Constipation Help for a 6 Week Old Baby Boy

Try adding some water to his daily routine...and also go get some infant glycerin suppositories...that might help get things moving!!

Definitely make sure you contact his doctor before giving him water or any other liquid. Giving him too much water can be very dangerous to a baby that young.

Stop formula and breastfeed. Breastmilk has enzymes that partially digest the milk and allow it to easily pass thru the GI system. Besides the immune boosting and antibodies it offers, it also send relaxing chemicals and a laxative effect.

He's only 6 weeks... re-lactating would be a breeze. Get in touch with a Le Leche League local group or find an IBCLC.

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Due to some misinformation being posted - I wanted to let you know that most formula (unless it's a specially pre-digested blend or organic formula) is VERY binding and very likely to cause the opposite extreme of diarrhea as well. Formula is a foreign species protein - one your infant is not designed to digest. So between the foreign protein, formula also introduces foreign bacterias and synthetic chemical compounds which the infant's immature and open GI tract cannot safely use or digest which causes inflammation and bowel issues. Granted, in cases of extreme emergency - formula is able to sustain the infant's life, it is definitely inferior to breastmilk in ALL ways.

It seems more and more kids/babies are having this problem these days. Twin grandsons had it very bad and didn't go at all for over a week and then it hurt them. One is now on miralax, but they aren't an infant now, and they are giving that to kids so much now. I don't like that but doctors are giving it and we know other kids on it who are not a year yet even. In my day I think we gave juice to infants and they started on food much much earlier when I had my first kids. Now they say not to do that. I would talk to a good doctor before I gave a little infant anything at all. Of course, breast feeding helps compared to formula.

You could always just give him a little bit of prune juice. Start with 1 milliliter of prune juice once daily and you can go up to twice daily if needed.

I would talk to your doctor. If the doctor doesn't have suggestions that work, ask for a referral for a pediatric gastroenterologist. We struggled with this way too long with our daughter. We tried corn syrup, prune juice, water, changing her diet (she was older than 6 weeks old). I was nursing and formula feedin so we didn't know what to expect. When we finally took her to the gastroenterologist at about 1 he said "no one should hurt when they poop". We put her on miralax that she took until she was 6 years old. It was such a relief to find a doctor who would help us!

Check with your Pedi. Don't give him ANY water w/o doctor approval in a baby that young. Here's one article about water intoxication in infants:

http://www.stlouischildrens.org/content/healthinfo/WaterI...

I mixed one ounce water with one ounce pear juice and that seemed to help. Because your baby is so little, I recommend contacting your doctor's office before you give him anything.

try either a little diluted prune juice, or a little baby spoonful of stage 1 applesauce or peaches. sounds different, but it worked for my son, and he is now 1 1/2 and just fine.

Hi S.,

Prune juice is a good way to clean him out and it is perfectly safe. Four ounces, full strength, a day is fine. RElactating is an option but if you can't, goat's milk is the closest to breast milk. My niece used a blend of 2 ounces goat's milk, 2 ounces filtered water and 2 ounces juiced carrots. Her little one became regular and also stopped spitting up. It is complete with nutrition.

My two cents!

M.

It's very rare for formula to constipate a baby, especially one this young. You have to be sure that it's constipation. What are the symptoms? Are his poops hard and pebbly? Are they dry? Is it causing pain when he has a bowel movement?

If not, and he's just straining to poop, that's actually just the baby learning how to have a bowel movement. Babies are not born automatically knowing how to poop. His body is also still learning how to work, especially his digestive system. My breastfed babies did this and at first it freaked me out a bit because I knew BF babies aren't supposed to be able to get constipated. Then I learned this.

So I wouldn't give him ANYTHING extra. However, if you mix his formula from a powder I would make sure that you're adding enough water and not shortchanging it. You have to follow the mixing instructions exactly.

Hi - I wouldn't do anything without calling your Dr since your baby is so young. How constipated is constipated? My DD went from 3-5 poops per day at 3-4 weeks to only going every 4-5 days at 5-6 weeks. I was worried but apparently with formula that happens. She was fine and eventually went back to every day. My DR told me that not going for up to 5 days was ok so long as she wasn't in pain and what came out wasn't rock hard.

Anyhow, Dr said if iI wanted to speed things up I should take her temp rectally. The stimulation should work almost immediately. I never had to do it but I would try it. She did not recommend any juices or other things at that age.

Good luck!