1St Time Parents Need Help with 6 Week Old Feeding Problems

Hi J.! The first thing I would do is look for a different pediatrician. I have four kids (9, 7, 1 & 3 months) and I have NEVER heard of giving an infant prune juice! I went through 4 pediatricians over the years and finally found one I LOVE. We live in North Phoenix and the office is called Desert Sun Pediatrics, Dr. Horlick or Dr. Patel are amazing and their number is ###-###-####. If that is too far for you to drive, I would ask other moms/neighbors/church members around you for a new pediatrician. One thing I have learned is you have to be your child's advocate and be persistent in finding out what is going on with their health. If a doctor's advice doesn't sound right to you, trust your instincts, like you are doing right now by asking us!!! Good job mom :)

You should try giving your son some baby probiotics. They replace the good bacteria of the digestive tract helping the body to properly dispose of waste. You can buy them at most healthfood stores. Sprouts has a lot to choose from. It is a powder you just mix with your sons formula. My sons bowels were messed up when he was small because of antibiotics and the probiotics really helped him. They might take a few days to start working so don't give up if they don't work the first time you give them to him. Hope this helps.

WE went through the same thing with my youngest son. I would contact a GI doctor. We go to Phoenix Childrens Hospital GI. My son was diagnosed with acide reflux and has problems going number two as well so they put him on prevacid and a stool softner. He is now 6 months and I only have to use the stool softner every so often. It was used everyday in the beginning though becasue he eventually got use to the prune and apple juice and karo syrup we put in his bottle. It has all been really hard for me to give him because he is so young. But, now that he is regular and his reflux is under control he is a different baby. Good Luck.

I just read the other posts do not every give your baby under 6 months extra water. It will flush the sodium out of their kidneys which is not a good thing. Even until they are 1 it is better they get their water from breastmilk or formula. Honestly talk to your doctor about everything you have read here and see what they think. We have been to many doctors as well and he had an upper gi so this is something we have been struggling with to see if we had another option other then medicine for him and so far we have not.

Hi J.,

With all due respect to these caring moms, be very careful about any advice to medicate your six week old baby, give him any juices, including GoChi and prune juice, and assume he has a disease.

My first question is: what do you normally feed your son? You said "recently...." When did you first notice changes, and what if anything was changed about his diet? The simplest way to deal with bowel changes in a baby is to examine what he is eating and what you are eating, if you are breastfeeding, which I hope you are. Breast milk can prevent the development of most of the allergies we see in children. If you are eating allergenic foods (watch for peanuts, too much citrus, any cow's milk products, nuts, eggs, wheat etc.), you may have to go on an "elimination diet" for a few weeks to figure out what he is reacting to.

If he is formula fed, it is likely he is not digesting something in the formula. Cow's milk is the number one suspect, but children also react to soy, so you'll have to do some investigating. Certain bottles allow too much air to get into his tummy, which can cause pain for him. You might have to experiment with different bottles and nipples. Playtex has one that is a bag you can push all the air out of before feeding, and the nipples have valves so they require more effort to suck, which is beneficial for baby.

Remember that what comes out reflects what goes in. He most likely doesn't have a disease; he has a perfectly healthy body and immune system that is reacting perfectly normally to something he shouldn't be consuming. If you have ruled this out, THEN start thinking about more drastic measures.

Prune juice is too strong for infants. Even watered down, it provides too much sugar for his system and can set him up for candida. Feel free to e-mail me privately if you need to talk further. In the meantime, put your investigator's hat on and start peeling away all the possibilities; I'm certain you will find your answer.

All the best,
S. Waltner
childbirth educator and
post-partum doula

Hi there, you might try a drop or two of mineral oil in his bottle. I'm a daycare provider and that was recommened for a little girl I watched by her doctor. We did that for a few weeks and it seemed to resolve the problem. We only did this once a day and the amount can be adjusted as needed to get the desired softness. Good Luck.

hi J.!
i hope you don't give him straight prune juice, you need to water it down. also try giving your baby more water. do you breast feed him! and if you do you can't eat chocolate.

good luck!!! L.

