Constipation on a Breasfeed 3 Months Old Baby

Sometimes when we breasfeed, what we eat effects the baby, beans for instance, so that may be the gas problem, but the other, maybe she needs more water, or a little corn syrup with some juice. A different brand of diapers may do the trick on the rash, and even cloth diapers.

I haven't read all of the responses but I just want to reinforce that this is normal. As long as her poops are not dry (looks like rabbit pellets), she is fine. My daughters (both breastfed) sometimes didn't have poops for up to five days. With the first one, I paniced. With the diaper rash. I agree with the woman who suggested more bare bottom time. Let some air get at it and dry it out down there. If it persists more than a couple of weeks go to the Dr. She probably has a yeast infection at that point. Lotrimin works for that. Just don't stop breastfeeding because of this. You're doing just fine.

It is pretty much impossible for a healthy breastfed baby to be constipated, since breastmilk is a natural laxative. It is also PERFECTLY NORMAL for a BF baby at her age to go A WEEK or more without pooping. Please don't give her juice or karo syrup or anything else! Just count your blessings and when the poop does come, be ready 'cause there will be a lot of it. Babies at this age pass a lot of gas, too - if she's not in great pain, it's probably normal and nothing to worry about.

Breast fed babies bodies use up nearly everything you feed them. It is very common for breast fed babies not to poop up 6 to 7 days. My children were all breast fed and my Doc informed me, it is quite normal. (now if the stools are hard, thta is another question). For the diaper rash you might want to try Medicated baby powder...(goldbond, make sure it is for diaper rash). Also, I use a paste called Butt paste, And it is excellent. You might want to consider that she may be allergic to the diapers/wipes. For the gas, get some gas drops, it will help with the pain that the gas gives. ( I needed them with my third daughter, and had nothing to do with constipation).

Good luck
T.

I am a mother and a mother-baby nurse. Here is my advice...It is normal for breastfed babies to go a couple of days without pooping. The breastmilk is absorbed better by their little systems so less waste is processed. I wouldn't worry unless your baby shows signs of problems like a distended tummy or acts like he is in pain. As for the diaper rash, try using a wet wash cloth for a couple of days when cleaning up after a diaper instead of wipes, then let the area air dry before re-diapering your infant. You should see improvement within the day. Also sometimes a very small amount of cornstarch on the red spots will help the area and helps keep moisture off their sensitive skin. Use is sparingly though. The air drying and regular wet wash cloths should really help the area. Also for the gas try Simethicone drops that you can buy over the counter, they work wonders for the extra gas. Make sure when breastfeeding that you get a good burp, swallowed air has to come out one way or the other. Congratulations. You will do just fine.

As her tummy gets bigger, she'll drink more at each feeding and her body will use more of what she's eating to keep up with her growing. She may or may not be constipated.

My breastfed baby was similar. At birth, he was a pooping machine, then as he got older, he had fewer BMs. His body absorbed more therefore he pooped less. He did get constipated severely when we introduced rice cereal and solids at 6mths old, and we just slowly syringed juice in his mouth since he wouldn't take a bottle.

My baby is still gassy so mylicon is still a good thing to have on hand. My baby just had a major diaper rash, and we used Dr Smiths ointment for it, and it worked well.

My 13 month old son had the same problem at around 2 months. We called the doctor and asked if there was anything we could do for him and she suggested taking his tempature rectally to stimulate some movement down there. I don't think we tried it but she did say most breastfed babies do get constipated after a couple of months of life. It didn't last very long but we did switch him to formula shortly after. As far as the rash goes, if you tried different rash creams and it still hasn't left, it may be a staph infection. I would call the doctor just in case.

Your baby probably isn't constipated. It is normal for breastfed babies to go days without a dirty diaper. Also, what you eat may be giving her gas. You can use those gas drops for infants to help. My 6 month old baby girl is the same way. Also, if she screams when you put regular rash ointment on, it may be a yeast infection. If she is really red, and has small bumps, I would call her doctor, you can get a prescription cream for her.

mylacon drops work well for the gas

My breastfed baby went through the same thing at the same age. I did some research, and learned that it is not abnormal for them to go several days between bm's. (My boy went about six days once without a bm!) I kept an eye on him, making sure he seemed otherwise healthy and happy, and I watched my diet, paying attention to how he reacted to different foods I ate. He came through it fine, and his pooping habits have changed again.

