infrequent bowel movements
Walt & Barb
My son is three months old. For the first two months, he had daily
bowel movements. Since he has been two months old, and to date, the
time between bowel movements has ranged from from four days to eight
days. Also, after he does have a bowel movement, he becomes very
cranky and fidgety for several hours. No one seems to have any
answers, and I'm very worried about this problem. --I've tried
drinking prune juice, eating prunes, and have even given him half
of a suppository, all of which was ineffective. Any help would be
appreciated.
Barbara
Karen Humphrey
You might try giving your son 1 oz of prune juice with 1 oz of water. This
worked very well for my son when he had this problem.
Karen, mom to Michael (Aug 5, 1996)
Walt & Barb <brad...@voicenet.com> wrote in article
<32E2E7...@voicenet.com>...
naomi pardue
Walt & Barb (brad...@voicenet.com) wrote:
> My son is three months old. For the first two months, he had daily
> bowel movements. Since he has been two months old, and to date, the
> time between bowel movements has ranged from from four days to eight
> days. Also, after he does have a bowel movement, he becomes very
> cranky and fidgety for several hours. No one seems to have any
> answers, and I'm very worried about this problem. --I've tried
> drinking prune juice, eating prunes, and have even given him half
> of a suppository, all of which was ineffective. Any help would be
> appreciated.
week or more between poops. As long as they are soft when they come out,
it is nothing to worry about. GIving him prune juice or guzzling it
yourself isn't necessary.
Naomi
t.p.&t.
Walt & Barb wrote:
>
> My son is three months old. For the first two months, he had daily
> bowel movements. Since he has been two months old, and to date, the
> time between bowel movements has ranged from from four days to eight
> days. Also, after he does have a bowel movement, he becomes very
> cranky and fidgety for several hours. No one seems to have any
> answers, and I'm very worried about this problem. --I've tried
> drinking prune juice, eating prunes, and have even given him half
> of a suppository, all of which was ineffective. Any help would be
> appreciated.
Hi! With beaucoup experience here, let me tell you...DON'T WORRY!
And don't give him suppositories and other laxative-type stuff. unless
your ped tells you otherwise, this is normal, normal, normal,
especially for breastfed babies. My son became "infrequent" starting
at exactly one month old -- and has pooped once or twice a week for
most of the TEN MONTHS since -- we think we're just lucky not to
have to change all those poo'ey diapers!!!!! It was explained to me that
some babies are just VERY GOOD at absorbing everything that's in
our milk. So please don't panic. And don't worry about the grumpiness,
distressing as it may be...in our case, our little guy is grumpy for a
while BEFORE he goes poo, and generally happy & carefree (!)
afterward...Even starting solids didn't really change things, even now
that he eats a fair amount (two jars of Earth's Best, and various other
fibrous snacks) he still is no more frequent than every other day.
Relax, he's normal, you're lucky.
t.r., mom of Torin (2/13/96)
Kent and Kat dyer
Walt & Barb wrote:
>
> My son is three months old. For the first two months, he had daily
> bowel movements. Since he has been two months old, and to date, the
> time between bowel movements has ranged from from four days to eight
> days. Also, after he does have a bowel movement, he becomes very
> cranky and fidgety for several hours. No one seems to have any
> answers, and I'm very worried about this problem. --I've tried
> drinking prune juice, eating prunes, and have even given him half
> of a suppository, all of which was ineffective. Any help would be
> appreciated.
>
It's normal for a bf baby to start having more infrequent bowel
movements as they get older. So long as the consistancy is good
(neither hard, indicating little water or watery) then there isn't
anything to worry about. Some babies are just naturally fussy around
the time of having a bm. So long as it isn't too long and doesn't
increase in length of fussiness I wouldn't worry about it but I *would*
mention it to the ped next time you talk to him/her. Taking too much
prune juice might actually make the situation worse. Rather then that,
you might just want to make sure that you are drinking something
whenever you are thirsty and including 1 but no more than 2 glasses of
juice a day as well as eating such fruit as you can tolerate. You say
that he is fussy *after* having a bm...does he eat after he's had one?
If not, you might try offering. Does he appear to have any gas? If so,
simethicone might help or you could try Hyland's homeopathic colic
remedy. Do you put any cream or ointment on after he's had a bm? If
so, maybe that's the problem. If not, you might try using some. I hope
that this fussiness issue clears up soon, I'm sure it must be very
frustrating for you. Just keep trying different stuff & asking
different people until you feel comfortable with your situation. But
the frequency of his bm's sounds perfectly normal for a breastfed baby.
Best of luck to you, and please keep us posted!
