Stressed mummy with a baby whose not pooing!! :(

[MrsClawz]

Hello :)
My DS, who is exclusively breastfed, has not been for a poo for 6 days now!!! I know that breastfed babies don't have as much waste as bottle fed babies, but 6 days is a little excessive. He has screaming fits on and off throughout the day, during which I cannot even soothe him, he is clearly in a lot of discomfort. It has now started to effect his feeding too...he is fussing at the breast and curling up in a ball screaming for 60% of his feeds. As you can imagine this is causing great stress and upset for me.
Took him to the GP last Thursday after HV clinic, as he is not really gaining weight as he should be and they referred us to the Paediatrician, but that appointment is not until the 20th April, apparently the consultant feels he only needs to be seen within 6 weeks!! :/
Have phoned the Drs again this morning, now waiting for a telephone appointment as they have no in surgery ones available for him.
Sorry for the rant, I'm just very stressed with the whole situation, and feel like I am being fobbed off by the Drs, and none of them are actually helping me resolve the issue.
Has anyone had any similar problems with non-pooing babies? Or any other suggestions as to what I should do?
Thanks
Jen x

How old?

17 weeks, sorry forgot to put that bit.

My friends DS would only go once a week at that age and he was fine, they just had to deal with a biig poo explosion once a week.

I'm sure when I joined MN there was a thread by someone with a baby who'd not pooed for 11 days. The general consensus seemed to be it was OK if nappies were wet because there's so little waste from breast milk (this was nearly 3 years ago, and I'm not a doctor!)

not sure if it helps but my DS once went 12 days without a poo when he was EBF - I think it was just a massive growth spurt. Having said that, I'd go with your instincts. If you are worried then carry on hassling the GP for an appointment. They'd much rather see a 17 week old baby just to be on the safe side, even if it ends up being a waster appointment.

I am sure someone will come along with proper advice but, whilst you are waiting, you can try a couple of things:

A bit of gentle massage - lie him on his back, with his legs bent at knees and gently fold them towards his tummy and back again, slightly lifting his bottom up off the mat each time.

A small dose of gripe water or sugar water if you have none.

Lying DS across your legs so that abdomen is straight and gently massaging back in anti-clockwise circles.

Finally, gentle tummy massage (which I always found the most effective) - will see if I can youtube something but always clockwise direction on tummy and with gentle pressure downwards on baby's left hand side (colon).

I feel for you, DS1 had a few weeks of what you describe, which the DR finally said may be a 'kink' in his digestion which he would grown out of.

I also found that feeding DS at regular intervals (mines were close together as DS was tiny) worked better than feeding on demand, as he had digested the last feed. The suckling also triggers bowel movements, so it is not unusual for them to squirm and poo when feeding!

Pretty shocking how long you are having to wait for an appointment. My dd's gastroenterologist said all babies need to poo at least once a day and so you are right to take it seriously. Have you tried giving her a glycerin suppository ? You can just get over the counter. We have to do it daily and it works in a few mins normally. It doesn't activate a poo as such just makes it less sore to do. Also a cranial osteopath may be able to help . My dd is having botox injected into her on Friday to help her poo but that is a bit extreme !

Is the not gaining weight a recent thing?

Are you getting wet nappies? and is he farting?

Agree bf babies can go over a week without pooing.

colic massage

BF babies do tend to poo less, but if your DS is not gaining weight then it doesn't sound like he is converting all of the milk.

All babies do not need to poo once a day!

would it help if you ate more high fibre op?

Thank you for your responses, its reassuring to know I'm not the only one who has experienced this :)
His lack of weight gain averages out to a 1oz weight gain in the last 6 weeks, with this alone I thought the Drs would take more immediate action!
He is still having wet nappies, so I know that bit is working. And farts.
He usually goes every 3 days like clockwork. We are now double that, with the lack of weight gain and issues breastfeeding him its all a bit worrying :(
We went to baby massage classes in Jan/Feb, so have been trying the tummy massage but it is too uncomfortable for him, he only puts up with it for a few minutes before crying :(
Spoke to a chemist yesterday and he suggested Lactulose, which I have started giving him but still no movement!

Bigteuch, just quoting the paediatric gastroenterologist at great ormond street! I was a bit surprised too but I think he is not talking about the odd occasion but a baby who habitually does not poo frequently. In the early weeks my dd pooed 6 or 7 times a day but when things started going wrong for her she would go up to 5 days without, it clearly wasn't a natural thing and she was and is in discomfort. I think that is different from the very occasional pause before the explosion iyswim. It was the op's concern about feeding and discomfort that made me think this was not a one off.

hmm...I'm not sure about lactulose. I am sure that is a stool softener, which babies generally don't need! In older children, it should be used alongside a bowel stimulant too, otherwise it can worsen matters by reducing the poo 'signals' to the brain and meaning that children just 'store' more and more poo before they go, then when they go, large poos hurt and on goes the cycle.

Definitely increase your own fluids, that is a very good point.

Is there something about the massage he doesn't like? Being naked for example? I would just go for the leg exercises and tummy rubs whilst fully clothed/on your knee.

Another thing is to think about how you hold him when feeding - after 17weeks it is usually hard to try and hold them straight but it might help if you adjust his feeding position?