As far as the rash, try to give her hiney some diaper-free time for a few minutes at each diaper change. If your diaper rash ointment is not helping the rash, the ointment itself could be the problem. See if you can find some fragrance-free.

Hope that helps! :o)

I don't know about the constipation. but i am sure this is normal as the digestive tract matures, things are bound to change. if i were you i would try a topical yeast treatment. poor healing "diaper rash" is usually an undiagnosed yeast infection of the skin. you can try lotrimin, any type of vaginal yeast cream only use it topically only, or you can use athlete's foot powder. please no sprays to the little tushy. i would advise you to treat ASAP. it will get worse and it is horrible if you let it go to long. also check and make sure the baby has no thrush in the mouth, as that is a yeast infection of the mouth, and will need to be treated also. thrush looks like ulcers or white patches on the tongue, cheeks, or gums. you will know it. an OTC remedy is gentian violet from a drug store. or you will have to take her to the doctor for some prescription oral rinse.
good luck,
L.

Foods in your diet can make the baby gassy. My oldest son was very gassy and it was due to dairy. For my younger son, I was off dairy, but things like broccoli and cauliflower caused him problems if I ate them and fruits with pulp (like oranges and orange juice) or small seeds (like strawberries) also seemed to bother him. If your baby is exclusively breastfeed, it is not at all unusual to have very few bowel movements. My younger son went over 7 days one time and that isn't unusual. Breastmilk is the perfect food, thus there really is little waste at this age.

This isnt unusal for her to not have poop everyday.I used to use cornstarch for diaper rash or you can also go to Walmart they have rash treatment called Dr.Sheffield it really worked the best for my children.If you are worried about her not pooping you can always give her water with dark Karo syrup.These are old time things that work really well.There is also a leleach league that you can always call for helping questions on breastfeeding.

As long as your babies poops are not hard... then do not worry about it. I second what one of the other moms said. Breastmilk is the perfect food and can be completely digested. My sons both would poop about once a week when they got to this age. Thankfully my friend who is a doula and Lactation consultant told me this would happen at about this age so I did not panic the first time.. Just keep breastfeeding. Watch your baby carefully, and know that you are doing a wonderful job.

There is a powder you can put in the bottle that relieves constipation and is all natural. It is called baby life and I got it at the Fountain of Health store by Michael's. I used it when my son was potty training because he wouldn't go poop because he was constipated. One little scoop of the Baby Life and he was potty trained. It says it is also for babies and breastfeeding mothers. My other suggestion would be to use Aquaphor for his diaper rash. I is what my pediatrition gave us at our first visit and I have never used anything else. I use it on all of his scrapes and dry chapped cheeks and lips. I swear by it. Good luck and I hope this helps.

Both my kids had the same problem and were breastfed. They are 2 1/2 and 6 months. Our pediatrician told us that they can go 5 - 7 days without going! I couldn't wait because it seemed like they were hurting a bit at times. We tried water, apple juice, prune juice - never really liked it at such a young age. We ended up using glycerin suppositories - only 1/2 at a time. You get immediate results and a happy kid. Just use them in moderation so they don't depend on it. good luck.

My grandaughter had yeast infection on her private parts might check it diaper ointments aren't helping could be yeast and it will spead. Dr. can presribe liquid to put on it. or if it isn't very bad can try anti-fungal overcounter on it and will help if it hasn't gone too far.

Try mineral oil with alittle ice cream, try couple drops in he or her mouth..

this could potentially have something to do with what your diet is. consider taking some mega doses of acidophilus and make sure you are drinking lots of water. rash ointment i like is by weleda, a cream specifically for diaper rash. think of what you have been eating that might have affected the baby. spicy foods, fried foods can be a problem. she could be lactose intoleratnt, who knows, if you are willing to eliminate some foods from your diet, as in stay away from dairy for 3-4 days and see if anything changes, wheat is another big allergen, also make sure you are getting enough raw green fruits and vegetables to keep yourself and her clean and regualar. i hope this helps..

