Poopy Diaper

seems a little early to be introducing juice. You might try diluting the formula a little more and then adding another feeding to make up the calories. The water should help his bowels.

My grandson had that problem and prune juice does work but it tastes terrible. So you may want to mix it with apple juice. Also you can try Miralax, it's gentle and works good. They also sell colace for babies. Sometimes prune juice does not work. So just something to think about.

Prune juice might work...I've heard more often then not putting just a bit of Karo syrup in the bottles of formula.

People are going to say to give him Karo Syrup...PLEASE DON'T!!!! It can cause botulism in babies under 1 year of age. It's just like honey...PLEASE DON'T USE IT ON YOUR INFANT! That said...it is possible that the formula is harder to digest for your little guy than the breast milk. When we switched our daughter, her BMs got a little harder and more frequent. When she was exclusively breast fed, she would go almost a week between BMs. You can use 1/2 breast milk, 1/2 formula if you have enough set aside to be able to do that. If he takes a 4 oz bottle, for example, do two ozs of formula (1 scoop and 2ozs of water) and two ozs of breast milk. Chances are, his system will just take some time to get used to the formula. We were told if our daughter didn't have a BM for 10 or more days to call the doctor.

As a nurse in a NICU, we tell our parents if a baby grunts when he poops, it is often because he is using muscles he doesn't usually use. Not because he is constipated or bound up. When the poop comes out, if it is soft and not hard little chunks, then he is fine. My youngest, the only one who exclusively got breasttmilk used to poop once every 7-8 days. So every baby is different. It all changed at about 5-7 weeks of age, so not every breastfed baby is a poop machine. But the best advice you've received so far is to ask the Peds.
Congrats on your new son. Sounds like you are doing great with him.
R.

A teaspoon of Karo syrup in 2 oz. of water will do the trick. At your son's age, I wouldn't do more than 2 oz. a day and no longer than a couple of days, ask your doctor. But it should resolve itself in that time. Or if the switch from formula to breast milk is too harsh, maybe you could always give him half and half to keep it consistent? Good luck!

I was in nursing school and had to do the same but I did have a lot of milk frozen. I gave my daughter 1 oz of prune juice with 1oz of water to see how she did with it and it worked, also if you want to start off slow you can use 2oz of water and a 1/4 teaspoon or less of Karo (corn syurp clear) in a bottle of warm water and that should help too! I started this with my daughter at 4wks but it was not long before she regulated herself, and she ended up getting more breastmilk after I was able to stock up.

If you don't pump before feedings you may want to try that to get extra milk to store, I know it's a lot of work but the pump will pull off the top milk and you can save that and feed your son he should be able to pull the milk down deeper from your glands than the pump, make sure to drink tons of water too. I hope that works for you!
M. W

Prune juice really works, and doesn't hurt them at all!!

I don't know if I would give prune juice. That would be way too strong for him. Yes, the formula and breastmilk combo will bind him up. My daughter was on strict breastmilk for 3 months. After that, I had to go back to work and she was getting a mixture of formula & breastmilk. He will get bound up, but here is what my doctor told me to do. Give him some karo syrup but just a drop in like a 4 oz bottle of water. This will let it go!!!! I did this and it works like a charm.

Now you cannot give him karo every time he gets bound up. Give him like regular water. What happens is he is not getting enough water in his diet which causes him to bind up. Give him water and try to push it. He should go. Once he gets older he will adjust.

Call your pediatrician, they will tell you what the best thing to do is. He's only 7 weeks old so I really don't think prune juice is the answer. You're doctor is there for a reason!

I don't think at 7 weeks your child's digestive system can handle prune juice. If you do give it to him, I think it will give him diarrhea. I remember the paperwork that I got from the hospital about how many times infants should be having bowel movements. It said as long as they have wet diapers every day, it is fine if they only have a bowel movement every couple of days. I think your son is fine as long as he doesn't seem to be in any pain. It is true that formula does stay with your child longer than breastmilk. Breastmilk goes right through the children. I nursed both of my children for over a year. I did supplement with formula when I went to work and the same thing happened with both of my children. My children are 3 and 15 months.

It could be a number of reasons. It could be nipple confusion in a sense to where he is wanting only breast milk from your breast and not the bottle and/or the fact that you are serving 2 type of milk. Whatever the case, it will eventually go away. I would not suggest prune juice for a baby, but you may try something as simple as moving his legs up toward the head and adding more water than formula to see if this stops the constipation. 3-4 days is usually the norm in these cases. Hopefully this help.
Signing out... Mommy C

If his poop is hard and he seems to be straining when he does go, then I suggest adding a little dark karo syrup to his formula bottles, just a table spoon should do. I had to do this for my daughter and it worked wonders.

I think prune juice is quite harsh for a 7 week old I would suggest Karo(dark) water.

No prune juice at this age way to young!!!!!

its ok to gie him prune juice occassionally also a bottle of water would help

Yes, please talk to your pediatrician about this - my daughter had severe constipation from birth and still has it - we have to give her benefiber 2 x each day (per doctors orders of course), and it works wonderfully. Our doctor also told us that it is not harmful in any way because it's basically just extra fiber! She said if you give her too much all it will do is make her poop more LOL. But my daughter has Williams Syndrome, and constipation sadly is part of the syndrome. Benefiber is rather expensive, but Abby has been soooo great on it, and we just add it to her drink in the morning and to her cereal at night :) no flavor to it, she doesn't even know it's in there! But yes, please ask your doctor about it first!

Oh - and by the way - all the other suggestions here didn't work for my daughter - we tried absolutely EVERYTHING on here and even tried prescriptions and that Miralax stuff - and it didn't work. So don't be discouraged if you don't find the right answer immediately - you may have to try some different things.

