Constipated 7 Week Old

I agree with just about everything here..While I didnt have to use the suppositories with my two breastfed babies.. we did have to use the Karo syrup and we gave diluted apple juice bottles to keep things moving..
The apple juice worked most times and the syrup was the back up plan when thing got really bound up...
Also breast feeding tends to be more efficient than formula (all the nutrients can be used with a lot less waist product) so they dont poop as much or as often...
Hope this helps!

Hi V.,

I went threw the exact same thing with my son at that age.He would just cry and cry because he was in pain. And yes some of it was because he was colic and he was very gassy too, but we found out that it was his milk that his system couldn't tolerate he was dropping weight and refused to eat. So at that point his doctor changed his milk to soy and it has worked for us extremely well his weight picked up within the 1st two weeks. He is now 7 months old. I don't know if she is breastfeeding or bottle but she may want to talk with the doctor about the possibility that its the milk. Hope he gets better.

www.everyonebenefits.com/trail

What's wrong with doing a little prune juice everyday, if it works? I would dilute first and see if that works just as well.

My daughter went through this for a long time before we figured it out. You can give him a small (teaspoon) of Karo Syrup after his feedings (or split it up into smaller doses during the day), then there are glycerin sticks that (this sounded weird to me, but my mother in law grew up with very natural remedies and told me to do this) you can touch the outside edge of his rectal sphincter muscles and somehow, it causes them to poop without it hurting him. If you feel uncomfortable with this, ask the doctor, they will tell you it is 100% safe, natural and no harm to baby. Mine grew out of it by about 4-5 months old.

I went through the same thing with my son who is now 11 months old. When he was about 2-3 months old, he all of sudden started having problems with constipation. The pediatrician kept saying it was okay for him to go without a BM for up to 7 days. I would have been fine with that if it didn't bother him so much. He was so uncomfortable and strained even in his sleep which caused him to wake up. We used suppositories but those would only help part of the time. Finally it got so bad and he was so uncomfortable that the pediatrician referred us to a gastro specialist at Children's Healthcare. They did some diagnostic studies and determined everything was okay internally. I was breastfeeding also and the specialist thought there was a good chance that my son was having a hard time breaking down the lactose in the breastmilk (my husband is lactose intolerant). At the time my son was getting about 4 oz of breastmilk at each feeding. The specialist had us give him 2 oz of Alimentum formula with 1 tbsp of oatmeal cereal (rice cereal can cause constipation). I would then breastfeed him but only on one breast because the lactose is in the foremilk and hardest to break down. Within 2 days my son had a BM on his own and has had no problems since. I know your sister-in-law may not want her son on cereal when he is only 7 weeks old so she may want to ask her pediatrician about it. Please tell her I wish her all the best.

if the baby is formula fed it can sometimes be a few days before he goes. She can also try a little of dark karo syrup in the bottle and shake it up. THat usually helps to get things moving. And there is always the children suppositories ( I think the baby has to be over 3 months). I used it before on my first son but even though it is smaller than adult ones I would just cut a little piece off and insert and hold his little butt cheeks together for a minute to make sure it didn't come out). But the baby is probably fine, My second son is formula fed and I have noticed that he didn't go as often as my first son did and I would worry too but he is fine. He is 8 months now and goes about once a day and I do give him a little juice or water just about every day. If he doesn't go all day I give him a little prune juice or prune baby food and it helps, hope this helps. But I am sure the baby is fine. As long as he goes within 4 days or so. take care

I had the same problem with my daughter, and she was breastfed also. She is our third, and it didn't happen with the boys, so we must have gone to the doctor 3 or 4 times sure that she was constipated and something was wrong. The two doctors we saw said that as long as her "poop" was normal, then she wasn't constipated. We could tell it was bothering her though because she would start to get irritable if it had been a day or two. We tried the Karo syrup some, but we found glycerin suppositories to be the most effective for us. We used child ones and cut them in half or 1/3s. We had to do this for a couple of months, but she did outgrow it and has had NOOOOO trouble since then :).

