Constipation when switching to whole milk

[Anonymous]

Looking for advice. We gradually switched my 12 month old from formula to milk starting three weeks ago and now she is drinking 100% whole milk. As soon as she started drinking more whole milk than formula, she started getting really constipated. We experimented and found that giving her prunes is really helpful. I settled on giving her two prunes with breakfast and two prunes with dinner. That being said it doesn’t seem to be preventing the issue. Yesterday for example she had super soft poop. But today morning her poop was really hard again. I’d like to get to a point where her poop is back to normal every day. Is this just her body adjusting to whole milk? Should I increase the number of prunes? What else has worked for you? We have been mixing some water with her milk and slowly plan to decrease the amount of milk she is drinking. But I’m also worried about her water intake in general. She is my third by the way but I didn’t have this issue with the other two!

[Anonymous]

Whole milk is better for constipation than reduced-fat, because the fat in the milk is a lubricant. But she shouldn't be drinking as much milk as she was formula -- it's not a 1:1 replacement.

[Anonymous]

We had a similar issue and ended up giving my son prune juice with a dosed mild child-specific laxative every morning--but this was at the direction of a pediatrician and GI doctor. So in short, my advice is to talk to your pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

PP who just advised talking to your pediatrician. For peace of mind, my understanding is that this is a very common problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whole milk is better for constipation than reduced-fat, because the fat in the milk is a lubricant. But she shouldn't be drinking as much milk as she was formula -- it's not a 1:1 replacement.

Thank you! How did you make sure that your baby is getting enough liquids? I try to give her water but she doesn’t drink as much. So far my solution is to keep mixing water with her milk. She was drinking 26 oz of formula. Now that we switched to milk I’ve been slowly replacing that milk with water but would love for her to drink more water from her straw cup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had a similar issue and ended up giving my son prune juice with a dosed mild child-specific laxative every morning--but this was at the direction of a pediatrician and GI doctor. So in short, my advice is to talk to your pediatrician.

Thank you! How long was your baby on the laxative?

And yes will definitely speak to her pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

Our pediatrician recommended switching to a non-dairy milk, but this was at 18 months. We did full-fat Oatly.

[Anonymous]

Keep moving towards water and solid food and only some milk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP who just advised talking to your pediatrician. For peace of mind, my understanding is that this is a very common problem.

it’s a common problem because humans don’t actually need cows milk designed for baby cows. OP cut back on the cows milk or cut it out completely. You Dan get calcium and other nutrients from other sources.