Constipation - Fort Lauderdale, FL

Hi A.,

I know you have gotten lots of advice already, but I just wanted to say that I had used Kyro Syrup on a weekly basis for the first 6 mos of my son's life. This was instructed by his pediatrician. He was breastfed for the first 4 mos, also. He was also very gassy. The only way he could stay regular was having a bottle of water & kyro syrup once a week. He didn't develop spores, or anything like that. He is 2.5 yrs old now & is perfectly fine! If you have any concerns though, just ask the pediatrician. Good luck!

When I had this issue with my newborn son, his pediatrician told me to feed him a teaspoon of water in the morning & again at night. Also to insert a thermometer in his rectum & twirl it to stimulate his bowls. I had great success with both methods.

Exclusively breastfed babies do NOT get constipated. They are very efficient at using everything they take in so sometimes there is very little waste. She could be swallowing air when she nurses or when she drinks from a bottle. That might be why she seems uncomfortable. When you nurse her, make sure you burp her well. I would not do the Karo syrup or juice. She's way too young for anything except breastmilk. I bet she will go on her own even if you do nothing, but if you are really desperate, I would try the glycerin suppository. And only use it once. Overusing them can make her body unable to go on it's own.

When my daughter came home from the hospital, she didn't poop for 4 days and it made me really nervous too. But she just wasn't a big pooper. She only pooped once every other day for the longest time.

Also, giving water to young infants can be very dangerous. Breastmilk has plenty of water in it as well as a natural laxative effect. So I would nurse more often rather than give her water, syrup, or juice.

Like the others, I breastfed (no formula at all) and my son would go up to 7 days with a BM when he was that young. It was frightening but our pediatrician said that we shouldn't be worried until day 8. He only got to day 8 once, and when we called the pediatrician she had us give him some prune juice and water and it worked within a few hours. I can't remember the dosage or how to mix it now.

Go with whatever your pediatrician says if you trust your pediatrician. If you don't trust your pediatrician, find one that you do trust!!!!

Hi A.!
Karo syrup is not safe for a baby so young.
Chances are she is not constipated-- breastfed babies are not often constipated.
Her fussiness can be due to a growth spurt or just simply colic. Is she drawing her legs up towards her belly? That is one sign of colic. Also she is right around the time for growth spurts and peak in crying.
As far as constipation goes, unless they are hard pellets or she is having problems passing a bm, it is not constipation.
Breastfed babies can go 10-14 days without a bowel movement.
Breastmilk is easily digestable. Continue breastfeeding and do take a look at your intake... some babies can be sensitive to dairy in your diet
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.html

Forgot to add... do not give a 7 week old water as others suggested. Breastfed babies do not need to drink any water while they are breastfeeding (even when older) Formula-fed infants do not need water either. Breastmilk and formula have all the water content infants need.

As Mimi said, do not give her Karo syrup - it can be dangerous. It is normal for a breastfed baby to go four days or more with no BM, as they are incredibly efficient at using every little bit of breast milk. I wouldn't worry unless it is more than seven days, and even sometimes that long is normal, depending on your baby. I personally think she is too young for juice. Call your pediatrician and ask for advice over the phone. They may suggest waiting a few more days, or can advise you on the best way to treat it (suppository ?) if in fact they believe her to be constipated.

I also solely breastfed and my son occasionally went a few days without pooping too. I was told it's normal for breastfed babies to go up to 7 days without pooping. As long as it appears the child is not in pain. However, you said it seems your daughter is in pain but perhaps she's just in pain because she has gas. I would think as long as the gas is coming out normally, there's no reason to worry. If there are other signs, like she's not eating as much as she usually does, or she seems to be in constant pain, you should go to the doctor. Otherwise just wait it out. If it gets to be longer than 7 days, definitely go to the doctor. I think the longest my son ever went was 5-6 days. I remember figuring out that if he didn't poop by Monday, we'd have to take him to the doctor but he ended up pooping the Saturday before. I was very anxious about it and SO relieved when he finally pooped! I'm sure things will work out for you and your daughter. Good luck!

