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?

Hello there @PurpleRayne89,
I’m so sorry to hear you’re having difficulty, but so relieved to someone going through almost exactly as us and our 7 month old. Just like your little one, he has pretty much always struggled to do a poo (since around three months old) and his idea of regular has been once a week! Something which we’ve mentioned do the dr countless times and also the HV when we saw her (only seen her once since 10 day check - covid shortage apparently! ) who all said that’s ok for breastfed baby and as long as he’s farting it’s all good. But it’s not ‘all good’ for poor baby boy who spends most of his week squirming whilst feeding and sleeping trying to fart and obviously uncomfortable. Like you I’ve been told that weaning will sort it out…but now we have just come off the back of a 12 day ‘no poop’ period which ended with him being prescribed a suppository when the lactulose didn’t work for 4 days. Since starting to wean around 6 weeks ago we have resorted to using lactulose pretty much every week as he hasn’t gone by around 10 days - usually that shifted it within a few hours but IT IS LIQUID. So I don’t understand why that’s seen as constipation! Not once has his poo been anything more than that so it feels bonkers to be treating him as if he is. We are now 3 days post suppository poo and nothing since and continued discomfort and farting for him. We took him to A&e two nights ago (as he also had a temp which 111 said could be a sign impaction) and they advised that he needs to continue on lactulose for two weeks and if not move onto movicol. She didn’t seem to be able to answer my question as to why he might be struggling to pass soft, liquid stools and continued to go down the constipation route. Gahhhhhh!! Im calling the dr in ten mins when the open again to ask for a plan b because I’m not happy leaving him for another 10 days again!

I’m so sorry I don’t have any helpful advice but I’d love to know how you’re getting on & pass on my sympathy!

@Alwaystalkingaboutpoo hey. Sounds exhausting and I can relate. You sound exactly like me, banging your head against the wall and medical or health professionals hearing what they want to hear. You mention the liquid poor and struggling to pass gas and all they hear us constipation. It’s as if they’re not addressing the actual issue. You see your baby struggling, endure the sleepless nights so you know what you are talking about. I understand that ebf can go up to a few weeks without passing a stool. However, is ur normal for them to be straining to attempt to pass liquid stools within that time? I am guessing the answer is no as any baby should be comfortable and not in any discomfort during third periods. Again people and doctors read or hear what they want from this.

So when we started the weaning. It obviously made the issue worse as his poo became thicker - no brainier! So if we explained to my doctor he struggles to pass liquid stools and they pretty much suggest adding something to make the poo thicker, thus harder to pass. They can become pretty defensive when they have no answers or aren’t willing to even explore further.

The lactulose worked, as mentioned he exploded yesterday. However, we are back to square one with the sleepless nights and shuffling around as I believe he needs to poop again. I can understand that he might have more and is backed up. The lactulose was prescribed for 7 days. However, this behaviour existed before he became constipated for a long period once on solids. So is he completely backed up as he’s always struggled to pass stools? Point I’m making is that it’s stressful and confusing when you’re not being listened to and your baby is clearly uncomfortable. Then you read about diseases like Hirschsprung's disease and it’s scary. The doctor ruled out HD over the phone as he passed meconium within 24-hours of birth. Ok, poor assessment but fine. I’ve noticed doctors like to throw around the “colic” diagnosis when they are at a loss abs cannot be asked to do their job.

Also, I don’t want my son to be on laxatives or stool softeners long term as doctors would advise a grown up against this so why’s it any different with a baby / infant / child.

I did say I’d update I’m case someone in future needs advice / information. So after the lactulose sorted his constipation, he came back again right away. I started him on Movicol paediatric 6.9 I do half a sachet in the morning and one in the evening. I sometimes use it to mix my purée food. Has meant he’s had a bowel movement everyday since starting. I will continue for 4 week and wean him. I’ll update again in a months time.

I've been where you all are. My GP said to use movicol not laculose. We used it until she was cleared out then found a maintenance dose that kept her regular and comfortable.

I'm confused as to why giving your baby extra water with the movicol is a bad thing?

My baby is now much older and she can still quite easily get constipated if she isn't drinking enough water or eating enough fruit. But their bodies do change as they develop.

As to clueless doctors - they see literally hundreds and thousands of babies so I took my GP advice. And the thing with a patient who is a baby - they cannot talk! Doc can only go on what is presented in front of them and the history you are giving. There is basically no way really to know what's going on with a baby- until afterwards! That used to do my head in.

Yes! My daughter when first born went a lot more often than expected the sufdenly just stopped and we were lucky if she was going once every 4-5days we ended up trying a few different medicines she refuses water point blank so the movicol was a non starter too. Head back, doctors know medicine but you know your baby, and an alternative is needed, she recently tried …. Something sulfate. We stopped it a while ago and now she’s ‘touch wood’ alot more regular x

@Amymamabear89 thanks for responding. How long did you deal with the constipation? I’m just hoping this soon passes. He now thankfully drinks water independently from a Nuby sippy cup, he really enjoys it. I syringe the Movicol into his mouth to ensure he gets the correct dose in the right amount of time. Eating ok too yet back to being constipated and the straining. He has water with his meals and throughout the day with breast milk. Out of 7 days. He had pooped 3 times, one being an explosion. Very stressful as he’s clearly straining.

I should mention that I am @PurpleRayne89 I changed my username !!

@PurpleRayne89 I know this is an old post but I'm just wondering how your son is doing? Thank you for sharing your experience.

I have a son with the exact same symptoms. He's 5 months, EBF, has struggled to pass soft stools since a young baby and wakes in the night squirming and struggles to go down for naps if he's having a bad day with it etc. I've tried all things but laxatives (I don't feel like he's constipated). I've cut dairy and soy out my diet already for a while now for silent reflux. I don't know what else to do... me and him are exhausted. Will he grow out of it? Did it affect your weaning journey? Any other tips?

Thank you so much in advance if you see this.

@CompressedNerve sorry just noticed you changed your name from PurpleRayne...

@PixieMother Hey, he grew out of it shortly after his 1st birthday. It was like a switch. He occasionally becomes constipated if he doesn’t drink enough water. No impact on weaning either which was great. I look back and I worried too much perhaps, idk. I hope you get answers you need but I’m confident you will have the same outcome as me.