Are there any teas or natural products that would help a breastfed baby poop easier?

Question

My son is 3 months old and I breastfeed him. The doctor said breastfed babies do not have constipation, but he has bowel movement every 2-3 days and this bothers him. My doctor recommended the glycerin rectal supposatories, but I really don't like them and they are not supposed to be used very often.
What do you use for such a young babies?

Answer 1

My son was like this at that age too--so yes, it does happen. What I did was I got Little Tummies drops and we have one of those calming vibrations chairs and if I gave him a dose of the drops and then set him in his chair, turned on the vibrations, he'd have a movement within 10 minutes (usually less). Another thing you can try are tummy pushes. Basically lay your son on his back and slowly bend his knees up to his chest. I usually started with both at the same time, then moved onto alternating them, ended with both and a kiss on his head (he knew we were done then). These things helped me with him--when we got to solid foods we started using prunes. Good luck!

Answer 2

It's normal.

An EXCLUSIVELY breastfed baby doesn't get constipated because breastmilk is a natural laxative.

There is very little waste when they are exclusively nursing because they use up pretty much everything in the breastmilk. So it's normal for breastfed babies to not need to poop every day because they are using up almost all the nutrients in the milk. There is very little waste left to poop out. It can be normal for them to poop once a week.

The number of dirty diapers ranges from many per day to one every 7 – 10+ days. After 4 - 6 weeks, some babies switch to an infrequent stooling pattern. This is normal as long as baby is gaining well, and stools are still soft and profuse if several days have passed.

It is NOT constipation unless the stools are hard, dry and formed.

When you say it "bothers him" do you mean it seems like he is having a difficult time when he goes? It may just be that his spincter muscles aren't mature enough yet, which makes it seem like he is straining. Again, if he is exclusively breastfed and his stools aren't hard, dry and formed then he is NOT constipated.

If his tummy is soft, not rigid or distended, skipping days between stools is NOT a cause for alarm.

Massaging his belly in a clockwise circle or bicycling his legs may help a little bit. I would not start giving him supposatories or stimulating his rectum as he might come to rely on that to be able to go.

Answer 3

Your doctor was right. Breastfed babies are rarely if ever constipated - reason being is that they use pretty much all of the nutrients from the breast milk. What the crap out is unused proteins but a majority of it is intestinal secretions - mucous. Here's the thing... think about this....

The kid was in your womb for 9 months with his butthole puckered up so he *can't* go....

Unlike you and me, he doesn't have a *real* turd making it's way outta his butt a couple times a day, just a bunch of gas and a little liquid...

To make it worse, the baby's abdominal muscles are not well developed, which would tend make it easier if they were..

That, combined with basically what equates to a small bunghole that hasn't been used much, makes it hard for baby to poop... It is perfectly normal, our son does the same thing along with every other baby out there :) They will have a red face, they will strain. They do this. It's normal. But believe it or not a gentle rectal exam by his doctor with lots of lube will serve to do wonders but it is not really needed. This will just make it a little easier for him because, well, his bunghole will get a lil stretched, thus making it easier for him to go. Hope this helps. Don't mess with the poor lil guy's intestines, let nature do what it needs to do an don't give him stuff to make him poop when he doesn't really need to. The colon can hold an amazing amount of "Crap" with no harm done. :)

Answer 4

It's okay for a baby not to have a bm every day, but if it's bothering him I'd bring this up on his next check up. If his stools are indeed hard, I've been told to use 1 tsp of dark Karo syrup in 4 oz of water spread over the course of 3 feedings and this should help.

Answer 5

My daughter who's breastfed would desire to pass each week with out poop incredibly often! She's just about 2 now so i would be unable to incredibly bear in suggestions if she replaced into uncomfortable, i do no longer think of so? i'm particular you do no longer would desire to do something. perhaps in simple terms burp her greater for the duration of feeds to minimise wind that's probable inflicting the tummyache. initiate giving her breakfast and lunch puree's as a widely used component to your ordinary if she is involved! That'll get her gadget going! :-)

Answer 6

At three months it is perfectly okay to give the baby apple juice or prune juice (or both), just mix it half and half with water. This will help him have looser stools. You can also move his legs like he is riding a bicycle to help him go.

Answer 7

My son's pedi told me to eat prunes and see if that helps. He said if that didn't work to give him 3oz white grape juice w/ 1oz. water to see if that works. If THAT didn't work he said to try stimulation...like a rectal thermometer with vaseline on it. He did tell me to try not to use these unless absolutely necessary because the body needs to learn to work on it's own without intervention. Good luck.

Answer 8

You can give him a little apple juice which may work.
Another suggestion is to give him a little Karo Syrup. It will work!! I know because I have used it for both of my kids and my grandson.

Answer 9

eeew well i remeber what my mom used for my little bro,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,uhhhh what was it........................................''formula'' i think. its what adopted kids use.