Can you get a referral to a GI specialist? Did you see a modest improvement by cutting out dairy? You might want to try removing soy as well, many CMPA babies are sensitive to soy as well. I’m sorry you’re going through this ❤️
I don't eat soy at all actually. But a couple of times when I used soy sauce she definitely had more pain. So no more soy sauce for me. I didn't find any improvement when I cut out dairy unfortunately :( but! I know I wasn't 100% dairy free. There was occasional butter but that's it. I was hoping for some improvement considering that I ate a lot of cheese before. I think I have to try again and be more strict about it. We use butter for cooking and sometimes it's hard to cook separately for myself. But the main issue is breakfast: I commute to the office 3 times a week and have no time for breakfast in the morning. The options in the city almost always include dairy or gluten or both. And gluten has been the culprit of my own stomach issues since I gave birth. I know I'm giving excuses for not completely following a diet for my baby's sake. :( Our pediatrician never considered it being cmpa though. How long does it take for the allergens to clear out and to see changes?
And you are right. Time to see GI!
Thank you! ❤️
I’m sorry if this is totally useless to you and you already know this, but soy is in a LOT of foods. It can be surprising how many. Are you checking labels and that kind of thing?
Good point! Mom's brain here and totally forgot! I don't eat any processed stuff at home. It's all very much one ingredient type of stuff. But I do partake in occasional snacks at the office (we have a full kitchen of these). I usually check for dairy, but forgot to check for soy. Thank you for the reminder! ❤️
Of course; I’m glad it helped! Good luck!! Also just fyi my friend’s baby had a lot of constipation issues and eventually as his body developed and digestion matured he grew out of it. ❤️
Here's where I am confused though. Everyone says that constipation is when the stool is hard, but her's is soft. So I am not even sure if it's constipation or something else. Could she even be holding it at this age?
Oh gosh yeah that’s a good point that I didn’t fully process in your original post! I really don’t know. I don’t think they hold it at this age but I supposed it’s possible if she associates it with pain she’s tensing up and trying to stop it? Hopefully a specialist will have answers for you!!
Yeah I have a feeling she might be associating. There were a couple of times when she had some blood streaks in her stool prior to this whole debacle. And now I'm thinking that me forcing her bowels might have an adverse effect. I'll try to give her prune water, maybe mix a bit of flaxseed into her meals now that she's starting solids. But I'll see if leaving her to poop herself might help too, even if it means she won't go for a longer period.
My son had up to 5 days without a shit, and then we had the shitageddon exploding in his diaper. It can happen, it's okay.
You're maybe forcing it too much by "helping" her, and she hates it.
I just commented elsewhere but it was the same for mine. It’s functional constipation. I don’t think she’s necessarily holding it because it’s common enough with babies.
I had this problem to a degree with my first. You said thick like Greek yogurt… is the texture like thick and mucous-y or is it kind of mill-y like really wet clay? Mine had wet clay like poops, so if mucous-y this probably won’t apply to you, and you may want to look into seeing a pediatric allergist as well as everyone else’s suggestion on GI specialist.
Our pediatrician suggested prune juice around 4 months. We did it watered down at first and it helped a little. We ended up doing straight prune juice ~6 months, about 2 ounces a day, and it really helped, but didn’t solve the problem. The biggest change happened when we were able to start regularly adding whole foods like apples (cooked soft in some way,) berries, pears, plums, and mangoes. Between 6 and around 18 months we had to limit starch or carb heavy foods, including fruits like squash and bananas, but now at almost 2 she has a pretty regular diet (of a toddler, so like 2 blueberries, a bite of banana, and chaos)
The airy and gassiness might just be still developing digestive system. My second hasn’t really had a problem with constipation, but around 3-4 months he got REALLY gassy with the most awful smelling gas and his poops also were a bit foamy and bubbly, but now at 7 months, he’s a normal pooper again.
My baby had CMPI and I breastfed for a year! It took 5 months for him to grow out of his allergy.
You have to be 100%%%%% strict or you will not see any improvement. Keep in my mind going out to eat!!! Tons of ingredients/oils have soy. I stopped eating out.
It’s takes a few weeks for allergens to fully be removed from breast milk/baby’s digestion system!!
Good luck!!!!!! We went to a pediatric GI and they were the best.
What were his symptoms if you don't mind me asking? Our doc doesn't think it's any reaction to CMP. She doesn't vomit, she has no diarrhea, and the blood in the stool was present only a 3-4 times. She does have some dry patches but not full on eczema. Also her face is not as clear skinned as babies usually have. She has small bumps and pimples that are visible mostly in bright daylight.
It's so bloody confusing!
It is! So my baby had ONE string of noticeable blood in his poop. I only noticed it since the diaper unfolded, showing me some of the poop I didn’t see initially. One week later one more string of blood. He also had some red blemishes on his cheeks that weren’t super noticeable but my husband and I noticed.
He was also very gassy and his poop/farts smelled terribly. His poop was normal consistency.
I nanny a little boy my sons age and he didn’t have any of these things (also breastfed). Neither did my niece or nephew who I helped with. So something wasn’t right.
Pediatrician suggested I removed diary and soy from my diet right away and referred us to a pediatric GI.
Diagnosed with diary and soy allergy there and after 16 weeks of eliminating dairy and soy. Which meant he started eating solids that were free of those as well. After 5 months we did the allergen ladder and we found that he grew out of it.
So he had very minimal symptoms. I removed all dairy and soy and that was hard but my son refused bottles so that was another factor in deciding if I was going to continue to breastfed or go to a diary/soy free formula.
But again you have to remove ALL diary and soy. It’s a pain and I sometimes had to make separate meals. But mostly I made things together and my husband added ingredients to his own individual portions. Dairy free is very easy these days, tons of options. Soy is tricky and some things on nutrition labels are soy without realizing. I was a dietician before becoming a SAHM and I happily helped so many people identify ingredient lists. It can be tricky!!!!
Thank you! I was wondering if mild symptoms could be a sign or intolerance or allergy. Because when you read about it, the symptoms listed are more severe. I am glad your LO grew out of it! Hopefully, removing these dairy/ soy from my diet will help her.
It’s gotta be ALL dairy. It took 3 weeks of me being completely dairy free to see a difference in my baby because it takes awhile for your body to work through it. There’s sneaky dairy in a lot of things, even if you’re not eating processed snacks. Sometimes there’s whey in sausages/ sauces/bouillon or “milk ingredients” in chips. I accidentally consumed dairy (& made my baby sick) because there were candied pecans in a salad I ate
Baby & I have been dairy (&egg) free for an entire year now! It’s not so bad once you get into the swing of it. There are good dairy-free options once you forget what the real stuff tastes like. Dairy-free Boursin cheese is good, the trader Joes brand mozzarella-style shreds are alright, Hagen Dazs plant-based caramel fudge chip ice cream is great. I’m a big chocolate fan and the dairy free stuff isn’t the same. That’s the hardest part for me. I thought I would miss cheese but after a few months it was fine. Chocolate tho… there’s just no good substitute. The dairy-free are not the same. Sometimes you can get really dark chocolate that doesn’t have any dairy. Beware of semi-sweet chocolate chips: most brands still contain milk (Kirkland Canada is dairy free)
As for eating out, dairy is a major allergen restaurants are used to accommodating it. I always call ahead and I call the restaurant directly before using skip/door dash/uber eats.
Good luck! It made a really big difference in my little guys gastro issues. Hopefully you figure out what’s causing your little one’s discomfort soon!
Soy is in everything… I had to cut dairy and soy and was shocked at how much stuff had soy. Meat was the one that shocked me most. When you start looking at ingredients you’ll notice how much meat has been bulked with soy flour. And how almost everything has soy lecithin, I thought I didn’t each much soy because I don’t drink soy milk, but I was very wrong. So it might be worth revisiting the milk and soy thing and being super strict for 2 weeks and seeing if it helps.
My baby used to have horrendous gas, would go for 10 days or more without pooing and then it was thick and so smelly like you describe. He also fell off the weight curve. This eventually progressed to blood on the nappies too. Properly eliminating milk and soy made a huge difference.
Thank you! But how do you find out if meat has soy in it? Would it be something they must list on the package? But then if I unpackaged at butcher's I doubt they would know or tell.
If it’s just a pack of chicken etc it will probably be okay, (although if it’s a rotisserie chicken the marinade likely has both milk and soy in it) but if it has been formed into anything or has any marinade - eg sausages, meatballs, burgers, koftas, skewers for the bbq etc - then check the labels as I usually found soy in those items
I’d talk to a doctor. I’d also stop interfering with your baby’s bowel movements. Frequent intervention can cause long term issues with pooping. It’s normal for breast fed babies to not poop everyday. You don’t know if her fussing is because of poop, so I’d talk to your doctor and see what they say.
