5 week old - constipated

[murf]

Hi my 5 week old baby girl isn't pooing often. She last pooed on Thursday so 5 days and before that it was last on Saturday (5 days. On thurs she did a huge one ...came out thick greeny-brown like paint from a tube.

She is having a combo of breastmilk and formula (usually 4-6 oz of formula once in the early pm and once at night).

I asked my healthvisitor about this last week and she said not to worry. went to gp yesterday and he has prescribed some suppositories to use tommorrow if no change.

she seems ti strain quite a bit and gets upset during this. is also farting.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated ....what else can i try before th suppositories?

More breastmilk and less formula. Constipation is one of the many hazards to babies of formula milk.

My DS poos about once a week, sometimes he goes 8-9 days without pooing. It is normal. He is also a very windy baby.

the formula is basically messing up her gut, stick with the breast milk & you should find it resolves itself

thanks for the messages. she did a huge poo yesterday evening.

Would like to try prevent this becoming a norm .... not sure I am ready to stop the formula twice a day so other than more breastmilk...any other suggestions?

is giving her cooled boiled water say every couple of days advisable? (a friend suggested it)?

thanks

My DS is fully bf and I was told this was okay as there is very little waste from breast milk though it is also normal for bf babies to poo every day!

other than not giving her any formuala, I wouldn't like to suggest anything else. Although I would say it's 99% that the formula is doing this as it disrupts the intestinal flora.

She is very tiny, so could you bf now & then mix when she is a bit more developed ?

what a dilema

we put her on formula twice a day as she just wasnt settling after breast feeds ...kept crying, needing frequent feedings... also she wasnt putting on much weight. i'm 'scared' to go back to that. But the constipation is also a worry. Do you think she might get used to the formula eventually or is this likely to persist? if so then maybe I can try to do away with the afternoon formula?

which formula do you use? Aptamil and cow and gate both contain prebiotics that are supposed to help keep the poo soft. My ds was solely formula fed and pooed every 2-3 days but as it was still soft and not like hard rabbit droppings then he wasnt counted as being constipated. If your lo's is still soft when it arrives then it is not constipation - she just doesnt poo much.

I gave my DDs a sip of water.

she is on aptamil...poo is soft

Bf babies do need frequent feeding - that's normal.

Have you tried expressing and feeding her from a bottle if she is not settling or not feeding enough because then you can 'see' how much is going down? it is definitely the formula IMHO.

hi, she is only teeny though & very soon, she'll settle with just bf. Ref the weight, babies aren't meant to be big. If it helps, my DD is still tiny, she is 2 & I worked out she is on something like the 2nd centile. She's as bright as a button though : - ) & full of energy. She fed every 2 hours until she was about 4 mths. At night she woke about 12, fed, then went straight to sleep again.

The reason your DD is more settled on the formula is because her body is struggling to digest it & she is zonked out. BM is obviously very easy to digest.

Could you express earlier in the day & then give her that ?

You could try 2 more weeks of BF & then if no difference, give her the formula again ?

Hope this is helpful

yes it is thanks. mmm i will talk it over with the hubby and see if we'll take the plunge try bf only for a couple week or so!

My DS was fully formula fed and we had this too. Doc recommended adding an extra ounce of water to each bottle. So a 2 scoop/2 oz bottle would be 2 scoops and 3 ounces of water. I did this from then on and no problems after.

(I know they say not to tamper with formula measure but it is the adding of extra formula that is dangerous not extra water unless really diluting obv.)