constipation 2 week old baby

Lefty

Mon, Mar 29 2010, 5:35 am

YESHASettler wrote:

Is she breast-fed or formula fed and what makes you think she's constipated?

She gets from both! I first breastfeed her for 30 mins. then formula.
she's kvetchy and puuuushing herself to poop

I'm the op, donno why I went annon!

Lefty

Mon, Mar 29 2010, 5:58 am

YESHASettler wrote:

Any reason why you're both BFing and using formula?

I would try breastfeeding only. It could be the formula is constipating her.

nu uh, breastfeeding only doesn't work for me! Could be its the formula that constipates her.

Is there no remedy for constipated infants?

BeershevaBubby

Mon, Mar 29 2010, 6:00 am

Lefty wrote:

YESHASettler wrote:

Any reason why you're both BFing and using formula?

I would try breastfeeding only. It could be the formula is constipating her.

nu uh, breastfeeding only doesn't work for me! Could be its the formula that constipates her.

Is there no remedy for constipated infants?

Sorry, but that's not a very helpful reason... is it you work and don't have the time to pump? Don't have enough supply?

If you're so set on using formula, try switching brands or types of formula. Also iron is a constipator.

Rodent

Wed, Mar 31 2010, 10:48 am

I don't think why formula is being used is all that relevant, it just is and that's what we're working with.

Is her tummy hard? Are you sure she's pushing to go? Constipation in a baby that age that is even partially breastfed isn't all that common. When she goes are they hard and pebble like or is it normal?

I personally wouldn't recommend switching formulas so suddenly, it is often not tolerated well and can cause more problems than it fixes. When a formula we used was taken off the kashrut list it took me a good 6 weeks to fully transition my 9 month old (we had several cans saved up) or he had stomach issues so I hesitate here.

I believe that there are some suppositories but at 2 weeks I would be really reluctant to do anything without medical advice. If it's gas (which it could be, wind pain is horrid and they may pull their legs up and try to push it out to pass it) then gas drops are your best bet, both in the bottle itself and when symptoms arise. Ask a rabbi about permissibility on Pesah. I'm not local to you so can't recommend brands. Make sure you are burping a few times in the middle of the feed and not just at the end also. You can also try massaging the tummy clockwise and pulling the legs up and moving them as if she were on a bicycle. A small amount of sugar water is supposed to work in a pinch (never tried myself) but again, 2 weeks is VERY young and I'm wary of recommending anything without you seeking some medical advice.

BeershevaBubby

Wed, Mar 31 2010, 11:55 am

The only reason why I'm asking is because I don't understand why it should be necessary at all. Is there a medical reason or is it a matter of 'I don't feel like waking up 6 times through the night so hubby takes a feeding or three'.

If only breast feeding can resolve the constipation, then that would be great.

cdawnr

Thu, Apr 01 2010, 8:18 am

So weird, I was about to write this very topic. Except my babe is 3 weeks old. Both my girls also had this problem but with 1st dd I moved and the change of water totally cleared up the problem. My other daughter developed a fissure in her tush at like 2 months--we switched her to Enfamil low iron and that helped.

I want to switch this babe to the low iron, but as far as I can see it is a Canadian thing...I am in Pennsylvania for Pesach and want to find a comparable formula here as my poor baby mow has mini-hemerroids, and I can see him straining so hard when he poops.

Does anyone know of a low iron formula here in the States?

BTW-Yesha, you pushing the question is unkind and unfair. Every mother on here has to make her own feeding choices and formula is NOT always a choice of too tired at night or working. I have done what LEfty is doing with nursing and formula because I do not produce enough milk. (This baby, however, refused to nurse so he is strictly formula.) I'm just pointing out that it is not fair to seek help for a situation and find oneself being hit with the litany of breast is best. We all have heard of it, we just can't all do it.

BeershevaBubby

Thu, Apr 01 2010, 8:25 am

Once again I was asking to find out if perhaps she can forgo the formula altogether.

Of course it could also be something she's eating that gets transfered to the breast milk that could be causing the constipation.

My asking was about eliminating things from the baby's diet to track down what is causing the issue... is it the breast milk or the formula? Or is it neither and is it something else completely.

4ofus

Thu, Apr 01 2010, 8:59 am

My baby had this problem for 3 months. The doctor said that his muscles weren't strong enough to push anything out but whenever I gave him prune juice it all came shooting out. I still don't know what the problem was but as soon as I switched him to formula with some solids at 4 months, the problem just disappeared.

cdawnr

Thu, Apr 01 2010, 9:39 am

Banana wrote:

I think that's my kids problem Sad

poor thing. Maybe I will try a drop of prune juice.

amother

Fri, Apr 02 2010, 11:03 am

amother wrote:

Is there anything over the counter for a 2 week old baby?? She's soooo painfully constipated.
regarding pesach or not. Does anyone know??? Before I call the doctor......

(Like mylicon for gas, ___________for constipation??

Give her water with a little bit of prune juice. My baby was terribly constipated and it worked wonders.

SavtaHelen

Tue, Apr 10 2012, 10:35 am

See your doctor. AFAIK a baby can't be constipated and each child has his own schedule. My son went once every 8 days and was very uncomfortable and squirmy that day until he went but the dr said all was normal. Don't give a baby laxatives or even prune juice until you consult your physician!

Chana Miriam S

Tue, Apr 10 2012, 1:29 pm

a fully breastfed baby cannot be constipated. as soon as you introduce anything to their diet other than breastmilk, constipation is possible. this is not a judgement on formula. it's basic biology of breastfeeding.

a breastfed baby who poops irregularly will still have soft, unformed poops, no matter how often it is that they poop.

so, like it or not, it probably is your choice to use formula regularly that is causing the problem .one way to avoid this problem would be to increase your milk supply by pumping every 2 hours and then feed the child expressed breast milk instead of formula. increasing a milk supply takes a few days or less if you are consistent about it and having the baby nurse in addition every two hours will also increase supply. I was told to nurse every time my baby's mouth opened, and it would be enough to increase for growth spurts. I found it to be true for me.

if you are not willing to do the relatively minimal (it sounds like work, but it really isn't bad) amount of work it takes to increase your milk supply so you can bottle feed breast milk instead of formula, then you should be discussing this with your doctor, not imamother.