7 Mo Old Only Has 1 BM a Week - Whats Going On?

My son had the same problem. He is 4 months old now. He was breastfeeding and getting a little bit of formula when what I pumped at work wasn't enough. My doctor told me not to worry because when he did have a bm is was not hard, it was soft, so he was not constipated. I did increase his formula gradually, so now he's no longer breastfed, but he has a bm everyday, sometimes twice. Try a formula that is designed to help reduce gas, like enfamil gentlease or nutramigen. I was all about only organic formula, but unfortunatly, my son has a bit of a milk allergy, and there arent any other choices for organic, but the Nutramigen works very well for him. My doctor also told me that soy formula sometimes gets them a little backed up, so that might be it too.

My son was the same. I agree with all the mom's about the breastmilk thing. My pediatrician said its normal to go 2 weeks without a BM. My son would go just about that. Now that he eats solids he goes 1-2 times a day. So just enjoy not having to change poopy diapers it will change :)

i wouldn't worry too much about it, but you could try feeding him prunes 1-2 times a day and see if that helps. maybe he just needs a jump start on his BMs. stay away from apple juice, applesauce, and corn for a little while. sweet potatoes might help also. i would also feed him solids (along with rice cereal) 2-3 times a day. hope that helps!!

I had the same problem with my first child. I did the karo syrup, but found that to give her really bad gas and it bloated her more than helped. I found that I would feed her rice cereal mixed with apple juice twice a day and that did the trick without giving her any additional pain. More than anything you have to remember that every kid is different. What works for one, may not work for yours. So make sure you don't hang on any one person's words...even mine. If it works great, GREAT! If your baby's happy then I would just leave well enough alone! Hope everything works out.

I would really consider asking your doctor about using some muralax. it is a powdery substance like a laxitive, one bm a week is not norm, or somthing else. or even try karo syurp in his formula, the iron in the formula will constipate

when my son was 2 weeks i had the same probmle. i tryed everthing karo, sugarwater,warm bathes, i didn't do the themomather instead i used a cutip with vasoline on it, i put soapy water on his bottom,gas drops,the docoter told me to give him apple jucies so i gave him 4oz and it didnt do nothing so i gave him apple/prune jucies and it didnt do anything. everything no kidding but all it was was his milk. he was on good start and i had to change it to simalc latoese free. now is 3or4 times a day. my mom told me it should be after every bottle but im fine with 3or4 times a day. i dont know if it helps but thats what i did

Hello. This is my first visit to this site and first response to anything. If he is acting normal, no malaise, fevers, vomiting black gooey substance (can indicate bowel obstruction) then go with your pedo's thoughts. My little dude was breastfed and he pooped a lot. Other momma's that I knew at the time had munchkins that were like yours and didn't go a lot. Don't just try 'home remedies' because it's new. Introduction of sugars in an infants diet might lead to more pooping, but what might it also do to his natural sugar levels and processing abilities? You can try belly massage. I can walk you through that if you're interested.

-Kell

My daughter is 8 months and wa only having a BM everyother day. The doctor said not to worry but I started giving her prune, plums or pears baby food on her off days and I think they make her have a BM. I'm told they use those fruits for constipation. That might help, however if your baby and your doctor are ok with how things are maybe you should try not to be worried ( I know that is eaier said than done)

I agree with the moms about breastfed babies. I also have a son that was breastfed and had few stools. My lactation consultant told me that is was perfectly normal for them to either have bowel movements after every diaper or not to go at all for days. IF you have a really good diet that is prolly why he is not going as often. He is useing/digesting all that milk completely. So he has less wast to worry about. Once you introduce more solids he will become more regular also if you alternate fruit and veggies. When i introuduced veggies my son started to become more regular. Do not worry unless he seems in pain or has hard stools.

My daughter had the same problem at about that age and our pediatrician suggested karo syrup. We put about 1 1/2 tsp of it in her morning bottle and it kept her regular at 1 bm a day.

Hi A.! I'm H. & I have a 5 month old with close to the same problem. Her dr said that if she's not straining & not having hard peanut sized bowel movements then not to worry. However, a nurse @ Blank Childrens Hospital advised me to have her sit in warm baths everyday & to give her watered down juice just so she stays more regular. Sometimes if she hasn't had a bowel movement in a couple of days we insert a rectal thermometer which does the trick every time. It just gets her to go & that gives me peace of mind. Isn't it funny the things moms have to worry about? Good Luck! H. S =)

That could be normal for him. My son goes about twice a week and he is 5. That is just his norm. If he gets cranky, then i'd worry and try prune juice or more water. good luck!

My 2 yr old daughter is the same way. There is no explainations for it. Some things that have helped her is warm baths, or 1/2 jar of prunes. I wouldnt worry about it because my daughter has cousins who had that problem too, but have out grewn it. I hope this helps.

That is great! Breastfed babies do not need to have as many stools as formula fed babies because they utilize the nutrition so much better. The only time to worry is if they have hard stools, bloody stools, or are straining. If you are worried, you can always give him some baby prunes.

Don't worry until your child shows signs of pain. Such as hard and I mean HARD bowels or pebble like. It's normal, if he is on a mostly liquid diet, it will be mostly liquid coming out!

