[veggiegirl]

DD turned 2 weeks old yesterday. Everything has been going great - she eats great, sleeps great, etc. She only cried when she was hungry, not even when she needed a diaper change! Well....you knew that couldn't last! The last 2 days or so, she's been eating a lot and staying awake a lot longer than she used to after a feeding. Not a big deal except that she is fussy when she's awake. We've also noticed a huge decline in her bowel movements. She used to have one with pretty much every diaper change. The last few days, it's been ONE a day. The doctor said at least one a day is fine. She was so fussy last night, we even took her temp. (rectally) - no fever, but she didn't even poop after that! This morning, when I changed her, she finally had a movement, actually was in the process of one... It was like a blob of clay when it started. I called the ped's office and wasn't very happy with their response. They basically just wanted to get me off the phone. I asked if I should change formula and the nurse said, "Sure, if you want to. It's pretty much trial and error." When I asked how often a 2 week old SHOULD be going she said, "They're all different. Everything from every diaper change to once a week is normal." Seriously - once a week? I would DIE if I went once a week! I know babies are different, but sheesh!

She was on Enfamil, but the last 2 bottles I gave her were Good Start with Cultures. We had samples of both on hand so at least I didn't have to buy anything. She did have 1 soft movement after the last bottle (sorry so graphic!), but she's still fussy. Just won't sleep for more than 10 minutes! The poor thing is yawning so I know she's tired! Could this be an allergy/intollerance to formula? Colic?

[fisbaby]

We had a really hard time getting our little guy on the right formula but it makes me think it's not the formula if she was completely fine with it for the first two weeks of life. With him it was right after we left the hospital and we too were frustrated with our dr. b/c we switched once and that didn't do the trick and for weeks they told us not to change. Finally I told them I was so they needed to tell me what to go with. Well we did the soy milk ready made and that did the trick. The ready made is easier on their tummies than the poweder too from what I hear, it was definitely on our little guy's. Good luck!!

[Fran27]

Mine did great the first three weeks then started fussing a lot too. Lisa even started spitting a lot so she went on soy, and Chris on gentleease. It really helped, but you have to wait a week before seeing the effects. You can try Mylicon drops and gripe water too.

[mama_again]

Our pediatrician gave some great advice and it worked for us, he said 1-2 oz. of prune or apple juice daily if needed added to the bottle.. We were able to use a strained organic prune juice (as apple gives gas pains), 1 oz. per day or 2 oz. at max... we would add about 1/2 in the morning bottle and then a bit in the evening. This worked for most of the first few months. We did it on a regular basis and it was great, no probs now...

[aclee]

This is pretty much the rod we took with Ty. We were also told once a week was normal, and it is. I've cared for other infants that went very infrequently. It's all about the consistency when they do go that matters. Thicker than PB is what our DR always said. Once positive point to them not going much is that it means they are using every bit they can to grow...that's good

I really wish we had changed to a Good Start instead of going to Soy. Soy made him worse, and then he started with the reflux. I don't know that changing the formulas around caused anything, but he went through about 4 formula changes and now he's on the hypoallergenic formula because they couldn't really figure out what was going on.

Our Dr said the juice thing as well, but I wasn't OK with giving anything beside formula to a baby so young. They also ok'd a glycerin suppository, which we never used. We made sure he was still "thriving" as in still eating and growing etc, and didn't really worry about the rest. I remember the feeling though, when your life revolves around poop Ty's fussiness wasn't really constipation related, it was usually just gas, so mylecon helped too.

Good Luck

[SupaModel]

DS has always gone once a day but I have a friend who's DD is 2 weeks younger and she goes once a week.

[devildogwife]

Heart babies have lots of constipation problems, as their bodies are working so hard already. Cameron has been more constipated the past month than when he was a newborn. He gets milk of mag every day and after a week is finally regular every day. He often needs extra help and gets a glycerine suppository. He also gets oil in his formula which for a while, was enough at home. We also used pear juice at home too.

