Newborn constipated - now diarrhoea after new medicine

[chocolateanddietcoke]

Hi my son started some anti reflux medicine Monday and was constipated since then until today mid afternoon. After not passing any stools he has since had 2 explosive watery stools.

Is this normal reaction to him having constipation and will look to stabilise now?

Or do we think this could be a medicine intolerance?

I think that given he's a newborn it's a trip back to the doctor. No one here is qualified to give advice on a child so young

Back there Monday just wondered if anyone had experience of this

Was it Gaviscon? It often causes constipation. We had it slightly but was a bit more controllable after limiting the doses in a day. I'd not heard of it leading to diarrhoea though but it could just be the body finally clearing out.

I had heard of some doctors prescribing lactulose for newborn constipation, its a very gentle remedy to keep things moving smoothly.

Lots of reflux remedies can cause constipation - gaviscon, carobel, stay down formulas, some babies get constipated on omeprazole though it's less common...

Bad constipation can lead to overflow diarrhoea conversely. Not sure if this can happen in babies. But they can get dehydrated easily. I'd probably get back to the Drs so they can have a look and advise. Good luck.

With a new born I wouldn’t wait until Monday.

Given the watery poos, it might be worth giving the GP a call.

If it is gaviscon that you are giving, constipation is very common and also in my opinion the recommended doses are massive. Both my DDs have had gaviscon from very early on and we found giving only 0.5 of 1 sachet was enough to hugely reduce the vomiting, but not to cause very bad constipation. You could also reduce the amount of gaviscon and see if it helps things to improve.

You can get diarrhea from constipation. My son got constipation after starting Carobel. My health visitor advised giving gripe water to help every day. Speak to your health visitor. My GP was useless.

No one can give advice here. How old is your son, and what is the “medicine”? Is the baby bf or bottle fed?

”medicine” could be anything. You can get side effects from any medicine, I wouldn’t describe it as “intolerance”.

my babies were bf and my mum was horrified at their completely normal liquid poos. She had only experience of bottle fed and thought they had some horrible infection and was all off to take them to a&e. She also thought they were constipated when they didn’t poo every day.

so too many unknowns, even if anyone does have knowledge or experience. Your child need to see a HCP so you can discuss what’s normal and what’s to be expected.

It's lanzoparole and my son is 5 weeks. I have rang the Doctors office and they have told me to just see how he goes until Monday now. We've had 2 watery stools today, baby is BF and the stools are a mustard yellow in colour. Thanks for advice.