Hi J.,
My daughter had some digestion issues at 6 weeks as well ...she went 12days without pooping. We took her to Pediatrician and they sent us to a pediatric digestion specialist in Mesa. Sorry, can't remember his name . There are many problems infants can have it is best to get it figured out ASAP. I am assuming your son is still breast milk or formula so he definately shouldn't have super thick BM. Just pressure your pediatrician for better help....better to be an annoying mom than miss a problem that could have been delt with early on . Good Luck ! -O.

(mom of 7 yr old daughter and twin g/b 4yr olds)

I hear a lot of panic here...

My daughter had the same issue because I gave her soy formula. She was constipated and had difficult stools. I put little amounts of prune juice in her formula, tried acid reflux meds twice and then she just stopped screaming about it and grew out of it.

I disagree with whoever said they'd never heard of prune juice for an infant. My pediatrician told me to try it as did the GI doctor I consulted with.

Babies, I discovered, have daily changes as their little bodies grow and it could be a number of things and as you start trying different things, they grow out of it, unless your pediatrician does not see improvement and refers otherwise.

Get a second opinion if you feel he/she is not giving you enough attention. It could also just be the inexplicable colic.

Good luck!

It sounds like your son is allergic or sensitive to his milk. If you are breastfeeding, you may have to adjust your diet. The most common problem is milk. Try cutting out all dairy from your diet. That worked wonders with my children who had the same problem and worse. If you are using formula, maybe another formula would be better. Make sure it has natural ingredients... If this doesn't help and the prune juice is the only thing that seems to make a difference, I am thinking that as he gets older, this will clear up without the prune juice. I have 4 children with lots of allergies and unfortunately, doctors haven't been a help to me. I had to do a lot of "investigating" on my own to figure out what they were reacting too etc. Homeopathics and nutritionists have helped me more than my doctor. You can also search online under food sensitivities and food allergies in babies. Just some ideas! Good luck!

To me this sounds alot like G.E.R.D. Gastroesophageal reflux disease. GERD is commonly clinically referred to as acid reflux disease.

What Are the Symptoms of GERD in Infants and Children?

The most common symptoms are:

Frequent or recurrent vomiting
Frequent or persistent cough
Heartburn, gas, abdominal pain, or colicky behavior (frequent crying and fussiness)
Regurgitation and re-swallowing

Your stomach is filled with acid. Its purpose is to help digest the food you eat. Believe it or not, this acid is the same acidity as battery acid. Your stomach is built to handle the acid it produces. However, your esophagus isn’t. So when acid backs up into your esophagus, it can cause the burning sensation known as heartburn.

Almost everyone has occasional heartburn. But if these symptoms occur two or more days a week for at least three months, you may have GERD, or acid reflux disease. Acid reflux occurs when the lower esophageal sphincter (the valve separating the esophagus and stomach) does not close properly, allowing acid to back up into the esophagus.

GERD is a chronic condition and may lead to more serious medical conditions, but is treatable.

My youngest daughter has this, she has had it since birth.I cant even tell you how many Dr's I took her to telling them how she screamed and cryed all day long. Many Dr's told me she had colic, it would go away. She stopped gaining weight and by the time she was 2 she fianlly got to the point where she refused to eat, she was litterly afraid of food. After probably 15 pedatricians I finally found a pedatrician who listned to me, she refered us to DR. Patterson an AWSOME gastroenternologist in Phoenix who put her on prevacid. She started eating regularly and gaining weight after only about 2 weeks of being on it. She is now 4 and has been on medication to controll it for the past 2 years. She is now almost 33 pounds!!

ASK YOUR PEDATRICIAN ABOUT GERD. good luck

J.,
I am a Himalayan GoChi juice representitive and I also do home daycare. I have a 10 week old baby I watch with reflux and bowel issues, we started her on GoChi this week and already have seen amazing results. We give her 2ml in two bottles a day so it is very inexpensive for her and she is doing great. She isn't crampy and she is having daily bowel movements and the reflux has seemed to go away. It is just an idea I can't make any promises but it is a natural healthy choice to make. My company offers a 90 day money back guarentee.
Feel Free to contact me with any questions
B. Garcia
barbgarcia.com
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Himalayan GoChi Juice Representitive