A.-
Kara syrup has always worked for my little ones. I see several other mom's don't recommend it, but I have never had any issues with it and my pediatrician recommended it if they are truly constipated. As another mom indicated, make sure it is really a constipation issue....very hard BM's and a lot of straining to go is your key. If it is and you want to try the Karo syrup, only put about 1/2 tsp in with her morning bottle, but just one bottle and see if it works. If it does, she will have a BM before the end of the day. The sugar in the Karo syrup is what helps relieve the constipation, so it is a guaranteed way to get some action! Remember though, don't do too much...just like sweets or too much juice with a toddler, too much Karo syrup can cause diarrhea! Put a call into your pediatrician...this will help you feel confident in whichever method you choose! Good Luck!

Hi A.,
My daughter had the same issue. I had to put Karo syrup in EVERY SINGLE BOTTLE until she was about 8-9 months old. If I didn't she would be so constipated. I just put a little squirt, enough to coat the bottom of the bottle. I was worried she would become dependent on it but she's 18 months old now and poops like a champ :) (and she's been off it for a good 9 months) Good luck!

ok, A., what I'm going to tell you is nasty, but it works. My daughter had constipation issues from day one until like 3-4 months old. In the beginning we had to "help" her poo. You need a thermomiter and vasaline (I can't spell...). Lube up the thermomiter, put it in her hiney (not too far, maybe an inch at the most), and roll it around. This will stimulate that muscle and help her poo. My doctor explained that sometimes that muscle needs to be taught how to work. Very unpleasant, but after doing it a couple times it's not as bad and you know you're helping. We also would give her NO MORE THAN 2 ozs of water with 2 tsp of sugar to drink. You have to use sugar so you won't mess up her electrolites (or something like that). I never tried prune juice, but that was suggested and makes sense to me. Finally, Mylecon. My daughter has always had gas issues too. I'm sure it is all related. Mylecon has been our best friend for 10 months now!! Congrats on the new baby and I wish you the best of luck with all of the new mommy things you're going to learn!

Since you are breastfeeding, it is likely that something in your breastmilk is affecting your baby (gassy/fussy). How many poopy diapers is she producing daily? How many wet diapers? It could be that she's not getting enough milk if she isn't having a BM at least once a day. How is her weight gain so far? What does your pediatrician say? It is uncommon for a breastfed baby to be constipated. I breastfed all of my children and never had constipation issues with them so I would make sure that your baby is indeed getting enough milk. I would strongly discourage you from adding Karo syrup to your baby's bottle.

Since you are breastfeeding eat yogurt and/or take acidophilus by capsule and take magnesium. If you give her a bottle empty a capsule of acidophilus into her milk. It is slightly sweet so she should accept it. Magnesium has a laxative effect and needed for bone health. Be sure to drink plenty of water.

Breastfeeding should not constipate her. Is the milk in a bottle you're giving her breastmilk or formula? If it's formula, I would recommend solely breastfeeding her, and breastmilk is a natural laxative.
If the milk in a bottle is breastmilk, then you might want to check what you're eating that might be constipating her, and take her to the doctor, because it's not normal for them to be so constipated on only breastmilk.
Take care and enjoy those 2 babies!
V.

Hi!
I had the same situation when my older son was a baby and the best remedy was to make a "Prune Tea". You put a dried prune or 2 in a cup with hot water for a couple of minutes (like making a hot tea)and when the beverage is cold enough, give to the baby the prune water using a spoon or bottle. It also use to help when you change your diet because you are breastfeeding her.
Good luck and blessings for your baby girl!