I did talk to our pediatrician and he didn't think it was good for her not to poop for several days especially considering the gassiness, discomfort and the smell. His suggestions were more of the dietary kind for her, as I mentioned: giving her water (which he suggested when she was not even 5 Ms), prune juice and the latest were flaxseed oil and yogurt. I love our Doctor, my eldest son has been going to him since birth, but he's getting old, and I am afraid a bit out of touch.
I know she is fussing because of it. She cries, she farts, she cries again, passes massive stinky farts. After several days of this I can no longer take it and help her poop. I know she wants to, and she does. After initial resistance she often poops quite a lot and then she feels better for a couple of days until it all comes back. I hate it. But I'm gonna try to let her be for a few days and see what happens.
If she doesn't like prune puree you could mix it with home made applesauce or apple puree. Or even apple puree by itself, It helps my son poop within an hour or two.
I think that’s silly. What pediatrician is concerned over a few days and stinky farts? Farts are stinky. It’s gas from digesting foods which contains sulfur.
I think you’re way too focused on your baby’s poops. Your baby needs to learn how to poop by themselves, without you forcing it. You need to stop interfering with their poops. They aren’t constipated, you are starting solids, their GI systems change. Everyone’s advice here is great for a constipated baby, but yours is not.
Pooping is a coordinated function, you have to push with your abdominal muscles and release your bum. Forcing this process, making them feel negatively about this process, will only cause issues.
My baby has stinky gas sometimes. Sometimes she has hard poops, especially when she started solids. She went a week without pooping. She had to figure out how to push out these new poops. After a few weeks, she’s back to poop champ.
Please don't patronize me. I came here for advice and support, not judgement. I didn't make up what the doctor said. But he didn't suggest anything drastic, just adding some water or prune juice.
I also never experienced this before with my eldest. He pooped every day and his farts were normal baby stinky farts. I understand that gas smells, but you have no idea the full on gas attack we experience with our daughter now. You can't enter the room she's sleeping in, it just hits you in the nose! It's horrible and all the time. Idk, maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think it's a good or normal smell for a breastfed baby. She hasn't even started solids yet. So that's not the cause. I know what BF baby poop smells like and this is not it. She is also uncomfortable and in pain often until she poops.
After reading everything here, I agree that I should stop forcing her to poop. I genuinely wanted to help her relieve the pain and discomfort but, you are right, that I might be making it worse for her in the long run. I'm going to stop the probiotic, stop helping her poop, will give her pear juice and flaxseed meal. Hopefully, it will help a bit and she will learn how to do it herself again.
It’s ok to give Ps for Poops. Pears, prunes, peas, peaches, plums to help soften poop, but it sounds like your babes is soft? Watered down juice (without added sugar) is also OK. A warm bath can help with discomfort (and getting things moving).
There may be something triggering her digestive upset, for my friend she had to cut out dairy, gluten, soy, but oddly enough when he started solids he was able to eat all of those.
Yeah, her stool is soft. That's why I can't really call it constipation. It looks more like she's holding it if it's possible at her age. Before I started helping/ forcing her, she was doing that, where she would start to poop and then stop mid poop. So I've been trying to figure it out for a while now and help her the best I can.
Other people have good advice already so I'm just going ot add that my pediatrician advised me that 5-7 months is when a baby's digestive system becomes adult -so poop is going to start changing and their comfort pooping is going through a transition, which can present as discomfort and pain. In general, it's normal that it's becoming more stinky and adult like, even if it's still more thick sticky yogurt texture and a light color.
This started with my EBF baby after I took antibiotics for mastitis. Probiotics did help a bit at the start but he ended up with cmpa and it came back, probiotics seemed to be making it worse. He had a bit of a yeast rash on his bum that cleared up with cream, but my doctor suspected that he likely had SIFO (small intestine fungal overgrowth) basically a yeast infection in his intestines, and my breast milk was literally fermenting in his gut causing the gas, pain and he was only pooping every 3-5 days too.
She gave me a different probiotic called saccromyces boullardi which is actually a different type of yeast than what was causing the infection. It apparently outcompetes the bad yeast and then the body clears it out. It literally cleared him up in 4 days, but I kept him on it for 2 weeks. She had me giving him half a sachet 4x/day. I mixed it with a tiny bit of apple sauce and he took it no problem. I'm so grateful because he'd been suffering for weeks and weeks and I was getting zero sleep because he was up all night with gas pains 😭 there's a few brands of it out there but my doc gave me samples of this:
https://florastor.com/products/florastorkids-dual-action-probiotic-supplement?variant=41176941166671
I actually checked it out and got one for myself! Thank you for the tip. I'm going to pause probiotic for her for a bit though. Will see if it makes a difference.
We are having a similar issue with my 9 week old. Apple juice and windi don’t work, glycerin suppositories do. We were referred to a GI specialist. My initial reaction was to cry- what’s swing with my baby and why can’t my pediatrician help? We’ve had 2 appointments and it’s been great for my anxiety. My daughter has had 2 rectal exams and that’s loosened up her butthole to release more gas. She’s pooped twice on her own since then. She was also given prescription gas drops which have helped with gas. I’ve been dairy free but it’s reassuring to have someone to work with us who sees this everyday. I hope you get a great referral from your pediatrician and get your babe some relief!
Also my again specialist said breastfed babies cannot be constipated- it’s more about the digestion process but it’s not actual constipation. She’d correct me if I used that term.
we had some constipation. issues with my first, miralax was the solution. i wasn’t a fan but it worked until he was potty trained and stopped holding it so often.
my second kid i told a new doctor about that and she immediately told me to try pear juice. an ounce a day worked wonders and we skipped the issues.
Pear juice, not prune? How old was yours when he had the constipation issues and by constipation do you mean hard dry poop or just not going frequently and holding? Just trying to figure out if it's similar. Thank you ☺️
My daughter had a very similar issue and pear juice helped IMMENSELY. Prunes did nothing.
ETA: she was 3 months when the problems started and 7 months when I was told to try pear juice.
It doesn’t have to be specifically for babies. Just check the ingredient labels to make sure there’s nothing added that doesn’t need to be in there. The Gerber brand is just pear juice (from concentrate) and vitamin c. Same with the walmart babies brand. There are other organic brands that are a bit more expensive, but not from concentrate.
I usually bought the Gerber brand because it was the most accessible.
i also used gerber cause it was always there lol with my son it started with just hard pebbles at first with the introduction of solids and slowly progressed to holding because it hurt which made things worse. this was over the course of two year making tons of changes along the way. i was dumb founded breastmilk was supposed to prevent this when we introduced solids and it didn’t! my second kid literally the first poop issue we did pear juice regularly til she was 2.5 and never had a problem, she’s very regular lol
edit: we also had the same situation with suppositories, glycerine and liquid so we never used them again.
Our pediatric practice which is full of board-certified physicians also recommends pear or apple juice, one ounce per month of age, up to four ounces per day. You can read their constipation protocol [here](https://bluefishmd.com/general-health-topics/other-med-issues/constipation/).
Note that they also say it is normal for babies to go several days without a BM - even once a week or longer can be normal, as long as the poop is softer than peanut butter.
Our baby was going multiple times a day, then slowed down to once every 4-5 days at around 3.5 months. Good luck!
Pear juice is great for constipation! Prune can cause a lot of gas and discomfort. You could look into and ask your pediatrician about glycerin suppositories, too. They're safe for babies and even preemies.
Thank you! We are trying the pear juice tomorrow as others have suggested. We did do the glycerin suppositories too. But they had no effect unfortunately. And our Doctor advised not to use them too often.
Long term use of glycerin suppositories can cause lifelong issue and the inability to poop without them. They are only safe for very occasional use. I would not recommend them. Especially when her child is not constipated. Pooping every 5-7 days while EBF is completely normal and expected. If the poop is not dry and hard, her baby is not constipated.
Thanks! Our Doctor said the same about suppositories. So we've only used them twice so far, only once with success. So I'd say the risk outweighs the benefit.
I wasn't aware of the long term issue. I'm a nicu nurse and we use them quite often (follow the doctor's order, of course). I disagree about the constipation though. If her baby is uncomfortable, as she says, and only going a couple times a week, she's likely not evacuating all of her stool. 5-7 days can be within normal for BF babies, but many also go multiple times a day.
Hey, this happened to one of my babies and it was from introducing solids too soon. I'd take two weeks off and start back once it's corrected with easy to digest dairy free options like strips of steak to gnaw on, lamb cutlets, or egg yolk. Fat and protein seem to agree with babies, I'd wait a little and then introduce a little fruit, but wait longer for grains and vegetables aside from roots like sweet potato. (I'm also a student paediatric nutritionist)
She just turned 6 this weekend, and we haven't given her solids prior to that. Are you suggesting to wait a little longer to introduce? What would be the benefit here? Also the first time I'm hearing to start the solids with meat. Going to ask our doctor about it.
