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Original poster

HELP! ds hasn't pooed in 72hrs!

24 replies

dinkyboysmum · 21/07/2007 16:07

need some advice here...
i have 6 week old ds on cow and gate comfort formula. he's really badly constipated...poos are quite firm (like a soft playdough iykwim!) he's really straining & its now been 72hrs without any movement and i can see he is in discomfort. what can i do to help?

i've been giving him cooled boiled water between feeds and tummy massage...any other tips?

OP posts:

fingerwoman · 21/07/2007 16:10

you could try a bit of fresh orange juice in some water.

Original poster

dinkyboysmum · 21/07/2007 16:15

i have tried a teaspoon of sugar in 4oz of water...guess it works the same as OJ...but still no movement!

OP posts:

WigWamBam · 21/07/2007 16:20

You can try bicycling his legs when you massage his tummy, or put him in a warm bath when you're doing the massage - that can help.

And see the GP if it continues.

I wouldn't recommend either the sugar or orange juice for such a tiny baby though ...

Original poster

dinkyboysmum · 21/07/2007 16:25

wigwambam - agree the bath would SO help, but can't do it as ds has clubfoot so has leg in plaster for 6 weeks whislt its being corrected
why would you not recommend sugar/OJ in water? is it bad? he is 6 weeks, but was 6 weeks prem (he was actually due today!)

OP posts:

MKG · 21/07/2007 16:31

We gave chamomile tea (family remedy) to ds1 at 6 weeks when he was having tummy issues it worked great.

WigWamBam · 21/07/2007 16:46

I know a lot of people recommend it (my HV recommended sugared water for my dd once - my GP was furious when he found out) but it's just a bit strong for a tiny tummy to cope with, that's all.

Poor little soul; he's been through the mill a bit already, hasn't he!

bhabi · 21/07/2007 19:12

Hi there,
I was advised by the doctor in my local children's hosp that they can go upto 10 days, without pooing!! I was horrified and told this does not mean they have a blockage!! Yeah right and I too was advised to give 3tsp of brown sugar in 3 floz of warm, freshly boiled water.I didn't like the idea of giving him sugar.He was also around 6 weeks at the time. H e is now almost 11 weeks. A natural alternative that my mother inlaw from India recommended is to add the following to a cup of water and reduce in a small pot,open a cardamon pod and use 4 seeds from it,tiny pinch of fennel seed and tiny pinch of ajwain seed. Bring to boil and reduce until there is roughly 2 tblsp of liquid left. Add the tiniest pinch of brown sugar at the end and strain.This reduction can be used in 2 ways, warm to make your baby's bowel move and relieve wind or cold if he/she has diahorrea.Give upto 2 teaspoons to baby. It works wonders, honest and it is 100% natural.We give it to our baby if he hasn't pooed or is straining too much trying to poo and is clearly uncomfortable.
Good luck

Ceolas · 21/07/2007 19:17

Given his history and is still so young, I'd get him checked out before doing anything myself.

SpacePuppy · 21/07/2007 19:29

Has he had any medication? Could he be bunged up from that? Have you tried another formula? My ds was on SMA and it constipated him, he is now 20 months and still on Aptamil, it has worked to change the formula. I personally would go see a gp to get a prescription, if he became constipated all of a sudden there could be an underlying problem.

WigWamBam · 21/07/2007 19:32

Any joy yet, dbm?

Bhabi, breast-fed babies can go for up to ten days without pooing but as dbm's son is formula-fed, that wouldn't be the case.

Often it's the formula which causes constipation, and a change of milk may do the trick.

I fully agree with Ceolas - I wouldn't give him anything to take without checking it out with the GP first.

Desiderata · 21/07/2007 19:39

He's probably constipated as the result of having his leg in plaster/operation. This is common with adults as well as new-borns.

Have you tried having a chat with NHS-Direct?

If he's in discomfort, then something obviously needs to give. Please don't follow this advice without checking up on it, but beetroot juice is an age-old remedy for constipation. However, in a child so young it might not be advisory.

So sorry ... poor little chap, and poor old you! In the event of any practical advice, I am currently in the process of sending some very positive vibes your way.

Original poster

dinkyboysmum · 21/07/2007 20:43

WE HAD MOVEMENT!
quite solid to start with...then second nappy followed shortly after that was much mroe 'korma-like'! sorry if tmi! I'm just so relieved!
he was also given iron-supplements from the hospital because of his prematurity, i heard this can't help either!

