Baby constipation problem

[karentanm]

Hi All,

Got a problem with my new born who is 3 weeks old.

He has been passing motion smoothly since he came out until 2days ago. He passed motion about 4-6times a day.

I have always BF in the day and formula at night.

Now he has constipation. He has been crying because he cannot get his stools out. I have also seen (an hour ago) him trying to push the stools out but they are so hard that he just cant push them out. The best part is that the stools are visible by me, which means that the stools are just at the exit.

What are the suggestions that you mummies have to give me a hand here?

I gave my daughter, 14mths old, an enema when his happens. can I give it to my son?

Pls advise..I'm really lost and stuck now..

Thanks..

Karen

[wanderlust]

try BF at night as well? after a few days it should be ok.

But if you need to give him formula at night you can try giving him water. but not too much though. weather's been hot lately so he might be dehydrated.
sometimes the type of formula will give constipation as well. you can try changing formulas to see if another brand is better.

i'm not sure if you can use an enema on a such a young baby. maybe you should check with your paed.

but it's common for babies to have constipation. they will grunt and maybe even cry because they are constipated. even my breastfed baby was constipated.

[MissGinger]

Give your paed a call. Enema shouldn't be used on a young baby if you are bfg taking prunes or oatmeal might help.

If you can stop the formula at night should help ease the constipation off too.

A massage like to the tummy also will help.

[popcorn]

Hi Karentanm

I have the same experience and would like to share with you.
My baby has this problem when she was 3 weeks old. Her harden stool got stuck at the exit point and she was yelling. I was panic didnt know what to do we quickly brought her to our nearby paed. Our paed said it is better to give fully BFM if not try to change her FM to Similac Infant. You should try giving baby plain water between milk feed. It really helps. If your conditions didnt get better I would advise you quickly bring him to a paed. BTW which FM is your baby taking?

[IrEnE06]

i suggest you bring him to see a paed...

[cherie]

Hi there,

I have experienced this before. Baby was screaming his lungs out then because the stool was too hard and got stuck. What i did was i helped him push it out. I know it's ewww but i cant bear seeing him in such pain.

Much to my amazement, it came out so quickly and easily once i squeezed it, almost like it got popped out, then followed by the rest..

Hths

[Medusa]

......................

[Moo]

yep, same as medusa, we hold her over the sink and try to apply pressure on her tummy. try to give more bm or water, that works for my girls. else, call your PD, i wouldn't administer an enema at this young age (jmho).

[Deminc]

hi Karen,

sorry to hear about what's happening. It must be very worrying to see your child suffering like this.

as with most mothers here, I don't think enemas should be administer to a young infant. At any rate, I rather have a paed doing it than myself just in case.

You may already know this, but do note that a baby who is totally breastfed (round the clock) do NOT need additional water.

But a baby who gets formula milk, DO need water because formula milk contains much more sodium and other minerals etc that are difficult for baby's body to process. Formula-fed babies DO need additional water to flush out the excess minerals. The composition of breastmilk and formula milk is actually very different.

hope your child gets better soon!

[ForestYum]

I do TBFmy 1-mth old and he has not poo for 3 days, but he doesn't look like he's constipating... he's eating and sleeping well. I read up and noted that it's even ok for TBF babies not to poo for 1 week. This usually happens to babies after 4weeks old...any moms experienced this with their babies before?

[kristalangel]

yup. totally normal, don't worry.. My daughter also doesn't do it everyday

[BubblyGal]

maybe can give your kids some prune if they are able to eat it or let them drink prune juice. it does helps.

[ForestYum]

kristalangel's dd is 4 mth and mine is 1mth, can't take prunes.

it's been 5 days and doctor told me nothing to worry,she's got cases up to 13 days... erh, i don't think 13 days no poo is normal.

Dear experienced moms, for infant 1-3months old, how long have your babies go on without poo? gosh, if this goes on I'd have to bring him see another paed...

[Cheryl_Lee]

ForestYum, don't worry. Previously my elder son whose on TBM did not poo for more than 7 days when he's 3-4 mths. In addition, he does not look consipated but however, being new parents, we were very worried and went to KK and he was admitted for 1 night to have a check. The doc inserted something into the anus and I was instructed to hold him while the doc was doing the procedure and it really hurts me to see him going through that.

The next day, we told told that everything is fine with him and he was discharged. Thus, don't worry if he does not poo as long as he does not look constipated.

[kristalangel]

kristalangel's dd is 4 mth and mine is 1mth, can't take prunes.

it's been 5 days and doctor told me nothing to worry,she's got cases up to 13 days... erh, i don't think 13 days no poo is normal.

Dear experienced moms, for infant 1-3months old, how long have your babies go on without poo? gosh, if this goes on I'd have to bring him see another paed...

That's what I'm saying ForestYum .. whether you kid is one month or 4 .. as long as she's on breastmilk, it's NORMAL for her NOT to make a bowel movement everyday. If the doctor says it's ok up to a certain time, then there's no point taking her to ANOTHER pediatrician, is there? I have 3 kids ... (I'm 32) and only my firstborn was not breastfed. My 2nd girl was breastfed till she was almost 1.5 YEARS old -- so it's fair to say that I have some decent experience when it comes to babies and breastfeeding.

My 3rd girl, STILL doesn't make a bowel movement everyday and she's already 4 months old. Let me put it to you another way .. my girl hasn't been making a bowel movement everyday since she was born ... she poops about once every 4 to 5 days, sometimes longer.

Don't worry so much, ForestYum : -- you're doing fine and so is your baby