Ask his pediatrician.

What formula are you using? We had similar issues and Nestle Good Start with DHA worked great and so did Enfamil Gentlease. Check with your ped for free samples.

Also, Karo syrup (like 1 tsp) works great in one bottle a day. However, don't want to use often as maybe comes to rely on this to poop and sweetness of milk. Call you ped and see what he/she says

The same thing happend to me last week with my 8 week old son (only he hadn't pooped in 11days). The doctor told me to give him a little apple juice or pear juice. I gave him 2oz and an hour later he pooped!! My son is mostly breastfed but I returned to work so he also gets formula when I am away. Make sure if you give him juice that it is the baby juice - not adult juice. You can find it in the baby food aisle. Good luck!

Unless his poop is very hard I would not worry about it.

I wouldn't give him prune juice this early... At least not before talking to a dr. Giving food (other than breastmilk or formula) to a child too early can cause allergies later in life, so I would wait until you talk to a dr... Good luck to you!

The first thing you should do is call your doc. He will tell you what is right for your child. In most cases you in no way give a baby that young juice but if your doctor tells you to then ok. Apple juice would be what you start with but again a baby that young should in no way get juice. You will learn that our mothers did things differently and there are so many more studies out now as to why they have us hold off on things our mothers did :) My daughter is 9 months old and was constipated juice didn't work and prunes didn't either she told me a medicine to get and now shes all cleared up. Thats why its best to call your doc.

Hello, My son was about 8 wks old when this happened to him. It was an entire week before he had a bad diaper. My dr said to let it go as long as it wasnt bothering him and that he would eventually go and he did! I did try the prune juice against dr orders and it did nothing for him. Breast milk goes through them quicker than formula which is why he goed more often on that. Best of luck and dont worry, he will go soon!

Hold your horses on the prune juice! Adding new things to the baby's diet at such a tender age can wreak havoc on his immature digestive system, leading to more problems later in life.

Check a few things out first:

-What are the BMs like? If they are hard, dry, and like little pellets there is a problem. If the BM is like most other BMs, then he's fine.

-When he has a BM, does he grunt and push with obvious pain? Most babies will have grunting and pushing, but if it does not appear to be painful, then he is fine.

-With breastmilk, it is totally normal to go several days without a BM and then all of a sudden have a world champion diaper blowout. Is this still the case? If so, no worries!

If the diapers are still full of similar-looking poop that you have grown accustomed to seeing, then there is no need to 'force BMs'. There's no law that says a baby has to poop every day!

Dont give him ANYTHING until you talk to your Pediatrician or doctor first! 7 weeks old is very young. You'd better double check first. Its most likely the formula causing this problem. I breastfed, my baby girl had no trouble; my sisters both formula fed and had a terrible time with their babies bowel movements :(

Hi E.,
I'm sorry to hear both that you had to go back to work and that your little guy is having a hard time adjusting. The best advice I've heard only involves how often BMs should occur. Look at animals - and usually babies. Every time they eat, they have a BM. Anyone who goes for days without a BM is constipated unless they aren't eating. Just imagine that toxic fecal matter remaining in your body for days when it should have been expelled in hours - talk about setting you up for illness. Have you considered that he may have an allergy to either the formula or what you're mixing in the formula? Gluten allergies can cause constipation along with many other issues. I could do more research if you're interested in avoiding the problem rather than masking the symptoms - which is what I expect you're hoping to do. No mommy purposefully wants to not get to the source of the problem. Best of luck in your search.

Good lord, no you don't give a 7-week-old anything but breastmilk or formula. Pump more and he won't get constipated. If you can't pump more, find a new formula that doesn't constipate him.
NOTHING but breastmilk or formula for the first 6 months and even after that there's no reason for any other fluids.

Your baby is to young for prune juice. This is common problem. The best thing to do is try increasing your breast milk supply for more feedings, if this is not possible then you can try another formula, like prosobee. In time your baby's system should adjust to the formula feedings.

I would mix a little prune juice (maybe an ounce) with breastmilk (do half juice half bm)- that's what our pediatrician had us do when my daughter was that age

Oh, please don't give your little man prune juice. His body is not ready for juice yet. My daughter experienced the same exact problem. I would either give him your breastmilk and he will poop rather quick or mix your breastmilk with the formula to help his body adjust to the change. You can also try rubbing his belly in a clockwise motion or pumping his legs. Good luck!!! He'll be just fine! :) Take care, E.!!

I think all or atleast most little ones go through this when they are switching from breastmilk to formula. It takes a lot longer for formula to go through their little systems. My kids are 5yr, 3yr and 20 mo and I don't think they have had prun juice yet.

It will take a little time for him to adjust to his new meals and you may go through this again when he starts on babyfood and other stuff.

If you feel you must give him juice... apple juice is the easiest on them. But you want to give him about 1/2 baby juice and 1/2 water. And don't do it unless he hasn't had anything new for at least 3-5 days before or anything else new for 3-5 days after you start giving it to him. That way you can watch for an allergic reaction.

Also, with one of my little ones... I had to mix 3 oz of water to a scoop of formula. I know most people don't agree with that, but it was the only way he could keep pooping and keep his tummy from making noise and feeling good.

Good luck! But most of all congratz on the little one!!!

I agree, not to worry unless the poop is really hard chunks. My ped said that I should not worry about constipation unless it is more than four days between poops. I wouldn't give him prune juice at this point. You might try a hospital grade breast pump from Walgreens. Call around to see which one near you rents them. It made a big difference for me on how much milk I could get.

do not give your baby prune juice, he is too young. talk to your pediatrician about it. Caro syrup and water I used but I don't think that young. WHen you start a baby on a new food you need to do it gradually. You can't just start giving a baby formula without gradually introducing it.