infrequent stools - advice please

[vicki35]

hi

I have a 6 week old baby. Since birth he has had problems passing stools. he was constipated so i swapped him to aptimil comfort milk, he remained constipated so HV suggested I try a different milk, tried cow and gate with temporary success but then the constipation returned.

I swapped back to aptimil comfort and have also been giving him boiled water with either sugar or orange juice in it.

When he goes the stools are soft but he only goes every 3-4 days and inbetween is so uncomfortable and unsettled. he has terrible smelly wind and I have on occasion had to resort to giving him lactulose which does make him go but he is still uncomfortable.

HV then suggested I try colief which doesn't seem to have made any difference apart from when he finally goes the stool is runny, he has also the last two days been crying much more and hasn't slept during the day at all and has been really unsettled.

I am at my wits end. I feel like I am flying from one milk or medicine to another and things are getting worse not better. I now don't know whether to stop the colief and the comfort milk and try normal milk, I was also thinking of trying prune juice in water? Everything I read on the internet says infrequent stools are not a problem but try telling my baby that!

I'm also not sure if he has colic but if he has surely the colief would be helping that? but the crying over the last couple of days has been worse.

I would be really grateful for any suggestions or advice. Thanks

Hi, sorry you have had a tricky few weeks. My DS sounds similar to yours in some ways, until approx 4 months would only poo once evry 4 days and was passing a lot of smelly wind in between. He would also wake up grunting at night sometimes. However my HV did not think it was constipation as his poo was soft. When you say he is uncomfortable what is he actually doing?

6 weeks is also around a growth spurt so that could be the reason for extra crying.

Sorry have not been much help but perhaps try laying off medicine for a few days and see if it gets worse or stays the same.

Thanks for your advice. I've stopped all the colief etc etc and also had to take him off the comfort milk as he has a cold and he can't stomach the thick consistency, so now he is back to normal aptimil and boiled water with a teaspoon of prune juice and we will see what ( if anything) comes out..

I do need to see whether he will still eventually pass a soft stool without all the medicine as up to now when he has passed one, he has been taking some sort of medicine or another, at least this way I can see if he is actually constipated or not.

By uncomfortable, I mean he strains a lot and pumps his legs in and out and he has started crying during his feeds too, all of which could be down to colic too I know, it's just hard to tell what is causing the pain... just hope he sorts himself out soon!