If you’ve read that article, you have a nice foundation of knowledge about the difference between food allergies, food sensitivities, and food intolerances. You also know a bit more about the potential causes of your baby’s food issues, as well as the likelihood that your baby will outgrow his food allergies or sensitivities.

That’s all well and good. But what about practical, useful tips to help you deal with your baby’s food allergy or sensitivity?

That’s what we’re starting today. In this article, we’ll examine the spectrum of symptoms that food sensitivities and food allergies can cause; we’ll also look at how to diagnose your baby’s food allergies and sensitivities.

NOTE: If you suspect your child has a food allergy or intolerance, please check with your pediatrician for testing and additional information.

Symptoms of Food Allergies, Food Sensitivities, and Food Intolerances

If only there were a nice, tidy set of easy-to-recognize symptoms that would help us recognize and identify our babies’ food allergies and sensitivities.

Unfortunately, there’s not!

Instead, symptoms of food allergies and sensitivities tend to span a broad spectrum. Some symptoms are easy to detect; others are subtle and easy to miss.

SYMPTOM CHART

Notice that the symptoms of food intolerance and the symptoms of food allergies and sensitivities overlap a bit. This can make it very difficult to know whether your child has a true food allergy or sensitivity, or whether she has a basic food intolerance.

Notice, too, that the symptoms of food sensitivities are so widespread and varying — everything from vomiting to eczema to fatigue! No wonder food sensitivities can be so hard to diagnose.

How To Tell If Your Baby Has a Food Allergy or Sensitivity

Maybe your baby’s suffering from terrible diarrhea and diaper rash, and you suspect milk may be to blame. Or, perhaps your baby seems lethargic and grumpy all the time, and you’re wondering if a wheat allergy might be the cause.

But how can you know for sure? How can you tell if your child has a food allergy or sensitivity?

First, make note of this: if your baby has a violent, acute, or dangerous reaction to a food (like a sudden wheezing or shortness of breath), seek medical help immediately. Then, consult your healthcare provider about the reaction.

Most people don’t have dangerous reactions to foods, however — it’s likely your baby’s symptoms will be less severe. If this is the case, you have two options:

1. Consult with a healthcare provider.

Remember, consulting with a healthcare provider is a must if your baby’s reactions are serious.

Detecting a food allergy, sensitivity, or intolerance is not always straightforward. Unfortunately, there isn’t a single test that can tell you if your baby or toddler has a food allergy. It is now recommended to avoid the IgG Food Panel Test and seek out an allergist/immunologist to diagnose and manage any food reactions.

2. Try an elimination diet.

Skin prick and blood tests don’t always provide the whole story, however. And they can be painful and invasive (most doctors won’t even perform skin prick tests on babies and toddlers, since the test tends to be very uncomfortable.)

Many experts agree that the best way to determine if your baby has a food sensitivity is to try an elimination diet at home. It’s best if you do this under the supervision of a healthcare provider; that way, you can ensure that your baby isn’t missing out on any vital nutrients.

(Note: if your child has serious allergic reactions, don’t mess around with an elimination diet. Go straight to a healthcare provider. Elimination diets are a good idea for food sensitivities that don’t produce acute, dangerous reactions.)

Using an elimination diet at home is relatively simple:

1. Eliminate the suspected trigger food from your baby’s diet for a period of time (a few weeks to a few months.)
2. During this time, observe your baby’s symptoms for signs of improvement. Consider keeping a written record for your healthcare provider.
3. After the period of time is over, gradually re-introduce small amounts of the trigger food back into your baby’s diet and observe his reactions.

If your baby shows no significant signs of improvement with the elimination diet, and if re-introducing the trigger food has no noticeable effects, then you can probably rule out the possibility of a food sensitivity.

However, if you notice that your baby improves during the elimination diet, then it’s likely that she has a food sensitivity. This is especially true if your baby reacts badly when you re-introduce the food. Some parents find that their babies have a strong reaction (vomiting, for example) once the trigger food has been re-introduced; this likely happens because the long break from the trigger food has made the body especially sensitive to it.

