Infant Constipation - Asheboro,NC

Hello. I am a doctor and I tell you that is definitely not because of breastfeeding.There are children (like adults) that go to the bathroom every 4-5 days and it is totally normal. I wouldn´t do anything as it seems it doesn´t bother her. You could put micralax but I don´t recommended because I think she doesn´t need it. And you, eat what you want. It is different that in an adult that has to eat a lot of fiber.
All will regulate with the time...

I know that you don't want to hear that it's because you are breastfeeding but it may be. I have a 13 week old daughter that I breastfeed and she can go days without having a bm. My 21 month old daughter was the same way. I did read somewhere that it was not unusual for breastfed babies to go 5-7 days without a bm. They eat a lot throughout the day and it does seem a little weird that they don't go more. But if she's not in pain try not to worry too much. Easy for me to say. Good luck!

S.,

I understand what you are going through. I thought that he should be going every day when I was breast feeding. My Dr told me not to worry. He asked me if he was pulling his legs up and seemed like he was in pain I told him no. He asked when he is crying does his stomach feel like a hard ball and tender to the touch again I said no. He finally asked me when he does have a BM is it loose or in hard balls. To which I responded no. He then told me that he would not be concerned about him having a BM every 3 to 4 days. He did however tell me if it goes to 7 days then he needs to be seen immediately. Hope this helps.

D. S.

You baby is not constipated. This is completely normal for a breastfed baby. It's just throwing you off since your son's BM habits were more frequent. And I have to say this: your doctor's office gave you bad advice. Karo syrup should not be used, that's dangerous and outdated advice. And there is no need for suppositories. Repeated use can actually cause harm. Please checkout kellymom.com and use the search engine to find FACT BASED articles on constipation and bowel movements in infants. Then check out their forums where real moms talk to each other (this board is moderated so stupid advice is labeled so!). You'll feel better once you read about other moms who worried about the same thing, then found it it was normal. Here's a link to one of the articles I found on there http://www.umc-cares.org/health_info/article.asp?Category...
Here's an ancerpt: "at 3-6 weeks of age, breast-fed babies may only have one stool a week. This is because breast milk leaves very little waste in the intestines to be passed. Again, if the stool, when passed, is not hard, this is completely normal. In general, it is almost impossible for strictly breast-fed babies to become constipated."
Now back to the Karo syrup thing. Karo syrup can contain botulism spores. Although Karo has changed their manufacturing process in recent years to cut down on this, the chance is still there. Trust me on this. Google it. Go to Karo's website, they have a disclaimer about it. If it were me, I would print this information and take it to my doctor's appointment and show them they are giving out dangerous and out dated advice. I don't care if it's a small chance of contracting botulism, it's a chance I wouldn't want to take.
Good luck and best wishes to you!

Hi S.,

I know it is frustrating for you that your daughter doesn't have more frequesnt BM's. My pediatricians (two different in two different states)have told me in the past that breastfed babies can go up to a week without a BM as they absorb the majority of the milk and there is little waste. If she is not uncomfortable (bloated with a hard belly), she probably doesn't need to go. My understanding is she is too young for Miralax, I think they have to be 18 months old. We used Karo syrup in warm water or warm baby apple juice with dark Karo twice a day and that helped. When she is 6 months old, she will be old enough to add solids and when she starts to eat cereal it will help also as she will have some bulk for her intestines to push. Rice cereal was constipating for both of my kids but they did great with baby oatmeal.
Hang in there, it will pass.
L.

she does not sound constipated. she just has her own bowel pattern, as does everyone. as long as she is not uncomfortable, and when she does have a bm it is soft, she is fine. do you poop every day? not every one does and that is normal. it is only constipation if she is very fussy, cant poop when she is trying, and it is hard when she does. every one is so obsessed with breast fed babies and poop. while it is most common for a breast fed baby to have multiple bm's a day, it is not abnormal for them to go up to a week between poops.