My daughter had the same problem and we had to adjust her formula. But before that they told me the same thing Karo Syrup -- it made my daughter sick. If you put a very small amount of prune juice mixed with water or her bottle it will make her go -- trust me only use a very small amount i made the mistake of using a whole small bottle of the apple prune juice mixed with water and my poor baby went for like 5 days straight 4-5 times a day.
Hope this helps

This is one of the quirks of breastfeeding babies. My daughter sometimes went 5 days without a bowel movement. You might try some mylacon for her gas. Remember that breastmilk is a baby's perfect food. BMs are waste from what isn't used by the baby. It's possible that the baby isn't wasting any of what she's getting. If she's growing fine and is alright in other aspects, I wouldn't worry too much.
For the fussiness what I've found that worked for my little ones was a swing and a warm bath (not hot) I would get in with her and lay her on her tummy against mine and rub her back. It helps to soothe her and builds the bond between us even stronger. You do need to talk to the baby's Dr. if it continues to be a problem.

I would take her to a chiropractor and get her adjusted. If you are unfamiliar with chiropractic you will be pleasantly surprised with the results ... Even though she is only 7 weeks old she could still have spinal misalignments that can cause many issues. The birthing process is very traumatic on both you and your baby, so they need their little spines checked out. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions.
Good luck and enjoy your little one.

When one of my daughters was 1-2 years old, she became constipated from some cold medicine she was taking. We tried lots of things, but the thing that cleared her out was to put her in a bath tub full of warm water. It didn't take long for everything to come out! (Of course, then I had to clean the tub, but it was sure worth it!)

It is hard when they are that young. My daughter had issues from birth until age 2 before they medicate her, so I went through a lot of this. Yes, Caro Syrup is something they tod me to try & it didn't help. One thing that does work is to work with their legs, to work out the gas. You would have her lay on her back and take one foot in one hand & the other in the other hand. Move her legs in a bicycle like movement. This helps a lot, even as an adult. LOL! I would ask your doctor about this also b/c sometimes constipation can be b/c of an alergy to milk products. Since she is only on milk, it is hard to do anything with the foods that help, so I would definately talk to the doctor b/c it is just as hard on you as mommy as it is on the little one. I remember crying with my daughter when she was going through this.

Hi A.,

My son was combination breast and bottle fed, and during his first year or so he RARELY pooped. I mean, it was not uncommon for him to go for a week or more without a BM -- his record was something like 10 days. We gave him prune juice mixed with a little water (on the advice of the doctor), which didn't seem to make a lot of difference, but it helped a little and he liked it. However, he didn't really seem to have discomfort, so your situation is different.

Sometimes if he seemed gassy, I would lay him on his back, bend his legs so that his knees were against his stomach, and press down gently. That helped with the gas. Another thing that helped was rubbing his back in big circles -- I remember reading that in a book, and it specified that it had to be clockwise or counter-clockwise, but I forget which. Maybe someone else knows that trick.

As others have said, ask your doctor. If you don't trust your doctor, find another one!

Good luck!

Hi A.

Apparently this happens to most babies around this time as their digestive tract changes. I remember my son was in so much pain. I gave him a dropper full of prune juice, I also tried inserting the rectal thermometer - they say that stimulates the colon. Nothing happened immediately but when it did LOOK OUT!!! My sisters were visiting me & we were shoe shopping in Macy's well my 6 wk old son pretty much cleared out the store!!! We didn't call him Intestine Preston for nothin'!!!!!!!!
Good Luck
K.

A.,
It is normal for a b/f baby to go several days without a b/m. My sons went up to 5 days sometimes. It just means that she is getting every bit of the nutrients from your milk and doesn't have anything left. So my dr told me. However, if you are giving her both breast and formula then that's another story. The formula will consipate her. If she is taking some formula and constipated then you will give her a table spoon of corn syrup in every other bottle until she has a b/m. Also if you have given her cereal that will as well, but if you're solely b/f then it's normal for them to go a while w/o a b/m. If you are concerned call your ped and ask to speak with a nurse and they'll reasure you. Awesome job on b/f. I know it's a lot of work, but it's so worth it. My youngest son is 11 mth and I b/f him for 9 mth and he has never been sick!!
God Bless,
R.

