6 Weeks Old Needs an Enema, Really?

My son had the same problem. For about the first 6 months of his life we always had the Pedia-Lax Liquid Glycerin Suppositories. They work faster (like almost instantly) than a regular suppository because they don't have to dissolve. They come in a bulb like syringe they are a ton easier then tiring to use a suppository. I never gave him the entire syringe full but a little went a long way. It worked in minutes and he was a much happier baby because of them. I would recommend them over hard suppositories. Plus my son seemed to not be in as much discomfort with the liquid ones. Hope this helps.

I would try glycerine suppositories first. You can buy them for babies at any pharmacy. They work really well and are far less traumatizing.
Insert one and hold her little cheeks together because as they warm up, they will tend to shoot out. So just hold her cheeks together for a few minutes for it to melt and absorb. Rub her little tummy. Move her legs up and down. Put a diaper on her and lay her over your lap so her hiney is lower and gravity can help her out. After she goes, if she is still really backed up, wait about an hour and do it again.
My little baby got very constipated and her pediatrician told me to do this and it worked wonderfully. I only had to do it a few times until her system got used to the changing from breast milk to formula.

I would definitely try this before the enema thing. If she truly needs an enema, that's what you'll have to do, but in my case, the suppositories alleviated a need for any of that. Thank goodness.

Get suppositories now and try them right away.
They worked so well with my daughter, they were one of the first things I purchased after my son was born, just in case.

Best wishes to you and let us know how she's doing.

I would be worried about my baby being stopped up for that long, especially if she was obviously distressed. I've been seriously constipated, and it can be painful. If an enema or a suppository would do the trick, and a doctor said that was the thing to do, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Hi H.! Call your doctor back and ask if you can give her a glycerine suppository. I needed to do this when my daughter was 6 weeks old. My peds. office suggested using 1/3 of a child's suppository.
I would worry that an enema would dehydrate such a tiny body. Call the doctor's office again and ask.

CONGRATULATIONS on your baby girl!!

The formula may be binding her up. Going this long without a bowel movement is not good.

Maple (real) or Karo syrup in a bottle mixed with breast milk is a natural remedy.

Taking her temperature rectally usually works as well.

The other thing I have done is got in a warm bath with my son and relaxed with him - this helped usually within 30 minutes after the warm bath. Now that he's older and has problems occasionally - I let him play in a warm bubble bath for as long as he can and then he usually goes.

The other thing to remember - if you are stressing, she will pick up on that as well.

The raw egg smell is usually formula as breast milk USUALLY doesn't make a smelly diaper.

i would just go buy the glycerin suppositories or they even have a liquid enema for babies. We had to use that once with my youngest when she was little.

hanna, At the pharmacy they have childrens suppository that is liquid. I used to get them for my son who was breast fed with a little bit of formula supplemented. we only used a little bit of the suppository not the whole thing as he was so small. but it worked within minutes. i would do that before going to the er. good luck
ps: also a little bit of clear karo corn syrup in the bottle will help when you give the formula keeps them from getting bound up

Glad to hear that the suppository worked so well! Have you considered a chiropractor? We have had a great experience using one for everything from migraines to bedwetting. They are also very helpful with kids being consipated. Basically our nerves sit inbetween the vertibrea of our spine. If our spine is at out of wack (like from childbirth), it sort of clogs the message system to our brains. So it is possible that your little girls spine has put a kinck in the nerve that would signal the brain to poo. Good luck! It is such a guessing game when they are so little.

Have you tried just giving her a little diluted juice? I would try this before an enema. I used to give my son starting @ 3wks some Gerber apple/prune juice just about one ounce or two everyday because he would only go once a week. He was BF, and this helped him go once a day or every other day. Once he started baby food at 6 months he no longer had any problems going.

I would find a local La Leche League or a lactation consultant.... I am a little fuzzy about the details but I think that it is ok for little ones to go wtihout a bowel movement when they are exclusively breastfed. I believe my sister (a LLL leader for 19 years) told me it was two or three weeks, and for the gas I would just do the bicycle moves on my daughter it really helped get it moving.

They have baby suppositorys. Little tiny glycerin things. They are way more gental than an enema. Try putting baby in a warm water tub and massaging tummy gently in a circular and downward motion to help things along. After you take baby out she should be a little more relaxed and let you put the suppository in. Leave it in the recommended time and do another warm bath. If this doesn't work - go to the ER. They may or may not take that kind of action. But, it's important to go and have a dr take a look. You also need to try and get more water in baby and watch what you eat. The foods you eat could be constipating baby girl.

My son, over Christmas, didn't go for almost 3 weeks. He was exclusively breastfed. We tried EVERYTHING--and called three different doctor's offices in three different states, while we traveled! He also had smelly farts. We tried about 10 oz of juice (like 1 1/2 oz at a time, over the course of the day) and he finally pooped, at three weeks, but that may have been the timing--10 oz is a LOT of juice for a 12 week old! Anyway--he had constipation issues until we started him on solid foods. My doc, and everyone else, reassured me that a) breastfed babies don't get constipated and b) it's normal for babies to go even a week or two without a bm...BUT...my baby got cranky and irritable, and had AWFUL gas when he got to about 5 days without a bm, so it made US miserable too. My doc, at 4 or so months, suggested we start him on rice. I was hesitant; I didn't want to go that route for a while yet, but she thought it might bulk up his bm's, and it did. To this day, my son has very soft bm's, partially because he's a fruit eater and partially because that's just how he was made.

If you had her on breastmilk exclusively since the 8th, that's just been a week, and sometimes at that age, they don't have a bowel movement until a week at a time. I would be really concerned about flushing your young babies bowels with an enema..

Like the other moms said, glycerine suppositories are far more gentle and cost a heck of a lot less.

Moving the legs gently is also good. Please do not rub her tummy, though, unless you know how to do it. Rubbing a tummy the wrong way can cause gas to go in the wrong direction (i.e. up the intestine, not down) and feces as well which results in constipation.

I hope it works!

My experience was not so much that the poop was hard but that the sphincter on my dtr was tight. She had no probs pooping for the first month but then would go 5 days and get really uncomfy. We eventually (probably 2monthish as well) bought OTC "glycerin suppositories" (in truth they say for 2yrs and older but we used part of one on our infant). The "supp" was lubricated, she didn't mind it and she pooped within an hour. We have NOT HAD TO DO ANOTHER! The way I think about it is that her lil bum got stretched just enough for her to be able to push things out- gas/poop whatever!

Try to lay her down and take her diaper/ pull up off put underneath her and go up her rectum manually w / a glove and Vaseline and use your finger and tell her to push lightly for you to pull out her stinkies that she can't pass on her own.!