5 wks - infrequent bowels & painful straining ...

[aliceemma]

In last week 5 week old DD's bowel movements have slowed right down to less than one day - which I know is normal but she strains really painfully throughout the day as if trying very hard to poo but just produces lots of very smelly dry wind. From about 4pm she seems to really suffer with the pain going very red in the face. Am trying infacol which seemed to make a difference day 1 but less & less. HV thought this was normal but worried as she seems in so much pain.

Will raise with GP next week but wondered if other people experienced & if any tips apart from lots & lots of winding?

You dont say whether she's breast or bottle fed. But if you think she's straining, in the short term, you could give her a teaspoon of natural orange juice in some water or prune juice will work too. If she's bottle fed, perhaps you could change her formula to see if it makes a difference. Defo ask GP next week but if you're in doubt and think it might be something more, take her to GP sooner.

my DD (now 8 1/2 weeks) had this problem over the last week. last weekend her movements had become less runny and she had one each day and then nothing for around 3 days just dry smelly wind|! she finally had a bowel movement on Wednesday evening but in the meantime I had been in contact with health visitor as I was worried that she might be constipated.

She is exclusively BF and they can have upto a week bwtween poo's. DD has not had a movement since thursday morning and is fine. I use infacol for every feed She also doesn't wind easily.

Try massaging her tummy with something like baby oil - circular motions clockwise . Also you can "bicycle" her legs to help her to pass stuff. There is probably more stuff on infant massage if you google it. If she is bf then I wouldn't give her anything else but I would consider a babymoon to give her maximum boob access, preferrably with someone to wait on you hand and foot and let you watch dvds in bed.... hell, even if she is ff, you should try that one . I know ff can lead to constipation so maybe try different brands?

Good luck - I hope she (and you) get some relief soon.