mean impossible...he actually was constipated!) but when we started solids, things evened out a lot and he got a lot better.

Watch for signs that she might be uncomfortable but as long as it's not bothering her, try not to worry. If she does appear uncomfortable, try baby massage, warm baths, bicycling her legs, etc. to help loosen things up and help get things moving. You may also consider introducing something less binding next and try to get some variety in her diet. In addition to the fruits I already mentioned, green beans and corn always cleaned DJ out as did apple juice. And never be afraid to mention it to her doctor if you're concerned!

Good luck!