[inhiswill]

Hey Veggie- This may sound a little odd, but more than a couple people have told me that AA kids are more likely to have lactose issues. The first little boy we had was very similiar, fussy no poop, etc... When we returned him to his birthmom, she had told us that every one of her kids had that issue, and she always put all of them on Similac Sensitive (lactose free). Now with DD (who is full AA), came to us on SImilac Sensitive, she was 3 months. Her birthmom said she had horrible reflux issues and fussiness. We have not had any problems on the Sensitive. Some doc's recommend trying lacto free formula's first before the soy though.

And no doc ever comments on poop, the way we want the too, huh? I BF my bio kids and they pooped all the time. DD goes once or twice a day on the lacto free formula.

[Beth.]

Your story sounds just like ours. Our Peanut started on Enfamil; everything was fine for two weeks. At that time, she started with her constipation problems. We switched to Good Start; back to "normal" within two days. After another three weeks, the constipation returned. We messed around for a week with rectal stimulation (make sure to wear your goggles ... sorry, TMI!!), bicycling her legs, and water w/ corn syrup. Finally, our doc prescribed Miralax. Again, in two days everything was good again.

Well, guess what ... two weeks later she's constipated again. We switched to a soy on Saturday. We are in the middle of another wait and see.

Our doc said absolutely no juice until 3 months. He was okay with water at the 6 week mark (Mayo says no water until 2 months). He wants us to start cereal and veggies at 3 months; he just thinks she needs some fiber. He really doesn't care too much about what formula we use. He said to get off the Enfamil, but other than that, it's a guessing game. Every kiddo is so different.

Good Start is supposedly the easiest "regular" formula for babies to digest. And. bright green poo is supposedly the norm with the Good Start milk-based formulas (I freaked out the first time). I would definately stop using the Enfamil.

BTW -- We love our doc. Everytime I call (some weeks it's daily), his nurse gets back to me within an hour. While they keep assuring me that these problems are very normal, they still acknowledge my concerns and respect my intuition. They never make me feel bad. Maybe it's time to find a new doc.

Good luck. Hang in there. It's good to know my life isn't the only one revolving around poo.

[slugbug0930]

Sorry you are having problems

I feel your pain....we are now on our 3rd formula. We started off on regular Enfimil, then switched to lactose free. She got constipated with both of those. The regular upset her tummy badly. The doctor told us to give her a little bit of juice for the constipation and that did help. Then all of a sudden after 2 weeks the lactose free started to bother her tummy. We were advised to try the gas drops you can mix in with the formula. These work thankfully.

So now we are on Soy. She is doing much better and is much more regular. Still is a gassy baby and we still use the gas drops but she is much better now.

Each doctor seems to recommend something different. Our doctor said juice was fine but no water.

Best of luck to you

[OakShannon]

You know, I kind of agree that maybe you should consider finding a new doc if they regularly seem impatient when you call. Parenting a baby is stressful enough when they can't tell you what's wrong and you worry about every change. Daniel's pediatrician told us that he expected us to have a lot of questions and worries and never to hesitate to call. He said, "When you are standing by the phone wondering if it is important enough to call us, stop. Just pick up the phone." They have always been very reassuring.

Daniel has had periodic problems with constipation, too. Our doctor said to make sure that we weren't packing the formula in the scoops, which is easy to do and can lead to too much formula in the bottles, sometimes causing constipation. We were reluctant to use juice - we don't want him to get used to sweet things so early - so the Dr. said to use Milk of Magnesia instead. It just passes through the gut absorbing water, so you don't have to worry about giving it to babies. We start with 1/2 tsp and do it again if it doesn't work.

[powderpiggy]

Enfamil gave our DS constipation too. I think I read that it is the type of fats used in the enfamil. Most store brands use the same fats that enfamil does. The only ones that I could find that don't use those same fats (if I remember correctly it is palm oil) is similac, Nestle Good Start, and Kirkland Signature (costco store brand which DS pediatrician said was made by similac). DS still only pooped once per day (I was told this is normal for formula fed babies) but the poop is of a consistency that you would expect (soft and gooey).

