Baby struggling to pass stools for months??

[PurpleRayne89]

My son is 5 months and 17 days. He’s always struggled to pass poop and wind. Kicks legs, the whole shabbang- even keeping us both up all night with the fidgeting.

Doctor at the hospital suggested colic and said we should wean him. Started weaning him 2 weeks ago and now he’s “constipated”. Spoke to a different doctor, they’ve ran with the notes on the system from the hospital. They’ve prescribed him Movicol sachets which must be dissolved in water and drunk. My son is too young to drink water, especially the volume they’re suggesting. According to the instructions, the entire thing needs to be consumed for it to be effective. To me that’s a nonstarter. They said they will review in 2 weeks time. The laxatives are to make the poop more watery. However, he’s EBF and his has always struggled passing loose, liquidy stools. So the laxatives are just likely to cause diarrhoea and stomach ache. I’m stopping the solids until he’s at least 6 months and I’ll stop start if I have to.

Any similar previous experience?

Another vote for cows milk allergy.

@x2boys hey don’t be silly. MN is to share your experiences and offer input which could potentially help others. I just want to get to the bottom of things. You have not worried nor offended me in anyway, please don’t apologise. I was just keen to know the specifics so I know what enquiries to make to my Doctor. What were your son’s symptoms, what led to diagnosis and what was his diagnosis?

A baby under six months can have water, but you have to boil it first and let it cool down. X

@lisaandalan thanks. There so much conflicting evidence out there it’s annoying.

He was a lot older then your son when his chronic constipation became an issue,he has a chromosome disorder and learning disabilities etc
I m really not trying to suggest that your son will be affected in anyway like my son ,but in your position I would just hope they take his bowel issues more seriously and do some investigation and hopefully rule anything serious out

I had to use lactulose and movicol for DD I used to add it to her milk.

Hi do join that movicol mummies group.
It's not a laxative, it's amazing stuff!

She is 8 and never gets constipated so she tells me anyway.

@x2boys ok, thanks did you not know he had chromosomal issues before? Also, we’re his symptoms similar to my sons?

@NoToLandfill thanks for responding. Oh right, so what were your child’s stools like before using the stuff. As my son struggles to pass watery stools. Do you think this would still be of benefit? His stools aren’t hard or anything that would suggest traditional constipation.

@veevee04 same question as above really?

Watery stools can be the bodies way to clear the constipation. My gp has called it over flow. My pediatrician has advised us to give an ounce of cooled boiled water with a tiny bit of brown sugar to my ds to help his constipation and it worked far better than anything else we were given. He used to scream for hours with the pain in his tummy. He doesnt even take the full ounce.

Ah yes the poo can get compacted and then watery poo escapes around it. But there's still loads stuck inside. The movicol gets it all flushed out. And gets the guts back to being 'regular'. If baby isn't yet 6 months I'd not rush to introduce lots of foods. I'd stick to milk (breast or formula or a combination) and movicol. Get baby regular and happy then go back to introducing foods. Your wee one might just have a sensitive constitution. My dd is now at primary school and still can get constipated. It's something we have to watch. Enough fruit, enough water- if not it's bunged up insides. And her behaviour is pretty poor. Then she poos and is lovely again. So I can imagine a pre verbal baby could be very fussy. They literally can't tell you what's going on.

Oh another vote for cranial osteopathy. Was the birth tricky perhaps? Sometimes the baby isn't quite optimally 'squished' on the way out and a bit of cranial can help align their wee body. That can definitely affect bowels.

I am very pro bf, but I'm thinking that maybe baby needs more volume ingested? Will he take the movicol in a syringe? Or a cup with you carefully holding it?

Also look up 'ec' elimination communication. Yes it's a bit hippy however it works. It's what society does before nappies. Is he in a sling at all? Babies don't poop in a sling. Take him out of it, hold him over a potty/ the loo and the position will help him go. I know it sounds crazy but it does work. My dd was weeing on the loo for her morning wee from 6months old. Still wore nappies and did regular potty training. But I'm pretty sure she was more in tune with what was going on. Which helped her through the constipation.

My son was the same I took him to an osteopath once a month and it helped. He had a huge poo within an hour or two of each treatment.

I immediately thought CMPA from reading your post and can see I'm not the only one. It doesn't sound like colic.

My son is 2.5 now but still struggles with constipation. We've been back and forth with CMPA thoughts and I do think we need to eliminate dairy completely for our own peace of mind to see if it helps the constipation and the eczema.

