Straining and grunting

[RachelMary]

My little lad is 3 weeks and fully breastfed. He poos frequently throughout the day sometimes in every nappy with runny mustardy yellow poo which I understand is usual for B fed babes. However he seems to struggle to pass his poo with very load grunting and straining that can disrupt his feeding, sleep and alert periods... i.e. he will be sleeping soundly but will be disturbed by strng straining and pushing sometimes for long periods of time. I have tried him on Infacol which has helped with wind but not the straining... the HV does not seem concerned but has anyone got any experience of this or tips of how I can ease things for him? Thanks

Both mine did this, DD1 used to go bright red and do a strainy face. It's normal for them to grunt and strain a bit, as long as they don't seem like they're in pain and the poo isn't hard when it comes out. They do grow out of it.

If you want to try and sooth him then there are some baby massage things you can try to help stimulate his bowels. Clockwise massage on his stomach may help as well as a warm bath.

I agree - this sounds like 100 per cent normal baby behaviour. It's just them getting used to the new sensations of their gut :) Your baby is not actually straining, and he's not suffering, and he will grow out of this in time :)

Your HV has checked this out and says there is no need for concern; if you want to massage etc that's fine, but your baby prob doesn't need it....just do it as a nice thing for you to share :)

thanks to you both... I am new to all this so your expertise and experience is really reassuring!!