Constipation???

Hi M.!
I was also concerned when my breastfed baby was not having frequent bowel movements. But then I read a breastfeeding book (which I can't remember the name right now). In it, the MD says that breastfed babies can go up to 8 days without a movement! I was amazed!
Breastmilk is such the perfect food that babies can use and digest almost all of it..so they take advantage and keep it in there for quite awhile sometimes.
Anyway, my daughter did that all the time and she's perfectly fine!
Congrats on Breastfeeding! Keep up the good work!

M.,

I don't know about breastfed babies but I have a six month old boy that is formula fed. He had a problem with being constipated so I used Karo syrup in one bottle a day and that kept him regular so he would go once a day. I only put in about a teaspoon in a 4 ounce bottle. It works great and it does not make them go all of the time it just helped him go once a day. I hope this helps.
T.

My baby & I had a problem with constipation while I was breastfeeding & all I needed to do was drink more water & have more fiber in my diet.

Hi M.-
My son is now almost 11 months old and I bet I called the Dr's office and the lactation consultant a dozen times each at least on this same subject. They both assured me that he would be fine and told me that a breast fed baby could not get constipated since there is a "natural laxative" in breast milk. My son would go 7 to 9 days sometimes and when he did - wow - blow out!! I too fed him just a little formula (about 2 to 3 oz a day). By about 3 months he was going once a day on a regular basis and is still doing fine.

my dd would go up to 10 days without pooping when i nursing her. I gave her some apple juice and that worked but i also used teh tummy drops (not the mylicon but there's another kind) and within 30 min she'd poop. it is very common b/c they use everything in breastmilk. Since you are giving some formula it is going to confuse her so try the drops and such as well.

Like the other response it does take breastfed baby's longer to have a bowel movement then formula. If you are giving her formula though everyday that can sometimes confuse the system and back them up. I would let your baby tell you if there is a problem, she will let you know when her tummy hurts. If it goes beyond 8-10 days you can always put a little karo syrup in her formula bottle each day. Karo syrup will help her system naturally produce a bowel movement without stomach cramping. Hope this helps but I think your little one will be just fine.

Hi M.,
I had the same issue when my daughter was just a couple of months old. My daughter was exclusively breastfed and she also went through a period where she wouldn't have bowel movements as we had expected. She would have bowel movements on average about once a week, and they would fill up her diaper. At the time, I was very worried and kept calling her ped. Her ped said it was very normal. He asked if she was straining or crying when she did pass her stool. She wasn't. He concluded that she was not constipated. At the rate she was growing (she gained 2 pounds in just 2 weeks), he said she was just absorbing a lot of her intake. I also think she just has slow digestion. I would speak to your ped and unless he tells you to continue to give the glycerin suppositories, I would discontinue it. Regular use of the suppositories could cause your little one to depend on them for bowel movements. If your daughter is feeding, peeing, sleeping, and playing as expected, I wouldn't worry so much about the pooping. I know the worries of first-time parenting. If you ever have any other issues you want to discuss, please feel free to contact me.

My daughter who is now 10, was breastfeed only and yes I had the same "problem". Although now, I know it really probably was not a problem. I agree with your advice from the lacation nurses you talked too- it just happens to be that breastmilk is so perfect that they do not have much waste, but again your the mom and you should go with what you feel is going on. I used to give my daughter stage one prunes when she was very young, just a little bit and that helped her have BMs and I did use the glycerin suppository as well- they worked too. I think it is just normal for some infants. I would not get too worried about it, especially if she is happy, no temp and eating well- just might need all that she is getting nothing left for waste and less smelly diapers to change! Yay!

Check out this recent request on the same subject http://www.mamasource.com/request/7667307807976194049
Infrequent bowels does not necessarily indicate constipation. If the bowel is soft and your baby does not seem uncomfortable, there is probably nothing to worry about. My first daughter regularly went 8 days between BMs - each one was a massive, messy blowout, but it didn't bother her in the least! :)

My oldest has really bad problems with constipation when he was born. I don't reccomend using the syrup. I tried it and it made him very fussy. I think it bothered his stomach. Our pediatrician suggested giving him 2oz of prune juice with 2oz of water 1 to 2 times a day. We did this a couple of times and we never had a problem again.

The problem is the formula not the breastmilk. If possible, eliminate all formula for a while and see what happens. If she is only getting 3 oz it seems like she could just nurse instead or you could pump that small amount for her and give it to her in a bottle if needed?
If that isn't possible, add a very small amount of apple juice (100% only) to her milk and see if that helps.
I would personally NOT do suppositories especially with a baby but you are the 4th person I've heard told to do this. They are habit forming and do not solve the problem for the next time.
Best of luck. My son had this until I eliminated the formula.
L.

My daughter also had this problem, but she was in a lot of pain by the sixth day. I am a massage therapist, so I don't know why I didn't think to do this, but it helps to get things moving. You can start gently massaging her belly in a clockwise motion, gently start to massage a little with a firmer pressure. I would do this after each meal. The massage also helps with getting any excess gas out, which can make for a very fussy baby. Hope this helps. J.

Hi M.,
I had the same problem with both of my boys when they were little. I didn't use suppositories though, I used Dark Karo Syrup. It's in the grocery store in the baking aisle. I gave the boys an eighth to a quarter teaspoon when they needed it usually after 4 days. It works great and you will get the same explosive results. It's normal. Oh yeah I strickly breastfed both boys for the first few months. I think that it happens when there little bodies are trying to figure out how to work all the time. So good luck the Karo really helped and I just keep it in the pantry.