I just wanted to say, we tried Movicol for the first time a fortnight ago when we ended up in hospital as DS was in such intense pain, screaming unable to poo, and I am so, so glad we now have it.

I think his poo had compacted, and even though we were giving lactulose, the watery poo was slipping out around the lump. Once he had the Movicol, it softened it enough to get out.

We didn't give it to him again until this yesterday when he's been really bad again. He's now started to pass some of the more solid lumps out today.

I've just joined the Movicol page recommended for more support.

Thank you for posting this thread x

[quote PurpleRayne89]@x2boys ok, thanks did you not know he had chromosomal issues before? Also, we’re his symptoms similar to my sons?

@NoToLandfill thanks for responding. Oh right, so what were your child’s stools like before using the stuff. As my son struggles to pass watery stools. Do you think this would still be of benefit? His stools aren’t hard or anything that would suggest traditional constipation.

@veevee04 same question as above really?[/quote]
Yes she had watery stools it was like overflow with an impacted stool it was like an explosion by the time it came out . She had to have a suppository when abroad in hospital as the food really really upset her stomach and impacted her more. She even had a slight rectal prolapse a couple of times. She had lactulose and movicol. No allergies the doctors thought her muscles might be underdeveloped it basically resolved its self by the time she was 2 with very occasional episodes and none since the age of about 4-5.

Some really good suggestions. He sees an Osteopath already for his flat head, I honestly don’t feel like the osteopath really does much. Lol. He just holds his head in his hands and talks to be telling me what he’s doing. Not convinced by this particular guy. Our precious osteopath, who treated his torticollis was much better, she said the head will sort itself once the tightness has been sorted. She loosened up a certain muscle and no lie he could turn more.

How would a cranial osteopath help constipation? I’m not able to connect the two. Birth and pregnancy were normal.

DD2 had this problem. She had an op to widen her anus.

@sunshinesupermum ok. Was that the only issue? No complications after? Thanks for sharing btw.

My sons anus was checked over by a doctor who said it looked normal. To be it’s so small and tight it looks painted on. I honestly can’t see how anything thicker than BF poop could fit through it.

By normal birth I assume you mean vaginal? And yes the body is all connected so parts of the body out of alignment can affect the digestive system.
Yes do try a different cranial osteopath if you aren't connecting with your current one. It is your precious bundle they are holding and treating, you have to respect them I reckon.

PurpleRayne89 no further issues. Can you see another paedetrician?

@NoToLandfill makes sense about the alignment. I do think our current osteopath is a bit of a fraud to be fair. I’ll shop around. Normal as in uneventful, no issues. If I wasn’t showing I never would have felt pregnant. I had a vagina delivery. For the record, all births are normal and natural. 😌

@sunshinesupermum oh good. Yeah his butt was inspected by a paediatric doctor when I visited A&E. however, I’m sure to diagnose something similar a more throughout assessment would be necessary.

Sorry, I find most folk can't say vaginal delivery so they say 'normal'. But they are ok saying C section. That's all I was getting at. A C-section birthed baby goes through none of the birth canal squishing you see.

On another note I do wonder what % of babies have the 'optimal' squishing on the way out? So I reckon all babies should get a cranial osteopath check up a couple if weeks after birth.

Not a doctor.

I would:

1. Keep BFing exclusively until 6 mo
2. Kick diary out of your own diet to see if it helps. Might take 2 weeks to see a change.
3. Possibly also kick out other known allergens from your own diet (eggs, shellfish, gluten, etc). Then slowly reintroduce.
4. Stay off Movicol etc.
5. Consider probiotics
6. Try to relax about the frequency of poos, and wait until the digestive system matures.

So just do update, he pooped today. We were given lactulose by my GP as I refused the Movicol due to the amount of water my son would be expected to drink. It took just under 48 hours to work. Massive explosion that stank to high heavens. The was on 2.5ml twice a day 11 hours apart. Things I tried before hand;

Belly massage
Leg cycling
I love you massage
Pushing knees to stomach
Warm bath
Apple juice
Orange juice
Boiled water (cooled)
Carry around in sling
Vibrating swing chair
Probiotics
Prune purée with extra water
Offering extra breast feeds
4ml syringe of cool boiled water
Prayer

Finally after the 4th dose of lactulose he exploded. I am not sure but could of been a combination of the above. I don’t think he would of went without the medication tho. I’m laying off the solids for a week or maybe two. Just to clear him out. He will be 6 months next week so Ill introduce water properly in a cup. I’ll offer water with every feed. Hopefully he begins to pass stools easier as this struggling to pass them is not nice. Hopefully someone in future looking fir answers finds this of use.