is he going thru a growth spurt by chance? babies will have a change in bowel movements as they start to eat more food- or have you changed the kind of or preparation of the water you use in the bottles? how much prunes are you giving? in a baby his age he can have a couple tablespoons a day or 1 ounce of prune juice.usually extra fluids will do the trick , but some babies just always have it no matter what- my friends kid is 5 now and his are still hard and pellet like. depending how much breast milk baby is getting be careful with the low iron formula-using it in a baby over 6 months old can lead to anemia because the stores he got in hi blood from you at birth are gone by now- so he is getting only now from breastmilk and cereal and needs quite a bit at this age.

Baby cereal with oats or oat flours will have fibre that holds more water than rice baby cereal probably. Also some fruits are higher in fiber than others apples and plums beat grapes and berries. Dried fruits can be stewed or softened up with water and those would be really high in fibre (maybe too high for this purpose). An example of the juice thing would be that prune juice, or pasteurized unfiltered apple juice have _way_ more fiber than filtered clear fruit juices will. (Make sure juices have been pasteurized, or otherwise treated in a way to kill any untoward bacteria.)

does he seem to have pain, or just really get into the excretion process like it was an aerobic exercise? (if he doesn't seem to have pain, or discomfort even if he seems to strain he may not be constipated; and some babies really seem to be paying attention to their bodies and working out some kind of whole-body exercise to help things along)

My DD is getting a bit constipated, but she is only 3 months old so I don't know if this "solution" would pertain to a 6 month old. Her pediatrician said to give her 2 ml/cc of Milanta Suprime (unflavored) 4 times a day.

why not give up the foods that are known to cause constipation, i.e. rice cereal & bananas. Our daughter also constipated easily & that's what we did.

Skip the rice cereal. My son doesn't get constipated, unless I give him rice cereal. Then he can hardly go at all and cries really hard when he does go. I only give him oatmeal and it works like a charm.

I was taking DD to a dr who suggested colase for her constipation @ 6wks old, then switched to another dr who was outraged that medication was given to such a young child when more "natural" remedies were available and would be easier on her delicate organs/systems. Anyway he suggested prune juice--beginning with a tablespoon mixed in formula and gradually increasing amount of juice until a bm was achieved. It works like a charm. Plus she is getting vitamins and nutrients instead of a chemical!!

Foods that contribute to constipation (my DD has the same problem) are apples, bananas, rice, carrots - avoid these at all costs. Foods that loosen the stools are pears, peaches, prunes/plums, green veggies. You might also want to increase fluids (juice or nursing). I'm in the process of looking for a more detailed dietary guide, but so far no luck.