When my son was about that age, his bowel movements decreased significantly, as well, to about once a week. this lasted about a month or two. Our ped told us to try Karo syrup if he seemed uncomfortable. It sounds like you've tried just about everything, as well. If your daughter is really horribly upset, then take her to the pediatrician. If she seems okay, though, I wouldn't worry about it for now.

I just read your post about infant constipation. Not sure that I have any answers, but let me share my experience. I have a 5 1/2 month old baby girl...also very precious. Anyway, she would have probably 5-8 'movements' a day...until she was six weeks old. She suddenly stopped going! She was and still is breastfed exclusively. When I questioned my doctor about it he said that breastfed babies can go multiple times a day to once every 10 days. I think 10 days was the longest she ever went and she's now back to being pretty regular...going about 1-2 times per day. She was never really bothered by it, so I tried not to worry. So, maybe your little one will just straighten herself out in the coming month or so. I think their little bowels just go through a few developmental changes which changes their BM frequency. Wishing you all the best!

My little girl did the same thing. I don't think that it has anything to do with what you eat or don't eat. I asked the dr about it and my pediatrician said what is happening is that she doesn't go for about 2 or 3 or 4 days (normal for her) then when she does go it is hard so next time that she needs to go it is a normal reaction to hold it. The longer she holds it the harder and bigger they become. She suggested putting 1/2 cap full of Mirilax in her bottle. It is not a laxative but a softener. She said that it will make her loose and she will move through her intestings easier making her go more often. She also said that it would not hurt her at all and said that she suggested that we do this once a day unless it gets too runny then back off a day or so.
So that is what I was told.
I thought i would pass on the info.
Good luck.

My daughter is a little older (9 1/2 months) but she had constipation problems as well. She had round balls of poop and would cry when going to the bathroom. I took her to her doctor and was told babies her age should NOT have round balls of poop. I would assume the same for yours. Her pediatrican told me to give her MyraLAX. It's over the counter. I put a capful (17 g) in an 8 ounce bottle; put 4 ounces of juice and 4 ounces of water and give her 2 ounces a day over a course of time. It really helped ..... a lot (if you get my drift). I'm not sure if the same solution would work with your daughter so I would check with her pediatrican as well. Apple juice will work occassionally but this defiantely worked better. Hope this helps!

I get very concerned about children not having bowel movements because my son had an impacted bowel. I would also try giving her water or prune juice through the bottle. If you are giving her cereal I would cut back on that too. Hang in - it will get better.

She could have twisted bowls or something.Take her to a different doctor and tell them what is going on..good luck..
S. B

Hi S.,
Your baby is not constipated!!! It is perfectly normal for a fully breastfed infant to go up to 7 days without a bowel movement. As long as she is urinating and seems normal otherwise it is O.K. Please don't put all that other stuff in your baby and mess up her belly flora. I have been a LLL Leader for almost 9 years and have been contacted by moms a lot with this question. For more info go to www.llli.org
The La Leche League web site will have more information for you.
K. Brown, LLLL, CD(DONA), DEM

I had this problem with my daughter at the same age. She is now 9 1/2 months and "goes" 1-3 times a day now. I also breastfeed as well as give her some babyfood. She would only go about every 5-7 days. The only time she would act like something was wrong is if I was feeding her and she was about to have a bowel movement. She just wouldn't eat as much. I did give her Babylax a couple of times. It would make her go, but she really didn't need to. I just let it go and she corrected it on her own. It bothered me alot, but I just kept on breastfeeding. Sometimes breastfed babies do this. As long as she is not uncomfortanle and is eating enough, i am sure she is fine. Hope this helps!

If you give her cereal or any food, you should try pear juice or pears mixed with cereal. Yes I know the doctors say no food but both of my children were given rice cereal at 6 wks old and they were also given water (8oz) a day since birth. But I don't understand why you only nurse her in the morning, she should at least be nursing every 4-5 hrs and if you think she is not getting enough use 1oz of milk and make her some cereal with pears in it and she should start going. If it hard stool the pears will work. If it is soft, and she strains, her hips may be mis-alined. We took our 2 yr old grandson to the chiropractor because he strained so much and he strained from birth, and after one ajustment he did not strain and we take him every so often when he seems to be having trouble. If you are taking iron supplements stop, they will make her constipated also, I know my son could not go when I was taking iron and when I stopped he got better. Good Luck.

