Newborn Constipation - Savannah,GA

My son had the same problem almost 20 years ago and the doctor told me to put 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of dark Karo Syrup in each of his bottles. Being two weeks old - I would think the teaspoon would be enough depending on how much formula he is taking at a feeding. The Tablespoon was for 6-8 oz.

M.

The only way to really help is to go with breastmilk exclusively. Breastmilk has a natural laxative property. If you cut out the formula, and go just with the boobie, you will have plenty of milk and he will get the best nurtition in the universe.

Remember - formula is like waffles, breastmilk is like grain-fed organic beef. You really cannot compare the two they are so VASTLY different in quality and design.

There is a TON of breastfeeding info on My Mamma's Milk and you can request a FREE Boobies for Babies kit: http://www.mymammasmilk.com/Boobies-For-Babies.html

Peace!

shortly after my daughter was born she had difficulty pooping. dh suggested a warm bath (said a hot shower usually helped him LOL). so we put her bottom half in a warm bath and sure enough she went right in the tub.

but as always consult your ped. you could try a different formula too.

ok the first question that you have to ask yourself is if she has just not pooped in the past couple of days or if she is straining and either very little or no poop is coming out. If she just hasn't gone give it one more day. Some newborns only go every couple of days. My niece went every three days like clock work but she went. My daughter was an everyday poop. If she is straining and nothing is coming out then I was told to give my daughter some watered down prune juice or a little sugar water to loosen everything up. You will find that the frist year of life a lot of babies are constipated because their bodies are adjusting to all the food stages. Always ask you Dr. before you do anything. One other thing that I was told to do is to put a thermometer in the rectum to help stimulate and they should poop. But like the other mom said you don't want them to reley on this to poop everytime. Don't be afraid to call your Dr. about this stuff. You might even want to see if your Dr. has a newborn specialist. Mine new me very well the first couple of months. I think I called at least once a week. Good luck!

Congrats on your new little one! I would breastfeed him more. Breastmilk has a natural laxative effect like the poster below said. All the nursing will help bring in your milk which will help you move to all breast. Exclusively breastfed babies pretty much never get constipation. To some degree, all new babies seem like they have gastrointestinal distress of some sort as their little bodies get used to working.

Here's an excellent website with breastfeeding info and support forums:

www.kellymom.com

BTW, the qtip trick might work and you get the same effect with glycerin suppositories. But it's not a good idea because doing that too much can make him have to rely on that to poop and not being able to go on his own.

Good luck!!

It's the formula. He'd do better if you cut it out entirely, since breastfed babies don't get constipated. Breastmilk is a kind of laxative.

I saw your post, and need to tell you that it is VERY dangerous to give plain water or sugar water to babies. Their bodies are not balanced to have water, and they should not have water until they are eating solid food as well, at six months. You can cause basically the equivalent of water intoxication, and that leads to brain swelling. Please research this before you do it again, since you could really harm your son. Also, babies have an open gut, and the sugar is NOT good for him because you are harming the probiotic bacteria in his belly. Please, please, don't resort to this method again. If you must use formula and see constipation again, nurse him instead and cut out the formula for a few feeds.

Note from a science:
For newborns (especially under 4-5 weeks), water supplements can be risky

* Babies under two months should not be given supplemental water.
* Water supplements are associated with increased bilirubin levels in jaundiced newborns.
* Too much water can lead to a serious condition called oral water intoxication.
* Water supplements fill baby up without adding calories, so water supplements can result in weight loss (or insufficient weight gain) for the baby.

It is COMMON for bf babies, around a month, to stop pooping every day. This is NORMAL. It's not constipation; it's because the infant is using most of the nutrients in the milk and there is not much waste. Be aware of that in the future.

I know a lot of people will tell you "we did corn syrup and our baby is fine," but a lot of us rode without car seats and are fine, and that doesn't mean it's not dangerous. Do your son a favor and really research this with the AAP and WHO, not people who are still listening to their grandmas.

If you are using the powder, you have to measure it just right, to much powder will cause constipation. J.

my doctor told me for this one, to place on the changing table, and have the diaper under them, and use a q tip on the OUTSIDE off the rectum, and gently massage that area. Sometimes they will poop right away and other times it's take doing this about every hour and after a few hours, he SHOULD poop.

I would tall the doctor though and see what they say. I took my duaghter in at 2 weeks for a check up, so you might have to take for a check up anyways, and can see what your doctor recommends.

I did the same thing with my daughter (breast fed and bottle fed) she also had severe constipation. My grandmother told me to put some Karo syrup in the bottle, just a teasponn or so and it works like a natural laxative. She was right! It really does work. Buy the clear Karo syrup, it won't hurt him at all and hopefully it will help.

weird as it may sound take a themometer and use the tip to massage the outside of his little rectum. also Karo syrup(small amount) mixed with some water or milk does the trick. Wish u luck!!!

our little 6 week old just had an enema last night after going a week with no stool. Wow I tell you what she was loaded...lol I have been told to give her 1/2 oz of water a day to keep her moving

Yes, you do need to sort out what's going in (what are you eating? does the formula suit?, what is his Blood Type ? this can tell you what he should be eating)

But to help things move try a Kinesiology Neuro Lymphatic Point Massage for the Large intestine Meridian - Massage firmly down the outside thigh from hip to just under knee on left and right (trouser seam)

sipping boiled water occasionly may be needed if just thirsty, dehydrated.

My daughter was like this for WEEKS!...it would get to her about 9pm & she would cry and cry and cry until we could figure out how to help her go & then she was back to being a happy baby. Things that worked at various times: lay him on his back and rhythmically rock his knees towards his chest and back down again(pivot at the hip like you are doing leg lifts for him with knees bent-this is also good for their flexibility); Little tummies gas drops; and trying every formula under the sun. The one that we ended up with that made her happy was Carnation Great Start. I don't know if they still make this or not, but it might be worth a look. My son was an easy Similac baby from the get-go, but daughter took some figuring out. She's now a rambunctious 13 year old!

I breastfed exclusively for and my daughter still was constipated. Not because she had hard stools - just the opposite, it was still runny, but she would hold it for almost a week and cry horribly when she finally did have a BM (a big runny one – sometimes twice in one day).

My pediatrician at the time said it was normal as long as there was no blood in the stool and she wasn’t constipated since I was breastfeeding exclusively and when she did go, it was runny. She also advised giving her white grape juice and using the thermometer for stimulation - neither helped.

This went on for several weeks at that point I told my friend who is a pediatric surgeon my concerns and she knew immediately that my daughter had an anal fissure (tear), showed it to me and then prescribed ointment that would numb the area so that my daughter would go more regularly (smaller BMs) allowing the tears to eventually heal. She held the BM because it hurt every time she went and would re-open the tear. My friend said that anal fissures are very common in infants on up to young children but most pediatricians will not diagnose it unless prompted. Needless to say I changed pediatricians because telling me what my daughter was going through was normal and not checking or offering some sort of relief was not good enough for my daughter. Once I started applying the ointment, she starting going every other day on a regular basis.

I’m not sure if this is your situation as you were not very specific to the symptoms but if his BMs are soft but infrequent then I would have him check for anal fissures. If they are hard, then it probably is the formula.

A liquid magnesium in his formula will help, and you can add magnesium to your diet too...almost all constipation is a magnesium deficiency. If he was vaccinated, the aluminum in the vaccines will strip magnesium. Milk of magnesia is a liquid that I think you could get in infant form . Also other forms available too.