If you suspect that your baby may be allergic to several foods (for example, milk and wheat), doing an elimination diet gets a little trickier. In this case, don’t try to do an elimination diet at home; instead, ask a healthcare provider for guidance.

My Baby Has a Food Allergy/Sensitivity — Now What?

In our next two articles, we’ll be examining common food allergies and sensitivities which affect children, along with steps that parents can take to deal with their babies’ food allergies and sensitivities.

Be sure to check them out here:

Part Three:  Dairy & Egg Allergies

Part Four:  Wheat, Nut, & Soy Allergies

Part Five:  Handling Your Baby’s Food Allergies

Does your baby or toddler struggle with a food allergy or sensitivity? What were his/her symptoms? What was the diagnosis process like?

The post Recognizing and Diagnosing Your Baby’s Food Allergies and Sensitivities appeared first on The Baby Sleep Site - Baby / Toddler Sleep Consultants.

Childhood food allergies are becoming a growing public health concern, mainly because rates of food allergies appear to be on the rise. That means that a growing number of parents have babies and toddlers who are struggling with food allergies. And it’s likely that some of you, our readers, are dealing with this very thing in your own homes.

But what are food allergies, exactly, and how are they different from food sensitivities, or food intolerances? What causes food allergies? Do they ever go away?

We’ll be tackling those questions (and others) in this article.

Food Allergies vs. Food Sensitivities vs. Food Intolerances

First, let’s get our terms straight. True food allergies are different than food sensitivities. And, both are different than food intolerances. Let’s take a look at the differences between each.

Food Allergies

A true food allergy involves a person’s immune system — a particular food triggers an immunological reaction. True food allergies produce a fast and noticeable reaction, like swelling, hives, tingling of the mouth, shortness of breath, or abdominal cramps.

Some people (a small percentage, usually) have allergies so severe that they experience anaphylactic shock. During anaphylactic shock, a person’s immune system has a hyper-reaction to a particular food and releases an enormous amount of histamine, which causes swelling and inflammation. During anaphylactic shock, a person’s airways can swell shut, causing death within minutes.

Anaphylactic reactions are rare, but most people who suffer from food allergies experience acute and serious reactions if they’re exposed to a trigger food. What’s more, true food allergies can be set off by as little as 1 molecule of a particular trigger food.

Food allergies are quite rare, affecting 1-2% of the U.S. population. Food sensitivities, however, are far more common.

Food Sensitivities

Food sensitivities, like food allergies, involve the immune system. In this way, food sensitivities are considered food allergies. But while food allergies produce immediate results, food sensitivities often have delayed symptoms. A person with a food sensitivity may eat a trigger food and not have symptoms for hours, or even days.

What’s more, food sensitivities produce complex reactions in the body. While food allergies usually affect a person’s skin and airways, food sensitivities can affect every organ system in the body. This, combined with the delayed symptoms, make food allergies very difficult to detect and diagnose.

Food sensitivities don’t produce the same kinds of acute, dangerous reactions that food allergies do; the side effects of food allergies are usually more chronic and prolonged. In addition, it takes more than a molecule of trigger food to produce symptoms; some people with food sensitivities have to ingest large amounts of a trigger food before noticing symptoms.

Food sensitivities are more common than food allergies — it’s estimated that they affect 20% – 30% of the U.S. population.

Food Intolerances

Food intolerances are in a different camp altogether. Food allergies and sensitivities involve a person’s immune system; food intolerances don’t.

Rather, food intolerances involve a person’s digestive system. When a person eats a trigger food, her body isn’t able to digest its properly, so it sits in the digestive tract, fermenting and causing gas, bloating, and diarrhea.

The classic example of food intolerance is lactose intolerance. A person who’s lactose intolerant has a hard time digesting lactose, a sugar that’s found in milk and other dairy products. Someone who’s lactose intolerant will develop symptoms like gas, bloating, and diarrhea after eating dairy products.

Food intolerances are quite common. For example, it’s estimated that around 33% of Americans are lactose intolerant.

What Causes Food Allergies and Sensitivities?

