6 Week Old and No Stool for 4 Days

My friend's perfectly healthy baby boy has pooped only once a week for 4 months now (since birth). I think the doctor had her try a little prune juice but I don't believe he liked that. Definitely talk to your doctor, but I don't think this is completely unusual. Formula can be a little binding, so that may be an issue. As long as your daughter is not uncomfortable, she's probably fine. Good luck!

Hi, I wouldn't get too scared just yet if she's not fussing about it. Like someone else said it is normal for breastfed babies to go several days or even weeks without a bowel movement. It's probably the switch in formula that is holding her up. When you see her pushing for a bowel movement you can bend her legs and gently hold her knees close to her chest or move her legs like she's riding a bicycle. I used to do this with my daughter to help her push.
I would not give a six week old any kind of juice. Her system is too young to process anything other than breastmilk or formula. The best thing to give her to make her poop is as much breastmilk as you can. If she doesn't go in a few more days, give her Dr. a call. Good luck!

To get things moving you can put vaseline on a q-tip and gently put it in her rectum. Not too far, but far enough. Be prepared though. When we did this with my son, poop shot out. Sometimes they just need those muscles to be activated for them. Good luck!

It's probably the formula that is stopping her up. I would call my pediatrician to see if there is a formula that they recommend for this kind of situation. Good luck!

Hi K. have you tried laying the baby on her back,then hold both of her legs and push gently up and down towards her tummy for about two mins; then sideways in a apart together motion again for another two mins.Do this for a while,you can also try massaging the baby's tummy this should help.

Normal. Dont panic. Breast milk is that efficient in the body and every bit of it, at times, is needed and used and processed by the baby. The switch or addition of formula may be causing a bit of constipation but no concern if she isn;t acting too fussy. I suggest waiting another 3-4 days for a bowel movement. Rub your babies tummy gently after feeding. If she is passing gas that is a good sign that things are moving. Massage gently her abdoman and look at her reactions-if it looks like a specific spot hurts her consider taking her to the doctor to screen for an obstruction. If she has no discomfort with the tummy rubs and still has no bowel movement after 3-4 days you can try giving her 1/2 an once of pure gerber prune juice until she goes. It is common for formula babies to miss a few poops after one month post birth and then to have only one poop per day. If her poop is black, bloody, or extremely foul in odor contact your doctor.

When I switched my son from Lipil to soy, he had the same prob, so my pediatrician said that I could give him diluted baby juice (one part to one part) . 1 oz juice/1 oz water, etc...

This happened with my 7 week old. The doctor told me to put a little Karo syrup in the bottle and within 24hrs it worked.. I put about a teaspoon in. You can buy this at any grocery store in the baking aisle and it doesnt matter what kind you get. Hope this helps!

I wouldn't worry about it. My exclusively breastfed daughter went 9 days (!!) without a bowel movement. I was afraid to leave the house without a bucket for a while, and her farts stunk up our bedroom, but she was fine. You can try massaging her belly and lifting her knees up to her shoudlers to help her pass gas, but babies can go a long time without pooping, so don't worry about it. FYI, you can probably start gradually decreasing the amount you supplement your daughter so that you're back to exclusive breastfeeding if you want. I've nursed my son through 4 bouts of mastitis.

Our ped says that you can give them 2 oz of water mixed with 1 TBLS of karo syrup once a day.

you can try a lubricated themometer and insert into the rectum sometimes thats enough to get things moving. Some babies just dont have a BM as often but its fine as long as she is passing gas and her stomach is soft and non tender. Good Luck!

My son was sooooo constipated for the first 6-7 months of his life, I feel your pain! We used light Karo syrup in his bottle, worked like a charm! Only a couple teaspoons per bottle (1 tsp per 3 oz.) should do the trick. We did this once a day until it stopped working, then gradually increased it to every bottle. Now he's 9 months old and eating solids (he loves pears, thank God) takes care of it. Hope this helps!

Hi,

I had the same situation as you with breastfeeding and supplementing. My son had bm only once a week and the doctor said that was normal. I did try brown sugar as a substitute for corn syrup. 1/2 tsp per 4 oz either in the breastmilk, formula, or cooled boiled water. It worked. But I try not to give him anything unless he is straining and only gas is coming out. He is now 1 and he goes about every other day.

My daughter had the same problem when she was about the same age. I was also feeding her expressed breast milk and supplemented with Similac Advance, but she had a very rough time having a bowel movement. I switched her formula to Good Start and the problem has been solved. She goes regularly every day, sometimes even twice a day.

