Newborn is having a hard time pooping?

Question

I have a two-week-old little girl who is having a really hard time pooping and she has diarreah when it finally comes out. She's not burping well...could that be part of the problem? We asked the doctor what we should do and he suggested we stick a lubricated thermometer up there...which only works part of the time. She seems pretty uncomfortable. Do any experienced moms or dads have any other suggestions on how to make it come out easier? It breaks my heart to watch her grunt and groan.

This is a serious question, so please...no immature comments.

Thanks for your answers!

Sorry...she is eating breastmilk from a bottle (we failed to get a proper latch).

Answer 1

Babys seem to make a big fuss about pooping. My 4 wk old makes a big show of it. If you are breastfeeding then the baby should be going 2-3 times a day and bottle fed babies go once or twice a day. As long as it doesn't look like rabbit droppings, she's okay. You could also try a suppository but I wouldn't do it to often because she will get used to it, and won't go on her own. I just went to the dr and this is the advice I was given and it worked. Good luck and best wishes

Answer 2

No. Never give water!!!! Babies don't need water. Some newborns can take from 12 to 24 hours to poop. If the baby still isn't pooping. You need to let your doctor know so they can give you a prescription for pediatric glycerin suppositories. Then you will cut them into 1/4 pieces and those should help. They might skip the suppositories and go for mineral oil. Call the doctor. Also if you are breastfeeding the baby should poop more often and it should be yellow. If you are using formula the baby will poop less often and it will be green. Good Luck!

Answer 3

I have 3 children from 17 to 7 and two of them had very touchy systems. I would say try a silicone infant suppository (available from your pharmaicst or in the baby section of your drug store). She may need the stimulation to get the muscles to work properly so she can push the poop out.

If she is breastfed, and her stools are soft it may not be constipation. If she is formula fed, there may be too much iron in her formula and that will cause constipation. Try carnation good start. It may just take a while for her digestive and elimination systems to get in the swing of things. Babies can alternate bewteen constipation and diarhea, too. If it seems like constipation give her 2 oz of warm water with a tsp of molasses or karo syrup dissolved in it, that should stimulate a bowel movement within an hour or so. Don't let her have too much or she'll get watery stools.

When her tummy is cramping, you can try laying her belly down on your stomach for the warmth or if she likes baths, a warm bath soothes crampy muscles. Try to stay calm, she will read off of your stress levels, so just talk softly to her and maybe hum a bit or sway gently. You two will figure it out somehow... moms are just like that. Congratulationson being a new mommy!

Answer 4

The thermometer is the best idea and if she has soft stool when it comes out, chances are she's not constipated. Another sign if ti hurts her is if she cries when pooping. My 3 month old son had ahernia of the belly button from pushing so hard when he was a few weeks old but it went away. Its ok for baby's not to poop for 24-48 hours as long as when they do, its soft. Ask your doctor about giving a little bit of prune juice with water and if NOTHINg else works, a suppository for babies but dont do anything besides the thermometer without asking first. Not burpinng may be upsetting her stomache as well.

Answer 5

i would say that if it's diarrhea, she's not constipated. i think you might be worrying a bit much. keep in mind...the works down there are pretty new. it might just look to you like she's in pain or uncomfortable. (more so than normal) if she's going, she should be okay. and constipation will look like hard pellets. also, consider it might not really be diarrhea. i don't really know what it's like, i haven't seen it, but diarrhea suggests dehydration. did you discuss this with your dr.? my pediatrician, when i had my son, assured me that he wouldn't be really regular for a little while. babies can go once a day, several times a day, once every couple of days and it's all normal as long as it's not hard pellets. also, my son didn't burp well either. that can cause excess gas, which is something babies also have a lot of. they make drops for that. oh, and never add the wrong ratio of formula and water. too much water can overwork the brand new kidneys and too little can cause dehydration and constipation.

Answer 6

As long as she had passed stools earlier, it means there is no any obstruction and I could not see any big problem over this issue.Breastfed babies ( though your baby is feed with breastmilk in a bottle) who aren't receiving supplemental feedings rarely have hard, dry stools unless there is some sort of bowel obstruction or medical problem.
If the stool is soft when he does finally go, he is gaining weight appropriately, his abdomen is soft and he is content and alert, with no signs of illness (like lethargy or fever) then you don't need to worry, even if a week or more goes by without a bowel movement.
The only problem I can see is your child having abdominal colic/gases, the fact that you use bottle in feeding makes it for your baby to get more air into his stomach. Effective burping every after feeding is the first thing you need to know well. I believe you had discovered the best way in doing this. You may also try some effervescence good for abdominal spasm (available over the counter ).
You have to be watchful to what you are eating as this highly affects your baby. Avoid gas-forming foods. Check out the dairy products in your diet- there is a possibility that your baby has some sort of allergy. Stop taking milk,cheese and any dairies and observe for few days then resume your dairy intake and observe if there is any difference in your baby's pooping. This is to know if your child is havig allergy to dairy products.If you note that it does then you need to take another alternative as your calcium source.
Try to relax and make sure your baby is free of abdominal gases, the diarrhea looking poop of your girl is not to be concerned of as long as there is no other signs of illness . Lastly, let her sleep in her abdomen, it will help.

Answer 7

If you breast feed maybe it is something that you have eatten to make her become constipated. If she is on formula try to switch her formula. I know that the milk based with iron made my son constipated and cryed all the time. The pediatrician said to go with low iron because to much iron can make a baby constipated. If you are breast feeding try drinking a lot of water and eat fiber. If you have her on formula maybe you are not mixing enough water into the dry mix. I would go to another pediatrician for and second evaluation because if she is haveing trouble dont let her suffer maybe they can give her some type of supository that is gentle enough for newborns. I also think that rubbing her belly to get everything moveing is great oo just like NY3boys said.

Answer 8

I don't know if you breast feed or not but I breastfed and my baby had runny poop too for the first few months. And anytime that she got constipated, I would massage her tummy for about 5-10 minutes at a time. That would usually help things moving.

And I also found that by me taking an oral laxative, it would pass through her as well since I was breastfeeding her.

Hope this helps.

Answer 9

My daughter is 7 weeks old and has had horrid problems with pooping, so I'm sorry for your daughter! (it's heart breaking)

I went through 4 different doctors and eventually took my baby to the ER, where they found the problem (its a genetic thing for her), but they gave her Glycerin Suppositories, which you can buy in stores, just get the infant kind. Within, ohhh 5 minutes she poops.

Just make sure you check with your doctor before doing this. Good luck and give that lil girl lots of kisses... I know its heart breaking to watch your little one go through so much hell. *hugs*

Answer 10

Same problem with both my kids... it's like there bowels didn't know what to do... and you could look at them and tell it was painful... Well the doc told me the same thing, and give some water to help hydrate. BUT THAT didn't work....my whole family called my son "grunt" as a nickname. Well I tried everything there was to try between the both kids and the only thing that worked was "helping them go BM" Like pushing and holding feet at stomach when there grunting and then releasing... apply warm rag to stomach to relax muscles, massaging lower belly softly and after a few minuets of that...and still no BM then try a q-tip with Vaseline on it... (up there) to stimulate them to push, hold the sphincter muscle open and lubricate. This seems like a lot of work just to help the Grunts... but it will be the happiest baby ever.... as far as burping, if it don't come out as a burp... it will come out as gas... so mylacon drops for infants will get rid of the gas.