Currently, no one knows exactly what causes food allergies. Many food allergy factors are genetic, meaning they’re passed on from parent to child through genetic mutations.

Some people speculate that our modern food (with its many preservatives, additives, and other artificial ingredients) might be to blame. Others wonder if increased hygiene might play a part. They suggest that we’ve become so good at killing germs, our immune systems are less robust and hardy than those of our ancestors, making us more vulnerable to allergies.

There’s probably no definitive cause of food allergies, to be honest. It’s more likely that food allergies are caused by a number of factors. That means causes are complicated (if not impossible) to trace.

What we do know, however, is that food allergies affect far more children than adults (more on that in the next section.) We also know that rates of food allergies and sensitivities are on the rise. A CDC study released in 2008 showed an 18% rise in food allergies from 1997 – 2007; the same study revealed that peanut allergies in children tripled in those 10 years.

Is There A Cure for Food Allergies and Sensitivities?

Unfortunately, no. There’s no “fix” for food allergies and sensitivities, except to avoid foods that trigger the allergy.

There’s good news for parents of children who have food allergies, however — a number of children may outgrow at least some of their allergies. This is why more children have food allergies than adults — most children outgrow their allergies before they reach adulthood.

About 85% of children will outgrow their milk and egg allergies, and almost all children outgrow allergies to wheat and soy. Almost all of these children will outgrow their food allergies by age 10; many will outgrow the allergy by age 5.

Nut and shellfish allergies, however, are usually considered lifelong. Only 10-20% of children will outgrow these allergies.

Help for Dealing with a Food Allergy

We offered a lot of information in this article, but we didn’t offer many practical tips to help those of you whose babies are struggling with food allergies. Not to worry, though — we can help!  For more information about how to recognize and manage your baby’s food allergies, read the rest of our Food Allergies and Sensitivities series:

Part Two:  Recognizing Your Baby’s Food Allergies

Part Three:  Dairy & Egg Allergies

Part Four:  Nut, Wheat, & Soy Allergies

Part Five:  Handling Your Baby’s Food Allergies

Everything You Need To Know About Starting Solids – All In One e-Book!

What if you could find everything you needed to know about starting your baby on solid foods – when it’s best to start solids, how to introduce solids, complications, food allergies, etc. – in one easy-reference guide? Now you can! Your Baby’s Start To Solid Foods: A Comprehensive Guide will walk you through every step of starting solids. Plus, your e-Book package includes several bonus materials, designed to maximize your success in starting solids. You’ll get a thorough guide to treating constipation, a dietitian’s advice on how to avoid 5 common solid-foods mistakes, and a weekly meal plan for your baby’s first year. Grab your e-Book today, and ensure your baby has the healthiest possible start to solid foods!

Does someone in your home struggle with food allergies or sensitivities? What have you done to cope? Share your tips below!

References:
https://www.aaaai.org/Tools-for-the-Public/Conditions-Library/Allergies/Food-Intolerance
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/food-allergy-intolerance-or-sensitivity-whats-the-difference-and-why-does-it-matter-2020013018736
https://www.foodallergy.org/resources/facts-and-statistics
https://www.foodallergy.org/resources/food-allergy-myths-and-misconceptions
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db10.htm

The post Food Allergies and Sensitivities: An Overview appeared first on The Baby Sleep Site - Baby / Toddler Sleep Consultants.

What should you do if your baby flat-out refuses to eat solid food?

Baby Refusing Solids? Don’t Panic!

First, don’t worry — just because your baby hates solids right now definitely doesn’t mean he’ll hate them forever! Some babies simply resist all the “newness” that comes with starting solids — new tastes, new textures, etc. After all, up to this point, your baby has known ONE taste, and ONE texture — the taste and texture of breastmilk or formula.

Second, remember that when you first introduce solid foods to your baby, she’s mainly just “practicing” with food. Breastmilk or formula is still her primary source of nutrition, so if she’s totally rejecting the pureed peas you painstakingly prepared, it’s okay. 🙂 She needs breastmilk or formula more than she needs vegetables, at this point!

