Newborn Constipation

[shannonlh2503]

I have a week old baby and he's finding it really hard to poo. It's really hurting him Is it okay to give him boiled water in between his feeds I've looked it up and said it's ok I'm just not sure. Does it work ?

Is he BF or FF?

FF

Can you contact your HV? I’d talk to her.

I wouldn't give water to a week old baby without medical advice so I'd contact your midwife or HV for advice. It's a new skill for them to learn so I think it often looks (and sounds) more difficult than it actually is.

They just have to learn how to relax one muscle while pushing with the other. At the minute he'll be contracting the wrong muscles and expecting the poo to come out and getting upset about it. Took my boy weeks and weeks to learn but we found aptamil comfort milk helped as it made his poo a lot softer x

I’d check with the health visitor about water at this age. I did a lot of cycling of the legs for DS when he struggled

Unless he is having very hard poos, or pooing a lot less frequently than is normal for a baby fed by whichever method he's fed, he isn't constipated. Is either of those things happening?

It's really normal for small babies to appear uncomfortable about pooing, and to seem to strain to do it for long periods of time. As PPs have said, it's a new skill they have to learn which is actually quite complicated and it can be really frustrating for them at first. They get there eventually, though!

What’s happening to make you think he is constipated? How are you making up bottles?

Hv told me no water to use a ready made bottle its richer and flushes systems