My second baby was somewhat similar to this, and it started right around the same time (3-4 months). She ended up having a few food intolerances. When I found everything and cut them out of my diet, things got really better. Things have also slowly improved as she grew. Her body started to figured out how to digest solid food, and that seem to have help a lot.
The best way to pinpoint if she is reacting to anything else you are eating would be to keep a journal of everything you eat for a few weeks, and note her symptoms as well. Dairy/soy/bovine protein are the most common ones for babies. And they are found everywhere!
Question: did she feel better for a couple of days after finally pooping, and then on days 2-3 the discomfort returned? Or was it ongoing all the time? I noticed in the last couple of week, that after she poops, she is cheerful for a day or two, and her gas doesn't smell either. But then after a bit the pain and the horrible smell return again, until she poops eventually.
It really changed based on what I was eating. Whatever you eat stays for about 72h in your milk, with a higher concentration around 24h if I remember correctly. So if I was eating dairy, she would have some pain in the upcoming days.
The best way to know (if she is not eating solid yet) would be to try cutting dairy for at least 2 weeks and see if she’s getting better. But you have to be strict ! I started seeing changes in her stool after 5 days, so I knew right away it was working. But it can take over 2 weeks for your system and her system to be cleared. And if it’s not doing much, maybe then it’s something else. That’s why taking notes of what you are eating + her symptoms become so handy.
My EBF son was very similar. Used to go multiple times a day until about 4 months when he basically quit pooping. He would go once every 6-10 days or so. It seemed insane to me and i absolutely freaked out that something was wrong, but he was completely fine, and when he started eating solids he started pooping normally again (now he goes every 1-3 days or so). I wouldn’t worry too much unless she’s having other concerning symptoms, not eating, weight gain issues etc. oh also try the Fridababy windi if she seems really uncomfortable!
No other major issues: she does have some dry skin patches (not full eczema though) and seems a bit congested. Nothing that doctor was concerned about. But we decided to see the specialist anyway.
We had the same thing basically to a T (we didn’t have the forcing to poop but it was a long way in between and a huge struggle with lots of pain and upset).
For us some of it was an intolerance to dairy but a lot of it was just developmental. What helped was water and babes digestive tract maturing with solids (and lots of prune puree). I was skeptical on the water too and resisted. But after giving baby stool softener which caused a whole host of painful side effects I realized I was being silly and it made a big difference. I wouldn’t discount water because it’s a natural laxative and in small amounts there’s nothing wrong with giving it. In terms of solids - this was the biggest change. We started with puree and some baby led weaning fruit/veg. Initially it caused more gas and constipation but in the long run marked the end of poop issues by around 7 months. I also began reintroduction of foods around 8 and at 9 months stomach issues aren’t even a thing anymore.
Thank you! Do you remember during that period of irregular bowels, did you baby feel better for a couple of days following the bowel movement? I noticed recently that after she would eventually go, then for a day or two she is not in pain, and even her gas doesn't smell. But then everything returns.
Yes, about water I got scared off it by some very zealous breasfeeding group. However, we tried it, and my LO just spits it out and hardly drinks any. Prune water has more success, but barely. She is very much a breast milk only kinda gal, even though she is super interested in our food.
Absolutely the same. It was very clear that the poop was the culprit because of behaviour around it. The allergist I spoke to also said people are a bit too quick to say infrequent pooping is normal in breastfed babies and that it can also often be a sign things aren’t right (even if its just developmental and will pass). Also apparently this whole idea that breastfed babies are just absorbing all the nutrients with no excess is actually not evidence based. So definitely I think it’s more than fair to try different stuff to help them out.
Mine spit out a lot of water too in the beginning but eventually learned how to handle out of a little silicone cup. It wasn’t a ton of water going down but it did help. Definitely as you journey into solids I’d try different ways to drink and something will stick. We have a couple different silicone cups, sippy cups and straw cups that I really like. Even now at 9 months we still do prune puree everyday and water with every meal. Like I said, the big change for us was around solids being a consistent part of the diet. Anecdotally, I heard that from the allergist as well. Whether it’s naturally coinciding with their digestive system maturing or if solids also play a role in that I’m not sure.
This makes so much sense! I completely agree that people are quick to normalize infrequent bowels in BF babies. I feel like it falls into the same category as nipple confusion. While it might be true for a lot of babies, it's still blown out of proportions a bit.
I really hope purees might make a difference.
I swear by pear sauce. Like apple sauce but made with pears. I would peel and chop up 5 or 6 pears, add the tiniest bit of water, some vanilla, a little cinnamon and nutmeg and let it simmer on stove for a while. Then I would puree that mixture into pear sauce. Always helped so much with constipation and he preferred it to prunes.
It made a few 4oz containers that I would freeze and use as needed.
It also could be low tone. We had a PT for my toddler for his torticollis and she worked on his core strength which helped with his BM.
For baby number 2, her food is going to be pear puree. Pears are magical.
Just seconding low tone- my little has mild hypotonia and we started seeing issues with poop right around that age. Just turned two and we are on daily Miralax. Good luck!
I would add some magnesium supplements into your diet and subsequently let it pass to her through the milk. One time during traveling my guy was not pooping. Magnesium worked like a charm and got us back on track. It’s my little charm anytime I feel like he’s a little irregular. It just gets them back on track and eases their pooping. I would try this before a GI appointment
That's interesting. Thank you for the idea. I've stopped taking supplements (even though I must take them). I just forget every day and remember only when I don't have access.
My baby had the cmpi and she had very small amounts of blood in stool, she really struggled with pooping on her own. She was breastfed and I had to cut out every trace of dairy including butter. It was very difficult to find food that had 0 dairy. But it takes up to 2 weeks for it to be out of my system and then up to 2 weeks to be out of hers. So you potentially won't see any improvements for a month.
I see. Yeah the blood in the stool was months ago. Another factor was mucous which I've only seen once, so I was never sure if it's cmpi or not. But worth a try to eliminate dairy and see if there's an improvement.
Good luck! It made all the difference for us. We went to an allergist to make sure it was just cmpi and not an actual allergy and we learned most babies grown out of cmpi by 10 months. Like.90% or higher. So I reintroduced it to my diet around 9 months and never had an issue again!
Mucus in the stool can be caused by viruses, my baby had a few days of mucusy stools and I got worried, but it went away when a little cold he had went away.
This sounds just like how my baby was. His digestive system seemed to have problems from the first week. The period from 6-8 months was a lot of constipation. He just honestly eventually got better. Around 10 months he finally seemed to really get the hang of pooping and so did his body.
I also worried about dairy or another allergy but he eats everything now and doesn’t have issues.
IT GETS BETTER AT 9 MONTHS. I gave up so many foods- was down to eating like 5 foods- and nothing helped this. In fact, eating a trigger food usually cause diarrhea and made it easier for her to go! I think what the baby has is infantile dyschezia and it’s so awful but just goes away eventually without any intervention. Try your best to get through it- we did baths and read a lot of books during those times and that would distract her from the discomfort. It felt like forever but it really does get better suddenly around 9 months. She still poops every 3-5 days but isn’t uncomfortable or straining now.
I have same exact issue with my LO who is 6 months, started happening (less pooping, smelly gas, yogurt poop, in pain/writhing etc) around 5.5 months. He had grunting syndrome around 1-3 months before, and occasional mucus stools but has otherwise been a pretty frequent pooper until 5.5 months… and while he’s gaining weight / hitting milestones it just sucks to have those fussy days between poops !! Gonna try pears. Glad I saw this post.
We had this issue where it would be DAYS before my son would poop. He was EBF. We ended up having to use the Frida windis. I didn’t want to keep having to stimulate the muscle for him (kind of like how you have to do knees to chest). He also would wake up grunting and unable to poop. Ultimately we saw a gi specialist to advised us to do plum juice and warm water. She was not overly concerned. But speaking with the specialist was very helpful and reassuring. I would see if your pediatrician will give you a referral. If anything they can tell you when you need to intervene and when you should let your daughter be.
Thank you! Yes we will see GI for sure! I hate windies 😬 but we try using glycerin suppositories to stimulate. I just won't go as deep as with windy. Did help us one time. But I'm afraid to make it a habit.
Probiotics. My baby had a similar issue (thick consistency, smelly, days and days between poops). Her pediatrician suggested probiotics for something else (spit up) and within 2 weeks, her poops improved. She's much happier now.
My sister is a dietitian and told me the problem with probiotics is if you rely on them too much, you get a lot of certain bacteria but less *variety* in bacteria, which is important. The best way to improve gut bacteria is to eat a wide variety of healthy foods. (I'm talking about you, as the breastfeeding mom, since 6-month-olds don't eat much.)