4 Things to Try If Your Baby Is Refusing Solids

Still, you want your baby to learn to love solids; eventually, that’ll be all he eats! If you find that your baby is resisting solids in a big way, try putting one of these four tips into practice:

1. Try different foods. Does she hate rice cereal? Try applesauce! Does he despise peas? Try avocado! When you try a variety of foods, you’re more likely to find something he’ll like. Consider offering him pureed or chopped table food, too (if allergies aren’t a concern) — some moms find that baby will eat if he’s having what everyone else is having.
2. Encourage her to do it herself. If your baby’s old enough (8 or 9 months), encourage her to feed herself. It could be that your baby hates mashed bananas on a spoon but adores tiny piece of banana that she feeds herself. Sometimes, being in control is all it takes for a baby who’s refusing solids to suddenly start eating with gusto.
3. Get creative! Try having someone else feed him. Try feeding him at different times during the day. Try feeding him in different settings — he may refuse to eat in the highchair but will eat just fine while sitting on dad’s lap! It could be that a small change like this prompts him to get interested in eating.
4. Give up (for a few weeks, that is!) If all else fails, don’t be afraid to give up for a few weeks. It’s possible your baby is teething and it’s affecting their appetite for solids. This isn’t a battle to be won, after all, and if your baby senses your frustration (or desperation!) she may be even less inclined to eat. Instead, take a break and try again later. You might be surprised at the difference a few weeks makes!

If you try the strategies above with no success, or if you’re concerned that your baby’s refusal to eat may be a sign of something more serious, consult with a healthcare provider to make sure your baby isn’t suffering from an underlying medical condition.

Everything You Need To Know About Starting Solids – All In One e-Book!

What if you could find everything you needed to know about starting your baby on solid foods – when it’s best to start solids, how to introduce solids, complications, food allergies, etc. – in one easy-reference guide? Now you can! Your Baby’s Start To Solid Foods: A Comprehensive Guide will walk you through every step of starting solids. Plus, your e-Book package includes several bonus materials, designed to maximize your success in starting solids. You’ll get a thorough guide to treating constipation, a dietitian’s advice on how to avoid 5 common solid-foods mistakes, and a weekly meal plan for your baby’s first year. Grab your e-Book today, and ensure your baby has the healthiest possible start to solid foods!

Is your baby a “solids-hater?” How have you coped? How have you encouraged your little one to eat? Share your tips and tricks below!

The post What To Do If Your Baby Is Refusing Solid Food appeared first on The Baby Sleep Site - Baby / Toddler Sleep Consultants.

There’s no way to predict how your baby will react to new foods. But there are steps you can take to help your baby enjoy her new food as much as possible.

• Offer the breast or a bottle before offering a new food.

  This is good advice to follow anyway (especially when you’re first starting solid foods.) The idea here is that your baby will be calmer and more receptive to solid food if he’s not totally hungry. It’s especially important to do this when you’re about to offer him something new.

• Offer new foods when your baby is well-rested.

  You know by now that when your baby’s exhausted, nothing goes well. And feeding is no different! So pick a time during the day when you know your baby will be rested and happy — maybe after her morning nap — and offer the brand-new food then. This’ll help ensure she has the positive attitude and patience she’ll need to try something new.

• Offer a small amount of the new food.

  Feeding your little guy spinach for the first time? This is not the moment to make a big ol’ serving! Instead, prepare a half-sized portion of the new food. If your baby loves it, you can always make more; if he isn’t so receptive, you won’t be wasting a bunch of leftover food. And as you feed the new food to your baby, offer half-sized spoonfuls — just enough to give him a taste.

• Alternate a new food with a familiar one.

  If you’ve got a stubborn baby on your hands who simply doesn’t embrace new foods, you may have to resort to a few tricks to get a new food into her belly! This trick is simple: you prepare two dishes of food, one being a food that she’s familiar with, and the other being a food that’s new. As you begin to feed, offer a few spoonfuls of the familiar food first. Then, offer a spoonful of the new food. Follow it up with another spoonful of the familiar food.

