strange question

[Boblina]

Hi I am not sure if this is the right place to post my question but as I am not sure where to post it... here goes. My six week old DS only poo once and rarely twice in 24 hours. Is this normal? This has been happening for a couple of weeks or so. He has also started to cry late afternoon and evenings so I have started to think that maybe he is constipated. Could he be? How often should they be going to the toilet. Thanks. xx

Is he breast fed or formula fed?

formula fed. I tried to bf but no luck. He has been crying for most of the afternoon and has just started again. Luckily DH is home to help.

are you sure he hasnt got colic? my ds only used to poo once in 24 hours so i think this is quite normal

I think you only need worry if there's a sudden change from normal - so if he normally only goes once in 24 hours then don't fret, if he's suddenly started to go more infrequently then yes, maybe he's constipated. I would get some advice from your HV or GP.

But assuming the 24 hours thing is normal for him then it could well be colic which is hideous. All you can tell yourself is that it passes, which it does.

Thanks, useful to know. How do I know if it's colic. DS1 never had it.

the crying phase usually starts more or less the same time everyday when its colic. mine used to cry 4pm till 9pm non stop . they also pull there legs up towards there stomach. hope this helps

Have a read

Thanks everyone, so if he has colic what can I do. Anyone been there and can let me know what worked for them? Is there anything that I can do to make him happier?

Im no expert but he needs to drink some water in between feeds his poop might be too solid to pass and extra water makes it looser.

if the poo is still soft when he goes then he isnt constipated. From around 5/6 weeks my lo's started to go 2-3 days between poos (also formula fed) but it was still soft so they werent constipated.

p.s. as long as the formula is made up correctly then there should normally be no need for extra water.

6 weeks is also a typical growth spurt age and they can get cranky in the afternoon as they start to get overtired. Does he nap ok?

Infacol worked for us but I've heard mixed reviews. Worth a try perhaps?

Seona, Yes he naps but less and less. But I assume that is because he is that little bit bigger. I do think that he does get tired. He is deffinately growing. You can see it. Things said he seems that little bit more settled today, not that he was last night. My parents were here last night to celebrate the new year and well they could not believe what a different baby he was.
Belle, think I heard of infacol. Shall have to have a look.

Massage of stomach with flat of hand in a clockwise motion, you can sometimes feel the trapped wind and the warmth of your hand will probably feel nice.

A bit of Vaseline on his bottom can sometimes help as can pushing back his legs against his stomach to release trapped wind (not very elegant mind!)

If it's wind, then infacol drops on the tongue or dentinox in the milk might work and also putting them in a sling for the stomach warmth and jiggling motion can help.

And an ounce of cooled boiled water on its own can get things moving too.

Hwr, if it's colic then it would be worth seeing your GP.

my ds had colic it was a nightmare. i changed my bottles to doctor browns and used colief both of these combined worked fantastic. the symptoms went away within the week. . i also changed his milk from sma to aptimal. hope you have some luck

Hi, my DD is now 3 months old. Between weeks 2 to 10 she would only poo every few days. She was breast fed for the first 2 weeks, bottle fed after that. When I spoke to my health visitor and midwives, they said not to worry about it. They said to offer her half a teaspoon to a full teaspoon of pure orange juice mixed into 1 fluid oz of cooled boiled water. DD didn't like the taste too much but it did the job - about 6 hours later we had never seen so much poo!!

Since then, she has been eating slightly bigger amounts of formula and her poo seems to be happening every 24 hours (though admittedly as I type this she hasn't been for 2 days - putting it down to the immunisations she had 3 days ago).

Re the tiredness thing. DD is TERRIBLE between 4pm and 7pm. She hasn't quite got to grips with daytime naps so by 4pm, she's been up since 6am and cranky as anything. A bath usually calms her down (though again she didn't enjoy those until 8 to 9 weeks and that everything in the bathroom was a tropical paradise temperature!!)

I guess what I'm saying is - according to the health people I spoke to - not to worry about DS having a poo every day. He may just not need to. If it goes on longer than 3 days try the orange juice thing (don't be tempted to do it more than a couple of times though or add extra juice - just be patient - it does work!!)

OOh and just to add - the health visitor also advised us to stop using SMA and use aptamil instead aswell. Hope he's more settled soon.

My DD was formula fed and only pooed once every three days (until she went to solids and then pooed three times a day - that was a shock!)

She didnt get on with powdered formula very much and her feeds greatly improved when I put her on to the liquid feed you get in cartons.