OP posts:

Desiderata · 21/07/2007 21:07

Oh, dinky. I am DELIGHTED!

Constipation is horrible. We shall never know what shifted it, but I'm sure that all your good care helped immensely.

bhabi · 23/07/2007 12:42

sorry fo giving any opinion at all, i was only suggesting what worked for my baby. i wasn't saying to ignore any other advice or not to go to your GP.
and i didn't say that it is normal to not poo for upto 10 days, i said i was advised that which i thought was ridiculous myself.
So apologies to one or two of you who it would appear i have rubbed up the wrong way treading on a few of your toes!! I don't claim to know it all nor am i a GP but i know what worked and does for my child and was only sharing my thoughts.I thought that , that's what this website is about, mums exchanging information that could indeed help some other mums out there.
dinkysboysmum, I hope all works out for you and your lttle one and I will send some distance reiki healing to you both xxx

TheApprentice · 23/07/2007 12:46

DinkyboysMum, you're right about iron supplements - they made me constipated! Ds often went for a long time without pooing once he changed from breastmilk to formula. this soon changed once he started solids! I know you've got a way to go before that, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

NorbertStanleyFletcher · 23/07/2007 12:51

Hi Dinkyboysmum - my DS2 also had talipes, and he was in serial plasters (plasters for 10 days at a time every 2 weeks). You can get stuff to cover the plaster so that you can bath him if you wanted too (though as I remember at 6 weeks they don't get all that dirty), but once DS2 was crawling, he really needed baths, and we bought a cover.

Slightly off subject I know

Glad he is feeling better and has poo'ed now

allgonebellyup · 23/07/2007 13:03

oh good lord

Original poster

dinkyboysmum · 25/07/2007 13:33

NorbertStanleyFletcher - hehe! a fellow talipes sufferer!!!! we have to trek to southampton hospital every week for new serial casts...such a drag, especially as i have to go on my own (dh works). is your ds corrected now? did he have the boots and bars??

OP posts:

NorbertStanleyFletcher · 25/07/2007 20:50

Ahhh - no in my day they really didn't do the boots and bars so much, things have moved on and I gather the boot and bars works very well. He had an op at 10 months for achilles lengthening, a straightening op, , a further straightening op and a tibial rotationa op. He is now fine, though one foot is much smaller than the other. He got very good on crutches, much to the amusement of his teachers. His talipes was quite severe though - one of the worst they had seen I believe

Original poster

dinkyboysmum · 26/07/2007 07:55

it's nice to hear that it is all worth it. at just 6 weeks old, ds is now in his 4th cast, out of 6. Then they will do the achilles op & recast for 3 weeks, then put him in boots and bars for 3-4 months. I'm so glad they've been so quick at getting it all sorted. ds is totally unaware. must have been tricky with an older child?

why was one foot smaller, was the tallipes only on one foot? my ds only has 1 tallipes and i was wondering the other day whether the size of his feet would be affected...the tallipes foot seems smaller at the moment?

OP posts:

Leati · 26/07/2007 08:03

My daughter had a hard time going poo and I nursed. She ended up seeing a specialist, nothing was physically wrong. She went days with out going over and over so her docter referred her to a gastro something specialist.

Doctor had me curl her legs into her body because apparently some babies stiffen thier bodies and that makes it hard for them to go. And he had me use glycerin suppositories.

Leati · 26/07/2007 08:04

If you use suppositories make sure you get the infant kind...it is called babylax

Budababe · 26/07/2007 08:10

Hi dinkyboysmum - glad he finally did it.

The iron won't be helping but my DS was a FF baby to and was constipated. District nurse recommended drop of OJ in water, tried the brown sugar in water one too. Tried getting him to drink water - not much joy.

Mentioned it to the doc and he recommend adding an extra ounce of water into every bottle. So if you are making a 3 oz bottle use 4 oz of water. It does no harm to the resulting bottle and just means that they get extra water with the feed. I know they say you should only make up the formula exactly as it says on pack but the doc said that is so people won't add extra formula to try and get babies to sleep more.

Hope this helps - I did it from when DS was about 2 weeks till he came off bottles.

NormaStanleyFletcher · 26/07/2007 12:14

Yes - he had talipes only on the left. His calf is thinner on that side, and his foot is smaller (size 11 on the small foot, size 1 on the big foot).

It doesn't really bother him. He wears shorts and sandels, has had no bullying or remarks of any kind (apart from people saying that you really can't tell that he has had so many ops when he is haring around the playground with the other boys!)

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