  This can help “soften the blow” of a new food. You might find that your baby is willing to take a few spoonfuls of the new food if she also gets spoonfuls of something that’s familiar, and that she likes. This is also a good technique to use when you’re feeding baby something she’s tried before and hates. I use this trick a lot with my youngest, who’s a major vegetable-hater!

• Be calm and stay patient.

  It can be so frustrating trying to feed a baby a food he clearly doesn’t like. You know he needs to eat his broccoli, but he has other ideas! But it’s important that you remain patient and calm throughout a feeding that isn’t going well. Our babies are smart, and they tend to pick up on our own anxiety. If your baby senses your frustration, it’ll likely only make things worse.

• Don’t give up — keep trying!

  Your baby may reject avocado the first time you offer it, but that doesn’t mean she’ll refuse the third or fourth (or fifth) time you try. If a feeding isn’t going well, it’s okay to put away the new food for the day and take a break. But you should bring it out a day or two later, and try again. Experts agree that it often takes a baby a few tries to develop a taste for something new.

Everything You Need To Know About Starting Solids – All In One e-Book!

What if you could find everything you needed to know about starting your baby on solid foods – when it’s best to start solids, how to introduce solids, complications, food allergies, etc. – in one easy-reference guide? Now you can! Your Baby’s Start To Solid Foods: A Comprehensive Guide will walk you through every step of starting solids. Plus, your e-Book package includes several bonus materials, designed to maximize your success in starting solids. You’ll get a thorough guide to treating constipation, a dietitian’s advice on how to avoid 5 common solid-foods mistakes, and a weekly meal plan for your baby’s first year. Grab your e-Book today, and ensure your baby has the healthiest possible start to solid foods!

What steps do you take to offer a new food to your baby? Any tips for moms who are new to this? Share your advice below!

The post The Best Ways to Introduce New Foods To Your Baby appeared first on The Baby Sleep Site - Baby / Toddler Sleep Consultants.

That’s right — we’re talking poop today!

Starting Solids? The Poop Changes!

Before you start your baby on solid foods, it’s best to prepare yourself in advance for the fact that starting solids will probably affect your baby’s poop. The poop will smell worse. The poop may be brightly colored. The poop may appear many times a day. Or, the poop may stop coming altogether.

We repeat — the poop changes.

6 Ways Your Baby’s Poop May Change After Starting Solids

1. The poop will smell even worse.

   Now, poop never smells great. There’s a reason you won’t find any poop-scented perfumes on the market! But up until the time you start your baby on solids (and this is especially true if baby has been exclusively breastfeeding), the poop probably didn’t stink to high heaven.

   Once you start your baby on solids, though, that’s going to change. Solid food produces smellier poop, and as your baby eats more and more solid food, the poop will only get stinkier. There’s no way around it. Just plan on doing lots of mouth-breathing during diaper changes. 😉

2. The poop may be colorful.

   Before starting solids, your baby’s poop was probably a consistent yellowish-brown color. Nice and predictable. After starting solids, though, that’ll likely change. Feed your baby plenty of tasty spinach for lunch, and you may very well see green poop at bedtime. Offer a big bowl of yummy steamed carrots for dinner, and you might wake up to a diaper full of bright orange poop the next morning.

   This is nothing to be worried about; brightly-colored poop is normal at this stage. Your baby’s digestive system is still fairly immature and is learning how to process solid foods; as she grows, her poop will change to a more normal color, regardless of what she eats.

3. The poop may get firmer.

   If your baby’s been on formula, this one may not apply. But if your baby’s been breastfeeding up to this point, you may discover that after starting solids, his poop is firmer and more “shaped”. Breastfed babies typically have runny, liquid-y poop; once they start solids, however, it becomes firmer, more like paste.

4. The “poop” may look a lot like undigested food.

   This isn’t an issue when you’re feeding your baby smooth purees, but once you start adding some chopped table food into the mix, look out!

   I remember taking my oldest son, when he was just 9 months old, to a dinner buffet. I loaded up a little plate with all kinds of vegetables and felt so proud when my son gobbled them up. The next morning, however, I was a little shocked — the contents of his diaper looked almost exactly like the contents of his plate the night before. The poop didn’t look like like poop at all — it looked like food!

