orange juice to help a newborn with constipation?? Really?

[ReshapeWhileDamp]

This advice has been given to me by several friends (including a GP) and the HV now. DS2 is 5 weeks, and pooing very irregularly now. I do know that bf babies can go happily for several days between poos, but DS2 is far from happy. This time he went 3 and a half days and was in agony from wind, and seemed to be trying hard to push the poo out. At times, he resembled a woman in labour. I know 3 days isn't long, but he's really suffering.

So, what's the orange juice thing about? I've been told to mix it with warm, boiled water, or neat on a spoon. He's 5 weeks old. Surely this is bad news for his gut? (citrus, too!) Is this just Old Wives' Advice that's hung around, or will a few teaspoonsful of juice not hurt his immature gut? Was really surprised to hear it from a GP.

Reshape you're still putting a 'foreign' substance through that 'virgin gut' with infacol whether it's absorbed into the bloodstream or not!

Interesting about citrus though, sounds like there are plenty of good suggestions to try before resorting to OJ.

Im not sure if this is another old wives tale but apparently if you drink prune juice and BF then that can help if they are constipated.
I BF DD and when she was smaller if I ate a lot of fruit/veg her nappies were explosive.
I wouldn't give a 5 week old orange juice. Among other reasons it can be pretty acidic on the stomach.