formula and poopoo

K

kellyst

Registered User
my 1.5 y.o. daughter has been having on and off poopoo problems. she poopoo about every other day now, but most of the time it's big and on the dry side and very difficult to get out, there is blood most of the time when i wipe her clean from the poopoo being too dry or too hard. she is becoming scared of going poopoo now.

we've had the same problems before but it got better when we started feeding her much more water, prune juice, soups that helps with poopoo. despite of all the liquids she drinks, it got worse again the past 2 weeks. in addition to all the liquids, she still drinks a lot of formula now, about 35oz per day, i'm thinking if the formula (NanHa2)is causing the difficulty now. so i've started to let her try to replace some of her formula with my own Dairy Farm's milk to see if that would improve the situation.

any comments on how formula affects poopoo? also, have heard cod liver oil works too, any other ideas?
 
My 21 month girl has no problem pooing and she is on this supposedly "heaty' formula.. Progress Gold.
I make sure my girl gets her fruits (either 1/2 an apple, a whole kiwi, a slice of papaya etc) after her nap.
After dinner, she will have half a bottle of vitagen or a small bottle of baby yogurt.
And since you mention cod liver oil, Nic is also being fed this after her lunch although I didn't know that it can help with the poo.

Hope everything will turn out fine!
 
35oz sounds like a lot of milk for 1.5 year old. She takes reasonable amount of solids (ie with enough veg or fruit) at mealtimes?
 
yeah.. i'm getting a bit confused. should we cut down then? i described it to her ped. and she didn't think it was a problem. when i suggested changing formula, she even mentioned that i need to make sure that her intake does not go down if i switched.. hmm
it goes like 9oz + 5oz + 8oz + 9oz. Plus even 1-2oz more before she goes to bed.

BUT she also eats lots of solids, full bowls of rice.. lots of other liquids water, prune juice, lots and lots of chinese soups. i think we are a bit low on fruits tho.. need to work on that...

do you think there is a 'max' amt of milk that a toddler should be taking in?

my helper (and i'm as guilty) is so anxious to help her put on more weight that she has no problem feeding her lots of milk, since the baby likes it a lot too...
 
i just read in Parents Magazine that a 1 yr old max amt of milk is 20oz/day.... (oops!)

you're lucky that she still eats so much when she's drinking so much milk. sounds like you're feeding her adult portions of food. i wonder how much she weighs.....

so is she eating constantly? .. "lots & lots of soup" sounds like A LOT. one toddler serving is the size of her palm (mind you her palm only, doesn't include the fingers). the books say one toddler meal should be 1/2 a slice of whole wheat bread (those square breads that come in a loaf), 2 pcs of brocolli & a handful (her handful, not yours) of protein. that's it.

fyi, this is what my girl eat when she between 1-2 yo one -
breakfast, 1 toddler size bowl of oatmeal (so 1/3 to 1/2 pack for adult)w/ 1/2 banana & 1/2 cup of soy milk
lunch, 1 toddler size rice, 1 ice-cube size chopped green veg, ~ 10 pcs chopped corn, her palm size minced pork.
dinner, same as lunch
sometimes, she snacks mid-morning (10am) & mid-afternoon (3pm) toddler cookies/cheerios/ 8-10 pcs of grapes/5pcs strawberry/ 1/2 pear etc

and her ped said she was eating too much!!

she only takes milk when when she naps (3oz), bedtime (7oz), and midnight (5oz). for her, when she's taken milk during the day, she wouldn't eat for the next 3 hrs, so i think she's still full.

i suggest you teach your child to learn to tell you that she's full. it's a important concept to teach our kids, so that when they grow up, they know that they should stop eating when feel full. our generation were brought up to eat as much as we can & we tend to overeat most of the time, cos in the old days, our moms told us that it's "mo yee sig" to leave food. cos when they grew up, they had to go hungry or food didn't come by easily. time has changed & so should the way we teach our children....

i'm sorry this has started to sound like a lecture, but i'm a bit concerned about your child eating so much.
 
a 1 year old should drink 16-24 oz milk/day. If the formula you use is iron fortified this might be what is causing the problem. Iron can be constipating. I'd try decreasing the forlua intake and replacing it with cows milk, unless you have other reasons to avoid cows milk.

I wouldn't worry about trying to make her gain wieght, assuming she is healthy. A healthy child knows when to eat and when to not eat. It is when adults mess around with either trying to make our kids eat more/less that gets people into the habit of eating too much/too little. So many adults eat past the natural point of being full because as kids we are told you can't leave the table until your done, etc so we think feeling stuffed is full when really it is too full.
 