Both my children had problems with constipation. My pediatrician told me to put 1 tablespoon of clear Karo syrup in their formula or water. I did this everyday until they were going normally and then only when needed. My youngest child had more problems, so I decreased it to 1 teaspoon and put it in all her bottles. It worked wonders.

I have a son who is now 5 months old and he had the same issues.
There would be times where he wouldn't poop for almost 6 days at a time.Breastfed also. Our ped told us apple juice diluted with water. this would work when it would be day 5 or 6 and I'd be freaking out. He too was gassy. Always crying from the strain. They say It's because his intestines and stomach are still growing and adjusting. he also was really bad from week 5- to about week 10 with this problem. Then it went away on it's own. Growing pains?
I wish her luck and hope they too go away soon.

If you think he's really constipated try lying him on his back and take his legs up to his chest several times as if playing. Do this several times a day. I work for a Chiropractor and this is what he does an tells Moms all of the time, it is not medication and the baby thinks you are playing. You should see things moving along within a few hours. Good luck!
Johna

Hi! My 2nd son had this; would poop out literally apple-sized poops at 13 mo...small apples, but who is counting?? Horrible to watch the pain...Lubricate a rectal thermometer probe, and just inside, no more than 1/2 inch(!!!!!), roll it around. Stimulates pooping. Otherwise, also add more fruit to breast-fed diet. Let me know if it helps...It did for my lil guy!

My daughter Destiny, who is now 7 years old had the same problem...Her pediatrician said give her juices that started with the letter "P" ie pear,pruine,pinapple and that worked fine for her. When she got older 3 years old she wrote us a prescription for Miralax which at thetime was by prescription only but now you can get over the counter. Which was great , all you do is add 15 Grams to whatever she drinks or yogart, because it is tasteless. But for your son 3 months old is a bit young for prescription laxatives, and you should never give medication to without the supervision of your pediatrician. Hope this helps.

Both of my boys (now 17 and 18) had colic and they had no constipation issues. While each child is different, I would get a second opinion. He may need medical attention--go on WebMD and read about constipation in babies--that might give you some ideas but I would get a second opinion if your current pediatrician isn't cooperative or supportive. God bless.

two things helped my breastfed constipated newborns poop a little easier

1- infant gas relief drops like milicon (we used generic) and a little goes a long way

2- a teaspoon or less of water (the purified baby kind that you would use for making formula) from a medicine dropper 2 or 3 times per day. just that tiny bit of water can help more than you'd think! we used the dropper because it was hard to get our babies to take bottles.

You can either give the pediatrician a third chance or change pediatricians and get a second opinion. The pediatrician should have been giving you the same options that the rest of the moms are giving you for gas.

My first child lived on the baby gas medicine that others have mentioned already...it can be expensive, but I'd buy it again in a heartbeat if it was ever needed for another child.

Also, since the baby is breastfed, make sure mom isn't eating broccoli and other foods that cause gas.

My second child had straining problems that were extreme enough (no weight gain for 9 months and throwing up with each bowel movement) to warrant having an upper and lower GI procedure. He was put on meds (Zantac and Zyrtec) for awhile until his intestines out grew his problem. Hopefully your nephew isn't this bad, but if he is don't be afraid to ask another pediatrician for their opinion.

Good Luck!!

Good luck.

Wow! No, I never had this problem with my son. He was breastfed and usually we had the opposite problem. Has she tried Mylicon to relieve some of the gas? He's a still young so it might just take a while for him system to settle down. Has your sister in law taken him to the chiropractor? There could be an alignment issue that the chiropractor can take care of. Baby adjustments are very gentle and nothing for the parents to be concerned about. If that doesn't work and the doctor won't prescribe anything to help the little guy out, it may be time for her to seek a second opinion or get an xray to see if there's a blockage somewhere. Poor little guy! Hey, if she'd like to visit with a chiropractor in the Kennesaw area, mine is great (with kids and adults). I'd be happy to pass along his name and contact information.

