8 week old having hard stools

[GrumpyOldWoman2]

Hi all,

Baby is 8 weeks old, due first vaccines on Wednesday and for the last week has been having hard poos, kind of a paler yellow than his normal poos and they STINK! He’s been on C&G anti-reflux milk and Dentinox colic drops since a week old due to vomiting and acid, so I’m reluctant to change. However he had no issues poo-wise before this, they were always normal. Now he is crying from the constipation and puts out only small, hard poos. We tried giving him a small amount of boiled water which made it go back to normal for a day, but it then returned, and I’m obviously wary of giving him any more water alone due to his age. Can anyone help me to figure out what could be causing it? I thought it may just be due to his digestive system developing, but would he benefit from lactulose?

If he is pooing I wouldn't worry. If he's formula feed make sure the ratio of water to powder you are giving is correct. I'd do bicycle legs, warm baths, olive oil massages and tummy time to help get things moving.

Yes, ask your GP about lactulose if the usual methods (bicycle legs etc) don't work.

Lactulose is very safe and very effective.

See the GP, my baby had the same but from being on lactose free fresh milk after turning 1 and has needs pediatric movicol. I didn't want her to do too many hard poos that she struggled with as it can put babies off pooing and they withhold and it all gets much worse apparently

My DD was on Movicol for a few years after turning 2 as she struggled with constipation and it was really painful for her, we never found out the cause but she grew out of it. I am lactose intolerant myself but it causes me diarrhea rather than constipation. I’ll ask the GP if lactose intolerance is a possibility and we may have to switch to Carobel and lactose free milk.

Ratios are definitely correct and we do all the bicycle legs etc to get things moving - he doesn’t really struggle to poo as such but I’m concerned he may get a fissure if they are hard, I believe DD had one and it was really difficult to heal and heartbreaking to watch, we had to help her through every poo.