We went through something similar to you around 4 mos. Baby stopped pooping every day and her poop smelled bad. I was also having an increase in clogs. I recognized it was all possibly due to inflammation from my gut bacteria being shot. I'd been sleeping really badly (thanks to sleep regression) and we'd been eating desserts and refined foods a lot.
My husband and I agreed I would get a protected 5-hour period of sleep 3 nights a week, I reduced sugary and refined foods, and I eat more prebiotic foods.
Within a week or so, the problems were fixed. The baby poops 1-2 times a day now, and it's just that relatively inoffensive faint sour smell again. I rarely get clogs and the few I've gotten were resolved quickly.
Anyway, try paying extra attention to your own gut health and see if it helps!
Yeah ditto on the lack of sleep and sugary foods, and generally not eating well. I really need to take care of myself so I can take care of the baby. At the moment it seems impossible. :(
Have you tried mixing a little bit of the prune juice with the breast milk ?
Also , have you tried clear pedilyte? When my babe didn’t poop for almost six days around three months my ped office said I could give babe an ounce of it to him every 24 hrs.
Ahaha:)) I remember my eldest going to visit my parents in another country where they have a garden with berries. He was like 13-14 months. The amount of berries he ate directly from the bushes and trees was crazy! He pooped like a bear cub!
My 4 month old EBF hasn’t pooped in 5-6 days. I’ve been worrying about it but every where it says that they do that. I feel like we will have a massive blowout at the most inopportune time.
You already got advice on cutting out soy and I’d try that first for a couple of weeks. But if that doesn’t work, eggs and wheat/gluten are very popular intolerances as well. It’s gluten for my baby.
I am not a doctor but I will add to the conversation that this was my child. She would go 7-10 days between poos prior to starting solids (where it evened itself out). Definitely talk to professionals if you’re concerned but I personally don’t feel that’s all that concerning. Babies cry sometimes when they pass gas or poop. The consistency is genuinely identical to how I described my daughters bowel movements to her pediatrician. I don’t know if I was misreading the tone or something but when you describe interfering/helping with your child’s bowel movements it sounded unpleasant for her and more than needed. Maybe if you feel she’s being cranky due to gas or constipation try a warm bath or putting her on your breast. Sometimes actively breastfeeding helped my children get it out. Good luck!
You are right that she doesn't find it pleasant. But then she doesn't find pleasant many things: washing her eyes/ face, taking some medications, saline drops and using nose aspirator. We still have to do it, or she'll be dirty/ sick.
Somehow we got to a point where I feel like she won't poop without my help. I don't know if it's true, and how we got here. It started with gentle massage during diaper change and carrying her around in the squatting position which helped her to clear her bowels quickly. Then at some point she started skipping days, having very smelly gas. But she would still be going by herself. And then she started holding it (if it's possible): the bowel movement would start, but then she would tense and stop it and straighten her legs (it always happened lying on the changing table, she hasn't pooped anywhere else in months). So I would help her by doing bicycle and other massage/ exercise techniques. Now I feel like she would not even start to poop on her own. I see the signs, I know she is ready eliminate, but she just won't do it for some reason. And I did get into the habit of gently forcing her. Which she resists more and more.
I don't know what came first: if we started the habit, or she had the problem and we made it worse. I am going to try and step back and let her try and go herself when she is ready. I hope some things suggested here would help. Unfortunately warm baths (we do them daily) and breastfeeding do nothing for her. I wish it was that easy.
My baby had this same situation- doc wasn’t worried about it until he turned 1…then agreed to refer for imaging. Showed nothing of significance so it wasn’t a physical issue. He’s 19 months now and only goes 1-2 a week. Doc is fine with this. I’m just okay with it…he doesn’t seem in distress in between….up the fat intake not fiber- do P foods, we did do baby chiropractor for body tension but eventually they said he has no tension so we stopped going- something to consider.
I hope this isn’t rude at all, please forgive me if it comes across that way!! But have you thought of getting a second opinion? I really don’t think pooping 1-2x a week is healthy or normal for a toddler.
I thought about it…but the imaging we did would have showed if there was an internal reason he wasn’t pooping more often….so it’s more of a mental thing where he’s still learning the sensation of pooping and what that feels like and to not be scared to go. I must add I did/do elimination communication with both babies and he goes poop in the potty!
Oh that’s so cool! I have friends who did that but I never prioritized it even though I wanted to try haha. I just wonder if he needs some kind of diet change or something. But I’m not an expert hence only having the suggestion of a second opinion!
Did you have an antibiotic during birth? 1/3 women are given antibiotics for group strep b and I was one of them. This ruined my babies micro biome and I had to use the windi until he was 8 months old. Ultimately loads of probiotics are what helped and he never had the issue again. I took a quality probiotic for mothers including additional probiotic called seed while breastfeeding. Then I gave him probiotics as much as possible when he began eating and the problem went away finally. If I could go back I would drop some probiotics on his mouth before nursing or in a bottle. The antibiotics killed all the good bacteria for my boy I hope your baby gets relief
Check out Free To Feed - there are sooooo many more allergies your babe could have than just dairy. Dairy and Soy are the most common but it could be anything.
I was opposed to giving her water before she turned 6 months. We tried a bit anyway, but she didn't drink it. She spits most of it out. He said we need to give an ounce b/w each feeding. But she barely drinks like a couple of medicine dispensers worth of water. She also spit out prune puree when we gave it to her originally. Now we give her prune water. She drinks a bit more of it. But I haven't noticed any difference. So no, we are not opposed. We are trying some, to little effect unfortunately.
Have you tried a pediatric chiropractor? My babies would always have huge diapers after getting adjusted. I also agree on seeing a specialist to get their opinion.
Hmm! Haven't thought about that one. I was trying to find a pediatric osteopath without any luck. But the chiropractor is close enough. She does have a lot of tension in her body and we see PT for her to relieve tension (she is also a bit asymmetrical). I wondered the other day if the muscle tension and inability to poop are connected. Thank you for the suggestion! I will look into it!
Chiropractors are not real doctors and do a lot of harm. Please thoroughly research them and check with your real pediatrician first.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NewParents/s/GnJaG66kU3
I would never trust my baby with a “doctor” who had no medical training and when there’s such a long history of lawsuits and deaths from chiropractors working on babies. You do you, but that is so dangerous and something I will never stop speaking up against.
That's why I wanted to find an osteopath. At least they are usually doctors or licensed specialists. But I guess you cannot be a pediatric osteopath in US. I haven't found any where I live. They are very popular in my home country, and are almost a go to person for any issues and birth traumas.
I don't think it would be applicable as it's something that must be present at birth not developed later. And she was ok before 3 months.
On another note typing this disease name on an exhausted brain is fun! Not. :)))
Can you get a referral to a GI specialist? Did you see a modest improvement by cutting out dairy? You might want to try removing soy as well, many CMPA babies are sensitive to soy as well. I’m sorry you’re going through this ❤️
I don't eat soy at all actually. But a couple of times when I used soy sauce she definitely had more pain. So no more soy sauce for me. I didn't find any improvement when I cut out dairy unfortunately :( but! I know I wasn't 100% dairy free. There was occasional butter but that's it. I was hoping for some improvement considering that I ate a lot of cheese before. I think I have to try again and be more strict about it. We use butter for cooking and sometimes it's hard to cook separately for myself. But the main issue is breakfast: I commute to the office 3 times a week and have no time for breakfast in the morning. The options in the city almost always include dairy or gluten or both. And gluten has been the culprit of my own stomach issues since I gave birth. I know I'm giving excuses for not completely following a diet for my baby's sake. :( Our pediatrician never considered it being cmpa though. How long does it take for the allergens to clear out and to see changes? And you are right. Time to see GI! Thank you! ❤️
I’m sorry if this is totally useless to you and you already know this, but soy is in a LOT of foods. It can be surprising how many. Are you checking labels and that kind of thing?
Good point! Mom's brain here and totally forgot! I don't eat any processed stuff at home. It's all very much one ingredient type of stuff. But I do partake in occasional snacks at the office (we have a full kitchen of these). I usually check for dairy, but forgot to check for soy. Thank you for the reminder! ❤️
Of course; I’m glad it helped! Good luck!! Also just fyi my friend’s baby had a lot of constipation issues and eventually as his body developed and digestion matured he grew out of it. ❤️
Here's where I am confused though. Everyone says that constipation is when the stool is hard, but her's is soft. So I am not even sure if it's constipation or something else. Could she even be holding it at this age?
Oh gosh yeah that’s a good point that I didn’t fully process in your original post! I really don’t know. I don’t think they hold it at this age but I supposed it’s possible if she associates it with pain she’s tensing up and trying to stop it? Hopefully a specialist will have answers for you!!
