Straining During Bowel Movement

by Mercy
(KENYA)

My 3.5 month baby strains a lot and makes fussy noise during his bowel movement.

For the first 2 months he used to strain, but have a soft poop and they were quite often, but that time he was only on breast milk.

When I went back to work, I had to introduce formula, which made things worse because he has at least one bowel movement in a day and at other times he goes after one or two days and is usually very uncomfortable and there can be periods of crying and screaming lasting for 10 minutes and I have to stand up and shake him calmly to calm him down, which he responds to quite well by sleeping for 20 minutes just to wake up to the discomfort again.

I want to understand what is happening to him and what I should do to assist his BM although he passes soft stools. Also he is usually very gassy as I hear grumbles from his little stomach. Please advice.

Find answers and comments to this question below.

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Baby Help Line Response:

Hi Mercy!

The fact that your baby didn't pass stools more than every other day or so when he was breastfed is completely normal and so is probably that he continues to have bowel movements less than once per day now, especially since his stools are still soft.

However, the crying certainly indicates that something can be wrong or at least quite uncomfortable.

Introducing formula is a very common cause of tummy issues for young babies. Most formulas contain milk sugar (lactose) and protein, which can cause gas, pain, diarrhea o constipation and are also a lot harder to digest than breast milk.

Have you tried switching the type of formula you give him? Some babies really benefit from just another brand, while others become a lot better from lactose free, milk free or hydrolysate formula. If you check the store, you will see so many different kinds that your head will spin.

But if you read the labels you will see that some are made on cow's milk, others on soy, some are lactose free or hydrolysate. The latter means that the milk protein has been broken down to very tiny pieces; enough for most sensitive tummies to handle.

Another thing to try is baby massage. Some babies really benefit from belly massage when carried out correctly. A warm bath can some times also help.

Since your baby isn't really constipated, I don't think you should experiment with fruit juices and similar, it can make his stomach even more upset.

While straining and belly pain is common and normal for young babies, it is of course completely right to try to help him as much as possible!

If you do think that your baby is constipated find symptoms as well as remedies here.


Hope this helps!

Paula

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