5 month old baby struggles to poo??

[PurpleRayne89]

My son is 5 months. Is always screams and arches his back abs kicks his legs trying to pass poop. He’s been doing this since he turned around a month old. He will try all day, wake every hour or more in the night with discomfort and on occasion he will either do it the following morning or the afternoon. Then it starts again, as if he is backed up there is always poop ready to come out. It’s having a huge impact on both of our quality of sleep, some night I only sleep 2-3 hours.

He’s exclusively breastfed. I barely consume dairy. When the poop does come out it’s normal consistency for a BF baby. This is making me anxious about starting solids.

Any similar experiences or advice?

@LegInLegOut Hey, thanks for responding. Yeah, he’s literally had all of the P groups but no poop. I think it’s something underlying causing this. He’s now been referred to a Paed at the hospital. So under consultant care.

@TheAverageUser That is fantastic! Honestly, it must be such a relief to have come this far. This is what I want for my son so badly. I’m sure he’s happier now too. Once a year is a good sign too. Will he be under the care of the hospital for forever?

I just was so desperate for a diagnosis for him, it was a relief. Yes he'll be in the hospital once a year until he's 16 and then he'll transfer to an adult hospital. We normally just have a 10 - 15 minute chat and that's it. He's doing well.

@TheAverageUser thats great news.

Hi @PurpleRayne89 , I came across your post as I have a similar situation with my 3 month old. I was just wondering if you got to the bottom of the issue with your little one?

@pv3012 hello, he’s 17-months now and poops without any issues. Albeit, his sleep hasn’t improved but that’s another story. He went for tests and things, all returns as normal. Then suddenly it rectified itself, literally overnight. I think he wasn’t having enough water, he needs copious amounts. I syringe it in if anything and he poops. However, I do believe he was also learning how to poop.

You baby is only 3-months old. There isn’t anything to worry about. Anything seriously would have been picked up by now. However, make an appointment if your gut tells you otherwise. I think when our so
was younger, he had colic which also caused the fussing and wriggling around. There’s so much development at that age that it’s likely several different things at once.

Did your baby pass meconium?

@PurpleRayne89 Thanks so much for the update ! This is really reassuring as I’m always thinking the worst when he’s grunting like that. He did pass quite a lot of meconium hours after birth and several dirty nappies in the following days.
When did it get better for you ? He sleeps well at night but during the day he does grunt a lot. He passes about 2 to 3 stools per day and they’re all on the runny side as he’s breastfed.
GP and HV both told me it’s just a developmental thing and it’ll get better but it’s really hard when I see him suffering.
so glad your little one is better now and I hope the nights improve !

All really interesting to read. My 5 year old has just been diagnosed with Hirschsprung so a similar backstory but a different outcome. Glad it all got better!!

@pv3012 it got better around his 1st birthday. Weirdly enough, he caught a bug which caused his to have a poopy butt and since then he was able to poop normally. It sounds as thought things are going as they should. Try not to worry too much. I obsessed over it unfortunately. It wasn’t fun. The HV and other professionals sound as thought they know what they’re talking about as in most cases it is developmental. Your baby is super young and breastfed so sounds normal. My son was bf also.

@CoffeeCaffeine sorry to hear about HD diagnosis. We were being investigated for it and under a team at the hospital. Tests came back normal. He was scheduled to have a biopsy and then he started to poop normally. I did dread HD but then I also prepared myself for it. I hope things are progressing well for your child.

No it's not abnormal. It's normal with breastfed babies.