Kat mom to Corwyn (3-24-96) & Jennifer (8-10-93)
DEBBY GANOTE
: Walt & Barb wrote:
: >
: > My son is three months old. For the first two months, he had daily
: > bowel movements. Since he has been two months old, and to date, the
: > time between bowel movements has ranged from from four days to eight
: > days. Also, after he does have a bowel movement, he becomes very
: > cranky and fidgety for several hours. No one seems to have any
: > answers, and I'm very worried about this problem. --I've tried
: > drinking prune juice, eating prunes, and have even given him half
: > of a suppository, all of which was ineffective. Any help would be
: > appreciated.
My 16 month old son is also going long periods of time without a bowel
movement. It has been 7 days since his last movement. Last week I
couldn't stand it after 5 days and gave him 1/2 a suppository which did
force a bowel movement. After reading some posts here I decided to
wait this week and not intervene. It is very difficult not to try and
do something. Last night he started to try to go but nothing came out.
He doesn't seem like he's uncomfortable but I sure am. How long should
I wait before trying the prune juice or suppositories?
--
Debby "There is never time to do it right,
but there's always time to do it again."
email: dga...@mbvlab.wpafb.af.mil
www: http://www.mbvlab.wpafb.af.mil/~dganote/dganote.html
Diane Kimble Willcutts
I think my baby holds the record of 11 days between poops (when she was
five months or so). We were just at the point where we were going to
try prunes or something when she came through. She did struggle a
little when getting them out finally, but she was definitely not
constipated (poops were not hard at all). Now at 8 months, to her mom's
relief, she tends to go every 2-3 days. Babies are weird and mysterious
creatures.
Diane, mom to Pandora, aka the Panda bear (6/6/96)
t.p.&t.
DEBBY GANOTE wrote:
> My 16 month old son is also going long periods of time without a bowel
> movement. It has been 7 days since his last movement. Last week I
> couldn't stand it after 5 days and gave him 1/2 a suppository which did
> force a bowel movement. After reading some posts here I decided to
> wait this week and not intervene. It is very difficult not to try and
> do something. Last night he started to try to go but nothing came out.
> He doesn't seem like he's uncomfortable but I sure am. How long should
> I wait before trying the prune juice or suppositories?
========
I'd say lay off the suppositories, but go ahead & give him some
prune juice. We've been giving some to our son daily for a few
months now -- not so much because he's "irregular" as because
we're raising him vegetarian & it's a great iron source -- and he
seems to have adjusted well. This week, he actually poo'ed three
days in a row...and then promptly went poo-less for four days.
You can also try feeding your son some of the poo'ier fruits
such as peaches & pears.
t.r., mom of Torin (one year old on 2/13!!!!)
Chris McMillan
In article <5d4rol$c...@blackbird.afit.af.mil>, DEBBY GANOTE
<URL:mailto:dga...@mbvlab.wpafb.af.mil> wrote:
>
> : Walt & Barb wrote:
> : >
> : > My son is three months old. For the first two months, he had daily
> : > bowel movements. Since he has been two months old, and to date, the
> : > time between bowel movements has ranged from from four days to eight
> : > days. Also, after he does have a bowel movement, he becomes very
> : > cranky and fidgety for several hours. No one seems to have any
> : > answers, and I'm very worried about this problem. --I've tried
> : > drinking prune juice, eating prunes, and have even given him half
> : > of a suppository, all of which was ineffective. Any help would be
> : > appreciated.
>
> movement. It has been 7 days since his last movement. Last week I
> couldn't stand it after 5 days and gave him 1/2 a suppository which did
> force a bowel movement. After reading some posts here I decided to
> wait this week and not intervene. It is very difficult not to try and
> do something. Last night he started to try to go but nothing came out.
> He doesn't seem like he's uncomfortable but I sure am. How long should
> I wait before trying the prune juice or suppositories?
to the first poster: is he perhaps eating something that gives him wind or
that passing the bowel movement makes him feel uncomfortable afterwards. I
know sometimes I feel a bit sore afterwards - could be an hour or two -
which of course in a baby might lead to crankiness? More fruit and fibre in
your own diet and perhaps thinking about your own system?
Debbie: make sure that your little one is eating enough fresh fruit and
fibre foods and then next time he goes, have a good look. They should be
soft, not hard, and he shouldn't strain. If he does, then I'd have a word
with someone before giving a remedy.
Sincerely, Chris
--
Mrs. Chris McMillan. Snail mail: 42 Eastcourt Avenue, Earley, Reading, Berks
RG6 1HH. UK. Tel. 0118 926 5450. Fax. 0118 966 8167. Though a screw is
small, its use is beyond measure. I want to be a screw. (Lei Fang).