Question About My Babies Stools

I just went to the chiropractor today and she asked me about the kids digestion... my are fine but if you have ony problems I would recommend seeing a chiropractor that is certified to see kids, they can help prevent other common issues with babies and kids!!

My son is 8 weeks old and at 4 weeks I was concerned with this also. I asked his Peds Dr. and she said that 1 oz of pear juice was just fine for this age. We've been giving him 1 oz every week and it seems to balance him out just fine.

We used prune juice mixed in with water in the bottle....not too much though maybe about 2-3 oz to 1-2 oz of water 2 times a day when needed...that should be safe, but double check with doctor/nurse on yor daughters age. Also, if you are using formuls it could be that you need to change that as well.
I would not do the syrup..prune juice is what we were reccommended...more natural.

Glycerin suppositories can work. I bought mine for my daughter at Target (I needed to ask the pharmacist, but they had them behind the counter). Check with your doctor first! It is also common for infants to go several days without having a bm--my daughters both went a full week when I was breastfeeding each of them, and while they did seem a bit uncomfortable, the methods I tried never worked until they needed to go! Good luck.

My doctor recommended diluted pear juice or sugar water (1 Tbsp of sugar to 1 oz of water) for constipation. We normally used the sugar water and it worked fine. I would be alittle leary of using prune juice because it does work really well and you may have leaking accidents.

Pear juice works really well for this as well as infant suppositories if she is very uncomfortable. You could also call and talk to a nurse at your peds office.

Our nurse told us watered down pear or prune juice. Half water/half juice. Also bicycling their legs helps massage the intestines, and warm bath too.

Did you know that around 8 weeks babies can go up to a week without pooping? They are just using up everything they eat. My daughter only pooped once a week for a month starting at 8 weeks. When she went, it was a big mess, but she was never constipated during this period. If your daughter isn't in discomfort, maybe she's just going through this using it all up period.

P.

Hi B.,

I just had my dr. appt for my four month old and talked to him about stools that were hard to pass. My mother and him talked about using sugar water to try and make the stools softer, especially if they are formula fed babies. He also mentioned using a supository, he used them for his children, which you only use about one third of it to help the child pass a stool. We didn't feel as comfortable about the sugar water, but we tried it and it seemed to work. We used about 2 oz. of water and then about one third of a teaspoon of sugar. It will take a little bit, but it seemed to help with my daughters stomache aches due to not having a stool. With in a day we saw results. I hope this helps.

When my daughter was that age, she had the mustard colored poops, but it was thick and sticky like meconium! I've never seen anything like it with any other kid, and it lasted for months. She would push and push and there was nothing to push against. I felt horrible for her, but the Dr said as long as she was going and it was regular for her, it was ok. Well, when it did take her a few days-as it did sometimes- a friend recommended the chiropractor. At first I thought, "You're nuts!" but she brought her son when he was 3 weeks old because he was gassy and spitting up a lot! It worked for her! So anyway- long story short(er), I took her in the next time I went in and had her adjusted also. It's not harsh at all, she slowly lifted the baby off the table by her ankles and hung her upside down for a few seconds, my daughter didn't mind at all, never even squaked! And believe it or not, she pooped before we got home, a five minute ride! Truly truly believe in it, we did it several times, but please whatever you chose don't give Karo syrup, I've heard it can have botulism spores like honey does. Good luck !

The little tummy's line of medications has a stool softener for infants and toddlers. Its called "little laxatives" We used it with our twins when they were babies, and had issues. Our pediatrician was VERY pleased that something like this was now being offered. She said it was very close to all natural. . . Its coloring looks simular to a prune juice.

Hope you're able to find something that works.

My younger brother had problems like this and my mom tried everything the doctors suggested, prunes, prune juice, karo syrup, etc. But the thing she found that helped the most was making sure he drank plenty of water. He would always know even as he got older if he wasn't drinking enough water. Hope this helps!

Hmm, well you will get varied responses from health care professionals, but I called the Mayo nurse line and the pediatrician there said dark karo syrup. It worked like a charm when my daughter was only 3 weeks. I liked it because I knew it was all natural and wouldn't hurt her ~ and it just made the bottle a little sweeter ~ unlike prune juice that makes it kind of bitter. Good luck!! I know there's nothing were when your little "pooper" just won't go :)-

Mandarin oranges! I swear it works! Good luck.

My sister had the same problem with her little one. The doctor said to give her pear juice. It seamed to work for her.

