If your baby strains to poop does that mean they are constipated? or is it based on how hard the poop is? or how frequent? I'm curious because sometimes my LO strains to poop and makes crying faces and poops huge poop but its not too hard and she poops everyday. is this some form of constipation?
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I wouldn't say this is constipation. Babies have to learn how to poop.
My son was constipated and he would go days to weeks between poops and they were very very brown. This is how I decided he was constipated. He rarely strained.
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@brownie: So is this straining normal? SOmetimes I think she is scared to poop and tries to hold it in, also sometimes I've wiped her butt and there was a tiny spot of blood. Did your son ever have this?
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@Mrsbells: Some more signs of constipation here:
http://www.hellobee.com/2012/12/04/the-ins-and-outs-of-poop-part-2-the-7-types-of-poop/This interview with Dr. Tom has a lot of good info in it too:
http://www.hellobee.com/childhood-constipation/ -
@mrbee: Oh awesome thanks, that poop chart is really helpful.
Based on that chart, she isnt constipted then, but just feels unhappy/ uncomfortable with solid poop
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@Mrsbells: That part about your LO being scared of pooping sent up a small red flag for me... she may be at risk of developing functional constipation, as described in the interview and here:
http://www.hellobee.com/2012/10/26/the-ins-and-outs-of-poop-part-1/That was Charlie's first symptom! Also sometimes he would have a little bit of blood too. That never happens any more, now that he's beaten constipation (for now!).
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Def straining isn't a good sign and usually does signal the onset of constipation. I always notice my LO straining then hard poop usually follows.
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@mrbee: thanks so much! I entered my email to get the pdf. Hopefully we can get this under control asap
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@Clementine: thanks.. How old is your LO?
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@Mrsbells: He's 11 mos and he was great until he was eating solids consistently around 8 mos. Ever since then, we give him prunes/pear puree daily (just couple of TBS during breakfast), he drinks sips of water or if it's really bad diluted pear or prune juice. He still sometimes strains, but his poop is regular and not hard.
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LO used to have those poops around the 6-7 month mark. You may have seen my numerous poop posts!
For me, constipation was: hard balls of poop where LO was in visible pain (scared, crying face), or if she went a day without poop (but was visibly trying to poop throughout the day). I know others say that their LO goes days without pooping, but mine is visibly uncomfortable when she doesn't poop daily.
Her poops are usually big and malleable, and any "balls/pellets" as per mr. bee's post is constipation in my book.
LO also had some blood when i wiped her bum during a constipation stretch. The ped said she had a bit of a 'roid. She recommended giving her restoralax (miralax) to "restart" her pooping, to get rid of any other poop that had built up in her system. Luckily, i've only had to give it to her twice (i gave her very little) and she hasn't had any problems since.
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@Clementine: Yes I've found that pears do help reduce the straining a bit. who knew poop could be such a stress issue.
@caffeinated: haha now that you mention it, I do remember your poop posts. glad you LO is better now!
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Good to see the age range is the same for everyone! I wish it was written out in the general child rearing books as a potential phase babies go through--so we wouldn't worry so much!
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DS would go weeks between bowel movements when he was younger. GI always said that up to 2 weeks between can be normal for a breastfed baby as long as stools appeared normal, but if going becomes painful and stools are hard then he is constipated. Also blood that sort of laid ontop of or wrapped around the stool but was not throughout was another sign (we saw both types between is allergies and constipation). Eventually bowel movements became very painful for DS and he would scream and hold on to me in pain. He needed to go on Miralax for about 18 months of his life to have more normal stools. He didn't go daily while on it, but more often and less painful.
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