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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suggest Treatment For Constipation

My daughter is 6 weeks old today. She has not had a bowel movement since Saturday (when she had two big ones). Before Saturday, she was having one normal sized bowel movement a day. She is still eating normally, and is not spitting up any more than normal or vomitting. She does not have a fever. My husband and I have tried the leg exercises, tummy massage, rectal stimulation, warm baths, and Karo syrup in her expressed breast milk (on the advice of the nurse at our pediatrician s office). Nothing seems to be working. She is breastfed, but does get 2-4 ounces of Enfamil Premium Lipil formula a day. She is passing very smelly gas, but not without a lot of grunting and straining. Should I be worried? Is there anything else I can do to help her go?
Mon, 13 Oct 2014
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Pediatrician,  's  Response
Thanks for posting on HealthCareMagic. For an infant of this age, passing stool 10 times a day is as normal as passing stool once in 10 days. In either case, you need not worry unless the stool is hard/constipated. If the child is eating well, there is nothing to worry. No need of the measures you are taking. Only in case of constipation, I would recommend use of glycerine suppository which will make the child pass stool.
Gas indicates bacterial overgrowth in intestines which occurs when there is undigested carbohydrate matter present and degraded by the bacteria. Formula feeds are hard to digest and probably responsible for this.
Breast milk is the best food for a baby. The production of breast milk is triggered by the suckling of the baby on the mother's breast. If the baby gets external feeds, the hunger of the baby comes down and the baby suckles less. So the breast milk production automatically comes down. I would insist you to keep this in consideration and to go for breast feeding as far as feasible. You can give expressed breast milk if required.
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Suggest Treatment For Constipation

Thanks for posting on HealthCareMagic. For an infant of this age, passing stool 10 times a day is as normal as passing stool once in 10 days. In either case, you need not worry unless the stool is hard/constipated. If the child is eating well, there is nothing to worry. No need of the measures you are taking. Only in case of constipation, I would recommend use of glycerine suppository which will make the child pass stool. Gas indicates bacterial overgrowth in intestines which occurs when there is undigested carbohydrate matter present and degraded by the bacteria. Formula feeds are hard to digest and probably responsible for this. Breast milk is the best food for a baby. The production of breast milk is triggered by the suckling of the baby on the mother s breast. If the baby gets external feeds, the hunger of the baby comes down and the baby suckles less. So the breast milk production automatically comes down. I would insist you to keep this in consideration and to go for breast feeding as far as feasible. You can give expressed breast milk if required.