ebf baby not pooing for several days and not happy about it

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DD is 8 weeks and in the last couple of weeks she's gone from pooing pretty regularly to going 4-5 days between poos.

by the 3rd ish day she starts doing really smelly farts and seems pretty uncomfortable, then by the 4th/5th day it starts to interfere with her naps and she is very squirmy and uncomfortable a lot of the time.

I do tummy massage and bicycling legs and it sometimes produces a bit of gas but no poo.

Anyone had this? any solutions? I know it's "normal" for BF babies to go days between poos but it's clearly not agreeing with her.

I know there are remedies like sugar water, prune juice or cotton bud up the bum but am worried she could become dependent on these if I use them?

I found my dd's body got used to 3 day poos after a while. Like you I assisted with the wind.

Thanks squizita. Do you remember how long it took for her to get used to it?

Last time she pooed was after a visit to a cranial osteopath - that's a bit of an expensive way to get her going though!

About 3 or 4 weeks I think. Obviously there wasn't any bad pain or anything just wind and irritation or I would gave gone to the GP.

Oh I would not stick a cotton wool pud up there! Two of my DCs were exclusively bf but got constipated. I usually to help by rubbing their bellies a lot, lots of nappy off time (which seemed to be the most effective thing by far) and holding their knees up to their belly with the nappy off when they seemed to be straining. I also gave them warm prune juice and orange juice which helped too.

I probably wouldn't give juice at 8 weeks, but if they're really uncomfy then try 2.5ml of cooled boiled water, if that's not enough then upto 5ml I'd give. 15 minutes after a small drop off water and my dd would do a great big poo, much to everyone's relief!

Its true that some babies do poo less often but you know when they're just plain uncomfy. I was apprehensive about giving water at first but she was so relieved afterwards.

Good luck x

Oh and if you drink orange juice that will get to her through your milk, just be aware also that eating farty foods will have the same effect, cabbage, sprouts and beans used to make dd so uncomfortable the next day. So if you're lunch is a mixed bean salad daily then think again.

There is an interesting discussion on Kellymom about whether what you eat can cause wind in a baby. There's no evidence that eating beans will cause wind for your baby, so please don't feel you need to start restricting your diet.

Dd was very similar, I tried everything. The one thing I noted was that when she did eventually poop, it was when she was sitting upright in my lap (god bless active fit!!) so I don't know if the position and keeping her a bit more upright has anything to do with it. It's horrible isn't it, I also take her into the bath with me and immerse her tummy to warm her up before massage and that has been effective too.

Kate as I understand it that's now considered a myth. Foods do affect some babies but it doesnt work as simply as "windy food = windy baby". In fact protein does it for some! It's certainly never ever affected me that way. Wind is caused by fibre - not molecular level nutrients - thus cannot get through to the baby. However if beans/veg changes the taste or quantity of milk this can affect air being swallowed by baby and therefore wind.

Oh after a massage - if you have a vibration bouncy chair use that. It seems to enhance the effect iyswim.

A little technique I read about online which worked wonders for our DD is as follows. Lie your baby on her back and gently bring her knees together. Whilst supporting her lower legs with your hand, gently move her knees in a clockwise direction several times. The idea is that pressure on the lower abdomen will release any trapped wind and make your baby poo. For us, it worked within an hour! Hope this helps.

DS was just like this from weeks 3-14, it really affected his nighttime sleep too and drove us bonkers!!! I'm afraid we tried all of the above and they helped a bit but didn't 'fix' the problem, think his little digestive system just needed time to settle down. The 'tiger in a tree' hold helped a bit and once he was 11 weeks or so we put him down for naps on his tummy - something which made the biggest difference but is obviously not strictly advised with small babies.

All I can say is that it will pass eventually (because I felt like it never would!!!) and good luck! DS has no problems digesting anything now (19 months) and is a regular 2-a-day boy!!

Thanks for the tips and sympathy everyone!

I will try water, not too keen on giving her juice esp as she's EBF except for vast quantities of infacol but maybe if we get desperate. She seems to tense up a bit in the bath (not used to it yet, only had a few baths) so not sure if that would help but worth a try definitely! And I will also try more tummy time/tiger in a tree and general pressure on the abdomen while she's awake - Sally I've not heard of that technique, it sounds good. She does poo when upright so will keep doing that.

She eventually pooed yesterday evening (day 5) so last night and today have been good but I know it will be building up again!

My 4 week old has just started to not poop for days after 3 weeks of going with every feed, it's been every other day for the last week and before it comes she seems uncomfortable with it, also it is huge and leaks everywhere. I have noticed that the consistency has changed since as well so I think it's her bowels maturing and getting used to life on the outside?! Hoping it stops soon. Anyway no advice as this is dd3 and I never had an issue with dd1 & 2 but just wanted to share the sympathy! I did do the leg thing when she was straining and she started to go......it felt like she would never stop!

They just have to get used to their bodies.

DD1 was like this and a technique similar to Sally's, where you gently push together knee to opposite shoulder, seemed to really help.

Who knew we would spend so much time thinking about poo as mothers?!

DS would routinely go a week between poos. Her record was 14 days during a growth spurt.
Didn't seem to bother her though. A warm bath often helped kick things off. Getting in the tub with her was like Russian roulette, as her Dad discovered the hard way...

*DD

Very similar here. Dd is a once a week kind of baby and she's almost ten weeks. She's currently on day six of no pooing and I just did a deep immersion bath to try and ease things along.

A friend of mine has DD (11 weeks) who started going 5 days between poos. Her GP prescribed some suppositories that have done the job.

Guin can I ask why? 5 days is well within normal perameters and a suppository sounds uncomfortable!

hooray, DD pooed yesterday - only day 3 and no osteopath or other assistance (just a big feed and holding her upright while she turned bright red and pushed ) so hopefully things are improving...

good luck to everyone in a similar predicament... sending full nappy vibes

I think she was not happy and had previously gone 10 days between poos. From what my friend said, the suppository was pretty easy and worked fast.