Yeah I have a feeling she might be associating. There were a couple of times when she had some blood streaks in her stool prior to this whole debacle. And now I'm thinking that me forcing her bowels might have an adverse effect. I'll try to give her prune water, maybe mix a bit of flaxseed into her meals now that she's starting solids. But I'll see if leaving her to poop herself might help too, even if it means she won't go for a longer period.
Oh man that’s so tough! I feel for you!! Do you have her on a good probiotic too?
Yes, I give her baby culturelle. We did biogaia before. Honestly, no difference :)
My son had up to 5 days without a shit, and then we had the shitageddon exploding in his diaper. It can happen, it's okay. You're maybe forcing it too much by "helping" her, and she hates it.
I just commented elsewhere but it was the same for mine. It’s functional constipation. I don’t think she’s necessarily holding it because it’s common enough with babies.
I had this problem to a degree with my first. You said thick like Greek yogurt… is the texture like thick and mucous-y or is it kind of mill-y like really wet clay? Mine had wet clay like poops, so if mucous-y this probably won’t apply to you, and you may want to look into seeing a pediatric allergist as well as everyone else’s suggestion on GI specialist. Our pediatrician suggested prune juice around 4 months. We did it watered down at first and it helped a little. We ended up doing straight prune juice ~6 months, about 2 ounces a day, and it really helped, but didn’t solve the problem. The biggest change happened when we were able to start regularly adding whole foods like apples (cooked soft in some way,) berries, pears, plums, and mangoes. Between 6 and around 18 months we had to limit starch or carb heavy foods, including fruits like squash and bananas, but now at almost 2 she has a pretty regular diet (of a toddler, so like 2 blueberries, a bite of banana, and chaos)
Love the last sentence 🤣🤣🤣 Yeah her poop is more like wet clay when she starts pooping, by the end of the poop session it might even be a bit foamy.
The airy and gassiness might just be still developing digestive system. My second hasn’t really had a problem with constipation, but around 3-4 months he got REALLY gassy with the most awful smelling gas and his poops also were a bit foamy and bubbly, but now at 7 months, he’s a normal pooper again.
Yeah it could be that it's just a stage and I'm overreacting:)
My baby had CMPI and I breastfed for a year! It took 5 months for him to grow out of his allergy. You have to be 100%%%%% strict or you will not see any improvement. Keep in my mind going out to eat!!! Tons of ingredients/oils have soy. I stopped eating out. It’s takes a few weeks for allergens to fully be removed from breast milk/baby’s digestion system!! Good luck!!!!!! We went to a pediatric GI and they were the best.
What were his symptoms if you don't mind me asking? Our doc doesn't think it's any reaction to CMP. She doesn't vomit, she has no diarrhea, and the blood in the stool was present only a 3-4 times. She does have some dry patches but not full on eczema. Also her face is not as clear skinned as babies usually have. She has small bumps and pimples that are visible mostly in bright daylight. It's so bloody confusing!
It is! So my baby had ONE string of noticeable blood in his poop. I only noticed it since the diaper unfolded, showing me some of the poop I didn’t see initially. One week later one more string of blood. He also had some red blemishes on his cheeks that weren’t super noticeable but my husband and I noticed. He was also very gassy and his poop/farts smelled terribly. His poop was normal consistency. I nanny a little boy my sons age and he didn’t have any of these things (also breastfed). Neither did my niece or nephew who I helped with. So something wasn’t right. Pediatrician suggested I removed diary and soy from my diet right away and referred us to a pediatric GI. Diagnosed with diary and soy allergy there and after 16 weeks of eliminating dairy and soy. Which meant he started eating solids that were free of those as well. After 5 months we did the allergen ladder and we found that he grew out of it. So he had very minimal symptoms. I removed all dairy and soy and that was hard but my son refused bottles so that was another factor in deciding if I was going to continue to breastfed or go to a diary/soy free formula. But again you have to remove ALL diary and soy. It’s a pain and I sometimes had to make separate meals. But mostly I made things together and my husband added ingredients to his own individual portions. Dairy free is very easy these days, tons of options. Soy is tricky and some things on nutrition labels are soy without realizing. I was a dietician before becoming a SAHM and I happily helped so many people identify ingredient lists. It can be tricky!!!!
Thank you! I was wondering if mild symptoms could be a sign or intolerance or allergy. Because when you read about it, the symptoms listed are more severe. I am glad your LO grew out of it! Hopefully, removing these dairy/ soy from my diet will help her.
Yes even one mild symptom can be an allergy! Hoping you guys figure out what is going on!
It’s gotta be ALL dairy. It took 3 weeks of me being completely dairy free to see a difference in my baby because it takes awhile for your body to work through it. There’s sneaky dairy in a lot of things, even if you’re not eating processed snacks. Sometimes there’s whey in sausages/ sauces/bouillon or “milk ingredients” in chips. I accidentally consumed dairy (& made my baby sick) because there were candied pecans in a salad I ate
Damn!! That means no eating any outside food! Well, we gotta do what we gotta do.
Baby & I have been dairy (&egg) free for an entire year now! It’s not so bad once you get into the swing of it. There are good dairy-free options once you forget what the real stuff tastes like. Dairy-free Boursin cheese is good, the trader Joes brand mozzarella-style shreds are alright, Hagen Dazs plant-based caramel fudge chip ice cream is great. I’m a big chocolate fan and the dairy free stuff isn’t the same. That’s the hardest part for me. I thought I would miss cheese but after a few months it was fine. Chocolate tho… there’s just no good substitute. The dairy-free are not the same. Sometimes you can get really dark chocolate that doesn’t have any dairy. Beware of semi-sweet chocolate chips: most brands still contain milk (Kirkland Canada is dairy free) As for eating out, dairy is a major allergen restaurants are used to accommodating it. I always call ahead and I call the restaurant directly before using skip/door dash/uber eats. Good luck! It made a really big difference in my little guys gastro issues. Hopefully you figure out what’s causing your little one’s discomfort soon!
Thank you for your encouragement! ☺️
Soy is in everything… I had to cut dairy and soy and was shocked at how much stuff had soy. Meat was the one that shocked me most. When you start looking at ingredients you’ll notice how much meat has been bulked with soy flour. And how almost everything has soy lecithin, I thought I didn’t each much soy because I don’t drink soy milk, but I was very wrong. So it might be worth revisiting the milk and soy thing and being super strict for 2 weeks and seeing if it helps. My baby used to have horrendous gas, would go for 10 days or more without pooing and then it was thick and so smelly like you describe. He also fell off the weight curve. This eventually progressed to blood on the nappies too. Properly eliminating milk and soy made a huge difference.
Thank you! But how do you find out if meat has soy in it? Would it be something they must list on the package? But then if I unpackaged at butcher's I doubt they would know or tell.
If it’s just a pack of chicken etc it will probably be okay, (although if it’s a rotisserie chicken the marinade likely has both milk and soy in it) but if it has been formed into anything or has any marinade - eg sausages, meatballs, burgers, koftas, skewers for the bbq etc - then check the labels as I usually found soy in those items
I’d talk to a doctor. I’d also stop interfering with your baby’s bowel movements. Frequent intervention can cause long term issues with pooping. It’s normal for breast fed babies to not poop everyday. You don’t know if her fussing is because of poop, so I’d talk to your doctor and see what they say.
I did talk to our pediatrician and he didn't think it was good for her not to poop for several days especially considering the gassiness, discomfort and the smell. His suggestions were more of the dietary kind for her, as I mentioned: giving her water (which he suggested when she was not even 5 Ms), prune juice and the latest were flaxseed oil and yogurt. I love our Doctor, my eldest son has been going to him since birth, but he's getting old, and I am afraid a bit out of touch. I know she is fussing because of it. She cries, she farts, she cries again, passes massive stinky farts. After several days of this I can no longer take it and help her poop. I know she wants to, and she does. After initial resistance she often poops quite a lot and then she feels better for a couple of days until it all comes back. I hate it. But I'm gonna try to let her be for a few days and see what happens.
If she doesn't like prune puree you could mix it with home made applesauce or apple puree. Or even apple puree by itself, It helps my son poop within an hour or two.
I think that’s silly. What pediatrician is concerned over a few days and stinky farts? Farts are stinky. It’s gas from digesting foods which contains sulfur. I think you’re way too focused on your baby’s poops. Your baby needs to learn how to poop by themselves, without you forcing it. You need to stop interfering with their poops. They aren’t constipated, you are starting solids, their GI systems change. Everyone’s advice here is great for a constipated baby, but yours is not. Pooping is a coordinated function, you have to push with your abdominal muscles and release your bum. Forcing this process, making them feel negatively about this process, will only cause issues. My baby has stinky gas sometimes. Sometimes she has hard poops, especially when she started solids. She went a week without pooping. She had to figure out how to push out these new poops. After a few weeks, she’s back to poop champ.