We just spent all Easter weekend in the hospital with constipation for my 2 year old. I do know that breastfed babies don't go as reguar as others. My sons constipation was in his intestines and he was still going twice a day. "If" your child is constipated depending on where it is a suppository may not reach it. My son is on Miralax 3tsp twice a day. My doctor said that it is not injested and you can not give too much. It goes directly to the poo. It is to help them go, not make them go. We found out he had a blockage through an x-ray. If you feel that there could be a problem insist on an x-ray. My son was complaining that his tummy hurt and I did not back down until we found the problem. An x-ray is an easy and quick way to rule things out. We still are not sure why he had the blockage, but now we are keeping an eye on it by getting an x-ray every two months for the next year. Maybe we will be able to catch it before we end back at the hospital. Good Luck. A baby that age is hard to determine what is wrong. I hope this helped.

C.

S.,

I really doubt there is anything wrong, especially if you have tried so many things that aren't working. My daughter started pooping once a week at about 2 weeks of age. We tried a couple of things to make her go more often that didn't work. Some people told me it was normal; some people said it wasn't normal. I figured if so many other people had babies who pooped less frequently, it was probably ok. She went about 1-2 times a week until we started her on solid foods at 6 months of age. She never seemed uncomfortable in between and her poop was never hard, so I'm inclined to think that she wasn't constipated. My mom told me that when breastfed babies poop infrequently like that it's because their bodies are absorbing the nutrients more from the breast milk. I would just make sure that she is having several wet diapers a day. That way you know she is getting enough to eat. There is such a variety in "normal" bowel movements, even in adults. I would try not to worry about it unless she seems to be bothered by it.

A.

It is normal for them to only go once a week or so, so I wouldn't stress too much as long as she doesn't seem uncomfortable. My son was the same way. I had to do a couple of things...
1. suppository. I think it was glycerin.
2. I had to "stimulate" the area, with a qtip covered in vaseline, or thermomter.
3. Karo syrup. If 1/4 tsp doesn't work, increase it. I had to use a full tsp. Its just karo syrup, it won't hurt the baby. The sugar content helps hold water and make the bowels looser.

If none of that helps, and she's uncomfortable, then something needs to be checked out. But as long as she's not in pain, I would generally think nothing is wrong, she just doesn't have to go.
I worried the same way, and my doctor told me he was fine... he was. It is normal for us mommies to worry.

I would be surprised if she is constipated. After about 3 months, all 3 of my breastfed children went much longer between BMs, sometimes up to 10 days. When they did finally go, it was A LOT of poop!

My daughter, who is now 10 today, had the same issue. She would go for a week or more and the doctors said not to worry unless it was more than 10 or 14 days. Yeah right. I never really found out what it was. Later, however, after researching some other things, I wondered if there was not a bit of an overabundance of yeast in her system. Seems that if we are out of balance in our digestive tracts, and/or the vaginal area that we can pass that on to the kid, who may have a variety of issues. It sounds far fetched I know, but who knows. I do know that I have a yeast imbalance and that, due to even a "healthy" american diet, most of us do. So I would say to maybe look at that--take lots of acidopholis and check out the idea of putting more in the breast milk. Coconut oil is great for this as well and is even found in formula, though processed etc. My daughter had constipation issues until the last couple of years when I began to give her acidopholus supplements regularly.
Good luck!!

Have you tried warm prunes or warm prune juice. That has always worked for me with my daughter.

