Poop problems...

Emily has been having a hard time pooping for a week. She's been very consitpated. She is going but only about every other day and halfway between each bottle she's starting to push and grunt really hard and it makes her cry because mosto f the time she doesn't get anything out. The doctor said not to worry unless she goes two days, which she hasn't, but I worry because it seems to be causing her discomfort.

I've tried giving her an ounce or two of plain water but she won't take it, so I've been putting a tiny bit more water (like half ounce more per bottle) in her formula bottles to try to increase her water intake. However it's been a week and it doesn't seem to be helping at all. I don'tk now what else I can do for her.

She has also had a cold (went to the dr on monday for it) and so I've been taking her temp plenty, and also giving her warm baths every other night which sometimes helps her to go -- and doing plenty of bicycles with her legs, but nothing seems to help.

Any miracle tricks or good suggestions at least? i hate seeing her so uncomfortable.

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are you taking her temp rectally, that usually helped to free the trapped poop.

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Yep -- at least 1-2 times a day since she's had a cold as well.

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My Dr told me to use the Mylocin drops for poop problems

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We've actually been using them also because since she hasn't been pooping she's extra gassy --- I just don't know what to do.

Maybe we should change to a soy formula? She was on Enfamil w/ Lipil origionally had has poop problems, so we switched to GentleEase and she's been on that for about 2 months no problems -- but maybe we need to switch to soy?

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If you feel she is really uncomforatble I would. But, I would wait until her cold is gone to see if she is still having the problem afterwards.

Patrick was on soy formula it was the only thing I could give him he was VERY gassy

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How long should it take for her cold to be gone? She's been coughing pretty much since Christmas Day.

We took her to the dr on Monday and they said to give her Little Noses nasal decongestant drops as needed. We didn't even use them the first 2 days after going to the doc but started on wednesday beause she seemed to be coughing more. The doc said to only use them for 5 days because they can cause rebound decongestion so today is the last day.

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Ive given my kids prune juice with water. 1 oz to 3 oz water. It does help. Soy formula will make her more constipated, thats been my experience. Aw! My son never had it bad but my daughter did one time, OMG I want to cry remembering how helpless I felt.. Hope shes moving along soon.

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Can I give prune juice to a 3 month old though? She's so young I don't know what I can give her!

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We were giving our son prune juice even before 3 months due to consipation. At first we were told to give him just a tablespoon (we would do it with a dropper) not mixed with anything, and as he got older, he got prune juice with water. It's so sad to see them struggle like this, I hope it gets better for her.

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I have given my daughter prune juice too. I give her, per my doc, 2 oz of prunce juice with 4 ounces of formula. But just to warn you, if you do it this way, it looks like poop in a bottle

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What about glycerin suppositories? About a month ago we had the same problem with Alex... she hadn't gone in a few days and she seemed REALLY uncomfortable, to the point of screaming one day so the doc told us to go get some glycerin suppositories and use them as needed. SHe ended up going before we had to use them though...

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I don't know if this would have a similar effect as the glycerin supp. would have but a friend of the family told us to put a bit of karo syrup in her bottle but I'm afraid to try something like that.

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Be careful with Karo Syrup. It has been known to carry botulism spores (similar to Honey) and babies can get very sick from that.

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give her pear juice diluted with water

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Yea -- I definately think it sounded a little crazy when they suggested it. I hvae heard of prune juice before and we're trying everything else I know -- like extra water, taking her temp, warm baths and bicycles -- I just hope it gets better for her soon because she seems uncomfortable -- but I think before I'd try anything else I'd consult the DR and see what htey said. I'm a paranoid mom and call the dr all the time anyway.

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I second the diluted pear juice that was what my doctor told me to give Mikey whenever he neede a little "help".

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I was thinking about this last night & I was going to suggest you to call your Doctor. I would not give ANY juice without the ok. Does the formula you use have Iron? That could be the cause. Some babies don't need as much iron. Try that it's definitely safe.

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I have to agree that you shouldn't give her any kind of juice without the ok from your Ped first. My ped recommended 1 oz of pear juice diluted into his formula for constipation as early as 2 mos old. But again, I'd check with her ped first. I've actually never resorted to the pear juice yet.

Also, Jake is sick now too, has been since Tues of last week (I'm starting to get really worried) and is also very constipated because of the cold. Two things worked for him: I didn't feed him solids at all for one whole day (since he didn't seem to want them anyway) and 1 oz of warm water. Warming the water to the temp I usually do his bottle really helped him drink it and I think it actually helped his tummy. He pooped 5 times the day I gave him water!

Then he got constipated again after a day or two and I just gave him water again last night and he's already pooped twice today.

I wouldn't change her formula or dilute it (it dilutes the nutrition she needs) while she is sick.

Here's hoping both our babies feel better really really soon!

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BabyAvacado -- do you think it's bad to add the extra half ounce of water to her bottle even though she's still finishing the whole thing? So she's still getting the same amount of formula powder? I don't want to do something wrong but I thought this would be a good way to get the extra water into her.

She's still going about every other day. She went this morning. When she goes every other day (has been all week) she ends up going like 4 times the day she goes. I just feel like she's still very constipated though and I want her back to her regular schedule.

Can it just be beacuse she has a cold? You said your son did it also when he had a cold? I wish her cold would go away. She was coughing so much this morning. Maybe it's just time to make another appt for the pediatrician.

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You can give her 1 oz of prune juice with 1 oz of water

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Wait a sec - is she just not going everyday or is she passing hard formed stools? If her poops aren't hard and formed, she really isn't constipated, and there's nothing you need to do.

As far as the dilution of the formula, I can't say for sure. I know that I've read that you shouldn't dilute because it decreases the nutritional value, but I suppose if you're still giving her the same amount of powder, and she's drinking the whole thing, then it would the same.

Yes, I've read that having a cold can make them constipated. Jake still has a cold and it is making him constipated, he's never been before this. But 1oz of warm water definitely helped him.

If she's not having hard poops, then her BM schedule just changed. Jake went through a period where he only went every other day. And that may be normal for your baby.