My 4 mos. old breastfed daughter is constipated most of the time. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

Answer 1

from your other question, I think more details of how exactly you are feeding your daughter would be useful!

if you have been exclusively breastfeeding her since birth and doing it on demand, it is extremely rare that she would be constipated and perhaps she is just not pooping that often? This is normal and is no indication of constipation - it's the consistency of the poop when she does go that is key - it's like small, round hard pellets if they are constipated.

However, i am worried that you are packing solids into her and only breastfeeding her twice a day, from your other question, which is not what should be happening at all and I suggest you go seek advice from a health professional.

Your baby should be exclusively breastfed at 4 months - as many times as she wants during the day and night and constipation should not be an issue.

Answer 2

Breastfed babies rarely get constipated. The lack of a bowel movement is not a sign of constipation. If she pass small, hard, dry, round stools then she is constipated.
My son only has a bowel movement twice a week. When i addressed this with the pediatrician he said that breast milk is digested so completely that there is very little waste so a BF baby has fewer bowel movements.
However he did tell me to try a few things if he seemed to be straining to poo. 3oz of warm water mixed with 1oz of apple juice can sometimes help. Also you can lubricate the anus with Vaseline and a Qtip. They make glycerin suppositories you can use as well.
I would consult your pediatrician before you try anything.

PLEASE don't give your baby syrup or sugar water, that will only make her ill!

Good Luck and Congrats!

Answer 3

Its very rare for an exclusively breastfed infant to be constipated. Is she having hard stools or is she just not pooping infrequently? Its normal for a baby to only poop every couple of days as long as its soft/liquidity and she doesn't look uncomfortable. If shes having hard pellet like stools yes she is constipated. If you have started her on rice cereal i would back off a bit. The iron in rice cereal is constipating to some baby's. Now if shes not on rice cereal I would take to your doc about it.

Answer 4

how do you know she is constipated? if she finally goes and it's hard pebble like stools then that is constipated. if she is just not oging every day then that's normal and not constipated. if she is then i would talk to her doc about way to handle it because breastfed babies are normally not constipated and tehy may be bale to find a solution that is rright for your baby. PS many people give their babies suppositories(SP?) which i dont belive in. my son only poops generally every 3 days and is breastfed sometimes even 4 days. it normal for breastfed babies to go a weeek without pooping since breastmilk is so pure it is almost all abosrobed by teh body

Answer 5

We've experienced constipation in a breastfeed baby.

While his poop was not pellets, our 2nd son could not poop on his own. You could see the discomfort in his face when he would need to poop, but could not until we gave him babylax (supository) which would be followed by a huge blowout.

The doctor gave us a prescription for lactulose. It's basically an indigestable sugar that pulls more fluids into the bowels. That did the trick and we never had to use the babylax again.

Once he was old enough to start taking solids, this issue resolved itself.

Answer 6

Is she really constipated or are you just presuming she is because she goes several days without a bowel movement? It's not uncommon for breastfed infants to go a week or even more without moving their bowels. Unless she is straining and crying and producing dry stool, I would leave it alone and let her go when she's ready. Talk to your pediatrician.

Answer 7

Are you sure she's constipated?

I'm asking because it's rare in breastfed babies. But it's very common for breastfed babies to poo much less often than formula-fed babies. Even as little as once a week. It doesn't matter how often she goes, or even what colour she goes while doing it, as long as what comes out isn't hard.

Answer 8

Breastfed babies do not have the same amount of waste as formula fed babies, so they can go several days without having a real BM. (That yellow sticky substance is not a real BM, although most of us call it that). Unless she's passing harrd stools, ot it's been over a week, there isn't anything to worry about.

Answer 9

She is not constipated, because constipation by definition means her stool cannot pass. Babies this small who only eat breastmilk or formula are not constipated. If she does not have a bowl movement in a few days, give her a baby anal suppository, but make sure you just pinch off the edge and rub down the point and insert it about a half inch in her rectum. The baby will have a bm within about 20 minutes.

Answer 10

Again, if she can drink pear, apple or some other fruit juice it should improve her bowel function. And put a baby size (1 gram) glycerin suppository in her if she needs something to make her do a dooey - it works in minutes!