I exclusively breastfed both of my kids for the first 6 months, and they were night and day when it came to poops. My older son would go several times a day until he started eating solids, while my younger son (starting when he was 4-6 weeks old) would only go maybe once a week. If your baby is exclusively breastfed, it's not considered constipation unless she *can't* go or it hurts. If she's not straining when she goes, or doesn't seem to be uncomfortable, or her poop is not hard, then it's likely she just doesn't need to go all the time. A friend of mine as well as one of my SILs had babies who were similar. It's pretty common.

Hi S.,

Have you tried infant massage? I work with many infants with digestive difficulties and find it to be very helpful in getting things to move along. Below is a short daily digestive regimen you can use with her to help clean out the digestive tract and hopefully help her move things out.

This is best practiced in the evening, preferably after bath and/or just before bedtime.

You'll need:
100% pure castor oil (you can get this from Whole Foods, it MUST be pure, with no additives)
Hot water bottle or heating pad
Flannel, old cotton, or old pillowcase

Begin by placing baby on the floor, on a blanket, on her back. Gently apply a generous amount of castor oil onto her tummy, focusing on the area between the bottom of the sternum and just before the pubic bone. When massaging baby, always make sure you go in a clockwise direction, using circle motions. (This is the direction that waste in the large intestine travels, so it's important to keep things going in that direction)

Once the castor oil is applied, place the flannel, cotton, etc on top of baby's tummy about 2-3 layers thick. Place half-filled WARM but NOT HOT water bottle gently on top of the material (make sure you don't fill the bottle all the way up, as this may be too much pressure on her tummy). Or you can just use a heating pad on the lowest setting. Let this sit for 5-10 minutes (if you can keep her still that long!). Keep checking baby's tummy to make sure it's not getting too hot. It just needs to be comfortably warm.

After 5-10 minutes, remove water bottle/heating pad. Apply a little more castor oil. Massage baby's tummy gently in a circular motion, using your fingertips. If you're worried about how much pressure to use, a good reference is to touch your eyelid, and see how much pressure you can use there without discomfort. The same amount of pressure is fine for baby's tummy. Massage baby's tummy for about 5 minutes, or until the castor oil is absorbed.

This is a very basic infant massage sequence you can do fairly quickly every day. There is a more detailed massage that can be done if this doesn't help, but you would need face-to-face training with someone who is qualified to teach infant massage. If you'd like more information, or if you have questions, please feel free to send me a message.

Hope this helps!

K.

S.- I have a 5 mo old daughter, and we went through this, as well. I called my friend who is a pediatrician, and she said that when babies are newborns, their poop is so runny that is slides right out. As they mature, it gets more 'goopy' and they have to learn how to push it out (while relaxing their little bottom at the same time- tricky for a baby!) So she basically said, she'll just have to learn how to poop on her own. She recommended sticking to just breastmilk - no need to add karo or fruit juice into their diets. She did say to use 1/3 of a glycerian suppository if she seemed really fussy- they work like a charm. Good luck- in about 4 weeks, she'll be pooping everyday again!

You can add a tsp or two of Karo Syrup to some warm water or to your brestmilk and give it to her. It will help her to go to the bathroom easily.

K. A.

Breast milk is wonderful for your baby, it could be that her digestive system is immature or sluggish at this young age. If she won't take the kayro or apple juice,it seems to me to add a tiny bit of rice cereal with breast milk and add some kayro or apple juice. I only say this because 37 years ago my baby came home from the hospital at just 6 pounds and cereal (made in a shot glass!) was gobbled up by her, smacking her lips. Just a tablespoon with a little kayro, or apple juice along with breast milk made in the right consistancy, not too lumpy or watery. Her premature digestive tract could handle this. It was a different time of course, and I believed then as I do now, that babies need water to help add in digestion. Keep trying the water with kayro, and know that reintroducing it may work, especially if she is hungry. I know how difficult it has to be for you too see her in distress. I am not saying to exceed cereal by giving it several times a day, it was the teeny spoon she sucked at to get the tiny amount of cereal,breast milk and kayro that helped her. The kayro and water will help her more than medicine. I advise you to keep trying what has worked for generations, and wish you much luck. I hope to hear that things progress for her on a much regular basis!