That sounds about like what happened with my daughter who was BF. She was very uncomfortable though. When she would get uncomfortable they told me to try checking her temp rectally and sometime that did the trick and if not the sliver of a glycerin suppository always did. I wouldn't worry.

Hi M.! You might keep an eye on what you are eating that might help out a little, I did have that problem with my son. Good luck! G.

I breast fed both of my sons and one of them truely did get constipated. When he would go it was not soft at all. When they are truely constipated they poop out hard balls very dry and hard sometimes they are small they can have large ones there also. I would say if it was the consistancy of peanut butter that you don't need to worry. Unless the baby seems to be in pain I would not worry. Breast milk has more of what the baby actually needs in it so there is much less waste. There for less poop. Good luck

my daughter had a similar problem. She was mostly breast fed, but got a bottle of formula twice a day (b/c I had problems w/ producing milk due to severe complications w/ delivery). She would have problems having bowel movements..it started at about 2 months?? It was a combination of breast milk + formula and the fact she has suregery @ 1 week old b/c she had a tumor that was around her colon (nothing major....surgery only took 45 min!)
so what we did was we would give her diluted prune juice (or pear juice) once a day (about 3 oz), and we would move her legs like she was pedaling a bike to help everything "move on down".
That would usually do the trick. But you have to make sure you give the juice every day. If it is not consistant, then it won't help.
Good luck!

Hey! I have a 5-month old baby girl, born Dec. 17. I totally breastfeed so in the beginning when she wouldn't have a bowel movement for a few days, I was concerned. But I did read that as they get older they may go a few days w/o bowel movements so this eased my mind and in your case your baby will probably have more of a problem since you've introduced a little formula b/c it can constipate them. But I wouldn't worry too much about it unless she goes a really long time in between movements and this happens a lot.

Something that helped my baby is taking her to the CHIROPRACTOR. My sister has also taken her baby girl, who was constipated as well - her baby had a bowel movement the same day - worked great for her. Her adjustment also helped her baby sleep better at night :) I've been taking my baby to the chiropractor since she was 3 weeks old. Her first couple of visits, the doc. could tell she was having some problems in her intestine area. He adjusted her and she was fine. I've noticed that each time I take her it seems to help her go to the bathroom better & it helps with her gassiness too. So, you may want to give this a try. Also, my sister-n-law was told by her lactation consultant to massage her baby's booty area to help her have a bowel movement - it worked.

I saw where you posted that things are going better now since you've increased your fiber & water intake. That's great!! In my opinion, I wouldn't give her the karo syrup - I would go for a more natural approach, but that's just me. See what your doc. says though. Give the chiropractor a try - it's completely safe and the results are great! Good luck!!

I don't know that its really considered constipation, however just so ya don't get to worried a breastfed baby can go up to 10 days without a movement and unless they seem upset or hurting its not anything to be concerned about. Breastmilk is all natural so the babys body doesn't have quite the "waste" problem it would if it were on formula.

M.,
Although my son didn't go 6 days with no bm, I too worried about him being constipated. My mom was the one to tell me that although milk/formula is necessary, so is WATER. We used the "Nursery" water, gave him a little every once in a while and had minimal constipation occurences afterwards. Your daughter may spit it out, then again, she may like it. It's important for our little ones to be properly hydrated as well as nourished.

Best wishes.
S.

I breastfed both of mine who both pooped quite regularly! Often several times a day in fact. But I have heard from many breastfeeding resources that breastfed babies can go for as many as 7 days w/o bowel movements and that is completely normal. Breastmilk is easily digested and there just isn't much of it that is wasted and not used, so that means your baby is probably getting every last ounce of nutrition from it! If she seems comfortable, not squirmy and fussy then I would just wait it out and let her go on her own time.

yep! it happened a lot later though, around 5 months. and he was eating some cereal but almost exclusively breastfed. he was in so much pain, crying most of the night, no one was sleeping....*sigh* the dr's kept telling me to give him karo syrup, which did NOTHING until they finally told me about the suppositories. which did the trick instantly. and i only gave him part of it too. he when through a period of about a couple of months where every several days i'd need to do it again. so you might just watch out. you shouldn't have too many problems since she's breastfed, but be on the lookout when you start solid foods. some babies' little digestive systems just have a harder time getting used to food than others. and my son only ate fruit for a long time. anyway. just keep an eye on it, make sure YOU'RE getting enought fiber and water in your diet, and when you start solid foods and water and juices for her, make sure she gets lots of liquid and movement (like crawling and floor time...)

good luck,
missy

I have a three month old little girl and we went through the same thing. She finally started having normal bowel movents about a month ago. So dont worry it will get better and before you know it you will have more than your fair share of poopy diapers.

My first son was breastfed and constantly had constipation. What I did was give him an 8oz bottle of water with a teaspoon full of dark Karo syrup mixed in. I would do this every three days or so. It really helped.

It is normal is what I was told. Because your breastfeeding I believe all you can do is the supository and they also told me to use a little patrolium jelly and put it on the end of the rectal thermometer and put it in there to help things go smoothly. Eventually I was forced to bottle feed and he has to have prune juice in each bottle to be able to go to the bathroom.

I don't have any advice, but could you holler at me and tell me what people tell you? I'm having the same issue... although my son is only 5 weeks and he hasn't quite gone 6 days without a bowel movement yet. I was going to call my Family Connections nurse today when I saw your request. If you could let me know that woudl be great!