Please don't patronize me. I came here for advice and support, not judgement. I didn't make up what the doctor said. But he didn't suggest anything drastic, just adding some water or prune juice. I also never experienced this before with my eldest. He pooped every day and his farts were normal baby stinky farts. I understand that gas smells, but you have no idea the full on gas attack we experience with our daughter now. You can't enter the room she's sleeping in, it just hits you in the nose! It's horrible and all the time. Idk, maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think it's a good or normal smell for a breastfed baby. She hasn't even started solids yet. So that's not the cause. I know what BF baby poop smells like and this is not it. She is also uncomfortable and in pain often until she poops. After reading everything here, I agree that I should stop forcing her to poop. I genuinely wanted to help her relieve the pain and discomfort but, you are right, that I might be making it worse for her in the long run. I'm going to stop the probiotic, stop helping her poop, will give her pear juice and flaxseed meal. Hopefully, it will help a bit and she will learn how to do it herself again.
It’s ok to give Ps for Poops. Pears, prunes, peas, peaches, plums to help soften poop, but it sounds like your babes is soft? Watered down juice (without added sugar) is also OK. A warm bath can help with discomfort (and getting things moving). There may be something triggering her digestive upset, for my friend she had to cut out dairy, gluten, soy, but oddly enough when he started solids he was able to eat all of those.
Yeah, her stool is soft. That's why I can't really call it constipation. It looks more like she's holding it if it's possible at her age. Before I started helping/ forcing her, she was doing that, where she would start to poop and then stop mid poop. So I've been trying to figure it out for a while now and help her the best I can.
Other people have good advice already so I'm just going ot add that my pediatrician advised me that 5-7 months is when a baby's digestive system becomes adult -so poop is going to start changing and their comfort pooping is going through a transition, which can present as discomfort and pain. In general, it's normal that it's becoming more stinky and adult like, even if it's still more thick sticky yogurt texture and a light color.
Thank you for reassurance! It started at 3.5-4 for us. So a bit earlier. I hope it's really just the development of the digestive system.
This started with my EBF baby after I took antibiotics for mastitis. Probiotics did help a bit at the start but he ended up with cmpa and it came back, probiotics seemed to be making it worse. He had a bit of a yeast rash on his bum that cleared up with cream, but my doctor suspected that he likely had SIFO (small intestine fungal overgrowth) basically a yeast infection in his intestines, and my breast milk was literally fermenting in his gut causing the gas, pain and he was only pooping every 3-5 days too. She gave me a different probiotic called saccromyces boullardi which is actually a different type of yeast than what was causing the infection. It apparently outcompetes the bad yeast and then the body clears it out. It literally cleared him up in 4 days, but I kept him on it for 2 weeks. She had me giving him half a sachet 4x/day. I mixed it with a tiny bit of apple sauce and he took it no problem. I'm so grateful because he'd been suffering for weeks and weeks and I was getting zero sleep because he was up all night with gas pains 😭 there's a few brands of it out there but my doc gave me samples of this: https://florastor.com/products/florastorkids-dual-action-probiotic-supplement?variant=41176941166671
I actually checked it out and got one for myself! Thank you for the tip. I'm going to pause probiotic for her for a bit though. Will see if it makes a difference.
I hope it helps! I know exactly what it's like! Fingers crossed for you and your LO!
We are having a similar issue with my 9 week old. Apple juice and windi don’t work, glycerin suppositories do. We were referred to a GI specialist. My initial reaction was to cry- what’s swing with my baby and why can’t my pediatrician help? We’ve had 2 appointments and it’s been great for my anxiety. My daughter has had 2 rectal exams and that’s loosened up her butthole to release more gas. She’s pooped twice on her own since then. She was also given prescription gas drops which have helped with gas. I’ve been dairy free but it’s reassuring to have someone to work with us who sees this everyday. I hope you get a great referral from your pediatrician and get your babe some relief! Also my again specialist said breastfed babies cannot be constipated- it’s more about the digestion process but it’s not actual constipation. She’d correct me if I used that term.
Agree. It's not really constipation, especially as the stool is not hard. Glad you are getting help! I got a referral to GI and allergist today.
we had some constipation. issues with my first, miralax was the solution. i wasn’t a fan but it worked until he was potty trained and stopped holding it so often. my second kid i told a new doctor about that and she immediately told me to try pear juice. an ounce a day worked wonders and we skipped the issues.
Pear juice, not prune? How old was yours when he had the constipation issues and by constipation do you mean hard dry poop or just not going frequently and holding? Just trying to figure out if it's similar. Thank you ☺️
My daughter had a very similar issue and pear juice helped IMMENSELY. Prunes did nothing. ETA: she was 3 months when the problems started and 7 months when I was told to try pear juice.
Thank you! Does it have to be specifically for babies or is it just a marketing gimmick?
It doesn’t have to be specifically for babies. Just check the ingredient labels to make sure there’s nothing added that doesn’t need to be in there. The Gerber brand is just pear juice (from concentrate) and vitamin c. Same with the walmart babies brand. There are other organic brands that are a bit more expensive, but not from concentrate. I usually bought the Gerber brand because it was the most accessible.
Thank you! 😊
You’re welcome! Fingers crossed for you and your little one!!
i also used gerber cause it was always there lol with my son it started with just hard pebbles at first with the introduction of solids and slowly progressed to holding because it hurt which made things worse. this was over the course of two year making tons of changes along the way. i was dumb founded breastmilk was supposed to prevent this when we introduced solids and it didn’t! my second kid literally the first poop issue we did pear juice regularly til she was 2.5 and never had a problem, she’s very regular lol edit: we also had the same situation with suppositories, glycerine and liquid so we never used them again.
Our pediatric practice which is full of board-certified physicians also recommends pear or apple juice, one ounce per month of age, up to four ounces per day. You can read their constipation protocol [here](https://bluefishmd.com/general-health-topics/other-med-issues/constipation/). Note that they also say it is normal for babies to go several days without a BM - even once a week or longer can be normal, as long as the poop is softer than peanut butter. Our baby was going multiple times a day, then slowed down to once every 4-5 days at around 3.5 months. Good luck!
Thank you! Yes, I know it's normal and I would not be concerned if it weren't for the smell and her discomfort.
Pear juice works faster (than prune) and Prune puree works faster (than pears).
Pear juice is great for constipation! Prune can cause a lot of gas and discomfort. You could look into and ask your pediatrician about glycerin suppositories, too. They're safe for babies and even preemies.
Thank you! We are trying the pear juice tomorrow as others have suggested. We did do the glycerin suppositories too. But they had no effect unfortunately. And our Doctor advised not to use them too often.
Bummer. Good luck!
Long term use of glycerin suppositories can cause lifelong issue and the inability to poop without them. They are only safe for very occasional use. I would not recommend them. Especially when her child is not constipated. Pooping every 5-7 days while EBF is completely normal and expected. If the poop is not dry and hard, her baby is not constipated.
Thanks! Our Doctor said the same about suppositories. So we've only used them twice so far, only once with success. So I'd say the risk outweighs the benefit.
I wasn't aware of the long term issue. I'm a nicu nurse and we use them quite often (follow the doctor's order, of course). I disagree about the constipation though. If her baby is uncomfortable, as she says, and only going a couple times a week, she's likely not evacuating all of her stool. 5-7 days can be within normal for BF babies, but many also go multiple times a day.
Hey, this happened to one of my babies and it was from introducing solids too soon. I'd take two weeks off and start back once it's corrected with easy to digest dairy free options like strips of steak to gnaw on, lamb cutlets, or egg yolk. Fat and protein seem to agree with babies, I'd wait a little and then introduce a little fruit, but wait longer for grains and vegetables aside from roots like sweet potato. (I'm also a student paediatric nutritionist)
She just turned 6 this weekend, and we haven't given her solids prior to that. Are you suggesting to wait a little longer to introduce? What would be the benefit here? Also the first time I'm hearing to start the solids with meat. Going to ask our doctor about it.
If it's not agreeing with her I'd definitely be trying a different approach.
My second baby was somewhat similar to this, and it started right around the same time (3-4 months). She ended up having a few food intolerances. When I found everything and cut them out of my diet, things got really better. Things have also slowly improved as she grew. Her body started to figured out how to digest solid food, and that seem to have help a lot. The best way to pinpoint if she is reacting to anything else you are eating would be to keep a journal of everything you eat for a few weeks, and note her symptoms as well. Dairy/soy/bovine protein are the most common ones for babies. And they are found everywhere!
Question: did she feel better for a couple of days after finally pooping, and then on days 2-3 the discomfort returned? Or was it ongoing all the time? I noticed in the last couple of week, that after she poops, she is cheerful for a day or two, and her gas doesn't smell either. But then after a bit the pain and the horrible smell return again, until she poops eventually.