My doctor allowed me to use Dark Karo Syrup in my son's bottle when he was around that age and having constipation problems. The ratio the doctor gave was 1 oz Karo syrup mixed into 4 oz of formula. I did not need to refrigerate the syrup. It always worked well. Hope this helps.

Whenever my children were constipated my pediatrician recommended regular strength prune or apple juice. She told not me not to dilute and to just give them about 1-2 ounces. I usually did 1 oz of prune juice and it always did the trick but check with your doctor first!

No natural remedies that I know of. Our daughter was/is on Similac Advance and I think it's something to do with the soy. She was the exact same way, except we had to deal with a screaming baby who was obviously in pain from the bm. I would actually dip the pacifier in prune/apple juice about 5-10 times and let her suck of the tiny drops that were on it and voila, we would have poops that day. It's up to you if you want to try that route. Otherwise, do bicycles with her, move her legs around a bunch for her to help things along.

Good luck, and I feel your pain. It gets way better once they start eating foods, but that is many months away for you.

You can get castor oil or the baby suppository. I used it for all my children. You can find it at Walgreens or CVS.

I would call your doctor. The things you can do which our pediatrician recommended are giving her a glycerine suppository. You cut it in half and insert it rectally. If it won't stay in , holding it in for about 10 seconds will help too.(you only want to do this once after a couple of days without a bowel movement not all the time)The baby should have a bowel movement in 10 to 45 minutes.We also switched to Good Start formula(purple one ).It helps with constipation and colic. They had us try Karo syrup about a tablespoon in the bottle but I don't think it worked that well. Hope this helps:) I've been there!

Call your child's doctor right away. She probably needs a suppository. The pharmacy should have specific ones for infants. I used to cut them in half. My son used to get so constipated from formula. Good luck!

I'd talk to your doctor first..but maybe try a lactose free formula...both of my kids ended up on that. Unfortunately crummy tummies run in the family for us. My sons has gotten much better over the years (he's almost 6) and my daughter's is better than it was, but is proving to be much more sensitive and prone to constipation still (she just turned 2). My doctor also told me for my daughter that it's a brand new tummy that has to adapt. My daughter had trouble with sonstipation, even when she was exclusivley breast fed, but definatley had more trouble when we switched to formula. The Lactose free seemed to be the easiest on her system after the initial adjustment. And I 'd stay away from the soy...not only does it smell like alpo, it also made both of my kids projectile vomit. The price has come down significantly too, and there are far more store brands available now than whn my son was little. For him it was only major brands to the tune of $26 for a 25 oz can. Target, Meijer, and Wal Mart make a lactose free formula that I beleive is about 12 or 13 dollars for a 25 oz can. The nutririon is the same as the name brands, and I beleive meijer's actually has more protein.

My 7 month-old son was the same way for the first 5 months of his life. Doctor said to put a thermometer in his rectum, as if taking his temp, to stilmulate things down there and get things moving. The vasoline seemed to really lube things up. He would poop within the next day. That worked until he as about 4 months old. Doctor said to give him teaspon of Karo syrup with 4 oz of formula (or breast milk) in a bottle. That also worked well.

I am TOTALLY with Valeria S!!

My youngest daughter went 10-11 days one time.....exclusively breastfed. I will admit though, it does make you a little nervous. It is not necessarily 'common' but it isn't unusual either

Get a glycerine suppository. You may have to hold it in there for her while her body heat melts it a bit. Then massage her tummy (you can so this fairly firmly without hurting her) and push her knees back toward her shoulders as she pushes. My son had this problem too and I could tell he was miserable. The suppository took care of business.

Before giving any remedies, contact your pediatrician. She's only 6 weeks old and you don't want to introduce any juice or other foods her digestive system isn't ready for. It is totally normal for a breastfed baby (even if you have to supplement with a bottle) to go for several days without a bowel movement. There might not be anything wrong with your baby at all. Our baby took expressed breastmilk except for one bottle a day for four months, and he would sometimes go 6 days in between bowel movements. When he did, it was like a giant jar of Grey Poupon exploded in the diaper - thin and pasty which is normal. You only really need to be concerned if the bowel movements are hard and dry, and like little rabbit pellets.

My doctor told me it was normal, and that I should wait to see if she continued not going. She said if it lasted longer than a week to give her a suppository. Your little one may be to young so I would consult your ped.

You may be able to give her a little bit of Kayro Syrup, but I would contact your doctor first, for the okay, and the amount. Also, you may want to try to give her a little bit of plain water too. Again, please call your doctor first. I hope these ideas help.