Difficulty in pooing for a 3.5 month old

[busybusy]

My 3.5 month old is breast fed and usually only poos one every 2 - 3 days. She gets increasingly uncomfortable untill it finally arrives. She arches her back and cries. This week it took 4 days before one arrived and she is still not right. She gets very miserable sometimes and I think it is beginning to affect her eating.

The doctor and health visitor say this is natural and she will grow out of it. Does anyone know how long this takes, and is there anything I can do to help her or to make her more regular?. (Massaging her stomach seems to make her scream). Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[PrettyCandles]

Have a look at your own diet. I don't know what might cause it, but are there things that you eat regularly that you could change? Babies respond in odd ways - for example, the only thing that seemed to affect my dd was when I ate mushrooms, but I wouldn't have realised it had I not found mushrooms totally indigestible when I was pg with her. As soon as I stopped eating mushrooms she stopped having tummy-ache.

Have you tried bicycling her legs when doing nappy changes? Also holding her by the ankles and pushing towards her so that her knees bend (like a bunny hop) and then stretch out again. Bend her enought o take her bottom off the mat. These exercises helped our two with wind.

You can safely give her fennel tea to drink, and drink it yourself as well. Fennel tea is amazing for easing wind generated in teh bowels, perhaps it may help with your dd's poos as well.

Does she have plenty of tummy-time? It can be more comfotable for a baby with a bothersome tummy than lying on her back.

She will grow out of it, but of course you want to try and help her while it's an issue.

[cowmad]

im no medic but is she getting enough water in addition to milk?
one of mine had to have lactulose for a while,orrible stuff although they dont seem to mind it!!
but a bit like ourselves,we all need more water than we think!!and we defo need some to (err-hum) help us along a bit!!(pleeese check with someone else aswell tho!!)

[hunkermunker]

No need for extra water with bfeeding even on the hottest days - just feed more often.

Babies sometimes mind the sensation of digesting and getting ready to poo - it's all new to them.

No need to give her water or juice or any of the other things people often suggest.

Do try massage - doesn't have to be of her stomach, just being touched is nice, do try lying her face down on your lap and rubbing her back (she may hate this though), do try bicycling her legs, do try rocking her, feeding her again, patting her cuddling her and saying "I know, sweetheart, it's horrible having a sore tummy" to her.

[hunkermunker]

Is she only having breastmilk, only you say she's "eating"? I know people do sometimes call milk feeds eating though, so I think that's what you mean?

[PrettyCandles]

When I said fennel tea to drink, I should have also said a teaspoonful 3-4 times a day, not a full bottle of it. Mum would drink it by the cupful, not baby.

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

My DD was very much like this. It passed as she got older. It transpired when I started weaning her that she had a cows milk protein allergy. I dont know if this is relevant or not tbh.

Water not necessary. MAssage and bicycling of legs etc all good.

[cowmad]

err!! have just looked on a website that a baby over 3 months may need extra water if constipated.Do you suspect she may be?(may need a big talk /description about her poo!!
what do u thinh hunk munk and vvv?

[hunkermunker]

She doesn't sound constipated. It's incredibly rare for a bfed baby to be constipated, but very, very common for them to be a bit upset when pooing or "digesting" - it's a strange and new sensation. It's also common for bfed babies to go up to 10 days without pooing.

[cowmad]

may be common but really un comfortable, have you started to wean busybusy?

[cowmad]

busybusy,forgot to add,try a dry tea towel or flannel in the microwave for seconds...really really check its not hot anywhere(check for hot spots) an lay it across her lower tummy,heat can help draw stuff further down..would also help with crying please make sure its not too hot tho...

[busybusy]

Hi!

Thanks everyone for your advice. Have not responded as me and the baby are just back from hospital. She was admitted after developing a meningitus type rash and being a bit off colour. Thankfully it appears to be just a strange rash and she is well.

The baby (M) is totally breast fed. I have not started weaning her yet so that would have ruled out the lactose intolerance probably. She has even been eating a bit less than normal and has beem bileous. With that in mind we did feed her a little water. That seemed to make her feel a little better sometimes but did not usually have an effect on her poo. These poos were like normal breast fed baby ones though more runny than they used to be before the problem developed.

However, I think we might have found a solution!! I visited an osteopath yesterday and since the treatment she has pooed three times! I'm totally delighted so far! These poos are normal colour and dryer than they we during her problem period! This result is more impressive given that we had to abandon the session halfway through as she sceamed. (Having just got out of hospital she had reached the end of her tether and refused to be handled - even by me). I am hopeful that the problem has been sorted and will let you all know what happens.

I had tried massaging her but during her uncomfortable periods this just seemed to make it worse. Putting her on her front made her cry in a pathetic 'what are you doing to me Mum' kind of way. The only thing that seemed to work in any way was cycling her legs and distracting her. This gets to be hard work and has meant having to abandon going out of the house etc.

I do use the terms 'feeding' and 'eating' interchangably. I can see how describing her as eating might imply that she has been weaned. I'm new to Mumsnet and this is my first posting - I need to get used to communicating in this media.

I appreciated your responses though!

Bye for now

Busybusy