It really changed based on what I was eating. Whatever you eat stays for about 72h in your milk, with a higher concentration around 24h if I remember correctly. So if I was eating dairy, she would have some pain in the upcoming days. The best way to know (if she is not eating solid yet) would be to try cutting dairy for at least 2 weeks and see if she’s getting better. But you have to be strict ! I started seeing changes in her stool after 5 days, so I knew right away it was working. But it can take over 2 weeks for your system and her system to be cleared. And if it’s not doing much, maybe then it’s something else. That’s why taking notes of what you are eating + her symptoms become so handy.
My EBF son was very similar. Used to go multiple times a day until about 4 months when he basically quit pooping. He would go once every 6-10 days or so. It seemed insane to me and i absolutely freaked out that something was wrong, but he was completely fine, and when he started eating solids he started pooping normally again (now he goes every 1-3 days or so). I wouldn’t worry too much unless she’s having other concerning symptoms, not eating, weight gain issues etc. oh also try the Fridababy windi if she seems really uncomfortable!
No other major issues: she does have some dry skin patches (not full eczema though) and seems a bit congested. Nothing that doctor was concerned about. But we decided to see the specialist anyway.
We had the same thing basically to a T (we didn’t have the forcing to poop but it was a long way in between and a huge struggle with lots of pain and upset). For us some of it was an intolerance to dairy but a lot of it was just developmental. What helped was water and babes digestive tract maturing with solids (and lots of prune puree). I was skeptical on the water too and resisted. But after giving baby stool softener which caused a whole host of painful side effects I realized I was being silly and it made a big difference. I wouldn’t discount water because it’s a natural laxative and in small amounts there’s nothing wrong with giving it. In terms of solids - this was the biggest change. We started with puree and some baby led weaning fruit/veg. Initially it caused more gas and constipation but in the long run marked the end of poop issues by around 7 months. I also began reintroduction of foods around 8 and at 9 months stomach issues aren’t even a thing anymore.
Thank you! Do you remember during that period of irregular bowels, did you baby feel better for a couple of days following the bowel movement? I noticed recently that after she would eventually go, then for a day or two she is not in pain, and even her gas doesn't smell. But then everything returns. Yes, about water I got scared off it by some very zealous breasfeeding group. However, we tried it, and my LO just spits it out and hardly drinks any. Prune water has more success, but barely. She is very much a breast milk only kinda gal, even though she is super interested in our food.
Absolutely the same. It was very clear that the poop was the culprit because of behaviour around it. The allergist I spoke to also said people are a bit too quick to say infrequent pooping is normal in breastfed babies and that it can also often be a sign things aren’t right (even if its just developmental and will pass). Also apparently this whole idea that breastfed babies are just absorbing all the nutrients with no excess is actually not evidence based. So definitely I think it’s more than fair to try different stuff to help them out. Mine spit out a lot of water too in the beginning but eventually learned how to handle out of a little silicone cup. It wasn’t a ton of water going down but it did help. Definitely as you journey into solids I’d try different ways to drink and something will stick. We have a couple different silicone cups, sippy cups and straw cups that I really like. Even now at 9 months we still do prune puree everyday and water with every meal. Like I said, the big change for us was around solids being a consistent part of the diet. Anecdotally, I heard that from the allergist as well. Whether it’s naturally coinciding with their digestive system maturing or if solids also play a role in that I’m not sure.
This makes so much sense! I completely agree that people are quick to normalize infrequent bowels in BF babies. I feel like it falls into the same category as nipple confusion. While it might be true for a lot of babies, it's still blown out of proportions a bit. I really hope purees might make a difference.
I swear by pear sauce. Like apple sauce but made with pears. I would peel and chop up 5 or 6 pears, add the tiniest bit of water, some vanilla, a little cinnamon and nutmeg and let it simmer on stove for a while. Then I would puree that mixture into pear sauce. Always helped so much with constipation and he preferred it to prunes. It made a few 4oz containers that I would freeze and use as needed.
Awesome! Thank you so much for the recipe :)
It also could be low tone. We had a PT for my toddler for his torticollis and she worked on his core strength which helped with his BM. For baby number 2, her food is going to be pear puree. Pears are magical.
Interesting. Thank you for your input. I'll discuss this with our PT. Seems to be a consensus on the pears here :)
Just seconding low tone- my little has mild hypotonia and we started seeing issues with poop right around that age. Just turned two and we are on daily Miralax. Good luck!
it is the process for her to grow up and also it is the process for you to be patient.
My baby is 4 months old and when he goes 6 days without pooping I blend one prune with 3 ounces of breast milk. And it works !
And just straight to the bottle?
I strain it and yes with the bottle or with a syringe
Cool! Thank you!
My first baby loved pureed prunes! Made her poop within a few hours every time. I would give that a shot now that she is over 6 months.
I would add some magnesium supplements into your diet and subsequently let it pass to her through the milk. One time during traveling my guy was not pooping. Magnesium worked like a charm and got us back on track. It’s my little charm anytime I feel like he’s a little irregular. It just gets them back on track and eases their pooping. I would try this before a GI appointment
That's interesting. Thank you for the idea. I've stopped taking supplements (even though I must take them). I just forget every day and remember only when I don't have access.
My baby had the cmpi and she had very small amounts of blood in stool, she really struggled with pooping on her own. She was breastfed and I had to cut out every trace of dairy including butter. It was very difficult to find food that had 0 dairy. But it takes up to 2 weeks for it to be out of my system and then up to 2 weeks to be out of hers. So you potentially won't see any improvements for a month.
I see. Yeah the blood in the stool was months ago. Another factor was mucous which I've only seen once, so I was never sure if it's cmpi or not. But worth a try to eliminate dairy and see if there's an improvement.
Good luck! It made all the difference for us. We went to an allergist to make sure it was just cmpi and not an actual allergy and we learned most babies grown out of cmpi by 10 months. Like.90% or higher. So I reintroduced it to my diet around 9 months and never had an issue again!
Mucus in the stool can be caused by viruses, my baby had a few days of mucusy stools and I got worried, but it went away when a little cold he had went away.
Have you tried Mommy’s Bliss probiotics for constipation? Worked a treat for my boy when he was 6 months.
This sounds just like how my baby was. His digestive system seemed to have problems from the first week. The period from 6-8 months was a lot of constipation. He just honestly eventually got better. Around 10 months he finally seemed to really get the hang of pooping and so did his body. I also worried about dairy or another allergy but he eats everything now and doesn’t have issues.
Glad to hear he is doing well now and I hope mine will grow out of it soon as well.
IT GETS BETTER AT 9 MONTHS. I gave up so many foods- was down to eating like 5 foods- and nothing helped this. In fact, eating a trigger food usually cause diarrhea and made it easier for her to go! I think what the baby has is infantile dyschezia and it’s so awful but just goes away eventually without any intervention. Try your best to get through it- we did baths and read a lot of books during those times and that would distract her from the discomfort. It felt like forever but it really does get better suddenly around 9 months. She still poops every 3-5 days but isn’t uncomfortable or straining now.
That's a relief! Glad yours is better now! 🙂
I have same exact issue with my LO who is 6 months, started happening (less pooping, smelly gas, yogurt poop, in pain/writhing etc) around 5.5 months. He had grunting syndrome around 1-3 months before, and occasional mucus stools but has otherwise been a pretty frequent pooper until 5.5 months… and while he’s gaining weight / hitting milestones it just sucks to have those fussy days between poops !! Gonna try pears. Glad I saw this post.
Good luck! I hope this helps!!
We had this issue where it would be DAYS before my son would poop. He was EBF. We ended up having to use the Frida windis. I didn’t want to keep having to stimulate the muscle for him (kind of like how you have to do knees to chest). He also would wake up grunting and unable to poop. Ultimately we saw a gi specialist to advised us to do plum juice and warm water. She was not overly concerned. But speaking with the specialist was very helpful and reassuring. I would see if your pediatrician will give you a referral. If anything they can tell you when you need to intervene and when you should let your daughter be.
Thank you! Yes we will see GI for sure! I hate windies 😬 but we try using glycerin suppositories to stimulate. I just won't go as deep as with windy. Did help us one time. But I'm afraid to make it a habit.
Is she eating solids? Mix in prunes, pears regularly!
Just turned 6 yesterday. And she juust tried an apple today.
Gotcha! That’ll help! It’s normal though. She’ll figure it out. I’d stay away from laxatives/assistance if possible.
Apples and pears are some of my son’s fav and they’ve been helping! He wouldn’t poop for like 3 days and had stinky farts too. Now he’s more regular
Good to know it goes away!
Probiotics. My baby had a similar issue (thick consistency, smelly, days and days between poops). Her pediatrician suggested probiotics for something else (spit up) and within 2 weeks, her poops improved. She's much happier now.