   Turns out I didn’t need to be worried; again, this is just a sign that my son’s digestive system was figuring out how to handle pieces of table food. Over time, as he ate more and more chopped table food, his poop returned to normal.

5. The poop may start appearing more often.

   By the time you’re ready to start your baby on solid foods, it’s likely that he’s pooping pretty normally (as in once or twice a day). In fact, if he’s being breastfeed exclusively, he may be going a few days in between bowel movements. That’s considered very normal for breastfed babies. And how nice for you, right? Poop-free diapers are so much easier to change. 🙂

   But once you start your baby on solid foods, that may come to an end. For some babies, starting solids means pooping more frequently. We can chalk this up (again) to their immature little digestive systems. As your baby’s systems figure out how to process solid food more efficiently, you’ll find that he returns to more normal amounts of pooping (thank goodness!)

   Note: Diarrhea can be a sign of a food allergy or sensitivity. If you suspect that your baby’s frequent pooping is actually diarrhea, talk to a healthcare provider about possible food allergies and sensitivities.

6. The poop may disappear altogether.

   Some babies poop WAY more after starting solids. Other babies, though, have the opposite problem: constipation. Constipation often occurs when you offer your baby lots of “binding” foods, like bananas and rice.

   For more information on the signs and symptoms of constipation, as well as ways to alleviate constipation naturally, check out our post on “How to Handle Your Baby’s Constipation.”

Everything You Need To Know About Starting Solids – All In One e-Book!

What if you could find everything you needed to know about starting your baby on solid foods – when it’s best to start solids, how to introduce solids, complications, food allergies, etc. – in one easy-reference guide? Now you can! Your Baby’s Start To Solid Foods: A Comprehensive Guide will walk you through every step of starting solids. Plus, your e-Book package includes several bonus materials, designed to maximize your success in starting solids. You’ll get a thorough guide to treating constipation, a dietitian’s advice on how to avoid 5 common solid-foods mistakes, and a weekly meal plan for your baby’s first year. Grab your e-Book today, and ensure your baby has the healthiest possible start to solid foods!

How has your baby’s poop changed since starting solid foods? Share all the smelly details!

The post How Your Baby’s Poop Changes After Starting Solids appeared first on The Baby Sleep Site - Baby / Toddler Sleep Consultants.

Unfortunately, starting solids can also cause a not-so-fun side effect: constipation. We’ve mentioned before that your baby’s poop will most definitely change when he starts solids. Colorful poop, or poop that contains small bits of undigested food, is nothing to worry about.

But days and days of no poop? Or poop that’s hard and dry? That’s cause for concern. In this article, we’ll explore the signs of baby constipation, as well as ways to treat and prevent it.

Signs of Baby Constipation

So how can you know for sure if your baby’s constipated? After all, how many times your baby poops in a day changes as she grows. It’s normal for older babies to go a few days without pooping, so how often your baby poops isn’t always a great way to tell if she’s constipated or not.

Or you may notice that your baby’s grunting and getting red-faced as he tries to poop. Does that mean constipation? Not necessarily. Your baby’s poop is becoming a little more compact now that he’s eating solids, and that grunting and straining can simply be a sign that he’s adjusting.

Here are some better indicators that constipation might be a problem:

• Hard, compact, infrequent stools. If your baby’s pooping only a few times a week, and the poop itself is hard and dry (it may look like small pebbles), then your little one may be suffering from constipation.
• Pain during pooping. Again, some grunting and straining can be normal, but if your babies cries in pain as she poops, that might mean she’s constipated.
• Streaks of blood in or on the poop. Sometimes, the hard, dry poop your baby passes can actually cause small tears on his anus. If you notice any blood in his diapers, it may be because he’s constipated.
• General fussiness and refusal to eat. This isn’t the best indicator (after all, there are about a million causes of “general fussiness”, right?) But if your baby seems cranky and unwilling to eat, AND she has any of the symptoms listed above, it’s likely she’s suffering from constipation.

