My exclusively breastfed 4.5 month old baby has not pooped in over 2 weeks. What can I do to help him?

feel his stomach. is it hard? does he have a temp? is he ever straining like he has to go? if so, I'd go to the emergency room. if not, and if he doesn't seem like he's straining, I'd say it's normal. breast milk is different than formula in that after a few months, babies get really good at using all the nutrients from it, so there's not as much waste. it's normal for babies to go 10 days without a poop, but that's a guideline. I'm sure it's normal to go longer, just like it's normal for them to go every day. is he peeing normally? like 6-ish wet diapers a day? if so then I'd take a gander to say he's fine. is there a hospital you can call to ask? or maybe call the la leche league chapter in your area?

http://www.lllusa.org/helpline.php

good luck!

eta: with your edit, he sounds like he's doing fine. he'd let you know if he was in pain. just get ready for one big poop! :)

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My exclusively breastfed 4.5 month old baby has not pooped in over 2 weeks. What can I do to help him?

I have tried rubbing his tummy and giving him extra water, taking him outside and moving him around more to get things moving but it has been 2 weeks now. What is safe for babies this age? He is not crying all the time or anything, although he's also not been as easy as he was his first 3.5-4...

My baby (breastfed as well) had the same thing happen to her around a month old. her farts started stinking more too hehe. She has had a formula bottle once in her life and TRUST ME, that breastmilk poop is NOTHING compared to how bad formula poop stinks!!! And all babies are gassy as well, if your baby seems in pain or anything try some mylicon drops, they help almost right away with my baby. You can also try moving baby's legs in a slow bicycle motion, it helps them to pass the gas. And make sure he's burped well! Smears of stool- normal too. For the congestion- try using some saline drops. We use Little Noses brand, just drop a few in there, wait a sec then suck the snotty stuff out with a bulb syringe. You can also try putting a humidifier in baby's room. Hope I helped! Good luck!

It's normal for breastfed babies to go a while without pooping. I was told as long as the poops are soft and not hard it's okay. Is the tummy soft? It should be fine if it is. You are going to get a blowout pretty soon. Why not call the nurse help line number for your insurance and see if maybe he is old enough for prune juice? I'm not sure how old they have to be.

Wow that's crazy... is the health thing that bad up there? I'm sorry to hear that. well my mom who breastfed all 6 of us said that my sister had gone that long without having a bowel movement either.. her doctor said it was fine and just gave her some tips.. have you tried laying him on stomach and massaging his lower back? increasing your fluid intake? before you try giving him anything that isn't food (Like prune juice or anything... that could mess up his stomach even more because it cant digest stuff like that yet) try taking prune juice yourself, it can go through your milk... he should be fine, but you should keep trying to go to the doctor. is there anyone who can watch your other two until you get back? my sister who had that when she was a baby was fine, but still to this day she has digestion problems, but says its probably not from not going but that she was just born with that type of digestive system... Good Luck, hope things get better

My 4.5 month old hasn't pooped in about a week. This is normal. As the babies digestive system matures, breastmilk is completely absorbed with no solid waste. As long as your baby is peeing plenty and doesn't seem uncomfortable don't worry.

some people on here have no idea what having a baby is really like!

my daughter just went 10 days with no poop. she's formula fed. i didn't worry because she didn't seem to be bothered by it.

my son, however, when he was a baby (i can't remember how old, but he was less than 6 months old) he was constipated for about the same amount of time and was CLEARLY suffering because of it. i took him into the doctor and they said to:

first, give him white grape or pear juice- no more than 4 oz in a day (which i had already tried. i even tried the karo syrup "trick" my mom told me about, neither worked and the doctor said the karo syrup was bad for him).

second, give him the infant milk-of-magnesia. i got some at target. now, i can't remember the dose, you'll have to do some research on that yourself. but it wasn't much - like 1/4 or 1/2 tsp. and it still took 3 days for him to poop.

and lord when it came... it didn't stop for a while, have the diapers and wipes handy! and, milk of magnesia makes their poop dark colored (it did his anyway).

good luck to you and your baby!!!

having two children doesn't mean you shouldn't have a doctor for them. What if they get severely sick, what'll you do then. I'm sorry, im no judge here but this is serious irresponsible behavior on your part. As to answer your question, my one week old was constipated for a day and the doctor said that I can put a half of an infant suppository to help him poop. It worked like a charm, the thing barely went in and he pooped almost in 3 secs. I cant imagine how he's gone this far without a bowel movement!

Dont just follow my advice, you should still ask a doctor if its okay to give your child one.

4 Month Old Baby Not Pooping

Breast fed babies do not get actually constipated, i would still call a doctor though and get advice about what to do to help him go. When he goes it will be massive, although it is normal for a breast fed baby to go LONG periods of time without bowel movements. I believe 2 weeks might be a little too long. Call and run it by a doctor and tell them he is exclusively breast fed.

Breast fed babies can go up to ten days without a bowel movement and it's fine!

This site states 3 weeks in a breast fed baby-

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/bab...

Two weeks-

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/04...

This explains the difference between infrequent vs. constipated bowel movements-

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/387567/th...