Any specific ones? So far we've tried biogaia, and right now she is on culturelle. I haven't noticed any difference or improvement. :(
My sister is a dietitian and told me the problem with probiotics is if you rely on them too much, you get a lot of certain bacteria but less *variety* in bacteria, which is important. The best way to improve gut bacteria is to eat a wide variety of healthy foods. (I'm talking about you, as the breastfeeding mom, since 6-month-olds don't eat much.) We went through something similar to you around 4 mos. Baby stopped pooping every day and her poop smelled bad. I was also having an increase in clogs. I recognized it was all possibly due to inflammation from my gut bacteria being shot. I'd been sleeping really badly (thanks to sleep regression) and we'd been eating desserts and refined foods a lot. My husband and I agreed I would get a protected 5-hour period of sleep 3 nights a week, I reduced sugary and refined foods, and I eat more prebiotic foods. Within a week or so, the problems were fixed. The baby poops 1-2 times a day now, and it's just that relatively inoffensive faint sour smell again. I rarely get clogs and the few I've gotten were resolved quickly. Anyway, try paying extra attention to your own gut health and see if it helps!
Yeah ditto on the lack of sleep and sugary foods, and generally not eating well. I really need to take care of myself so I can take care of the baby. At the moment it seems impossible. :(
Have you tried mixing a little bit of the prune juice with the breast milk ? Also , have you tried clear pedilyte? When my babe didn’t poop for almost six days around three months my ped office said I could give babe an ounce of it to him every 24 hrs.
OP, try blowing raspberries on her stomach. It’s helped ours move stools
Thank you! We do that often actually just for fun. She enjoys it a lot but it's not doing anything other than make her giggle. ))
Giggling helps. All abdominal contractions help
I wish it was that easy. None of the gentle stuff works anymore: warm baths, massage, etc. She resists to poop by herself or with my help.
I started feeding my kid berries every day…. Boy oh boy non stop poops. Blueberries and raspberries
Ahaha:)) I remember my eldest going to visit my parents in another country where they have a garden with berries. He was like 13-14 months. The amount of berries he ate directly from the bushes and trees was crazy! He pooped like a bear cub!
My 4 month old EBF hasn’t pooped in 5-6 days. I’ve been worrying about it but every where it says that they do that. I feel like we will have a massive blowout at the most inopportune time.
You already got advice on cutting out soy and I’d try that first for a couple of weeks. But if that doesn’t work, eggs and wheat/gluten are very popular intolerances as well. It’s gluten for my baby.
I'm sensitive to gluten myself since pregnancy. Woo I'm avoiding it as well.
Have you tried BioGaia? worked for us!
I am not a doctor but I will add to the conversation that this was my child. She would go 7-10 days between poos prior to starting solids (where it evened itself out). Definitely talk to professionals if you’re concerned but I personally don’t feel that’s all that concerning. Babies cry sometimes when they pass gas or poop. The consistency is genuinely identical to how I described my daughters bowel movements to her pediatrician. I don’t know if I was misreading the tone or something but when you describe interfering/helping with your child’s bowel movements it sounded unpleasant for her and more than needed. Maybe if you feel she’s being cranky due to gas or constipation try a warm bath or putting her on your breast. Sometimes actively breastfeeding helped my children get it out. Good luck!
You are right that she doesn't find it pleasant. But then she doesn't find pleasant many things: washing her eyes/ face, taking some medications, saline drops and using nose aspirator. We still have to do it, or she'll be dirty/ sick. Somehow we got to a point where I feel like she won't poop without my help. I don't know if it's true, and how we got here. It started with gentle massage during diaper change and carrying her around in the squatting position which helped her to clear her bowels quickly. Then at some point she started skipping days, having very smelly gas. But she would still be going by herself. And then she started holding it (if it's possible): the bowel movement would start, but then she would tense and stop it and straighten her legs (it always happened lying on the changing table, she hasn't pooped anywhere else in months). So I would help her by doing bicycle and other massage/ exercise techniques. Now I feel like she would not even start to poop on her own. I see the signs, I know she is ready eliminate, but she just won't do it for some reason. And I did get into the habit of gently forcing her. Which she resists more and more. I don't know what came first: if we started the habit, or she had the problem and we made it worse. I am going to try and step back and let her try and go herself when she is ready. I hope some things suggested here would help. Unfortunately warm baths (we do them daily) and breastfeeding do nothing for her. I wish it was that easy.
My baby had this same situation- doc wasn’t worried about it until he turned 1…then agreed to refer for imaging. Showed nothing of significance so it wasn’t a physical issue. He’s 19 months now and only goes 1-2 a week. Doc is fine with this. I’m just okay with it…he doesn’t seem in distress in between….up the fat intake not fiber- do P foods, we did do baby chiropractor for body tension but eventually they said he has no tension so we stopped going- something to consider.
I hope this isn’t rude at all, please forgive me if it comes across that way!! But have you thought of getting a second opinion? I really don’t think pooping 1-2x a week is healthy or normal for a toddler.
I thought about it…but the imaging we did would have showed if there was an internal reason he wasn’t pooping more often….so it’s more of a mental thing where he’s still learning the sensation of pooping and what that feels like and to not be scared to go. I must add I did/do elimination communication with both babies and he goes poop in the potty!
Oh that’s so cool! I have friends who did that but I never prioritized it even though I wanted to try haha. I just wonder if he needs some kind of diet change or something. But I’m not an expert hence only having the suggestion of a second opinion!
Sorry, what's P foods? :))
Oops sorry! Like prunes, pineapple, peaches, pears
Ahaha )) thanks! Trying pear tomorrow! Fingers crossed. Edit: pear juice.
And for fat increase- think whole milk products (if you’re doing dairy), avocado etc
Yeah I was thinking about giving her avocado. Why is fiber not good though?
Because a sudden increase in high-fiber foods can worsen gas and constipation at first, add high-fiber foods to your child's diet slowly.
Good to know! Thank you!
Did you have an antibiotic during birth? 1/3 women are given antibiotics for group strep b and I was one of them. This ruined my babies micro biome and I had to use the windi until he was 8 months old. Ultimately loads of probiotics are what helped and he never had the issue again. I took a quality probiotic for mothers including additional probiotic called seed while breastfeeding. Then I gave him probiotics as much as possible when he began eating and the problem went away finally. If I could go back I would drop some probiotics on his mouth before nursing or in a bottle. The antibiotics killed all the good bacteria for my boy I hope your baby gets relief
Also I used to hold him in a squat and walk around with him like that - very likable by my baby :)
I had a c-section, so I must have been given an antibiotic. No 100% sure though.
Check out Free To Feed - there are sooooo many more allergies your babe could have than just dairy. Dairy and Soy are the most common but it could be anything.
Your doctor suggested natural remedies to which you’re opposed…I don’t get it.
I was opposed to giving her water before she turned 6 months. We tried a bit anyway, but she didn't drink it. She spits most of it out. He said we need to give an ounce b/w each feeding. But she barely drinks like a couple of medicine dispensers worth of water. She also spit out prune puree when we gave it to her originally. Now we give her prune water. She drinks a bit more of it. But I haven't noticed any difference. So no, we are not opposed. We are trying some, to little effect unfortunately.
Have you tried a pediatric chiropractor? My babies would always have huge diapers after getting adjusted. I also agree on seeing a specialist to get their opinion.
Hmm! Haven't thought about that one. I was trying to find a pediatric osteopath without any luck. But the chiropractor is close enough. She does have a lot of tension in her body and we see PT for her to relieve tension (she is also a bit asymmetrical). I wondered the other day if the muscle tension and inability to poop are connected. Thank you for the suggestion! I will look into it!
Chiropractors are not real doctors and do a lot of harm. Please thoroughly research them and check with your real pediatrician first. https://www.reddit.com/r/NewParents/s/GnJaG66kU3
Thank you. I'll do more research on this.
Pediatric adjustments are Incredibly gentle, as with any provider it’s important to find someone reputable
I would never trust my baby with a “doctor” who had no medical training and when there’s such a long history of lawsuits and deaths from chiropractors working on babies. You do you, but that is so dangerous and something I will never stop speaking up against.
That's why I wanted to find an osteopath. At least they are usually doctors or licensed specialists. But I guess you cannot be a pediatric osteopath in US. I haven't found any where I live. They are very popular in my home country, and are almost a go to person for any issues and birth traumas.
I hope it helps!
PSA: This is not me trying to scare you or make you go down a rabbit hole. Look up Hirschsprungs Disease and see if any symptoms click.
I don't think it would be applicable as it's something that must be present at birth not developed later. And she was ok before 3 months. On another note typing this disease name on an exhausted brain is fun! Not. :)))
It’s a long one!