Hello Friend. My three year old started having this same problem when he was about 3 or 4 weeks old. It was a long few weeks with him being fussy. The doctor finally diagnosed him with a "lazy spincter muscle", which is the muscle that gives us the sensation to "squeeze" out the bowel movement (sorry for the vivid description). We ended up needing to stimulate his rectum with a qtip with vasaline for several weeks, and it finally corrected itself, as the doctor had said. After stimulating his rectum, he would almost immediatly have his bowel movement and then he was fine. It sounds kinda grose, but you'll do anything for your baby when they are uncomfortable. After he relieved himself, he was a much happier little guy.

go to the spices section and buy Fennel Seed, get a tea strainer and put about a teaspoon in there and brew a weak tea, about 1 tsp to 8 oz of boiling water, give her son about an ounce at first, if nothing, try 2 oz. My daughter had the same problem and nothing worked either! we tried the thermometer (I ended up having to "dig" the poop out, sorry for being so graphic), karo syrup, water, finally we had to give her a suppository (half of one) to help her poop. So my neighbor had to do this with her son (13 now) and it helped alot! We kept it in the fridge, heated about 2 oz, and just gave it to her between her afternoon and night feeding (usually around 5 - 6 pm). At 2 months, we switched to chamomille tea w/spearmint since she was doing better, she is 6 months and still drinks it every night at 6 pm. Your doctor may or may not agree, mine didn't completely but didn't say anything about it, I learned to listen but go with my maternal instinct when it comes to doctors. good luck!

My mom always used this on us as babies and toddlers and I have used it for mine as well and it works great. For a 7 week old make a bottle of breastmilk or formula and add about 1/2 tsp clear corn syrup (NOT HONEY!!!!) give the bottle a couple of shakes and feed him. Do this about twice a day. For an older baby do the same only add a whole tsp to the bottle. Hope this helps..Also if he continues to go without having a bowel movement for days he may have Gastrointestinal problems and you may need to DEMAND a referral to a Gastroenterolgist(SP?)asap. Going without can cause serious problems and terrible tummy aches that can make a baby seem colicy. Im saying this not because I know everything Im saying this cause Ive been there done that with one of my children and a niece.

S.

May need to get more fiber in Mom's diet if the baby is breastfed. Also need to consider switching Dr.s or at least getting a 2nd opinion. They don't know everything - if your motherly instincts are telling you something is wrong, don't ignore it. Definitely not normal pooping routine - sounds like he needs a RX (my goddaughter needed one @ 8 weeks for the same reason) or major diet change. Poor little guy - hang in there!

Hi V.,

I agree with Valerie, if the prune juice works, continue to use it. It's healthy, has fiber and as long as it doesn't develop into diarrhea it's fine. No need to dilute it either. The only problem with prune juice is it becomes the baby's signature color, lol!

DO NOT give a 7 week old Karo Syrup EVER. I hate to disagree with the moms that have suggested it, and yes it does work for constipation, but the risks outweigh the benefits. Babies have the same problem with corn syrup as they do with honey. There can be botulism spores that their little tummies can't digest yet. And if he is already having tummy issues, it's REALLY a bad idea. It can be fatal.

Okay, another question for the mom. Is his anus large enough? I have heard that some babies are born with tiny ones and they need to be stretched for their comfort. Has the doctor actually checked??? Just a thought....

God bless!

M.

Since your sister-in-law breastfeeds the baby, it could be coming from what she is eating. She should write down everything she eats, and start eliminating one thing at a time to see if the baby's gas and poop problems get better.

She could also start eating more fruit (apples, pears, prunes, plums)and it would get to the baby thru her milk. Tell her to eliminate any bananas or/and onions from her diet as these can definite cause gas in a baby.

Hope this helps. - E.