Her BMs don't sound strange unless she is having trouble passing them. The gas and rash are probably related to what you are eating. For a little bit at this age, my daughter was sensitive to spices in the food I ate- cinnamon, spicy things like jalapeno or chile.

If the rash gets really bad, a bum soak in lukewarm water with baking soda seemed to help a bunch. Then if you can let baby air dry some, too, it helps. (Make sure when you prepare the soak, that baby is not nearby to breath in any baking soda that becomes airborn. Not sure why this is bad, but baking soda is soda ash...)

Mylicon gas drops helped with the gas. I'm assuming your baby is only breastfed and that you haven't started any solids. If that is the case, you can try an elimination diet to figure out what is really causing the rash.

I don't what the current reference is, but I had used the Nursing Mothers Companion for help with issues like this and latching on at the beginning. (I really have to get out and make more friends this time when baby #2 comes. :) )

My daughter is 10 months old now, but at 3 months it wasn't unusual for her to go a few days without pooping. She also had frequent diaper rashes which we found was caused from certain kinds of diapers, ointment, and even diaper wipes. She has very sensitive skin in that area. The only diapers we've found that she can wear are huggies. Also, we discontinued diaper wipes for a while and just used soap and water on a wash rag which helped tremendously. Now that she is older we can use huggies natural care wipes. She has never been able to use diaper rash cream but try vaseline because that works well and put baby powder on her butt after every change. We haven't had a problem since we've started doing these things. Hope this helps!

It is common for a breastfed baby to wait a day or two before pooping. Just be a little concerned if she is waiting 5 or more days, especially if the gas increases. My baby did that, he would go 5-7 days. It turned out that he was illergic to my milk. I switched him to formula and it helped. That is my case though. If it isn't that bad yet I would just use mylicon drops for the gas and just keep track of the pooping.
As far as diaper rash, the Butt paste worked the best for us. We tried Balmex and Aveeno before that. hope this helps

M.,
My daughter went days, sometimes as much as 9 or 10 days without pooping. Her poops always seemed normal, runny, not hard or constipated. She also had lots of diaper rash that I treated as best I could.

In retrospect, I believe she had undiagnosed food intolerances since birth and she was reacting to my breasmilk. Breastmilk is the best food, but can still be a source of allergens. I finally had her stool tested at age 3 through www.enterolab.com and it showed gluten and casein intolerances. One half of the population suffers from either or both of these intolerances, usually undiagnosed. The stool test is SO easy for children and babies. You don't need a referring physician. Order the test online directly yourself, send the specimen back, and they email you the results. Soooo easy!! And, Sooooooo many health problems would clear up in the population if people were properly evaluated for food intolerances. And the cost of health care would plummet.

Good luck.

Congrats first time mom. As I'm sure you know,whatever you are eating the baby is pretty much eating the same. If you haven't been already, watch your diet. It may be the foods you are eating. Broccoli is a big No No. Try this web site especially for breastfeeding moms. This may help. good luck. http://www.llli.org/FAQ/bm.html

try dr smiths for the rash, its wonderful! its a little container and is pricy but lasts a long time

My nurse practioner told me to give my baby diluted apple juice. Just give 1oz w/ 1oz apple juice. It's all natural, so it wont hurt her. This helped my baby tremendously!

I can't tell you about breastfeeding infants but, I can help out with the rash. My mother is a nurse and my son, who is now 9 years old, had a rash so bad it hurt him to wear a diaper due to some antibiotics he was taken at the time for something else. Mom put together a "miracle cream" and it worked. I use it to this day on my grandchildren. It contains triple antibiotic cream, hydrocortizone cream and monistat cream; equal amounts. Don't be shy, lay it on thick. I applied it when I got off of work (every chance I got) and by the next morning the rash was close to gone. Good luck. Let me know if it works for you.

