how to de-constipate a 3 week old!?

[soxy]

Hi,

We've got a 3 week old girl who has a habit of getting a bit constipated which normally means she can't sleep properly. Just wondered if anyone has any tips on getting things 'moving' again?!

We're using Aptimel easy digest and also using infacol before a feed.

Any help much appreciated!

massaging her tummy and back gently may help to relax things a bit. For my windy baby i push her knees up to her stomach and wiggle her legs like shes on a bicycle-never seems to fail to get a trump.

Not sure as all mine were being breastfed at 3 weeks but it occurs to me that one thing you could try is very gentle massage.

Get baby lying on her back on a towel in a warm room - put a little bit of oil on palms of your hands - massage her tummy in a very gentle clockwise circular motion - can be helpful to get things moving. It must be very gentle though on such a young baby.

Hope someone else comes along who knows more than me.

try giving an once of warm water[boiled first]an hour before feed,rub her little bely and back too

My HV suggested a small squeeze of orange juice (from an orange) in cooled boiled water. It worked within 2 hours. Have clean clothes/ gas mask etc at the ready.

Uhm...when I said'from an orange' I meant instead of a carton.......after reading that realised I sounded like a right idiot!!!!

soxy, what do you mean by constipated? if you are noticing it's more 'formed' that if she were breastfed, that's normal for formula milk. If it's really hard or clayish, try a little tepid boiled water, then hold her knees up to her tummy and gently 'walk' her legs.

by a little I mean probably less than 1 oz at a time (30ml) a few times a day until she shifts it.

i agree with the diluted OJ juice idea. Our girl was really constipated but she was getting on to solids so stewed apple everyday did the trick. A friend of mine had this issue and he took his boy to an oesteopath.. after a couple of sessions he said he was like a different child.
I suppose getting squeezed and stuff could shift alignment of spine and other bones. Might be worth a shot if it's an option.
I also tried the massage but that didn't help too much

Go with the orange juice, freshly squeezed - about 1 tsp oj in 1oz cool boiled water

When DS was a baby doc recommend putting an extra ounce of water in every feed. So if you are making 3 ozs use 4 oz of water. He said he knew you weren't supposed to mess about with formula but that was really to stop people putting more formula than recommended in hopes of baby sleeping more. Anyway - I did it till DS came off formula and it worked.

Hi,

prune juice helped my DD2. i tried 1 oz into 6oz of water but she was a bit older, probably 4-5 months, so you may want to alter the dilutions. Get ready for the explosion!

Also as prune juice is only sold in a big bottle I found that freezer 1 oz portions in those weaning cube trays were more economical.

HTH

Juice for a 3 week old??

My HV recommended it and said that you can use from any age but obviously just a splash the younger they are.