Hi! I guess the key here is that the baby seems to be in distress. My two cents has less to do with that, but more about what is to be expected with breastfed babies. If you check out the La Leche League website, it states (and was confirmed by my lactation consultant) that is perfectly normal for breastfed babies over about 6 weeks to go up to a week or so between bowel movements, as long as they're not in distress. I honestly don't remember all the details, but something about how the colostrum has laxative properties and it takes about 6 weeks after birth to clear mom's and baby's system. So it sounds like the timing is about right. My first one didn't have this issue--she pooped EVERY time she ate. But my 2nd had this problem at about 2-3 months old. He would grunt and act like he wanted to go, but nothing came. He didn't seem uncomfortable, just pushing like a normal movement. Once I read the La Leche League stuff and talked to my consultant, I felt much more secure, especially since the pediatrician was wanting something to happen (but whether for the baby's benefit or my peace of mind, I'm not sure!:)) I hope this at least helps the peace of mind...and I hope the little tummy doesn't hurt too bad! Good luck!

has she tried dark Karo syrup? my infant daughter had horrible constipation (screaming in pain while trying to pass) and i tried suppositories, apple juice and finally the Karo was was loosened her up--in about an hour. i had to repeat the Karo one other time about 2 weeks later but it worked like a charm. 1 tsp to 4 ounces of breast milk or formula

When my youngest, now 4 was an infant we dealt with the same exact problem. The ped. also told us it was just colic and he would out grow it, but after two months of this and the every hour crying fits and the constant bouncing, I and my husband had, had enough, we spoke with our ped again, and he told us to give him 1 tsb of clear kyro syrup in his bottle and to offer him sips of distilled water every 2-4 hours. We did this and it worked! He sleep better and his bowel movements were a lot easier for him to pass. Not only that but his appetitate increased greatly. I think he was just as miserable as we were. I hope this information helps.
M.
Mother of two wonderful boys ages 4 and 9.

I had similar problems with my son. It started that early with him and he's now 7 months old and we are finally getting it under control. I tried telling them over and over again that something wasn't right but they just kept saying "Oh this is normal". The difference in your story to mine is that my son had extremely hard poop. Here are a few suggestions I can give you. First try putting Karo syrup in his bottle a couple times a day. If that does not work, I would get him some miralax. You can get it over the counter and it has worked wonders for my son. You would give him about 1/8th to 1/4 of a capful once a day. My son is 7 months and I give him just over a between 1/4 to 1/2 capful a day and he's doing great. Hope this helps! Good luck.

Hi, sorry to hear about poor little baby & new mom having such a hard time. The only thing that I am sure of is that both of my boys (twins) always grunted & turned red faced while trying to go poo & still do at age 2. They were not constipated, it would result in poo with in 10 minutes or less. Also neither one started doing this until about the time they could sit up, def not 7 weeks. Once the pediatrician said if they got constipated to give them a little (1 oz to 1oz H2O) pear juice. Having said all this, I think the 7 week old is having poo troubles & maybe you should either seek another ped's opinion or a trusted mom who has been there?? Hope this helps at least assure you that there is another problem other than colic. But neither of my boys were ever colicy??

My kiddies would have the same problem from time to time. My DR. suggested to stick a thermonitor in there and move it around a little bit. She pooped with in the hour! Also what I do is, Facing your son, rub his tummy to the right. Also while he is laying down, bring his knees to his tummy. This will help get things moving and bringing his knees to his tummy will help push it out.

My youngest will be 1 yr next month and has had this issue since day one practically. We have gone a week without going before, so I am all too familiar with this. Our pediatrician had to finally give us some suppositories to help some. We have also used various fruit juice (apple worked well for us) and have started supplementing with some benefiber at our pediatricians reccomendation. Now that she is getting older she is getting more regular, so it will get easier. She still has days where she does not go but they are getting fewer. She was also breastfed so I don't know how you would get 'constipated' from that, but I guess it can happen! Good luck!

My LO was similar having bad gas pain and constipation. I tried babies magic tea and it gave my child relief from these tummy bugs.

Sorry to hear about this problem, because I know it's even painful to watch them go through this. My daughter went through this when she was a baby. What worked for us was Pear Juice. We would put in it a bottle & give it to her at room temperature. At first it was difficult to get her to take the bottle, but once she did it worked! And I guess because it was different from breastmilk, she had no trouble taking the pear juice from a bottle. We would give her a bottle of that once a day & she would poop once a day like normal. Plus the gas went away. Worked like a charm. We continued doing it until she was eating solid foods & by then we had no more troubles. Hope it works for you! Good luck.

