newborn struggles!

Synyster Shadow

My son is just over a week old and is now starting to struggle when it comes to pooping
I've been doing the massages and playing with his legs and all that stuff thats advised but its only worked once for me and now back to no poop!
I can see its getting him upset as normally he rarely cried until this problem arose, has anyone else had this? what did ye do to help?

When he gets distressed it takes some time to settle him and its disturbing his sleep. Just dont want to go to the out of hours doctor if there's something I can do to help him. Of course if I cant settle him I will take him

cyning

I had this from the time my little girl was born too

To help them go (and I was advised no water by my phn and gp at this stage brcause she was too young) lots of tummy time used help a little: lying on her belly to encourage things along: only when she was on me I would never have laid her on belly in Moses basket etc. Baby massage: rubbing her belly downwards and circling her belly too to encourage bowels: there are videos on YouTube to show you. A warm bath can help encourage things too. Oh and cycling their legs will help as well.

I know it's so hard to watch them struggle with poos when they are so small

Synyster Shadow

yea its at the point I'd near cry with him. I tried a warm bath tonight but no joy. He can fart no bother just not poop and he cries when he farts most the time. the massaging is falling flat its near 48 hours now and the first time he got it out after 24 so its worse rather than better. am convinced his gums are at him even though sounds mad but he chews his fists or whatever comes near his mouth and you can see where the teeth are gonna come up. Course been that young there's nothing I can give him

Not enjoying watching the bad parts happen

cyning

We had that too: if you ring the out of hours doc here you can speak to a nurse might be worth doing in the morn if there's still no poo?

C would cry and cry uncontrollably (and I was right there with her) because she was so miserable with it so I totally get the bad parts I also found a sling great: her being upright would help get things moving and being close helped stave off some of the crying.

It might be the comfort of chewing: I know when she used try poo nothing only me (I was breast feeding) or her dody would do. The only way she pooed for the first few months was sucking or chewing on something.

yellow hen

cyning wrote: »

We had that too: if you ring the out of hours doc here you can speak to a nurse might be worth doing in the morn if there's still no poo?

C would cry and cry uncontrollably (and I was right there with her) because she was so miserable with it so I totally get the bad parts I also found a sling great: her being upright would help get things moving and being close helped stave off some of the crying.

It might be the comfort of chewing: I know when she used try poo nothing only me (I was breast feeding) or her dody would do. The only way she pooed for the first few months was sucking or chewing on something.

Is he too young for sugar and brown water? We had this problem although not until 4 weeks old. He used to Jill himself trying to have poo that was only the size of a pea. It was truly horrible to watch do I sympathise with you ss. If the phn nurse says its ok, put a 1/4 spoon of sugar into an oz of cool boiled water. It will have the desired effect within 24 hours.

cyning

yellow hen wrote: »

Is he too young for sugar and brown water? We had this problem although not until 4 weeks old. He used to Jill himself trying to have poo that was only the size of a pea. It was truly horrible to watch do I sympathise with you ss. If the phn nurse says its ok, put a 1/4 spoon of sugar into an oz of cool boiled water. It will have the desired effect within 24 hours.

It will all depend on doc you're talking to: mine were adamant she was too young at that stage to consider it: was in a&e at 4 weeks where a nurse gave out to me for not giving it to her. Then the doc there told me not to give it either: I'd err on the side of caution and not give it unless your doc gives the ok: esp at only a week old.

It's so so horrible to see them so upset: hope your lo is doing better too YH.

Synyster Shadow

I'm hoping the chewing is due to frustration of not been able to go poo. Im thinking in the morning I'll ring the out of hours doc specially if there is still no movement. I'm cautious of the sugar and water Im afraid I could do damage to his lil tummy. He seems too young for anything specially the pain he has at the min

Will see how tonight goes fingers crossed tomorrow changes that

yellow hen

Synyster Shadow wrote: »

I'm hoping the chewing is due to frustration of not been able to go poo. Im thinking in the morning I'll ring the out of hours doc specially if there is still no movement. I'm cautious of the sugar and water Im afraid I could do damage to his lil tummy. He seems too young for anything specially the pain he has at the min

Will see how tonight goes fingers crossed tomorrow changes that

The rotunda had a one pager about how to deal with constipation in newborns but I can't find it right now. The guidelines were for babies under one month with no minimum age. They recommended the brown sugar and water. I imagine that its better for them than the pain building in their little bowels. Maybe just give him a hand ounce if water on bits own tomorrow. Good luck, hope you get it sorted soon.