We had a similar problem with our son who is now 16 months. He was on a special formula for premature babies, so it was easier to add apple juice or Karo... but our doctor was not concerned about him going every 5 days as long as it wasn't hard. He was more concerned about the texture of the stool. It sounds like you are doing all the right things. As long as she isn't symptomatic and the stool isn't hard, it sounds ok. It's definitely not anything you're doing, and it's not because she's breastfed. That's the best thing you can do for her! You can add some abdominal massage. The easiest one to describe is to lay her on her back facing you, and make like an upside down "L" across her abdomen below the rib cage and then down about 5-10 times slowly. It seemed to help our son. I don't think you can do miralax. There are some tummy drops that are a mild laxative you can give- and there are infant suppositories. But as long as it isn't hard, it sounds ok! Good luck!

Hi S.
My 6 mth old had the same problems. You really should not do Kayro because it is like honey and can have botulizm (spelling?) in it. You can do miralx, my doctor recommended 1/2 an adult dose which is half of the line marked on the cap. I give it once a day when he is constipated. At first I did it every day until he started having semi loose stools and then backed of to every other day and now only give it to him when he is constipated. I also did the baby lax and i hated doing that. You may ask your doctor if giving pedialyte is ok, I did when his stools got too loose. Also, try pear juice and water it has helped a lot as well, it took a little while but he took to it better than prune juice and water or apple juice and water. And Pear juice has more fiber. Hope this helps you may have already gotten advice on this and you may have already solved the problem hope so for you and the little ones sake. Good luck

This does not sound normal to me. I would see another doctor.

S.

It is completely normal for a baby who is breast fed only to not have a BM often. Breast milk is absorbed into the body so much faster and it is 100% natural so there is very little waste. My niece is breastfed and only has a BM once a week. When you start giving her formula or cereal and baby food she will go much more often.

Hello S.. My daughter (born Oct) had the VERY SAME problem (soley breast fed). The DR said it was fine so long as she had a poop by day 5. When we went beyond, that was the issue. We used the suppository to get things going again. It went back to the standard! THe DR suggested Milk of Magnesia (small dose..1/2 - 1 stp depeing on what helped)in her night bottle of breastmilk. We did that for off and on until she was 3.5 months and started with alittle rice in her bottle. That really didn't seem to help much but OATMEAL is our saving grace! Now she gets some every night in her night bottle and she has one poop per day atleast! Hope this helps! Good Luck..

Have you tried probiotics? They are the healthy bacteria that belong in our digestive tracts and help us digest and absorb nutrients. Acidophilus and bifidum are two of those bacteria. You can buy a powder on Natren.com that you put in their milk and they never know it. I use it for my kids, especially after a round of antibiotics. I am a microbiologist, so I know it is essential to health.

My daughter alos got constipated as an infant and still does if we go off a schedule. My doctor recommended prune juice a little at a time to see if that helps things moving. This was the only"juice" she had ever had. But seem to take it ok the fiber gets things going. I would start at 1 oz and see how it goes. Good luck.

Hi S.,

I can totally relate to your issue except we are bottle-feeding! We are now trying pear juice 2oz mixed with 2oz water for a week then straight pear juice after that. The Dr seems to think it's "normal" for his Bm to be once dirty diaper every 3-4 days. We too have had no luck with the thermonater trick and I hate using the suppositories. I have wondered if its because he is on acid reflux meds but even when we first brought him home he only seemed to have wet diapers. I would love to see if anyone else has answers to this complex problem. I know probably didn't help you but to just let you know your not alone in this issue

W.
mom to son 10 weeks old and loving husband of 14 years

If you are feeding her exclusively or nearly exclusively breast milk, it is completely normal for her to have a bowel movement only once a week or once every 10 days. Breast milk is ideally suited to her system, and there is very little waste. Formula fed babies have more and harder stools due to additives and iron in the formula. My son only went once a week (on Tuesday) for a couple of months, and only started going more often as he began eating regular food. If she is not uncomfortable and her tummy isn't hard, she's probably just fine. Messing around with her bowel system is likely to make it harder for her to get regular as she grows. She most likely doesn't need suppositories or a laxative, and the doctor tells you to give her apple juice or karo syrup because it helps alittle and makes the mommy feel better. She will outgrow this and you'll be sorry! Remember that each baby is different. Neither of my girls went more than a few days between, so you can't really compare. BTW, my son is now 18 and has no problems at all.