Kellyst

My daughter who is now 2, also has a silmilar problem. Doctor advised me to cut down on milk as this causes constipation. If she is eating yogurt and cheese, these also contain milk and therefore, should cut down on milk. Believe it not, apples and bananas are also bad for constipation, so avoid these too. Doctor recommended a high fibre diet with foods like: oatmeal, oatbran, weetabix, barley, brown bread, raspberries, blueberries, oranges, papaya, kiwi and lots of water. Chinese doctor recommends eating food that are not fried or toasted.
 
i agree that some kids know to eat & when not to.

i have a friend's 2 1/2 yo, rarely eats (they live in Canada). the boy would keep the food in his mouth for ages & refuses to swallow. i've seen him eat, the most for a day is 4 mouthful of rice mixed with vegis (cos he eats only 2 mouthful at lunch & 2 at dinner, which he keeps in his mouth for 15 mins each), one tiny bowl of oatmeal w/ soy for bfast, 1/2 a banana in the afternoon + 2 x 7oz lactose free formula. his ped says he's underweight & they have to test his blood for iron deficiency. his mom is pulling her hair out trying to figure out ways to make his little underweight kid eats.

then there's my little friend 2yo + 5 mths, who constantly asks for food. he wakes at 7am, 6oz formula, bfast at 8am (1 adult size bowl of cereal w/ milk, a toddler bowl of fruits) + cookies on his way to pre-nursery. his teacher asked his mom if he eats bfast before school, cos he keeps asking for snack refill during snack time. for lunch bowl of rice/pasta w/ all the protein/veg + 1 bowl of soup. right after that he can eat 1 banana & 1 regular cup of yogurt. you can see his tummy bulging out & still asking mom for cookies, raisins, etc. but his mom would say,"no, darling, you're full, that's enough", and he would throw a little tantrum. at around 4pm, snack time is cookies/ yogurt/ fruits. dinner at 6pm the same as lunch. another 6oz milk at bedtime. although he's not fat per se. but his mom is worried that his overeating will make him over eat when he grows up. cos he looks a lot like his uncle, who weighs over 200lbs since he's 20 years old & gaining each day.

just thought i'd share my experience.
 
thanks much for all the comments. i'm starting to get concerned also, about my child eating too much, will check with paed this week when we go for her checkup.

Joannek, my child does eat A LOT comparing to what you described, honestly, her lunch and dinner portions are comparable to mine :p but here comes the scary part, she is 18ths and she weighs around 22lbs! she is TINY TINY for her age. so baffling.

anyways, will check with paed and also will talk to helper to decrease her portions a little. we are not really 'forcing' her to eat anymore, but she does finishes her food, not very enthusiastically sometimes mind you, but it's ok mostly. but i did teach her to say 'bau bau' when she's full, and have told the helpers to not forced food into her.

i am also trying to cut down on formula and converting to cow's milk. however nurses did suggest NOT to cut out formula completely as they do have more nutrients than cow's milk, but we are moving some of her milk feedings to cow's milk now, she loves her milk tho, always asking for milk when it's time.

hmm, tricky topic i think, i've been guessing that she's been eating a bit too much, but the being tiny and skinny part baffles me, guess it's genes. The sad part is, i gained 2 lbs for every 1 lbs of food i eat LOL... so that part of the genes is probably not from me :)

thanks much everyone!
 
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wow, she is tiny.... and eats so much.... maybe you or hubby were skinny as her when you were her age? maybe bring her to a chinese doctor & check her out.... sometimes chinese docs can see sth that western medical doc can't... i have one that's specialises in children & she's really nice. her name is Connie & her clinic is in causeway bay. can try to give her a call 2882-6999. if both western & ch doc says she's fine, then you don't have to give it any more thoughts & feel lucky that your child isn't overweight chowing down all those food!!!
 
i'm skinny when i'm her age, BUT i don't eat at all when i'm a baby. she is not a great eater but i bet 10 times better than when i was a baby already. my husband was a very good eater when he was a baby and was chubby.

i'm not too worried as she is healthy most of the time, with the occasional flus and colds :p but thanks much for the Chinese doc reference, will check it out. i believe in Chinese doctors myself, but it's nice to have to have one that specialized in children :)

just a bit upset coz all those 'effort' in eating all those things doesn't seem to be 'paying off'.. haha :D
 
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