Bottle feeding constipation

[Louboo2245]

My DD is 2 weeks old and has been constipated for the past week. When she was 6 days old we mentioned to the midwife that she had not pooed in 24hours and that we were concerned she was constipated, the midwife suggested cooled boiled water in between feeds and warm bath and perhaps a massage. We did all those things and she pooed that evening (in the bath, on my DH and finally in her nappy) Following this she was more settled.

On Sunday we rang NHS direct because she hadn't pooed in 36 hours, they directed us to the on call doctor who prescribed 5 ml of lactulose a day for her.

She is now pooing once a day, which is very runny. But is still straining and getting upset throughout the day. Though not excessively, and is sleeping fairly well at night.

I'm just wondering what is the norm and is there anything else I can do to help her.

My ds was the same (he's now 4.5). He always struggled to poop. He would strain so hard and was very windy. He was on lactulose too. He was even referred to a paediatrician to check that there was nothing causing his problems and was on prescription formula for a while. Nothing really made a difference.

For us we just had to ride it out until he was weaned. Then it was much better.

I remember calling my gp on one occasion when ds hadn't pooped in a few days and was in pain and he told me to up the dose of lactulose until it got things moving which it did. It was like someone had turned on a tap .

Maybe speak to your gp about increasing the dose? I also found massaging his tummy really good and moving his legs like he was riding a bike helped him too.

Cheers. I'm going to talk to the midwife again on Fri when she next comes round, see if she can suggest anything else.

We spend ages massaging her tummy, but to no avail. Will keep trying though thanks x

My baby was exactly like this on SMA gold. Not sure what ur on but a lot of people have problems with it, we changed her to Cow and Gate comfort and although still a bit windy (not half as much) she is very content and settles much better. The proteins in it are softer on babies tummy. It might be worth changing her milk x

We had this with DD1 on aptamil milk as well, and we also changed her to C&G Comfort milk for a few weeks, with spectacular results, so much poo! She was fine after this, even when we went back to using normal formula. Tummy massage helped her too, as did cycling her legs.

Just make sure you massage her tummy clockwise as otherwise you'll be backing up the system as it were!!!

I think the comfort formula might be the way forward as the lactulose hasn't helped her today, no poo in 24 hours again!
I do massage in a clockwise motion, it seems to settle her a bit but doesn't produce any results if you know what I mean.

Yeah the comfort milk is great. Is just a lot gentler for them to digest. Takes up to a week but my bb was almost instantly happier Thing to remember if u go to comfort is you need teats that allow thicker liquid through. I use avent no 2. If you batch mix as well they need a really good shake cos they water and powder splits. Also I usually make with caps on rather than teats as very sticky and blocks them up. Hope u don't think I'm being bossy these are just things I've picked up. Hope it goes well x

No I take any advice I can get at the minute. The midwife is coming tomorrow and I will talk to her about it as well, as it just can't be nice for DD.

I have the no 2 teats so should be fine to go straight away. What's strange is that even though she's not pooing often she doesn't seem to distraught about it. She's sleeping well and feeding well. It's making me wonder if I am making something out of nothing!

I second what Southseagirl. DS constipated with SMA, switched to Aptamil, problem solved.

My dd usually went 2-3 days between poos and has done this from birth. I asked the health visitor about it and she said it was normal and nothing to worry about - so if your dd is content I can't see why you would need lachulose.
We did start on comfort milk when she was about 2 months old though, as she seemed very windy and uncomfortable. It works well but she possets watery stuff continuously, so I'm thinking of changing back to normal milk now she is a bit older.

I was just going to suggest the aptimil easy digest, which is made by the same people as cow and gate and may now have been replaced by cow and gate comfort (it was nearly 4 years ago!) However, I would suggest doing a gradual change over, rather than straight away so as not to upset little tummy more. The only downside is some seriously stinks farts!

Everything I've read says that FF babies should/need to poo once a day in order to feel comfortable. As much as she is settled, she is obviously in a lot of discomfort when is comes to pooing, which is why I'm concerned.
I'm off to go and get the comfort milk now, hopefully things should improve! The stinky farts won't bother me as she's already producing them now!

We're talking a whole new level of stink! Please let me know how you get on.

You'll have to wait until Monday I'm afraid, Midwife has said to do nothing until I see the doctor on Monday. Waiting til Monday because she's gaining weight normally and other than pooing is doing well. I'll let you know how it goes.

My dd was the same, I would always add a little extra water to her bottle, about 20% on top of the suggested amount. It really helped her.

Not a good idea to add water to feeds - not likely to do any harm with an older baby, but the OP's baby is 2 weeks old. 20 per cent extra water could lead to serious under-feeding :( :(

I am giving her cooled boiled water inbetween feeds, as tiktok said it could end badly for little one if I water down her actual feeds.

Ok fair point, but I was advised to by my go at the time

Gp sorry

GP has said it's colic not constipation. To stop giving her the lactulose and move onto infacol. He says that changing her milk will do little to help her but if the infacol doesn't work it may be worth a try.
I always colic was this horrific ordeal of screaming and not being able to settle?? But anyway shall do as I am told and take her back if it doesn't get any better!

Strange that he said that changing milk wouldn't help as c&g comfort is specifically made for babies with colic it made my LO much better with both her colic and her pooing, downside is she now poos about twice a day so more clean up for me x

The infacol seems to have settled her, so I'm going to leave it for now. If she gets worse again I will try changing her milk.
I suppose different professionals have their own preferred methods??? Who knows.

Defintely try the Comfort milk - it transformed my whingy, farting, colicy first daughter in about 3 days!

I love the little face they pull with the infacol as its there first taste of something fruity

LEt us know how it goes over the next few days Louboo. When my DS was that age we put him on infacol to help him bring up his stubborn wind and it really constipated him, stopped the infacol and the poo came back (with a vengeance!) so I hope it doesn't have the same effect on your baby.