7 Week Old In Pain Passing Soft Stools??

by Liana
(UK)

My son is 7 weeks old and is suddenly not pooping every day. Mainly breastfed, except one bottle of formula each evening.

He is now going up to 3 days without passing a stool, becoming increasing irritated and seemingly in pain from the 2nd day - with real smelly gas.

When he does poo it is his usual soft yellowish poop. So I presume he isn't constipated?

What's going on? He is being more sicky in the evening since he stopped going for a poop each day?

Baby Help Line:

7 Weeks Old And Not Pooping - Constipated?

Being 7 weeks old and breastfed, it is quite normal both to not have bowel movements every day, to pass lots of wind and to strain and be somewhat uncomfortable wihle trying to poop. At around 2 months old, a baby's digestive system has matured and most breastfed babies go from several bowel movements per day to much less frequent pooping - even several days in between the bowel movements.

Since the stools are soft, the baby is not constipated. (You can learn about signs of constipation here.)

What you could do (if possible), is to take away the formula for a while, since that could be causing some extra pain and straining for him. Babies are much more prone to tummy issues on formula than on breast milk.

Baby massage is also an excellent way to help babies suffering from pain trying to poop.

Also remember that at around 6 weeks, a baby's crying spells are peaking, unless the baby is suffering from infant colic. So being cranky in the evening and crying without you being to figure out why is very common at this age. Exhausting for sure! Have a look at these different ways to soothe a baby, and see if any of the techniques may be of help.

If your baby appears to be in severe pain, talk to his health nurse, to rule out any illness or for example milk protein allergy or lactose intolerance.

I hope this helps,

Paula

More Infants With Painful Bowel Movements

Baby Cries In Pain Even When Loose Stools

4 Week Baby In Pain With Liquid Yellow Stools

Baby Screams With Every Bowel Movement

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7 Week Old In Pain Passing Soft Stools??

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Jun 05, 2010

4 month old trouble passing soft stool
by: Kristin

My son is four months old and seems to not be able to pass a soft stool. He'll go like two days without pooping which is normal for him but then he screams and cries to the point where I have had to use a suppository to make him go. But he isn't constipated because his stool is loose and never hard or dry...why would this be?? He only goes when we use karo syrup twice a day in his bottle...it just doesn't make sense to me. He has been on formula since birth and is just recently having this problem...It's very concerning

Jul 07, 2010

Cow's milk protein
by: Anonymous

Quite often babies get tummy aches when breastfed from what you are eating....most common is dairy. There is a protein in cows milk that a lot of people are intolerant too.....This protein is used in the manufacture of some formulas. Look into that.
I also would ditch the formula at a night feed... any particular reason you are supplementing?

Jul 19, 2010

7 weeks old baby - yellow/green slimy poop
by: imil25

My son is 7 weeks old and he is bottle fed, up to 2 weeks ago he had no problem with his stool or passing gases. Then he had diarrhea for few days and ped. gave him lactose free formula for 3 days and told me to go back to his usual formula after. The diarrhea stopped but my son now has yellow sometimes green slimy poop from 5-8 times a day. Before diarrhea he was pooping 2-4 times a day. Now he also has problem with trapped gases and he cries from pain until he manages to pass some gas. But I am concerned about slimy poop as I read that it can be do to virus or infection. Any help please?

Sep 01, 2011

Being pain when passing stool
by: Anonymous

My baby is 7 weeks old. Since a week ago she has had lots of pain while passing stool. She won't pass her stool for almost 36-40 hours and she is irritated all the time. Once the stool passes she is not fussy for a few hours (2-4hours) and again it all starts. She makes her tommy hard and after 30 hours of pain, there will be explosion and the stool passes with great pressure. Please help me out.

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