Treating Baby Constipation

It’s best if you consult with your baby’s doctor about how to treat constipation. This is especially important, since the constipation could be the result of an underlying medical condition, like an illness or a food allergy.

But there are some gentle, natural things you can do at home to try and ease your baby’s constipation:

• Offer more fluid. If you’re breastfeeding, try to nurse a little more; if you’re bottle feeding, offer an extra bottle. You can also offer small amounts of water in your baby’s bottle or cup.
• Offer diluted juice. Some fruit juices, like apple juice and prune juice, are natural laxatives. Start small — offer one or two ounces of diluted fruit juice (fruit juice mixed with water) in your baby’s bottle or cup. If that doesn’t work, gradually offer more. Be careful about offering too much, though — many pediatricians and pediatric dentists warn against offering lots of juice, since it can increase the risk of cavities./li>
• Offer high-fiber “P” foods. Fruits and vegetables are full of fiber, so try working more of those into your baby’s diet. And it just so happens that some of the highest-fiber fruits and veggies start with the letter “P”: pears, peaches, plums, prunes, and peas. You can serve these to your baby alone or mixed into other foods, like cereal.
• Take a break from constipating foods. Some foods are natural laxatives; others are natural “constipators”! And if your baby is already suffering from constipation, you certainly don’t want to feed him anything that’s going to make it worse. See the section below for a complete list of constipating foods.
• Apply some Vaseline. You can apply a small amount of petroleum jelly to your baby’s anus; that may help keep the tissue from tearing when she poops.

*Note: Never use laxatives or other medications without consulting with your baby’s doctor first.

Preventing Baby Constipation

Perhaps the best way to “treat” constipation is to prevent it from happening in the first place 🙂 Use the tips below to help keep constipation at bay:

• Make sure your baby’s getting enough fluids. Dehydration can cause constipation, so make sure that your baby’s getting enough breastmilk or formula. Check her diapers frequently; if she doesn’t seem to have enough wet diapers, offer more breastmilk or formula. You can also offer small amounts of water or diluted juice. See our Types and Amounts of Solid Foods By Age charts for details.
• Offer fiber-rich foods. Fruits and veggies are great for warding off constipation (see the section above for details). Whole grain foods are full of fiber, too, so be sure to offer plenty of those.
• Don’t offer too many constipating foods. Constipating foods include rice cereal, bananas, applesauce, cheese, yogurt, white bread, white pastas, and potatoes. Now, let’s be clear — none of those foods is bad. Rather, think of them as foods that your baby shouldn’t eat too much of, since they can help cause constipation.

Everything You Need To Know About Starting Solids – All In One e-Book!

What if you could find everything you needed to know about starting your baby on solid foods – when it’s best to start solids, how to introduce solids, complications, food allergies, etc. – in one easy-reference guide? Now you can! Your Baby’s Start To Solid Foods: A Comprehensive Guide will walk you through every step of starting solids. Plus, your e-Book package includes several bonus materials, designed to maximize your success in starting solids. You’ll get a thorough guide to treating constipation, a dietitian’s advice on how to avoid 5 common solid-foods mistakes, and a weekly meal plan for your baby’s first year. Grab your e-Book today, and ensure your baby has the healthiest possible start to solid foods!

Do you have any tried-and-true tips on treating and preventing baby’s constipation? Share them below!

The post How To Handle Your Baby’s Constipation appeared first on The Baby Sleep Site - Baby / Toddler Sleep Consultants.

If you’ve been following our article series so far, you know the guidelines for when and how to start solid foods with your baby.  And if you’ve put our advice into practice, your baby may now be eating small amounts of solid food.  If that’s the case — congratulations!  We’re hoping your baby loves this newfound way of eating 🙂

But some of you may be shaking your head right now and thinking to yourselves, “Love it?  He HATES it!”  Or your baby may have started showing some strange (or even alarming) physical symptoms now that she’s eating solid foods.  Is this normal?  Is it fixable?  Don’t worry — if your baby isn’t reacting well to solids, we can help you determine what to do next.

