Help me figure out why my baby isn't pooping!

[majazama]

Please comment if you have any ideas to get my baby to poop on his own, be it new agey, herbal, TCM, acupressure, whatever.

backstory (it's a pun, I see :P)
 I'm usually really good at taking care of the health of my kids.. they are super healthy in general. But my baby has been constipated for almost 4 weeks.. he has pooped, mind you, with glycerin suppositories, about 5 times within the four weeks. He does not seem to be in any pain or grumpy at all (he's quite a happy fellow in general), but still hasn't pooped for about 5 days since the last one. He grunts from time to time, but nothing comes out on it's own.

Yes, I took him to the doctor.. he told me that it's fine, and he didn't think that his bowel is obstructed. I don't really want to get him x-rayed because of the radiation, and the doctor agreed. He told me to give him milk of magnesia and benefibre? i haven't done so yet.

I have been giving him prune juice in a bottle, water, Bio-K (probiotics), and I try not to feed him bananas. I also let him eat apple, pear, and some other assorted veggies. and he breastfeeds mainly. Still, he doesn't poop. wtf???

so the last time he pooped on his own was almost 4 weeks ago when we arrived at my mom's house for a visit (after a long stressful drive in bad weather).

what do you think is going on? please help me figure it out. :)

[micah_mae_]

How old is he?

[Chamomile Girl]

Is he eating solids yet? I experienced the same issue when my son started solids, and I think that his issue was/is an intolerance to grains. So you could start by taking all grains out of his diet and seeing if that makes a difference. Dairy tends to be the other common. culprit.

Another thing is that apples actually can constipate (like bananas). I have found that actual dried prunes work better than prune juice (you can cut them up into small chunks that your baby can manage...only works if he has teeth.

Bio-K might not be the right kind of probiotics for a babe that small...I know Flora makes one for specifically infants. Has different strains of bacteria than Bio-K.

I don't have other good advice really because we never resolve it with our DS. We have had him on mirilax since he was 11 months old (he is 19 months now) and when he doesn't poop for a few days I use a glycerine suppository. Don't let him go too long without pooping...it can cause his colon to stretch out and that makes his poops uncomfortably large. Btdt...

The good news here is that now that he is potty training he is having no problem pooping in the potty. He still has trouble going in a diaper though. Strange.

Sorry this is all over the place with strange punctuation...my kid is making me today.

[majazama]

Originally Posted by micah_mae_ 

How old is he?

7 months

[dejagerw]

Are you sure he's constipated? Or is he just not going? Is he breastfed? Breastfed babies can go very long in between poos and its normal. Breast milk is just very well digested and doesn't produce a lot of waste. My son would go 10 days without pooping, but he was never constipated. Constipation is when the poo come out like hard pellets. Just because he's grunting doesn't necessarily mean it hurts. He's just getting things going.

[Snapdragon]

when my ds was 7 months he was very constipated for a period of 6 wks or more. what cured it for us was regularly giving him apple juice mixed with water- as much as he would drink throughout the days. He has not been constipated since and we still give him juice water.

[majazama]

Originally Posted by dejagerw 

Are you sure he's constipated? Or is he just not going? Is he breastfed? Breastfed babies can go very long in between poos and its normal. Breast milk is just very well digested and doesn't produce a lot of waste. My son would go 10 days without pooping, but he was never constipated. Constipation is when the poo come out like hard pellets. Just because he's grunting doesn't necessarily mean it hurts. He's just getting things going.

yes, he's breastfed almost exclusively.. but still eats food at least once a day. His poop was not hard pellets when he did go with the suppositories.. it's just weird because he was pooping normally every day up until that day we arrived at my moms house.

[majazama]

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl 

Is he eating solids yet? I experienced the same issue when my son started solids, and I think that his issue was/is an intolerance to grains. So you could start by taking all grains out of his diet and seeing if that makes a difference. Dairy tends to be the other common. culprit.

Another thing is that apples actually can constipate (like bananas). I have found that actual dried prunes work better than prune juice (you can cut them up into small chunks that your baby can manage...only works if he has teeth.

Bio-K might not be the right kind of probiotics for a babe that small...I know Flora makes one for specifically infants. Has different strains of bacteria than Bio-K.

I don't have other good advice really because we never resolve it with our DS. We have had him on mirilax since he was 11 months old (he is 19 months now) and when he doesn't poop for a few days I use a glycerine suppository. Don't let him go too long without pooping...it can cause his colon to stretch out and that makes his poops uncomfortably large. Btdt...

The good news here is that now that he is potty training he is having no problem pooping in the potty. He still has trouble going in a diaper though. Strange.

Sorry this is all over the place with strange punctuation...my kid is making me today.