This worked on me when I was an infant. I was constipated and my aunt who is a nurse came over and this is what they did. Put some luke warm water in a little glass with a drop of dawn(regular) dish detergent. Talk a nasal aspirator and suck up some of the solution and the insert it into the rectum and squeeze. I went to the bathroom almost immediatly. Its not a long term fix but it fixes it right then. Hope this helps.

Hi V.,

Same thing for our baby! Prune juice worked at first, but then stopped. So we tried baby suppositories and those helped for a bit. Our daughter is now 11 months old and occassionally still gets constipated. This last time, even the suppositories didn't work. We called the doctor and she said to try 1/2 tsp. milk of magnesia once a day. Cleared her out and now she is happy again!

Good luck!

S.

You didn't say if she was nursing or not so if she is, then she needs to watch her diet. What ever she eats the baby will get through the milk.

If the baby is on formula, you may end up having to experiment with different brands in the end. Enfamil made my daughter gassy and constipated. Had to give her 1/4 tsp of Light (clear) Kayro once a day till she started baby food or I'd give her 1/2 a child suspository and within a 1/2 hr she would go. Now my son was on Good Start and pooped almost like a breast fed baby and never had any problems.

Also, you can lay the baby on her back and move legs like she is riding a bike and rub her tummy too which I'm sure the DR already suggested. I really think Prune juice at this age is too much. The natural sugar in the juice can cause havoc in that little tummy too.

Now my step sis had to switch her daughter to soy formula (she out grew this and is now on whole milk) because she would strain and turn beat red for over and hour for a little bit of poop all while they had to have her in a standing positon!! She was BF, then she pumped and dumped and tried formula and she still did it till they switched her to soy.

Good luck, you'll get tons of advice of how cleaners are causing her to have these problems and all natural teas, herbs and brews will cure her!! lol Tell her to go with her gut and her natural mommy instinc and she'll be fine!!

~S.

Get a second opinion from another pediatrician! At first I was going to suggest adding a little Karo syrup to the bottle because that works wonders. But then I read breatfed. I've had several children and never had problems with constipation until they went on a bottle, and I would say that would be true of most of my friends who have breastfed their children. It strikes me as very odd to be breastfed and constipated. Is he gaining weight okay? Sleeping too much? If he is not eating often or enough or both, he may be slightly dehydrated which could cause that problem. Sometimes baby gets so warm and comfy nursing next to momma they drift off to sleep before finishing their meal properly. They won't gain weight, which also causes them to become overly sleepy...kind of a circular problem, as you can see. But if he's straining to get out soft, mustardy poop, I'd get a second opinion.

(If you are supplementing with a bottle, the formula might be the problem - add a teaspoon of Karo to the bottle and that should fix the problem.)

If the poo is normal consistency then I don't know for sure it is constipation. My neighbor has had ongoing issue with her saughter with constipation since she was born. Her poo would range from a play-doh consistency to actually being quite firm like a much older child's. She tried to b'feed, but couldn't. And, being a big b'feeding advocate myself I know she really did try everything and it just wasn't happening. So, I started expressing extra milk for her to use and she started doing a combo of my expressed milk and formula. Daytime she got b'milk, nighttime formula. OOnly formula was making her really constipated. Like no poo for 3-4 days. and straining/crying terribly when she did. So, she started giving her Karo syrup and water once a day. Still not better. Then I started drinking prune juice 2 X's a day so we would have "pruny milk" as we called it. She did that plus the Karo syrup upped to 3-4 times day and this combo seemed to help have at least one bowel movement per day, though still more difficult then it should be. At three months old they finally think that she may be lactose intolerant and have switched to a lactose free formula. She actually had a normal bowel movement yesterday with no difficulty so we may have solved her problem. I hope any or all or these steps may help your problem! :)