DO check with her doctor but mix a very little apple juice with a little water. Apple is a good laxitive for this age. My son still can't have much apple anything because it gives him the poos bad. You should be able to even call and get the doctor on call if it's after hours.

A breastfed baby can go up to 14 days with no bowel movement. If she is really gassy you should see what you have been eating that does not agree with her. But I would suggest you drink prune juice. See if that helps.

Good luck.

My daughter had digestion problems from birth and her GI doctor had us put Karo syrup in her bottle everyday starting when she was about 12 weeks old. He explained that children under one cannot process sugar so the sugar normally would cause diarrhea. In a constipated baby the sugar loosens the BM but does not cause diarrhea. My daughter had normal BMs once a day when we used the Karo syrup. Also, if you do not want to use the Karo syrup, juice will have the same effect due to the natural sugar it contains. FYI: my daughter was formula fed with soy formula- I did not breast feed. I know breast fed babies go longer between bowel movements. Also consider that something you are eating may be causing her digestive issues. I had a friend that had to stop milk products while breast feeding because it gave her son digestive issues and irritability.
Also, I don't remember how much Karo syrup because my daughter is now 6 yrs old. Good luck and I hope your baby feels better soon.

Oh congrats on your new baby!!
Talk to your pediatrician. Breast fed babies don't have as many BMs as formula fed babies because they process it better. 4 days seems a bit long, but not horribly. But definitely ask your pediatrician before giving her anything...

TRY Apple juice! Just a little will do it! Delude it with water!
Kathy N.

Hi A. - Talk to your pediatrician, but it is completely normal for breastfed only babies to only have a bowel movement every week or even two. Breastfed only babies rarely have constipation issues - this is more common in formula fed babies. In the first month or two they have frequent bowel movements, but after that they are much less frequent. I have also attached this article for you. Good luck. J.

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/04_bf_cns...

Though it is unusual for a bf baby to be constipated it does happen. My friens was in your same position. Her daughter would go a week but she didn't have the symptons your baby has. Try the infant suppostories but try just putting it in a little and see if that helps. I had to do this once for my daughter but I just put it in a little and that was enaough for her to have a bm. I didn't have to use it all. If you are leary if that I would try a little prune juice or prune baby food. Just a liitle may do the trick. I have heard of using karo syrup. My niece had to do this with her son in each bottle. He had no reactions to it. I would try the prune juice first and see if it helps.

I learned this in Lamaze class: when you are breastfeeding your bay is affected by everything you eat and drink, including the smell and taste and laxative effect, so don't drink coffee and don't eat onions, broccoli or cabbage or anything spicy, but if your baby is constipated, buy a bottle of prune juice and drink it yourself. You will see results soon after nursing!

My doctor recommended the same thing. He told us to put a teaspoon in his bottle. It definitely worked for us. Start with once and see what happens.It won't be instant, but should produce something that day.

when she does go, is it soft? if it soft, this is not constipation. constipation would be hard pellets...

7 weeks is about the time when a protein intolerance (or even allergy) can start to show. This is not YOUR MILK but the PROTEINS IN you milk- the most likely culprits are milk and soy. try cutting out ALL milk and soy for a good two or even 3 weeks from your diet and see if this helps. You must look at ingredients in food bcse milk and soy are in a LOT of things- if you google 'names for milk' you'll see that rhennet, casein, whey are some examples of how milk 'hides' in ingredients.

I bet it's something as 'simple' as your diet...

hang in there! you CAN do it!

www.kellymom.com is an excellent resource!

IF a baby is just being breast fed she can go up to 4 or 5 days without a BM. My baby had really bad gas also, but not a lot of poop. Someone recommended I try some natural stuff called bio gaia. It is basically probiotic drops. It really helped his gas a lot. He still only had a BM every few days for a while, but he farted a lot better and was much more comfortable. If you are only breast feeding your baby can and will use all the nutrients from your milk and not have much waste, so she won't need to have a BM every day. The bio gaia stuff worked better than gripe water, ovol or any of the other gas stuff out there for babies. Good luck.