Anyways, that has been our experience with formula. Lots of folks use Enfamil so I am sure it is not the same experience for everyone.

[sbaglio]

I have to say, the way I approach this is drastically different from the way I did before I became a parent. That being said, my patients still loved me, so I guess I must have been doing something right!

I've walked in your shoes. DD is 19 weeks old now and doing great, but we went through 3 formula changes, glycerin suppositories, prune juice, gripe water, Mylicon, mechanical maneuvers, and plain hoping on a prayer.

If I look back now, I truly believe that she would have been fine had we just kept to one formula and waited things out. I always advised my patients not to change formulas, as this can really cloud the picture. What did we do when our child was bloated and shrieking at 3 am? Run to CVS and buy a different formula. I chucked my own advice. Hey, you live and learn, right?

What I've learned (now not only from books, but also from experience) is this:

- Congenital lactase deficiency is EXTREMELY rare. Kids may become transiently lactase deficient with sloughing off of the villi of the intestine after acute gastroenteritis, but this is not often the case in an otherwise healthy 2 week old. The whole "lactose free" or "lactose reduced" thing in the formula world is largely just marketing.

- When you see an improvement, it's hard to tell whether it is due to true pathology (e.g. MSPI) or just your infant maturing. We were so busy trying things and changing formulas, that we kind of forgot that DD was growing and maturing, and that maybe the improvements we saw were just due to her, and not due to all the various interventions.

- Young infants cannot coordinate well the sensation to push stool out (contracting the abdominal muscles) with the sensation to allow the stool out (relaxing the pelvic floor muscles). It takes them many weeks to do this. Have you ever seen your infants struggle for hours, making you think he/she is constipated, only to finally see very soft stool come out? That's why.

- As aclee said, if the stool is not hard, and comes out soft, it is not likely constipation. See above.

- Stooling patterns can vary wildly. DD started off stooling with every feed (on Good Start), then went to every 3 days (on Isomil), and now poops daily (on Gentlease). And the colors are wild too. Again, if the stools are not hard, constipation is way down on my list.

- Gassiness is real. Babies' suck reflex is also immature for the first few weeks, and they swallow a lot of air in feeding, leading to bloating and discomfort. Start off with a bottle that reduces air (we used Dr. Brown's, which worked great), try Mylicon, burp after every few ounces of milk.

Just my own tips. Obviously, you should see your own doctor about your concerns.

[veggiegirl]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. We're still on the Good Start w/ Cultures and things seem to be better. She's pooping at least once a day - color is WAY different, but it seems to be a softer texture. She's still somewhat fussy though. I wonder if it's partly that she's "growing up" and wanting to stay awake longer??? She seems to always want to be held - thank God she usually likes to go in her swing and in the sling!

[JLW99]

I would agree with Sbaglio above; we had DD on the goodstart formula from birth and around 2 weeks old she had a change in stool consistency/frequency (<1xday and like green/yellow clay). In the interest of full disclosure, I am an RN and if this was anyone else's baby I wouldn't have batted an eye. It's different when she's your own! However, I didn't change formulas or do anything differently at the time. A few weeks later I did switch formulas to the Parents Choice Gentle formula (WalMart Brand) for reasons of cost, and I found this to be far superior to the Goodstart, at $12.00 less a can. The powder is like cake flour--very soft and fine and mixes in cold water, and since starting that, she has had not one issue with gas/tummy aches/hard or infrequent stools.
I have looked at the powdered enfamil and similac, and found them to be so gritty compared to the Parents Choice. Just make sure you get the "gentle" formula. Our DD also has reflux and feeding issues, but it is pretty obviously a mechanical reflux eased by thickened formula, positioning and zantac, so I didn't feel like it was necessary to switch formulas for that reason.
Good luck, I think everyone goes through this with their babies. I have yet to find someone with a new baby who has had smooth sailing with feedings/constipation/gas or reflux lately.
Soon it will be a distant memory