Breastfeeding should not make your daughter constipated. Just the opposite, breastfed babies usually poop more often than bottlefed babies. My sister's first child had lots of trouble with constipation. When she was older they had to give her enemas, etc. Once they stopped giving her milk and gave her soymilk instead she stayed more regular. YOu might want to try cutting dairy out of your diet for 2 weeks to see if that helps. Good luck!

Are you giving your daughter gas drops or colic tablets? I was using both of those for my son and his bowel movements decreased from several a day to one every 24 hours to one every 48 hours to only one in 80 hours. The only thing we could think of that was different was the drops and tablets. We completely stopped giving them to him and within a couple of days he was back on schedule. I hope your sweet girl gets relief soon!

I also breastfeed my daughter and my pediatrician told me that some breastfed babies only have BM once a week. If she does not appear to be in distress, I would not worry about it! :)

PLease please dont give your baby karo suryp as a previous poster said it contains botulisum(sp?) spores which can be very harmful to your baby. My daughter also breastfed did this also my ped told me as long as when she did go that her stools weren't hard and her tummy wasn't hard that it is normal. Your breastmilk is designed expecially for your baby your body knows what your baby needs therefore theres not alot of waste. It is perfectly normal for breastfeed babies to go up to 14 days with out a bowl movement.

I had the same issue's with my son as well! The only thing I tried also was flax oil. Tell you the truth the only thing that worked was when he went to soy milk. Good luck!

Hey S. -

I had the EXACT same problem with my son, whom I also breastfed. Some days he would go 2 times a day and then sometimes it would be 3-5 days, and when he did go, it seemed really painful. We tried all the same stuff with no luck. I know this is going to sound crazy, but my doctor suggested it: take a q-tip and lubricate it (I would just use a bunch of diaper rash cream or vaseline), stick it in & make a circular motion unitl she starts to go. The key for us was to keep the circular motion going until he started to go. Also, this problem went away as soon as we started solids (4-6 months). I've only had to do it once since then, he just turned one.

my ped told me that almost all babies go through a period when there bowel function slows down, but it doesn't mean they are constipated. their bodies are still trying to figure out their own paterns and what works best for them. if she isn't fussy or uncomfortable for the most part then she's probably fine. my little girl would sometimes go for as long as 7 days without a b.m. and by that last day she would be a little fussy and sometimes gassy, but when seh did finaaly go, it was a big one and she was always right bcak to her normal self. but if it really worries you, try again with dark karo syrup but try about a table spoon in her bottle, that should get things moving. if not try mixing a little prune jiuce in her bottle of breast milk. i was reading the label on miralax and it is not recommended for anyone under age 16 without a doctors consent...so that pretty much tells me it would be way to harsh for a 15 weeks old baby. if all else fails, little tummies makes an infant laxative that is all natural, made from vegetable oil. just watch you use of stuff like that because babies bodies can become dependant on the stimulants and then they really can't go with them. but remember, not goiing is not the same as constipation. constipation is the feeling of needing to go, trying to go and then having no results, or having very small, hard, some what painful results.

I have a 4 month old that was recently constipated. I called the nurse at the Dr.'s office and they said to first take a Q-tip and put vaseline on the tip and gentley put the tip in the butt, not very far though. Wait 10 - 15 minutes. If this does not work. Take some warm soapy (gentle dove baby soap) and mix it up and insert some with the infant bulb into the butt. She said only try this once or twice. If all else fails take them to the Dr.

