One Month Old, Not Constipated but Colon Is Full of Feces, Help Please.

Updated on December 14, 2010
L.M. asks from Porterville, CA
8 answers

My son is one month old (today). He is not constipated as he has regular bowel movements. He is on breast milk, no formula. His stomach is extremely hard, he is gasy, and he cries out in pain a lot. We went to the pediatrician on Friday and he told us he is a little colicky and ordered an x ray of his stomach to rule out any other issues. He also gave told us about Mylicon drops which after two days seemed to kick in and his gas has decreased A LOT. He is not as fussy and does not cry near as much as he was. I called about the x rays today and was told he has a lot of feces backed up in his colon and if he is still in pain and his stomach is still hard in 2 or 3 days then call and bring him in. My question is, have any other moms dealt with a compacted colon but not constipation? If you have was there anything you did to alleviate the pain for the baby? We have tried the massages, warm baths, bicycles, etc. for his stomach pains. I would love to give him some comfort immediately rather than waiting 2 or 3 three days until the doctor.

Once again, thanks Ladies!

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

It's totally normal with a lot of gas.

Reason being... gas creates cramps. The cramps and pain interfere with smooth muscle movement that propels poop down the shoot. So poop backs up in certain areas where the smooth muscle isn't doing it's job, but flows fine in other areas where the smooth muscle is working correctly. As the gas is lessened... so should the back up sort itself out. It nearly always does (hence the waiting a few days).

Another note on gas: Some babies need marathon burping. This means half and hour to an hour of burping after feeding. You'll get some decent burps in the beginning but then somewhere between 30-60 minutes later you'll get a dinosaur burp. Bwaaaarrrrr!! (I expect to see ripples in cups and an approaching Trex). For babies who suck down a lot of air... only some of it goes UP during "normal" burping sessions. The rest continues down into the intestines. Creating sooooo much pain.

My son was a "marathon burper". I read the entire 70 book Nero Wolfe series (quick reads), all of the Jean M Auel books, all of the Stephanie Plum books, and got halfway through the Amelia Peabody mysteries by the time my son didn't need to be burped anymore. (I'd never read mysteries before, but got on a real kick). Just tossed him over my shoulder in the rocking chair, held the book in the same hand as the baby, and patted with my other hand.

It was an accident that I found out he was one of those marathon burpers / sleep burpers. I'd fed him and started reading a book while burping to stay awake. It was at a "good" part, and when this MONSTER burp sounded in my ear (seriously... how DO they get that much air in there?) and I looked at the clock and realized it was an hour later. From then on, as long as I waited for the "round 2" burp... all of his gassiness and colickiness went away completely. But if hubby or nana was watching him... no matter how much I begged they'd only burp for 5-10 minutes tops... it came right back.

Anyhow... just thought I'd share "in case".

8 moms found this helpful
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D.W.

answers from Gainesville on

Why not call your doctor tomorrow and discuss this. You want to follow your pediatrician's advice on this one given that your son is only a month old and he is having bowel movements around the area that is impacted. This is not something that can be solved by us nor should any of us even try.

This is not the typical "my baby can't go" scenario where you will get advice about suppositories and putting a thermometer in the little one's rectum-NIETHER of which you should do without the recommendation of your pediatrician as you can very, very easily perforate his rectum.

Call your pediatrician in the morning and ask that the doctor call you back.

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T.A.

answers from Los Angeles on

Do try the chiropractor, as suggested in the other responses.

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J.D.

answers from Los Angeles on

My son had similar problems for his first four months. The doctor kept saying he was colicky. NOT. Went to another Pediatrician who knew exactly what it was and treated it, sphincterstenosis, a tight anus opening. Once he stretched a few times, my DS was fine.

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J.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

PB8 works miracles. I took it while breastfeeding AND if the baby became uncomfortable in his intestines, we'd open a capsule and give 1/4-1/2 capsule and then close it and save it for later. This probiotic rocks and I find it works better than any other one I've ever tried.

The other thing is chiropractic. My girlfriend took her 3 month old to her chiropractor and he hadn't pooped (Which I know is different than what you are experiencing, but all in the the same, since the bowels are not emptying.) for 5 days and immediately after a sacrum adjustment, he fell asleep and woke up 30 minutes later, still in the office, as mom was getting adjusted as well, and had poop up to his neck. He was totally regular after that adjustment. I got my first adjustment at 2 days old and all of my kids were checked right after birth.

www.icpa4kids.org to find a doc who adjusts kids and pregnant women.

Good luck.

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M.H.

answers from Atlanta on

Pediatricians and Naturopaths will both tell you prune juice is a quick, easy, safe fix. I gave prune juice to my daughter and my niece is using it with her 4 month old. It is tasty, full of fiber, and safe. I started with a 4 ounce bottle (full strength) daily and continued it for about a week. Mind you there will be an initial explosion but it will regulate itself. After the first week, we started gikving 2 ounces of prune juice to 2 or 3 ounces of water. Water is always good to keep things moving.

I recommended this to my sister in law and she didn't want to do it so she drank the prune juice and then nursed her little one......bad mistake. The baby got no benefit and Mama got diareah.....,lol.

You will see an almost immediate change in disposition after the first bowel movement....if he could talk he would thank you!

God bless,

M.

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A.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

There are a couple of things that spring to mind. First off, a chiropractic visit. Your son is not too young. Everything emanates off the spine and it could help very quickly. Reflexology is something you can do yourself. Reflexology is the art of gently applying pressure to points on the bottom of the feet. Try applying some light pressure to his heels. Here's a link to just one site. There are many. Just google "reflexology constipation"
http://www.healthynewage.com/reflex.html
Here's a link to a good article that might help
http://ezinearticles.com/?Relieving-Infant-Constipation-N...

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K.B.

answers from Tulsa on

Yes, we used the same drops as you. After becoming a toddler, we started using Miralax which helps a lot, but ask your doctor.
Also, we found prunes that are individually rapped. They are sweet and help my daughter go.

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