Help/advice needed! Has anyone experienced this?

[mumbum]

Hi all. My ds2 is now 4 and a half months old. Since he was about 2 weeks old he hasn't poo'd regularly, going as long as 9 days sometimes. He is breastfed and i know they say up to 7 days is normal but he gets very uncomfortable and can cry in pain for hours just to squeeze a fart out. His poo is soft when it eventually arrives so he's not technically constipated. I have also been told that he possibly has silent reflux because although a lot better than he was, he used to scream when i fed him and he arched his back. He also sometimes refuses the breast when he's in pain and i have to resort to giving him a bottle. His sleeping is rubbish - 40 mins at a time during day and every 2 - 3 hours at night. He's a big boy and is hungry for solids but after about the 3rd spoonful he screams in pain and won't take anymore - is this the reflux?? With regards to the pooing, i end up putting a wee bit of glycerine soap up his bum to help him poo because he gets so sore. This often helps with an entire bowel movement but not always and the crying continues. I'd really appreciate your imput on a, the pooing and trapped wind and b, the silent reflux and feeding solids. My HV is useless and the doctors just tell me that his tummy feels fine and he just has a sluggish bowel.

The arching back sounds like reflux to me - have you asked the doctor for baby gaviscon? You can mix with formula or breastmilk. DS had silent reflux and did the arching back, crying after a few mouthfuls thing - worth a shot and ask to speak to a different doctor because imo, they aren't always clued up on silent reflux!

if the doc says it's a sluggish bowel I wouldn't worry too much.

however, when dd had colic/wind at that age (and she pood infrequently too, but I can't remember exactly how infrequently), working her legs in little circles helped a lot - have you tried doing that?

also are you sure he refuses the breast because he's in pain? they do sometimes refuse at this age, but many babies will still down a bottle simply by reflex action (someone on here told me that, but I'm fairly sure it's true - I stopped giving dd bottles and she was fine). same with the solids - are you sure it's pain? what are you feeding him?

PJC - he used to arch his back according to the op. he doesn't now, hence my not worrying.

Sounds a lot like reflux, especially the refusing food and arching his back. They tend to get the painful wind with reflux as they swallow more to soothe the acid burning pain. Not sure if it affects their poo though but maybe someone cleverer will know!

Don't forget that at this age it could still be immature digestive system or colic. Does he cry a lot in the day? or is it just around feeds? Does he let you cradle him or does he have to be upright?

I would pester your gp for more answers or maybe try cranial osteopathy, I've heard and read that people have had amazing results with similar babies!

remember he doesn't need solids at 4 months though. you could go back to breastmilk only for a few weeks and see what happens.

all about cranial osteopathy

I was given baby gavison when he was about 3 months and it did nothing. I also took him to a cranial osteopath at 5 weeks and he cured ds of his dislike of lying on back of head but that's all. I do the circlng of legs and that appeases him but when i stop he cries again. I know i don't have to give him solids but he's quite a big boy (17lbs and in the 91st percentile for his height) and he actively looks for food. He munches it off the spoon like i've starved him for a week but i think when the food hits his stomach it is possibly refluxing back up - it's the only thing i can think off to explain the sudden burst of crying and tears. I am generally just breast feeding now. His refusals are no where near as bad as they used to be but it's just frustrating cos he's such a happy boy if he is comfortable but the wind and lack of poo make him squirm and grunt alot.

Sorry - in a dash so short answers but written with lots of empathy and support!

My DD used to poo twice a month for quite a while and that was absolutely fine - don't worry about that.

I would absolutely NOT put soap up his bum - it's an irritant and not a good thing to do at all. You shouldn't be doing anything like that unless advised by a medical practitioner.

It doesn't make sense that he's in pain if he will take a bottle but not breast - it sounds like it isn't pain but more that he's doing the normal thing of encouraging the milk to come in. He's heading for his 6 month growth spurt and so he needs the boobs to rack up a notch and it sounds like that's all that's happening and is completely normal. Just keep offering him the boob as and when - it will all work out ok. As long as he's healthy and growing ok, he's absolutely fine.

IMO he is too young for solids as he actually needs milk only at this stage - milk has far more calories and nutrients than solids. He is possibly screaming after 3 spoonfuls because he doesn't actually want it. It's not necessarily pain. 6 months is the perfect time to introduce solids and amazing though it seems, he can do perfectly well on nothing other than milk until he's 1....

I remember being told by my midwife of ds1 that a baby struggles to latch on if he has wind and a bottle requires no effort to drink from hence the opting for bottle but not boob if there was a pain. Anyway, thanks everyone for your input. I haven't been on here for ages but thought it best to turn to the knowledge of other mums as i have tried everything and thought i was quite a good natural mum but my wee ds2 proves a challenge some days and i'd ran out of ideas.