A.,
I don't think I can really tell you not to worry because that's what us moms do when it comes to our children. Try giving him apple prune juice, water, and I had even put karo syrup in my girls' formula because they had problems with BM. Just keep an eye on him, if it doesn't seem to bother him or harm him he is more then likely going to be okay. Make sure you tell his ped. the next time he has an appt. just to make sure.

The ped says that this is supposed to be normal. I know how weird. My ped for my children told me this is not uncommon for the little babys to only have one in a week. So if he is having two a week then you are lucky! I think this problem occurs because their little systems are just starting to get used to everything. If you have not tried yet and I would ask your ped for sure on how much to give him. Give him juice, I gave my daughter 2 oz when she was four months old of juice. For some reason to not go over 4 oz? I do not know why. Since, your little one is 7 months I would give him 3.5 oz of apple juice or pear juice. I would make sure to ask your ped first. Do not give him orange juice, since their so much acid in it, it is bad for the little ones. I just recently started giving my 15 month old orange juice. Also, make sure you are giving him 2-3 servings of fruits a day. I buy the applesause in the big containor rather than buying the baby ones. Also, make sure you are giving him the veg's at least 2 servings a day. Something that really helped me with my kids were the prunes, green beans, sweet potatoes, they seemed to love these! If he has a problem with a bm try some prunes and you do not have to wait to long for the bm then. Another then too they told me to do was a warm bath helped it when they soaked, and also if you put the them. up the bottom thing. It is not the most fun thing in the world, but it gets the job done. These are all things that worked for me and I hope they work for you. I wish you luck with whatever you decide! C.!

Hello A.,I think a bowel movement once or twice a week is a little odd. Try giving him a very small amount of juice or fruit a day...not to much he is still little. If that doesnt work...Im not sure what to do. I have two boys myself. But I had problems with Lactose Intolerant. However, if the doctor said its okay then I guess I wouldnt worry to much. Doctors know best. Hope I can help:)

A.,

When my daughter was little and we went from breast feeding to formula I had to give her a couple formula bottles a day with dark karo to keep her from becoming constipated. It was just a tsp. every couple of formula bottles. You may ask your doctor, but it always did the trick. Good Luck!

L.

A.
I don't think that you need to worry! As long as it doesn't seem to be bothering him...but when he seems to be bothered by it that is the time to do something! If it would makt you feel better he is old enough to have some prun juice maybe that will help make you feel better.
A.

I wouldn't worry--my daughter did the exact same thing when she was 6 mos old. She went from several a day to one every 5-7 days. I called the doctor, who told me as long as they're not having painful BMs, not to worry about it. If he is straining, stay away from bananas and give him pears, prunes, high fiber fruits. Hope that helps!

I think you have nothing to worry about. As long as he is not straining and it is not hard when it comes out, he is fine. There is no reason you have to give your baby juice when he is so young. Each baby has their own schedule. My baby right now goes about once a week- he doesn't strain and it isn't hard- so I'm not worried. My last baby pooped 10 times a day until she was one year, then it slowed to once or twice a day. Both are healthy with nothing to worry about.

J.

In babies that only get breastmilk I'm pretty sure it's normal to go 7-10 days without pooping because the breastmilk has so many nutrients there isn't much waste produced. My 3 month old has just started going only once a week too. I'm not sure how the formula factors in though. I'd say if his bm's aren't hard and he doesn't strain then it's normal.

This may seem strange to you, if so don't worry about it, but if you want to stop giving him the formula I have an over supply of breastmilk and would gladly donate some to you.

Please dont give him anything to help him poop. He is fine. Poop is just things that you eat and your body doesnt need. Your body is smart enough to get rid of the extras. Breast milk is perfect. You dont have a lot of waste. There fore you will have less poop. I have a 6 month old that does the same thing. He used to poop every day when he was tiny. Now he is only 1-3 times a week. As long as your child is not constipated and sore I would say let him go. If he has normal loose breast milk stools then there are no worries. If he is passing really hard solid waste then you need to see a Dr. My Ped told me that it is very normal and not to worry until something is wrong like pain or really hard stool. The more solids you add the more he will go. You can also try oatmeal cereal instead of rice. Oatmeal softens your stool as rice kind of constipates you. Just take it easy and enjoy the poop free diapers. lol. It wont stay like this forever.

I have read it is common for babies that age to go a few days between BMs. It sounds fine if your doc isn't worried and your baby seems fine.

If he is not straining/fussing about it I wouldn't worry about it, some kids have their own schedule. Of course if you would like for him to have a BM more often a good trick is to just add about a teaspoon of Karo syrup to his formula occassionally, my sons always preferred it with their warm formula..but it deffinatly producs results!

I too have the same problem with my 6.5 month old. The first time it happened I freaked out. I ended up getting the best advice from my aunt who watches him for me. She said give him some prunes. I not knowing how much it takes or how often gave it to him the first time morning and evening for a total of one whole container. This was a huge mistake. It only takes about 2-3 spoonfuls to do the trick so I ended up cleaning my child from head to toe 3 times in one day after a whole container. So my advice to you is with his cereal in the morning give him 2-3 bites of prunes (comes in #1 baby foods)and that should do the trick. A little bit goes a long way! Good luck!!