My daughter was and still is this way (almost 3 years old now) and she would turn tomato red trying to poop back when she was a breastfed baby too. When I mentioned it to my mom-in-law she said both my husband and her sister (his aunt) had been the same way so it was probably a herideratry issue. I've been told everything from her bootyhole is too small to I'm feeding her the wrong foods, to she'll just grow out of it. One thing I was cautioned about was that you don't want her/him straining b/c it'll cause tears in the booty area. Anyway, he's pretty small to be giving him any of the stuff I use now (more on that in a minute). On thing that did help her when she was tiny...we'd use Vasaline and massage her little hole to help her relax and poop. Once my daughter began eating solid foods we started giving her the tiniest bit of mineral oil (like 1/2 of a 1/2 tsp) each night to keep things loosened up. We laid off it when she turned two thinking it would get better now she was older but she continued to struggle and her pedetrician put her on Miralax. Now that she eats solids all the time I keep her on a fiber heavy diet (loads of fruits and "adult" cereals) with very little bread or dairy. It is easier as she's getting older but I think it's just a fact that some people are easily constipated and she and your nephew are two of them. Good luck with this!

Is mom drinking milk or eating it with cereal, etc? If she is taking just one tablespoon of milk, she needs to stop. That is awful for colicky breastfed babies. Another thing she can do is take the baby to a chiropractor because they deal with colicky infants and cure them so well. Make sure that she finds one that deals with babies. Milk can constipate us adults or give us diarrhea, so it can definitely happen with babies through the breastmilk.

After she has done that, he should be fine, if not, then she should change some things that she is eating. Milk is definitely THE BIGGEST CULPRIT of infants besides needing to be adjusted after being born.

That situation sounds exactly like what we went through. My son was breastfed, grunted and strained every time he pooped, and was always gassy. I, too, thought he was constipated but the doctor said most likely not (to this day I still disagree). If I gave him juice of any kind or prunes, he'd get extremely watery stools for days, so that wasn't working either.

When he hit age 1, he would scream and cry everytime he had a bowel movement. He still does fuss a little and his is now almost 2. We never to this day know exactly what the problem is(although I still say he is constipated).

I am a 53 year old mama of 2 adult girls and grandma of a 9 yr old girl and a 3 yr old girl..........I know the doc and all the experts will disagree with me, but I have been through the baby being constipated deal many times.........my solution, that my mama and grandma told me was, to put about a tablespoon of clear Karo syrup in the bottle a couple of times a week. I don't know how or why, but it helps! It is also cheap and easy. Hope it helps your sis in law!

Poor little guy! Tell her to keep up with the watered down prune juice. There are a lot of people who suggest Karo Syrup (both on here & just in general). Personally, I think it's too much sugar for that young. It's highly processed. You want things as pure & natural as possible. I agree with those who said to have her check her diet. Have her contact Le Leche League. They can direct her properly as far as diet goes.

Hi V., my son had the same problem when he was that age. When he had trouble, I used an old remedy of warm water,about an oz.in a bottle.That would help him go almost immediately. We still kept having this problem often,so I tried different brands of formula and different kinds,such as lactose intolerent etc. Then we went to soy,it worked really well for him and he no longer had the constipation issue.We went with this until he was 10months,added vit.D milk a little at a time until he was 12months and off of the soy formula completely.We did not have any trouble w/switching him from soy to whole milk.I wasn't able to breastfeed so,I don't know what to say about your nephew being breastfed,except maybe it's something in your sister-in-law's diet.Something she eats or drinks maybe bothering him. Hopefully he gets through this soon.Poor baby. I hope this helps.You're a wonderful Aunt.

Hi V.,

This sounds like a possible imbalance in the fore and hind milk. Not enough hind milk can cause gas and irritability, too much gas can look like constipation. It is not unusual for exclusively breastfed babies to go 2-3 days between bowel movements. If she isn't already doing this have her put the baby to only one breast for 2-3 hours at a time and only then switch to the other breast. Prune juice is not normally necessary. Have her consult with a good independent lactation consultant.

D.
www.BirthingRight.com

I am 58 years old, I had the same problem with my daughter. My mom put about 1 tsp of white karo syrup in 4 oz. of water and bottle fed my daughter. It corrected the problem and got her adjusted. I would check with my dr. first. It was a problem to get her to drink plain water, then.
S.
a mom in Ga