Colic/Constipation?????? Please help - Baby

raquel

18/04/2007 at 12:02

Please help me, my baby is a week old and for the last 2-3days he has screamed the house down. He goes bright red in the face as though he is trying to poo but can't. He draws his legs up to his tummy and although i can settle him its only for a short period of time before he starts again. i have tried cooled boiled water, i have tried diluted orange juice, brown sugar dissolved in warm water, infacol, massage, winding for ages. I just don't know what i can do. He seems to be having problems pooing and managed one last night after the orange juice in warm water but nothing since. I am struggling to breastfeed so am topping up with formula but i am at my wits end as i hate seeing him in so much pain.
Please can anyone offer any advice? Thank you.

Suzaie2

18/04/2007 at 13:09

Firstly, congratultions on you baby, what have you called him? I understand what you are going through. It sounds like you are doing everything right, the one other thingthat might help is Colief, that you can get from chemists etc. You add a few drops to formula and it makes it a bit easier to digest. Infacol needs to build up in you little ones system, so it might not be working yet, but that helps more with wind than constipation. My little man was like this, and I can tell you it gets much easier with time, he's five months now and we can't stop him going! Hope it's all OK for you, let us know how you get on.x

raquel

18/04/2007 at 13:31

Thank you so much for your response. My little man is called Thomas. I am hoping that the infacol starts working soon before i change to colief, i don't want to overload his poor little body. Thank you for the reassurance as i have been in tears today because i just can't seem to help him and can't make my mind up if it is colic or whether he is just constipated. The cooled boiled water made him wee more but sadly no poo, as mentioned the orange made him poo at about 10pm last night after him being in terrible pain and straining. It made me feel a bit better about my mothering skills but today we are back to square one - or so it seems. He has been very windy which i didn't mention before. Oh i don't know - just feeling very confused and tired. Thank you again for your response tho. x

Suzaie2

18/04/2007 at 14:27

Hi, Thomas is such a nice name, I wanted to call my little man that, but couldn't convince oh, so he's Jake, but Thomas is one of his middle names. Being in tears at this stage is totally normal as well. Like I said, it's sounds like you are doing everything right, and I understand about not wanting to overload them. Some people say that moving there legs in a cycling motion can help get the wind out, it didn't work for me, but it might for you! Is you midwife helping with the breast feeding? If you feel you need more help then the nct have a bf help line, as do la leche league, if you google them the numbers should come up. Stay in touch!x

raquel

18/04/2007 at 15:36

thank you again. Have managed to get thomas off to sleep and he has manged to stay asleep for 90mins now without waking with the pain he seems to still be straining but its not waking him as such so i am desperately hoping that something i am doing has helped. don't care which one it is just want the pain to stop for him. The problem with breastfeeding is that i think my nipples are too small for him to latch onto. am having to use nipple shields at mo but when it gets too painful i top up or give him the next feed as formula, midwife says its ok to do this but i did worry that maybe by doing this i had caused his uspet tummy? think i may have to give up breastfeeding but shall try to carry one for a few more days. am just managing to express but that too is painful but at least Thomas is getting some goodness. Thank you so much for responding i must sound so neurotic ha ha x

thirdtimemummy Platinum member

19/04/2007 at 07:22

I have had the same problem with my baby. I spoke to the health vistor about it and she said infacol will take about 1 week to start working and you need to use it before every feed. She also recommended trying gripe water mixed with less than one oz of warm water, this will bring up any wind straight away. The gripe water seemed to do the trick Madelyn has been in less discomfort and has slept for much longer since we tried using it. Madelyn was also struggling to poo especially at night but now she isn't struggling so much. I also felt very distressed as you feel like you can't do anything to stop the discomfort, the health vistor thought the distress was from trapped wind. I have found the best way to wind baby is by rubbing her lower tummy, just above her hip bone with a thumb and fore finger from the back, if the area feels hard then she has trapped wind.

Team_Blue_aka_doublebubble Platinum member

19/04/2007 at 14:08

Gripe water! Personally i think its brillant i give it mid way thru a feed and the colic is def going. good luck with it all tho xx

raquel

19/04/2007 at 15:58

thank you so much for all you responses. I took Thomas to the dr today and he said he isn't constipated and we have to just wait for nature and not to worry - he does have colic though! The infacol seems to be helping but we still get a 5min screaming fit but its alot better than when i first came on here begging for help, still seems to be having problems pooing but i shall take my dr's advice - i have been alot calmer today knowing all is ok although as mentioned by some it is so hard to see your baby in so much discomfort. I didn't think you could use gripe water until they were 1 month old???? Thomas is only 10days old and my goodness what a learning curve this is. Once again thank you all so much, this chat room has been a godsend for me in the last 24/48hrs. XXX

camlo

20/04/2007 at 03:40

Hope you had a better night. It all gets easier so try and hang on with the breast feeding if thats what you want to do, remember it's supply and demand though so if you top up you won't actually increase your supply. I found expressing hard to start with but now i wait until milk lets down and I find I hardly need suction then.;\)
My thomas also suffers trapped wind despite burping for britain so i'm going to try gripe water too... good luck

raquel

20/04/2007 at 11:12

UPDATE - yipee, Thomas had a poo today! never before in my life did i think i would be telling the world my my baby had had a bowel movement and nor did i think i would be so over the moon by it by sadly i am!!! He was in great discomfort doing it and cried his heart out but the end result was a poo. Had a bad night with him last night but my euphoric state now makes up for that. managed to breast feed for a longer period of time this morning but i had to use a nipple shield as he still isn't managing to latch on properly and still having pain doing so - however rome wasn't built in a day was it. Thanks again to those of you who have taken the time to post a response i really do appreciate it.

Suzaie2

20/04/2007 at 11:18

So pleased! Once you become a mum it's amazing what you get excited about!!! Try and get some rest too (if you can).
I know what you mean about this site being a god send, without this place I would have gone mad(der)!x

thirdtimemummy Platinum member

20/04/2007 at 12:29

I'm glad Thomas is getting better - it does get easier and their are good days as well as bad. I went to a baby cafe today and spoke to other Mum's that are brest feeding it was a real help as it made me realise that my baby was normal dispite her irregular feeding patterns and that other people also struggle with feeding. It's nice to know you aren't the only one!

Pround mummy Silver member

15/06/2012 at 09:22

Pround mummy Silver member

15/06/2012 at 09:30

My baby is having problems going poo I haand sugrve tried gripe water orange with bolid water and surged water nothing is working and its wording me she just seems to be weeing alot x

Your say

Terms and Conditions | Code of Conduct

Email me when a response is made?