First question? Are you adding cereal to bottle? Alot of parents are told by mom and grandma to do this to help baby sleep and it can backfire . (At such a young age they are supposed to wake up lots and not sleep too heavy...sleep too deep could cause SIDS) My nephew was given cereal at a young age a few weeks old, and he suffered lots of gastric distress...tummy ache and constipation. ("All my other kids did fine with it." was her statement.) It got worse when she started spoon feeding it at 3.5 mos (Then it was "He is almost 4 months old, he should be on all kinds of fruits and vegetables by now. Aggghhhhh!). I finally convinced mom that not all babies do well with this and it went away. (I am his daycare BTW)

Anywhoo...with my daughter my doc told me to give a tblsp of baby food pears. I was a little skeptical of this but it worked. You could also use pear juice (pears are very gentle). Prune is an option too. If baby won't take it straight try and sub and 1/4 to 1/3 of the pear or prune juice in place of water (if formula). Steer away from apple. Apple actually COULD make it worse if already constipated because apples are in high pectin. Kaopectate for diarhea was originally made from apple pectin.

Another option which is good anyway if formula fed is supplementing with cultures like acidophilous. Usually if anyone starts this kind of supplementation there is a lot of bad bacteria die off that can cause loose stools. Formula fed babies don't get good bacteria like breastfed babies. You can get baby acidophoulous at some healthfood stores. I would add a capsule of adult to one or two of my daughters bottles every day. They now sell formula with cultures in it. I think Good Start for sure.

Massage is good too. If this becomes a regular issue I'd talk to doc. There could be something underlying. I think its crazy that some people suggest that anyone can go 4-7 days without pooping. If you have ever gone that long you probably felt like garbage...at the least just not yourself. If I don't go once or twice a day I feel like garbage. It may be that baby can't break down all the milk protiens and they are binding baby???

One more note...diarhea or loose stools can be constipation. If hard stool gets lodged for long enough the new stool can manage to leak around the hard stool. So if baby is constipated and suddenly has loose stools keep this in mind. Whatever treatment you use that works and is gentle should be continued for a day or too after to make sure ya got it all.

Good luck!

Add prunes to her diet. There are a few options in the baby food aisle. Good luck!

Well, it looks like you have a lot of responses already... but we use the Infant Mylicon with feedings and that seems to work every time for us.

Are you breastfeeding? If you are, it is normal around 2 months of age for the babies to not pass stools every day - I believe once a week is "normal." My son would go every other day.

Not sure if this helps since I can't tell what "having problem passing stools means" - like is she pushing or just not having them...

:)

Is your baby breastfed or formula fed? I ask because breastfed babies rarely get constipated and it is very normal for them to go several days in between stools. Either way, has the consistency of her stool changed? That is what indicates constipation (so if it's loose still, it's not constipation, just spacing out farther...if it's hard, then it's constipation!).

Anyway, some natural ways to stimulate a bowel movement - a warm bath, taking a temperature rectally, bicycling the legs...

A.

Constipation is a symptom of a problem. Your daughter is not able to move her bowels for some reason that likely needs to be discovered. It could be a physical or digestive issue. I would start with what she takes in. For example, is she breast-feeding and/or taking a formula? Infants can have problems digesting milk based and/or soy based formulas - sometimes even the mother's own milk. As for the possibility of a physical issue, sometimes the intestines is a bit longer than average or there could be a blockage of some kind.

In any case, I would recommend seeking the cause WHILE you also try to ease her symptoms. If you only address the symptom, the problem will not usually go away. For the constipation, you could also try massage. In general you want to use circular motions in the clockwise direction since the colon descends on the left side. You don't need to press hard, just a light to medium touch can help. (I am sure you can find details on line.) Another mom on this board mentioned raising the legs while your infant is laying down - up and down with the knees to the chest. We used to make a game of it and make it fun.

My daughter is now 6 years old and we have been dealing with constipation almost continuously since the beginning. Feel free to ask me more questions and I'l do what i can to help and remember more about what we did early on. Good luck and let us all know how it goes!

R.

My Daughter is 3 1/2 months old and i used and still use Karo Syrup. I put about a tablespoon in one or two bottles (4oz). It usually takes about 12 hours until she has a bowel movement. I had alot of problems with consitpation with Ella, my nurses and Dr. told me to try it. It doesnt hurt.

Good Luck! J. and Ella

a small amount of pear juice or prune juice and you can massage her tummy and help her go kinda. I had to do this I would massage my daughter's tummy or take her legs and make her move them like she was on a bicycle to help her out.

When my son was 9 weeks old, we had the same issue. At first, we put prune juice in his bottle, but he didn't care for that. So, we ended up using pear juice.
Our pediatrician recommended 1tsp pear juice in his bottle. It worked great for us.