Ask:
my son is 11 days old and the past 3 days I've only gotten 1 messy diaper each day but plenty of wet ones. He does a lot of grunting and pushing and sometimes whimpering. The pediatrician said to give him 2 oz of water in between meals but that doesn't seem to help.
I'm using the enfamil with lipil formula and he doesn't show any signs of being lactose intolerant and we dont anyone that is on either side of the family. Also he scrunches his legs up to his badomen alot esp. after he's done eating and trys to push my book said this could be a sign of abdominal discomfort and he's had the hiccups off and on for these past 3 days
Answer:
Hiccups are extremely normal for a baby. Don't worry at all about those. As far as the tummy discomfort, it does sound like he's having that. Are his stools hard? That would tell you if he's constipated. If he's having at least one stool a day, I wouldn't worry about that. Formula fed babies are different than breastfed babies when it comes to stooling. However, I do know that Leah (one of my twins) had a LOT of trouble with constipation while on formula. I was told to put 1-2 tsp of pear juice in each bottle, and that worked wonderfully. Talk to your ped again to see if that's something they'd recommend for a newborn. However, it may not hurt to switch formula too, just expect that it could cause upset tummy for a little bit too. My other dd's GI doc told me that Nestle Goodstart formula was wonderful for babies with gut issues.
Answer:
my youngest had that problem but she would go amost a week with no stools!!
the dr told me to use a rectal thermometer in her behind very gently of course and that seemed to do the trick quite often!!
good luck!!!
Answer:
Enfamil can bring constipation. We had all kids of problems w/it. After trying many things, we ended up w/Good Starts. Much improvement.
Use vaseline if you try the thermometer trick and don't put it in very far. It will only work if there' something in there!
Have you tried nursing instead of formula?
Answer:
Originally Posted by Kellyandgirls
my youngest had that problem but she would go amost a week with no stools!!
the dr told me to use a rectal thermometer in her behind very gently of course and that seemed to do the trick quite often!!
good luck!!!
My dd was this way at 3 days old, we went through many formula's before we just went to plain simulac. By switching formula's so often to find the right one seemed to hinder more than help.
I was also told to use the rectal therm, dipped in a bit of vasoline too. This did work to loosen stool, be prepared, when you feel a slight push to pull your hand out of the way, I have also used the baby supositories, they worked great too.
There is a wives tale of putting dark karo syrup in the bottle, please do be careful it HAS to be unopened bottle, or is can cause botulism Now I cross my fingers, but my dd went on to be a colic baby, and during a major colic fit non stop crying and screaming like in pain, I was instructed to put 1 tbls in 4 oz water and give during colic outbreak, but on call nurse, it did work, but please ck with ped.
Also for gassiness, I tried evey bottle out there dr brown to the plain jane and it didn't seem to help, what I finally learned is to make bottle ahead of time, this gives it time to rest and allow all the air out of them, we'd make 24 bottles a day (I have twins) and microwave a glass of water and put the bottle in to warm up to room temp. Don't shake the bottle just slightly swirl to mix, this really helped with the gass and air in tummy.
Also as mentioned it is not uncommon for a baby to go 3-5 days with out a bowl movement, ck with your ped, but I suggest doing rect therm or supositories every 3-4 days as to not have a dependency on it.
Good luck you will get through it.
Answer:
I had the best luck with Carnation Good Start when I need to supplement breast milk.
Ask your pediatrician if you can try some white grape juice this early.
Answer:
DD still has constipation problems at 3yrs old. We found that prune juice mixed in her fromula worked best for us. The quickest remedy for her was the Baby Fleet. These are little bulbs of liquid glycerin. They worked in a matter of minutes. I still remember her laying on my mil's table, legs scrunched up and little poop balls just popping out of her. Poor thing.
I kept those little cans of prune juice on hand. If it seemed like she hadn't pooped in a day or two or if her poop was too hard, I would mix the prune juice in her formula bottle a little each time until it got back to normal. Don't go overboard with it, that can be one messy and stinky diaper!!
Please check with your ped for a baby as young as yours. Mine didn't start this untill about 2mths old. HTH
Answer:
My 23 month old started having a problem w/this when I had to start supplementing him w/formula when he was 5 months old. He was breastfed exclusively for 4 months. Keep trying the water since your baby is so young right now. I know my ds ped told us to put a tablespoon of Karo Syrup in his bottles but he was about 9months when we did that. Try putting a warm wet washcloth on his tummy & that may help him to relax & move any gas bubbles that he may have. Be careful w/the Fleet enemas since he is so young!! Contact your ped before you do this. Move his legs up & down & bicycle motion. As long as his stools are not solid or hard he should be fine. You may want to talk to your ped about switching formulas. He may have trouble w/lots of gas. Try those Mylicon drops. The stimulation w/the rectal thermometer does work just be careful. Hope this is helpful & good luck!
Answer:
When your little one goes is it hard little balls or is it mushy? If it is mushy and still having all of those signs it is not constipation. My kids all did this stuff from the time they were born but when they did go it was always mushy. My ped told me that some kids just need more motion than others. A baby is only constipated if there is not enough fluid in the bowel movement to help it pass. If the poop is mushy thats not constipation. My youngest was totaly breastfed and would grunt, turn red, cry out, and pull up her legs and then all of a sudden we would get a nice big load. If he is going at least once a day and there is a wet consistency to it then I wouldnt worry. If it is dry and hard then definitly get him checked. I would also be careful about changing formulas because that can cause all kinds of trouble and is not really good for babies to keep changing.
Answer:
It' dry and kind of hard like playdo, last night was the first time it was mushy and only because I was able to get two 2 oz servings of water in him inbetween 2 feedings