Expert: Mary Pat, R.N. - 11/7/2009

Question
I have a 6 month old girl, who has had issues w/ bowel movements since her 2nd week of life. We thought it was fixed after trying different formulas, until we started cereal and food. She is on alimentum formula. She wouldn't poop on her own and would go 4 days then get fussy, so we used a suppository. The warm baths, vaseline on qtip, water, and juices didn't work. We started her on oatmeal cereal, but that didn't matter. We stopped the cereal, but continued w/ stage 1 Gerber fruits and vegetables. Now she goes 4-5 days with out a bowel movements (I don't let it go more than that)and it starts out on the hard side then becomes very mushy. I've given her prunes and doesn't seem to matter. I want to know what is normal and what else can I try??? Thanks  

Answer
Dear Stacy:

Some babies establish a norm of only having bowel movements once or twice a week and this is okay unless the stool is large and hard and causes pain when passing it.  If you find you have to stimulate her to move her bowels more often than having her go on her own, then it is not normal and she should be evaluated by a pediatric gastroenterologist.

Mary Pat