Congrats on the baby! I breastfeed my son and I read that it is also normal for breastfeed babies to go a week without a bm. As long as he isn't hurting and he is still having them I wouldn't worry about it. On the diaper rash, Triple Paste worked wonders for us! I love it and don't use anything else. It almost cleared up my son's diaper rash overnight! When my son got his worst diaper rash I was eating alot of dairy so maybe it has to do with that. Also, my baby was really gassy too but he never seemed to be hurting. He even had to be burped while he was nursing and I hear that is uncommon! Good luck!

we recently went through this as well. the nurse at the pedis office told me that with breastfed babies when they are going through a growth spurt they poop less because they are absorbing the nutrients. so if she is eating more as well this could be what's going on.
my pedi told me to give my baby 1/4 tsp dark karo in her bottle to help her poop. of course, you should check with your own pedi first as it seems there are varying opinions on this topic.
as for the diaper rash - Boudreaux's Butt Paste is excellent.

Hi M.,

My 2 month old went a day without having one and I asked our pediatrition about it. He said that at this age it isn't unusual for them to have one every 2 - 3 days. It worried me too, because I had been accustomed to changing many, many dirty diapers in the first 2 months! Congrats on your little one!

Both of my boys were breastfed and both wouldn't have bowel movements for 3 or 4 days. The doc. just told me as long as they weren't acting like they were really hurting, don't worry. With my first son, we did give him enemas (sp?) when he began to act like he was really hurting. I can't remember exactly how old he was but we used the children's and only gave him half. I would check w/ your doc. about that. My youngest, we just would wait till "poop day"! Giving that enema was no fun at all!

I've breastfed all of mine and never had one poop everyday. They are all just fine now and seemed fine then.
A little sunshine on the bum is one of the best cures for diaper rash. If that doesn't help check with your pedi.

Is it realy constipation? Do you see hard stool? I breastfed my daughter and freaked out when she wouldn't poop for 3 days...I called the doctor and they told me that a breastfed baby can go up to 5 days without pooping and it is still normal. crazy huh!!! for the rash try butt paste or even squirt a little breast milk on it.....sounds crazy but the lactation consultant told me to try it and it worked!!

I breast fed all 4 of my children and since I do not have time to read all of the responses I will tell you what worked for me. Please frgive me if you have had this reponse already. Instead of using the ointments (which hold in more liquids and increase the possibility of a rash) use powder. With every diaper change even when there is no redness. If you do thie on a routine basis you will rid yourself of all the rdeness. I t worked for me. Good luck.

Racquel G

Hello M.,

have you changed your diet? skip on milk products for a few days, ask the doctor/nurse if you can give prune juice to your baby. also, baby pears have as much fiber as prunes but don't give all the gas pain you can get w/ prune juice. so maybe adding some baby pear to her drink may help. babies should have multiple bowel movements per day. don't let it go more than 2 days because then it will be so painful.~C.~

My baby is 4 months old and at 3 months she went through th exact same thing. I found an article on the internet that said 8 days of no pooping is fine for breastfed babies. Between 4 to 6 days is okay for formula babies. My baby was 99% breastfed with maybe one formula bottle a day and so I decided not to worry about it unless she went longer than 6 days. She stayed at about every 5 days for 3 weeks and now in week 4, she is going every other day.

The whole time, the poop was liquidy though - not hard. I think if it gets hard, that is a problem.

Boy does that sound familiar! I couldn't belive how much I had to talk about poop when my girl was an infant. Basically, there will be drastic changes in frequency of poop throughout her development. Is she really constipated (hard poops), or just going less? If the stools and gas do not hurt her, I wouldn't worry too much. BTW, diaper rashes sometimes take FOREVER to heal up b/c of the constant cycle of wetness and/or no air on the bottom. The only real way to fix it is more nudey time! You might try putting her on an absorbant blanket with butt up in the air for a cat nap, or tummy time. Sometimes the ointment just seals in the wetness, so this is the only thing that really helped us. If it worsens, might try changing your diet:)

my daughter was also breastfed and expereinced the same thing, I even called my doctor's nurse about and now Lauren was a little older around 6-9 mos and they recommended a little of molasses and that helped, I mixed it in her baby food and after that there were explosions, so ask the doctor. with that rash I have found Butt Paste to be the best. these worries that come with this being your first (like me) will start to ease. Girl, I was calling the doctor with the slightest of things, but I eventually realized some of this stuff was normal.