Gee_G

There is a lot of different opinions on giving baby water so young. My PHN said it was ok so I found a little bottle of cooled boiled water throughout the day did help with constipation. But as everyone said above, speak with your doctor. Also, try putting vaseline on his bum and just in around the edge(if that makes sense ) can also sometimes help, can make it easier on them to get it out.

Synyster Shadow

Well for now I have a happy baby on my hands with no crying at all as 6 am he finally got it out. But that said tomorrow will prob be back to the crying fingers crossed he won't. He really is an angel when he can poo!! :-)

Thanks for all the comments am sure I'll be back again at some point for more advice

cyning

Synyster Shadow wrote: »

Well for now I have a happy baby on my hands with no crying at all as 6 am he finally got it out. But that said tomorrow will prob be back to the crying fingers crossed he won't. He really is an angel when he can poo!! :-)

Thanks for all the comments am sure I'll be back again at some point for more advice

That's great

If you're breast feeding, try eating cabbage or oranges. If not, I'd try the sugar and water. Also don't be afraid to ring the out of hours doctor. The nurse on duty can be very helpful. If it goes on too long, half a teaspoon of liquid parrafin is great! (It's also great for cradle cap)

Rabidlamb

On our 3rd & we always used half a tea spoon of brown sugar with 3 ounces of boiled water.
Cool it in the fridge, the baby might take an ounce max anyway but it always did the trick.

Synyster Shadow

Thinkin I might have one made up for later if he becomes unsettled again later. Determined to keep him happy

elly123

Hey SS I'm having this problem with my little man aswel. First 4 days in hosp he went no prob 3-4 times a day. When we came home he didnt go for 3 days and its been like that since. We've tried the cycling legs, massaging the tummy, the cooled boiled water with sugar, cooled boiled water on its own the sugar and water helped between 1-2 weeks bt he's a month old today and nothing seems to work. Like your little man he has no prob farting but is only pooing 2 times a week and you can see in him when he's trying to go. He goes purple trying to push and nothing! We've put him on cow and gate comfort and that hasn't helped his constipation either. It's very frustrating as PHN, gp and hosp midwife have all said its normal for him to only go twice a week but for me seeing him go purple and screaming is not normal. I'm hoping it will sort itself out but if not I'll be mentioning it again to gp at 6 wk check up. If you find a magic cure please let me know because when he does eventually go the releif on his little face is unbelievable.

cyning

Elly we were like that with poos too: and in our case there was an underlying cause (nothing serious). I'd go back to your GP again: it's not right for them to be in that much pain pooing

Synyster Shadow

well PHN was here again today and Jack will be 2 weeks thursday, while she was here Jack had one of his screaming and farting episodes and she asked why I said he cant poop and she said try 4 ounces of water and only 3 scoops a few feeds a day then the rest of them normal bottles and said an ounce of water every so often and only if they dont work try the pinch of sugar in water as they get used to the sweetness and there bowl gets lazy! I'm gonna see how this all goes over the next 24 hours goin mad watching him scream and his mouth quiver and the lil tears

yellow hen

Synyster Shadow wrote: »

well PHN was here again today and Jack will be 2 weeks thursday, while she was here Jack had one of his screaming and farting episodes and she asked why I said he cant poop and she said try 4 ounces of water and only 3 scoops a few feeds a day then the rest of them normal bottles and said an ounce of water every so often and only if they dont work try the pinch of sugar in water as they get used to the sweetness and there bowl gets lazy! I'm gonna see how this all goes over the next 24 hours goin mad watching him scream and his mouth quiver and the lil tears

Ss we went through all this too. Honestly the bit of water does wonders. Fingers crossed for you.

Synyster Shadow

Well it's every 3 days now that Jack poops and tried water and water with sugar and baths and 4 ounces of water to 3 scoops and all that but not working so changed his food to aptimil comfort but he seems to be hungrier with it. He was sleeping for 3-4 hours between feeds now it's 1 and half to 2 hours. And he drinks the same amount each time. Wondering if I should get him the hungrier baby for his night feeds or is he too young yet he's 3 weeks Thursday. He's 24 hours on this formula and no poop bless him he is tryin which is gettin harder to watch. So stressful

cyning

I used give 1 bottle a day and phn suggested trying comfort in case that was our issue: she said it could take up to 72 hours to kick in so I'd stick with it for a few days. I know it's awful when they are trying to poo

Gee_G

Synyster Shadow wrote: »

Well it's every 3 days now that Jack poops and tried water and water with sugar and baths and 4 ounces of water to 3 scoops and all that but not working so changed his food to aptimil comfort but he seems to be hungrier with it. He was sleeping for 3-4 hours between feeds now it's 1 and half to 2 hours. And he drinks the same amount each time. Wondering if I should get him the hungrier baby for his night feeds or is he too young yet he's 3 weeks Thursday. He's 24 hours on this formula and no poop bless him he is tryin which is gettin harder to watch. So stressful

Hi,
what about changing to a different brand of formula? I always used Aptamil but a friend changed her baby at 3 or 4 weeks old to SMA because her little one was having an awful time trying to go to the toilet. She had also tried everything and since she changed,her little one has a dirty nappy at least eVery day.

