my baby has infrequent bowel movement

I just recently started having the same problem of my 2 month old going only 2 days without a BM, my sitter told me to give her apple juice on 3rd (1 oz) if she did not do anything. I did so and she went with a good messy one and some extras. I looked on some other websites and they stated it is normal after the 1st month to not have a bm for at least a week. prune juice or caro syrup was also suggested. :-P

try karo syrup. about a tsp, recommended by my doctor, it works google it. My son has same prob.

Our son ( breastfed) has been suffering with what I thought/can best be described as trapped wind, since he was at least 8 weeks old. He would wake in the early hours 3/4am kicking his legs up and down and grunting/groaning in pain, as if constipated, yet he was regular, sometimes twice/3 times a day. the waking became more noticable and the kicking etc more as he got older, I mentioned to my health visitor and Doctor at the time and they said it could be 'a type of colic' and he will grow out of it by 12 weeks age. that came and went and still my son, who can get off to sleep great, is pretty much a text book baby, still, is woken by this pain EVERY day and is now 6 months old!!
We tried all the wind releif help, gripe water, colief drops, dentinox and none agreed with him or made any difference.
In the past 4 weeks he has been eating solid food and it seemd to get worse, I've been back to the Doctors 4 times inthe past couple of weeks as his once regular bowel movements had gone to every 5/6 days which I thought couldnt be good. The doc prescribed some Lactulose, which to be honest it hasn't made any difference, he's still only pooping every 5 days or so, is in discomfort and wakes throughout the night more now than he did at 3 months old ( just when we were getting to a good 6 hours sleep) I stopped the solids and kept to breastfeeding but then Doc then said to give him more solids as this will get his bowels working, so tried this and still no different. I've altered what I eat and cut foods out to try and see if it was my breastmilk, but no difference. He now has pureed Apples, pears, prunes in his cereal, prune juice, apple juice, pureed carrots etc and still not making him go anymore or easing his pains.
I'm going back to the Doctors for a 5th visit tomorrow, after trying all they have said, I can't possibly wait for him to grow out of it can I? I think he needs a proper examination really incase it's something more serious, have since read of twisted intestines, poloyps etc so can't let this go on. It's so sad to see him be woken by this constantly, now, daytime naps and night, when in general he is such a happy baby and even cries during feeds and wriggles in pain, yet still opens his mouth wanting to be fed, and still tries to smile, it's awful feeling so helpless. Sorry to hear there are other babes out there suffering too ( and mums and dads!!) Lets hope it's sorts out soon. Best of luck to all x

I think if the doctor has been unable to help you that many times in a row that I'd go with a different doctor. IT sounds like you might be in need of a second opinion. What do you think?

Constipation is very rare in breastfed babies. As a baby I only went every 11 days, and now my 6month old daughter (no solids yet) only does a poo every 2 or 3 weeks. Yes that's right, 2 or 3 weeks! She feeds very well, her tummy is soft, she is happy, and when she does a poo it's soft. Yes she does have some pretty nasty smelling gas sometimes, but it's no problem. PLEASE do not give your breastfed baby laxatives/juice/suppositories/etc unless these are *absolutely* necessary! Your baby's system is not ready to deal with these intrusions! While you may find it odd or worrying that your baby isn't having frequent poos, if you do some research you will find that it is completely normal for some babies. Breastmilk is so good for babies that their bodies just gobble it all up- there is very little to poo out afterwards. Please be careful with your precious little one's body! :D

I totally agree with you! trust me, as a guy who has never been regular, I am glad that I wasn't forced to be! I go on my own schedule and that's that. It works just fine for me so I'm glad that I was trusted with my own system.

Everything is ok. My five month old also only poops every week or so. Solely breastfed, he is otherwise happy, although his teeth are bothering him. When his tummy does work it's soft and explosive and he seems very happy with himself afterward, as I am. But it's perfectly normal and nothing to concern yourself over. Once you've done the research you'll be in a better place! Breastfed babies only need to poop once every week (or two)!

Relax and enjoy not having to change stinky nappies :-) I've only got a month to go before introducing solids and dealing with REALLY bad poops!

Lots of love and light and joy to all of you!

Heather

Constipation could be a big problem for babies. Are you breastfeeding your child or do you use bottle? In my opinion the better way to feed your child is by breastfeeding him/her. There are numerous benefits from breastfeeding. I just read in the News section that breastfeeding is good for mothers heart too. Has anybody heard more about this?

Ask your doctor about Hirschsprung's Disease.

i am a 4th year resident at a pediatric clinic and I get this question all the time... it is normal but if you are concerned just give him/her some juice in the afternoon and he/she should poop in an hour or so.. don't give him/her juice before a nap or bedtime so he/she won't sit in a dirty diaper for any period of time.. use only baby juice or regular juice with 50% water.. white grape, apple or pear juice is best. no dark colored juice until 9 months or older.

good luck

Ask your doctor about Hirschsprung's Disease.

your pediatrician would have already seen this if megacolon was an issue.. don't worry about it.. listen to what i said before and you should be fine.. if juice doesn't work then take your little one to his/her pediatrician and ask for a referal to a specialist... also some babies get constipated because they are lactose intolerant. give him/her some soy formula and see if that helps.

my baby is 3 months n had same prob..he is breastfeeding exclusively n he went 9 days without bowel movement..so i went to doctors called nurses gave him prune juice but ntn wrked thn i was suggested to increase the water intake in my diet (for fast result drink water every half hour) and it worked wonders...he is now pooping twice a day.its really v simple n basic thing which we sometimes forget n lead to big probs so i wld suggest all breastfeeding moms increase intake of fluids n see the magic.

well i breast fed my daughter and she had the same problem but usually thats what happends because it all depends on what you eat that would go through your breast milk that would give your baby diareah....like if you eat alot of junk food that could cause it as well....so just try to keep a well balanced diet. :)

Constipation (in babies and adults) is most commonly caused by low fiber and/or friendly bacteria. You can purchase powdered probiotics at health stores that are made for infants. One trick my mom said she used to use for adding fiber is to make homemade oatmeal (not the prepackaged instant oatmeal) and put the extra water from the cooked oatmeal into a bottle. She said it worked like a charm!

Many problems we have just boil down to simple nutrition.... as long as you don't overlook that, there's no need to worry!

My baby is Exclusively Breastfed as well and it just worries me. I mean i feel like sometimes i'm just not feeding her enough.. but she is gaining weight like she is suppose to. But the bowel movements just freak me out. I sometimes try to force feed her to just fill her up faster to see if she will have a bowel movement...Like somedays it will be a lot of bowel movements like 3 to 7 and then some days..none...but she nevers goes like more then 3 days without one. When she does have one it's huge..but she's a very happy baby and not fussy unless her teeth hurt. I was told about the Apple juice...but i'm not sure if i should do the gerber apple juice or regular apple juice. I was also told that you should never give a baby syrup that's it is not good at all. So i'm to afraid. So reading this makes me feel better. :-D