I also breastfeed my little one! SO congradulations on that fact. Sometimes my daughter will go a whole week with out a BM but she was never in pain or discomfort. But when I asked the dr. he told me I could try and take a anal temp. Not so much for a temp but to apply lubrication to help the BM slide out and help it get a liitle start. SO apply alot of lubricate on the thermo. and try that. Also I was told to try seeing if just water would help. Good luck and I hope she not into much pain...

When my children became constipated, I usually gave them 4 onz of prune juice and alot of water, and that usually solved the problem. But if it doesn't seek medical assistance.

Are you drinking enough water? I would say if you are solely breastfeeding you need to up your water intake to 75oz or more a day and try gradually eating more raw fruits and veggies. The quality of your baby's breastmilk depends on the quality of your water intake and nutrition. More water and plant fiber will make for easier bowel movements for both of you :)

Sometimes my breastfed babies would go a week or more without a BM. I you think that she has tummy pain, call your ped! Don't wait! That's what they are there for. You can even just call a triage nurse (most peds offices have these) and they could talk to you about things to try before you have to go in for an appointment.
I didn't use Karo syrup until my son was 6+ months old and I had switched to formula from breastmilk. At that point, I also had the options of prunes, pears, prune juice and pear juice (worked better for us than Karo syrup... of course he was old enough to have those things at 6 months.)

My baby had the same problem today. I called the doctor and this is the advice they gave me. Give her a warm bath this can help her, increase her liquids, breastfeed her more often and also give her water, taking your babys recal temperature can stimulate the baby to have a bowel movement. They said if all that doesn't work to try the prune juice. Hope this helps.

Hi A.,
I'm a nutritionist. Have you tried drinking pear or apple juice? Both of those will be passed through your breastmilk and may loosen up her bowels. Perhaps prune juice could work as well. Let me know how things come out! ;-)

A. R., CN

Hi, A.. Karo syrup is, indeed, good for constipation, mostly when you are bottle feeding with formula. I have never actually heard of a breastfed baby being constipated. I would go to the Pediatrician, ASAP. A bloated stomach in a newborn is a bad thing. Don't forget that you have to burp newborns every few minutes while nursing or feeding, and this may be PART of the problem, but I don't think it's ALL of the problem. Please get her checked out right away.

I hope she feels better and everything turns out OK.

Peace,
Syl

Hi A.,

DO NOT USE KARO SYRUP! Karo syrup is as dangerous as honey for any little one under the age of two. It can contain botulism spores that most everyone can digest after their tummies develop, but it can cause death in an infant.

Prune juice, 4 oz of prune juice will work. That's what I used with my first daughter. It dribbles and stains the clothes so make sure she isn't in anything special and she has a bib on. It has plenty of fiber to get things moving.

Also, I would suggest getting her to an Upper Cervical Chiropractor. Digestive issues like this may seem minor now, but can lead to bigger issues later in life. I was one of those babies and I have had to learn the hard way.

If you'd like any more information, please let me know. I speak to groups on Wellness, specifically nutrition and the dangers of the toxins we have in society today and how it affects us and our kids.

Regards,

M.
www.squidoo.com/ifyourbabycouldtalk

P.S. Our pediatrician also told me to use Karo Syrup. When I asked him about the botulism he told me that was a chance I would have to take. Some babies can tolerate it, some can't and I would have to make that decision. He did confirm that the botulism spores that are sometimes present have killed infants. If you don't ask, they won't tell.

My older twin had big issues with constipation. Their pediatrician suggested one teaspoon with every ounce of fluid. He also suggested I give him water throughout the day, because the Karo syrup doesn't actually make them go, it just softens the stool.

I hope that helps, because I know how horrible it is to see your baby in pain and not be able to do anything about it.