They also don't recommend mixing the different Aptamil(1 and 2,1 and comfort etc) I rang their helpline a couple of months ago for my little man and they said not to mix them as they digest at different rates and can mess with babies system.

Hope your LO gets some relief soon. Its tough seeing them like that.

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I would the cycling a young babies legs. It can damage their hips if done too much.

We used sugar water with junior who was breast fed when he had colic. Worked wonders.

Synyster Shadow

cyning- I hope the next 48 hours go well so

GG- I had him on sma from birth so aptimal is my back up

tatranska- he doesnt like his legs been messed with like that but he'll let me put them up towards his tummy

elly123

Synyster Shadow wrote: »

cyning- I hope the next 48 hours go well so

GG- I had him on sma from birth so aptimal is my back up

tatranska- he doesnt like his legs been messed with like that but he'll let me put them up towards his tummy

SS my little man sounds like yours. We have tried everything and nothing has helped, we were using aptimal, then we used the hungry baby food, but it gave him bad wind, we now have him in the cow & gate comfort which he seems to enjoy but still not helping him poo. He's not constipated because when he does go its soft, but you can still tell he try's to go every day as he clenches his whole body up and screams. He sometimes crys farting aswel. I rang PHN last wk and she said its completely normal that he only goes twice a week.
It's heartbreaking watching him screaming and trying to go.

pwurple

Mine had 4 weeks of that, wasn't constipated, but cried when doing dirty nappies, she clenched up and got very upset. I had an idea that it didn't seem right, brought her to the GP when I was going along for something else. She had a quick look and said there was a tiny little tear on the inside. Some prescription cream for 2 days healed it up. Can't remember what type of cream, possibly a steroid or something.

cyning

C always had soft poos too: it doesn't mean they aren't constipated. Its obviously much more unusual but not unheard of. In our case it was because she had high calcium levels. If your not happy go back to doc or get a second opinion. Constipation is so awful for babies

elly123

cyning wrote: »

C always had soft poos too: it doesn't mean they aren't constipated. Its obviously much more unusual but not unheard of. In our case it was because she had high calcium levels. If your not happy go back to doc or get a second opinion. Constipation is so awful for babies

Thanks cyning. I rang the PHN and she said to me he's not constipated if its soft I was like why is he screaming and trying to push. I found her a bit dismissive, she asked his age and he'll be 6 wks on Friday so she said well your back with your gp for check up so say it to him and get him to weigh him. It was like she was pawning me off and wanting the gp to deal with it. She said he might have wind to try infacol or coleif told her I know when he has wind and that I've been using infacol but stopped as he doesn't take as much of the bottle if we give him infacol. So she told me to try colief. I know it's not wind because wife. It's wind he straightens out and arches the back, with this he clenches up. Hopefully will get to the bottom of it on Friday!

Synyster Shadow

Well the lil guy is now gone from pooping every 3 days down to 2 since I switched him to aptamil. Only thing is I find it weird compared to sma. It's strange texture when mixed in bottle or is it all in my head

yellow hen

Synyster Shadow wrote: »

Well the lil guy is now gone from pooping every 3 days down to 2 since I switched him to aptamil. Only thing is I find it weird compared to sma. It's strange texture when mixed in bottle or is it all in my head

Not sure on the texture ss as I only used aptimil. I would say that you should add an extra 10mls water to each bottle. Our doc told us to do this and the extra fluid has him going twice every two days now and with relative ease too!

cyning

Not in your head at all: the comfort is a thicker texture then regular formula. Hopefully another few days will help even more I have fingers crossed for ye

Synyster Shadow

Well lil man still hasn't improved iv tried all the required things to try and change of food water all that but no good today he is really bad screaming and pushing and not wanting to drink much of his bottle so I went to chemist and they recommended soy milk so tryin that and goin to my gp Tuesday to talk to them if it gets worse in mean time I'll go to out of hours surgery. So hard not to cry when he is in pain and nothin I can do he must feel I don't want to help him it's awful