Bio-K is all I can get for fast acting probiotics (I'm in canada) . I know that it might not be the right strains for a baby, but it's still beneficial.. I just think of all the stuff that babies drink in formula and still are relatively healthy.. adult probiotics are probably better than none at all.

Good idea about the dried prunes.. I will get some in town tomorrow.
 

[Knitting Mama]

Originally Posted by majazama 

yes, he's breastfed almost exclusively.. but still eats food at least once a day. His poop was not hard pellets when he did go with the suppositories.. it's just weird because he was pooping normally every day up until that day we arrived at my moms house.

He isn't really constipated, then. I wouldn't stress it, mama, unless he's getting upset and uncomfortable. Chances are, it's not that there's poop "stuck" in there, it's that there just isn't any that needs to come out. 

[sere234]

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama 

He isn't really constipated, then. I wouldn't stress it, mama, unless he's getting upset and uncomfortable. Chances are, it's not that there's poop "stuck" in there, it's that there just isn't any that needs to come out. 

Seriously? My niece (7 mo, some solids, mostly breastmilk) has this issue too and only poops every few days at the most. Where the heck does all that food go then? She doesn't mind it either....
 

[Greenlea]

My DS, although only 3 mths old, wasn't pooping everyday.  I believe, regardless of the whole EBF "myth" that they won't need to go everyday, that it is healthy for them to go more often than not.  I wasn't worried about it too much though cuz it was maybe once every 3 days.  Well my pediatrician, at his 3mth well baby visit, said his neck was a bit stiff.  So she did an adjustment & got him to relax his neck muscles.  She says there's the vega nerve in there that controls pooping, to explain it in lamest terms.  Since she's done the adjustment, he's been pooping everyday.  Maybe try taking your babe to a chiropractor to get an adjustment (and by adjustment I don't mean bone cracking stuff, she basically did a massage).  Going 4 weeks without pooping doesn't sound right, breastfed or not.

[dejagerw]

Originally Posted by Greenlea 

My DS, although only 3 mths old, wasn't pooping everyday.  I believe, regardless of the whole EBF "myth" that they won't need to go everyday, that it is healthy for them to go more often than not.  I wasn't worried about it too much though cuz it was maybe once every 3 days.  Well my pediatrician, at his 3mth well baby visit, said his neck was a bit stiff.  So she did an adjustment & got him to relax his neck muscles.  She says there's the vega nerve in there that controls pooping, to explain it in lamest terms.  Since she's done the adjustment, he's been pooping everyday.  Maybe try taking your babe to a chiropractor to get an adjustment (and by adjustment I don't mean bone cracking stuff, she basically did a massage).  Going 4 weeks without pooping doesn't sound right, breastfed or not.

I don't think the OP said her LO didn't poop for 4 weeks. It was only 5 days since the last poop.  The infrequent pooping has been going on for 4 weeks. Yes, 4 weeks is too long to go without pooping, but 5 days is not a big deal when most of the nutrition is coming from breast milk. (Which it sounds like this is the case). Breast milk is just so well digested it doesn't make a lot of solid waste. The waste mostly comes out as urine. While I don't see anything necessarily wrong with chiropractic care, I think that's a lot different than trying to force a baby to poop using chemical and artificial means (i.e suppositories, etc.). There's really no need to force your LO to go poo, they will go eventually. (now if OP's baby was actually constipated, then by all means try to get things fixed.) But I honestly wouldn't worry about it too much. I find its best trying not to worry too much about what we can't control (or shouldn't control, and I think baby's elimination patterns is one of them.)
 

[HappyMommy2]

Originally Posted by dejagerw 

Are you sure he's constipated? Or is he just not going? Is he breastfed? Breastfed babies can go very long in between poos and its normal. Breast milk is just very well digested and doesn't produce a lot of waste. My son would go 10 days without pooping, but he was never constipated. Constipation is when the poo come out like hard pellets. Just because he's grunting doesn't necessarily mean it hurts. He's just getting things going.

ITA

[Knitting Mama]

Originally Posted by sere234 

Seriously? My niece (7 mo, some solids, mostly breastmilk) has this issue too and only poops every few days at the most. Where the heck does all that food go then? She doesn't mind it either....
 

It'll come out when it's ready. Remember, their little bodies are still learning what to do with solid food, and it might take a little extra percolating time, if you know what I mean! As long as it's not pellety when it does come out, it's all good.

[majazama]

so big news around here.. he pooped! I gave him a good massage, all along the spine and his belly too.. and I pressed an acupressure point on his hand that my friend rec. to me to "release". He pooped within the hour.It was not hard lumps and it was yellowy like His poops used to be before. I'm so relived (and he must be too!)

I think that maybe what happened was probably a pinched nerve as someone had mentioned... he fell off of the couch that one day.. I think I will take him to my chiro.. I love chiros! thanks so much ladies for your ideas :)