My little man just seems a little backed up. It is amazing how much of my brain's capacity is now spent thinking about his poop. Especially now that he's eating solids. I was told that poop changes, but I really had no concept of what I was getting myself into when we started this gastroventure.
After consulting with the Internet and, more importantly, my sister who has seven kids (aged 10 and under, with no multiples. Yes, she's been pregnant for a decade.) I decided that a multi-pronged attack was in order:
More water. While I was giving him opportunity to drink water during meals, I was relying on breast feeding during the day to keep in hydrated. I decided to give him opportunities through the day to have water, too.
Prune juice. Just a little, mixed with the water, and only sometimes. He's not horribly constipated, just a little uncomfortable. I also discovered that he's not a big fan of prune juice (shocker - who is?) and I didn't want him to shy away from the bottle.
De-clogging foods. Apples, pears, and apricots in particular. This is especially challenging because my previous apple attempt didn't go over so well.
So how to get a kid to eat apples when he doesn't like apples and poop when he doesn't want to poop? I decided to a bait-and-switch tactic. I steamed a pear, then reserved the water that it was steamed in to steam an apple. Voila - pear infused apple. I paired a cinnamon-sprinkled, pureed version of this with just a touch of Bulgarian yogurt, which I have found always produces a healthy BM.
Hopefully this will work. If not, I will have one squirmy, uncomfortable little man on my hands.
**UPDATE** Problem solved.