Reacting to Solids:  Love Them or Hate Them?

Obviously, every mom hopes her baby enjoys eating solid food and can’t wait to gobble up a little dish of cereal at mealtime!  It makes the introduction to solids so much easier and babies who really enjoy solids early on will typically “learn” how to eat more quickly than babies who prefer to take their time.

A word of caution, though — you may find your baby loves solids too much!  If you find him clamoring to eat cereal off a spoon but refusing to nurse or take formula, try cutting back on solids in order to encourage more nursing or formula-feeding.  You might also want to consider offering breastmilk or formula first (when he’s good and hungry), before you offer solids.  Remember, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that breastmilk or formula be your baby’s primary source of nutrition for the first year.

Of course, plenty of children don’t love solids; in fact, some hate them!  Some moms find their babies refuse solids altogether, clamping their little mouths shut at the mere sight of a spoon, or spitting out every bite of food that enters their mouths.  This makes introducing solids hard, of course.  But there are steps you can take to try and foster a love of solid foods in your little one:

• Try different foods.
• Encourage him to do it himself.
• Give up (for a few weeks, that is!) and try again later.

Reacting to Solids:  The Poop May Change!

Introducing baby to solids often means big changes in her poop.  Feed her pureed carrots for dinner, and she’ll likely have a bright orange poop the next day!  And finger-foods that are rich in fiber (like raisins, or beans) may pass right through her system and look the same coming out as they did going in.

Baby’s poop may look different after starting solids; it may also stop altogether.  Constipation is a common problem after introducing solids.  After all, your baby’s only ever had breastmilk or formula; introducing new foods is bound to be hard on his little system!  You may notice that your baby’s poop becomes drier and more compact, or that he stops pooping altogether.  He may also grimace and draw his legs up when pooping, and he’ll probably seem crankier and fussier than normal. If you notice these signs of constipation, try the following to get your baby pooping normally again:

• Offer more fiber-rich foods:  Think pureed prunes!  Peaches, apricots, pears, and beans are also good choices.
• Avoid “binding” foods:  Avoid bananas, rice, and dairy products, as these can make constipation even worse.
• Offer more fluids:  Offer the breast or bottle more frequently, and try to increase the ounces of fluid your baby drinks.  You could also offer a few ounces of water or diluted apple juice (although only do this if your baby is getting plenty of breastmilk or formula).

Reacting to Solids:  Watching For Allergic Reactions

Of course, poop isn’t necessarily the only thing to change when solids are introduced.  You may notice signs of an allergic reaction after introducing a new food to your baby.  Remember that as you begin introducing solids to your baby, it’s important to introduce one food at a time, and to wait at least 4 days before introducing a new food.  This way, if she develops an allergic reaction, you’ll be able to pinpoint the food that caused it.

Keep an eye out for these signs of food allergy:

• Hives
• Flushed skin or rash
• Vomiting or diarrhea (call 911 if severe)
• Swelling (call 911 if severe)
• Difficulty breathing (call 911)
• Loss of consciousness (call 911)

If you suspect that your baby has a food allergy, consult a healthcare provider.  He or she will be able to order the necessary blood test to determine what the exact nature of your baby’s allergy.

Everything You Need To Know About Starting Solids – All In One e-Book!

What if you could find everything you needed to know about starting your baby on solid foods – when it’s best to start solids, how to introduce solids, complications, food allergies, etc. – in one easy-reference guide? Now you can! Your Baby’s Start To Solid Foods: A Comprehensive Guide will walk you through every step of starting solids. Plus, your e-Book package includes several bonus materials, designed to maximize your success in starting solids. You’ll get a thorough guide to treating constipation, a dietitian’s advice on how to avoid 5 common solid-foods mistakes, and a weekly meal plan for your baby’s first year. Grab your e-Book today, and ensure your baby has the healthiest possible start to solid foods!

How did your baby react to solids at first?  Any tips to offer?  Share them here!

The post How Your Baby May React To Starting Solids appeared first on The Baby Sleep Site - Baby / Toddler Sleep Consultants.