Poop problems

[BabyBsMommy]

My lo is 20 weeks and I know that around this age, bf babies can start going longer and longer between poops.  For the past 4 weeks, he has been going 4-5 days.  Unfortunately, by the 4th or 5th day he is very uncomfortable, especially when it is time to lay down for a nap or bedtime.  He also wakes a lot more at night by the 4th night and when he is asleep, it is very fitful and he makes a lot more sounds than usual.  He strains and groans alot, especially before a sleep and right after a feed.  When he doesn go, there is ALOT of it but it looks no different than it was before this started.
We are giving him a little corn syrup on a spoon or diluted in water by day 4-5 and that seems to get things going withing 24-48 hours.  I also have heard that giving some water on it's own in a bottle can help but he makes faces and spits it out when I try.
I should mention he has been exclusively bf until a few days ago when we started a little rice cereal each day on the doctor's (and all of the signs I saw that convinced me easily) recommendation.  I'm not too concerned about the cereal adding to the problem because it's already happening and we are going to introduce oatmeal in a few weeks which I have read in other posts in solid foods that it actually helps make them more regular.
Any tips on making him more comfortable and/or how to take plain water in a bottle?

[Carter'sMama]

From about 6 weeks until 5 months, Carter would consistently go poop every 14-15 days.  He never got uncomfortable or had hard poops which I thought was weird!  When we introduced cereal it was oatmeal or barley because of the fibre content and he never had rice because it has no fibre content!  I also increased the fibre in my diet to help him out a little.  I don't think we started giving water until 6 months and when we did it was cooled boiled water in a sterilized bottle.  Turns out Carter loves water which I thought was great.

When things were at their worst (day 15!) we would sometimes use a suppository to get him to go.  It worked like a charm and only took about 5-10 mins.  Eventually when he started eating fruits and veggies he started going on a regular basis.   DH always brags about how lucky we were to not have to change poopy diapers! 

[ks6]

Prunes can do wonders for poop, in small quantities.  (If you are ready to introduce that food.)

[BabyBsMommy]

Thanks for the tips!  AND for making me look on the bright side - we are definitely saving loads on diapers now that he goes so rarely! lol I'm not sure if I'm ready to go the prune route yet!  He seemed fine last night and slept quite well so I guess maybe he isn't that uncomfortable, maybe, after all!  We are into day 6.  He won't consistently take water so that hasn't been a help!  I think he is picky and prefers us to give him bottled water from our water cooler as opposed to boiled tap water !   We are going to get some brown rice cereal on Monday so hopefully that will add some more fiber and in another 2 weeks or so, out will come the oatmeal cereal which should help to "relieve" (hee hee) us of our problems!

[Shdef]

Is it possible to switch to oatmeal instead of rice? Rice really blocks a lot of babies up, oatmeal doesn't because it#s got fibre in it. My lactation councillor told me (when I was still breastfeeding) to fight constipation with a quick feed from one side of the breast and then switching to the other. The foremilk fights constipation as well...

Anyone heard of this?

[BabyBsMommy]

I've never heard of taking the foremilk from both breasts to fight constipation.  Would you do this as a feed or at a different time of day and how long would you let them feed on each side for it?  I'm curious to see if anyone else has heard of this as well!  Has it worked for you, Scott's_Maw?
I am planning on switching him to oatmeal ASAP...  He just started solids 4 days ago.  Our doctor advised that we space out introducing the different grains by at least 2 weeks.  This is why I am going to use brown rice starting Monday until it is time to try oatmeal - hopefully it will give a little more fibre.  Anyone else give oatmeal right away instead of rice?

[Shdef]

I have heard on this forum that brown rice works a treat! The thing with the foremilk actually makes sense because the foremilk is thinner like water and you are supposed to give water and thinner milk if baby is constipated. Hindmilk is thicker so it might not work as well for constipated babies. Babies who are breastfed and DON't get rice cereal don't bother as much if they don't poo for a few days.

[BabyBsMommy]

Go figure, Brenden pooped on Day 6 last night at 11pm - boy oh boy was it loud!  I was just going to bed and I got to hear it all on the baby monitor, lol!  Then, he pooped again today!  This is more in 7 days than he has in the past 4 weeks and this is on rice cereal, too, so maybe this problem is on the outs!  Regardless, we're off to pick up the brown rice cereal tomorrow!

[KDawn]

Hi, I was giggling reading these posts, and thought that I would reply.  My dd is 4 mos old and only bf, and after her fisrt growth spurt at 1 mos, stopped pooping also.  I got pretty worried but was told it is perfectly normal, the public health nurse said up to 20 days is normal!!  EEKS.  I figure after about 6 days, something has to come out.  We once used a suppository, and laughed so hard we had tears.  Poor girl.  At around 2 mos, the not pooping didn't bother her at all, mind you she could peel paint off walls with her farts (as her auntie has said)!  We just started rice cereal a week age, and I didn't know it could cause more poop problems.  I'm curious to see how it works out for you.   P.S.  I love not changing poopy diapers

[BabyBsMommy]

  Weird - 3 days after starting white rice cereal started pooping every day.  Tried out brown rice cereal, which is supposed to have more fiber, on Thursday and he hasn't pooped since!