Move over sleep training. It seems like constipation has become the topic du jour in almost every conversation I have lately with another new mom. It's the same old story, how this one won't go for days on end now that he's eating solids, and how that one cries and cries as she strains to pass her rock-solid poop. One mom I know purees prunes, another adds prune juice to a bottle of water, while another opts instead for a tablespoon of brown sugar. Each swears by her method.

Before Hayden even started eating solids, she struggled with constipation. She'd hold it in for 3-6 days before having a diaper blowout of such volcanic proportions that all you could do was laugh. And laugh hard. There was the time the poop spilled out of her diaper onto my sneaker. (The stain remains, like a parenting badge of honor.) There was the other time in a hipster toy store, when the owner kindly let me change her on the store's splintery plywood floor. And then there was the time Hayden had to stew in her own filth for an hour, because I'd forgotten to restock the diaper bag. I was terrified of what would happen once Hayden started eating solids.

Surprise, surprise! We haven't had a single issue with constipation since. Because we've decided to avoid all meat by-products her first year—my husband has read a few too many articles linking dairy with ear infections [2]—I have to work pretty hard to ensure she's getting everything she needs in her diet. Hayden downs soy yogurt and tofu for calcium and protein, lentils and beans for iron, and flaxseed meal [3] for omega-3 fatty acids [3] and fiber. Now flaxseed meal may look and taste like sawdust, but slipped into some pear or sweet potato purée it tastes more like heaven to Hayden.

And to us, it is heaven. Now that she's eating solids, Hayden poops 2-3 times a day. Apparently, just a teaspoon a day keeps the constipation away. (Two tablespoons have as much fiber as 1-1/2 cups of cooked oatmeal.) I can even vouch for this personally: To make doubly sure that my breast milk has all of the DHA Hayden needs [4], I mix a tablespoon in with my daily bowl of oatmeal. But that's all you need to know about that.

Resources

• Reducing The Number Of Ear Infections [5]
• Omega-3s [5]
• Flax — A Healthy Food [6]
• Omega-3 Fats Are Essential For Infants [7]
• Breastfeeding mom's diet and baby's brain development [8]