It's totally normal for a breastfed infant to poop only every 7-10 days. My oldest went once a week, but my youngest only went every 10-14 days!! I was concerned when that first happened, but my doctor assured me that while it was not usual, it was also not abnormal. If your child develops a fever, you should call the doctor right away, but otherwise, just try to be patient, and if your child gets to 14 days without pooping, call the doctor. Some kids just use up and break down breastmilk so completely that they don't have as much waste as other kids. I know it's a little disconcerting, but once I got used to it, it was kind of nice changing stinky diapers only once every two weeks. :) Good luck!

Hi S.! When my son was that age I worried that he wasn't pooping enough. He never showed discomfort or pain and his Dr said he was completely normal. I did notice that after five or six days he became a little more gassy than usual and then when he was finally ready to "pooh" he would wiggle around a lot, especially while nursing. I always checked to make sure it was soft. Once, when he was about five months old his BM looked like rabbit pellets. I was told that rice cereal and bananas sometimes can cause constipation. Now he's almost ten months old and has a BM anywhere from three times a day to once a week. I no longer worry!

this is where people get confused constipation is not, not going. constipation is having hard dry bms. if shes doing that then i would say their is a problem. but if its normal then dont worry about it, its normal to not go every day for these little ones

You can try sugar & water. Also, lay her on her belly & massage gently just above her bottom & just below her back in a circular motion. I had read that in one of the parenting magazines & it worked w/mine.

WHen your baby DOES poop, is it hard and pellet like? or is it soft and "normal" breastfed poop? (about the consistency of mustard in any number of colors)

If it is the latter, she is NOT constipated. A baby is only constipated when her stools are hard. Many breastfed babies will go for days, and up to a week, without having a bowel movement. That's because so much of breast milk is NOT waste and their bodies (colons) soak it up.

If she is not in pain and her poops are not hard and pellet-like, you have nothing to worry about. 5 BMs in one month is not unusual if she is going once a week.

This is normal. It's also normal for her to strain and turn red to push out a "normal" (not hard, pellet like) poop.

HI S.,

There are good results with chiropractic for these cases, not all of course, but it is non invasive. Just look at ICPA4kids.org and find a DC with extra training near you. There are different ways of working with kids and different techniques, like Logan and others for these problems.

Good luck,
Donnna

As other moms have said, I think her pattern sounds normal for a breastfed baby. You may be worried because you have seen a change in her pattern, but this is normal, too. I think somewhere between 6 and 10 weeks is when my baby started pooping less frequently, but my pediatrician told me to expect this, so I didn't worry.

I have heard that when breastfed babies go through periods of not pooping so often, it may be because they are going through a growth spurt and just using everything up that they are eating. Breastmilk is just so much more easily digested that there often isn't as much by-product!

I would try to find a pediatrician who understands breastfeeding more, but I know this is not always possible. In any case, I would make sure there is good communication going on, meaning questions and answers back and forth. For instance, if you are asking what to do for constipation, maybe they are assuming you know your baby is constipated without asking you how you know, without even talking about what your baby is eating, and that is where the confusion is.
If your doctor says your baby is going so long between pooping because she is breastfed, maybe they are not condemning breastfeeding, but just saying that's what breastfed babies do, and it's not a problem.

In any case, I don't think you need to worry. Definitely connect with a La Leche League leader and/or group. Good luck.

Hi,

I think it is very likely she is not constipated. I have read and know from personal experience that if a baby is given breastmilk only he/she may not have as many bowel movements as a formula fed baby. My first daughter was strictly breastfed and only had a bowel movement once a week. You could literally set your watch by it--every Tuesday after lunch she would poop! My pediatrician said this is not abnormal and the American Academy of Pediatrics book says the same thing. So if she does not seem to be overly fussy or in pain with a rigid abdomen I would say let it be and once you introduce solid foods the number of movements will increase. BTW I have read different reasons for why this happens and one said that breastmilk is just easier for them to digest and they use it so efficiently that there is not much left over to be excreted from the body.

Hope this helps!

Holly