Expert: ruth kraft - 10/24/2010

Question
QUESTION: My 8 week old has been straining, grunting, goes red in the face and cries
while trying to poop. She doesn't end up going poop after this. Her tummy
is not hard, and when she does go poop it is the normal breastfed (only
breastfeeding her) orange/yellow seedy colour. Her stool is soft/liquidy -
never hard, dry or a different colour.

Her dr thinks it's constipation and didn't really look into it. She told me to
try giving her water, or water with apple/prun juice. I tried this but my little
one hates it and will not drink a lot.

She eats well and has enough wet diapers. So I'm not sure what is the
problem other than just her digestive system still trying to mature.

ANSWER: Hello! You are right on that it is her digestive system working at mastering it. For the first 6 weeks babies have colostrum in their breastmilk which is a laxative that helps them go easily and well all the time. Then about 6 weeks, it leaves the breastmilk and the poop gets thicker and they are much less frequent than in the first 6 weeks.  So what happens is the baby is learning that she can control her bowels and she isn't sure exactly why it is suddenly so much more difficult than it was before! Now she has to work! Hence the red face and fussiness. She is not constipated. No water needed, breastmilk is 80 percent water. Water and prune juice has no need for her, it will not help her learn to go on her own. She MUST learn this so that she will no longer poop while she is sleeping. You will notice that now, if not soon, that she no longer poops while sleeping. This is the first stages of potty training. Just like when she learns everything in life, sometimes at first is it hard and frustrating. We still have to learn. It won't take long... she will get it :) Keep trusting that ONLY breastmilk is all she needs. it sounds like she is doing PERFECT! You can also know that she may go up to 10 days without pooping and be perfectly fine! you can give her a belly massage if she is grumpy or bicycle her legs pressing into her lower abdomen to get things going sometimes.. if it seems to be bothering her.  All sounds right on target to me :)

I hope that helped!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks!  Just what I thought.  So I guess there really is no need for me to
also try a no-dairy diet (what the dr told me to do - and is REALLY hard)?  
Does it normally take until about 3 months for their system to mature or
longer than that?

Answer
Sometimes dairy can cause unexplained fussyness. Usually when a child has dairy issues they show up in the first couple weeks. Because you indicated that it only recently started like this it makes me think it is gut maturity issues. If it has been longer you can reduce dairy and see what happens as it can cause gassiness in some babies. The prune and water only works for formula babies who actually CAN get constipated because its not made for a babies system like breastmilk is.

It typically takes 8-12 weeks :) so... hopefully in a month, all will be well in your world :) that would be my bet. Listen to your intuition? does it say you should stop dairy? if not, then dont :) If so, then try it and see what happens :)