Mom’s Question:
My 9-month-old son screams with every bowel movement. He has been doing this for months and Dr. doesn’t seem to know what is wrong.
He screams in pain every bowel movement, soft or hard. Every time; sometimes twice a day. I need help finding out what is wrong.
Baby Help Line:
Baby In Pain When Pooping
Poor boy, this must be so hard for both him and you.
Has he ever been constipated? I know babies can sometimes develop a fear for having bowel movements due to it being hard and painful in the past. If that could be the case, and if you have started with solid foods, then maybe giving him foods that really prevent hard stools for a while could help him learn that passing stools is not dangerous.
You might even want to give him infant glycerin suppositories during a week or so to really make sure that passing stools does not hurt. However, do not use the suppositories too frequently or for prolonged periods of time, so the baby’s bowel movements do not become dependent on them.
It is really hard to know what is causing his discomfort and my top advice to you is to get a second opinion from another pediatrician. It might also be a good idea to ask your doctor to refer your baby to a pediatric gastroenterologist.
Does your baby show any signs of illness, such as poor appetite and weight gain? He is not having any diaper rash that could cause him pain?
Also, does your baby have any blood in his stool? If so, what are the appearance and the amount of blood you see? The pain might be caused by a fissure of the anal sphincter, caused by hard stools, which is now irritated with every bowel movement. Small amounts of red blood in the stool are common for this condition and a rectal exam is used for diagnosis. However, blood may also appear in the stool due to other intestinal pathologies, such as diverticulosis or allergic reaction.
Allergic reaction to some of the new foods that were introduced to him since starting with baby food might also be the reason for his pain. Allergy causes swelling of intestinal mucosa making the passage of the stool painful. Think back about foods that he might be allergic to and try to remove those from his diet to see if this helps.
Are there any variations at all in his reactions to pooping depending on what he has eaten, or if the stools are soft or hard, etc? Some babies get tummy pain from lactose intolerance or milk protein allergy, for example. (Read about the signs of lactose intolerance and milk allergy here.)
Try gathering as much information as possible about your son’s situation and take him to a new doctor and make sure it is a pediatrician. I would also advise you to video record your son while pooping. Many babies cry a bit when pooping, so it could be that a Doctor really needs to see what is going on to understand the severity of it.
I really wish you good luck! And please let me know how things work out for you.
Paula
(Answer approved by our Medical Reference Team)
More Babies In Pain When Pooping
Find comments to this question below.
My daughter is 13 months and have been crying when she poops since she was 1 month. They changed her to Elecare formula because she was allergic to my breast milk. I’ve been telling doctors her PCP, GI, any doctor that she goes to about it and they all said it’s ok and that it’s normal. (Which is not) so this past Saturday I put my daughter into the tub and she started screaming because she was having a bowel movement so I felt and looked at her butt and reddish pinkish skin was out of her butt so my first thought was hemorrhoids so I called the doctor today and we met. So they want to be concern and say that it was a rectal prolapse from pushing so hard. Then they ordered an X-ray of her stomach. And they put her on miralax (to help the painful pooping) but all of this could have been resolved if they would’ve listened and ran test when I first said something about her painful bowl movements.
im so glad im not alone with this problem! for months now my 5 month old daughter has been straining so hard and loud she ends up coughing and im afraid the straining will cause her some damage. At first she was straining but not constipated but recently her stools have become firm and only passing small amounts. iv tired lactulose which isn’t working and her straining is getting worse. ( literally every few minutes ALL day) I have been to the doctors 6 times with this and she doesn’t believe me and questioning my coping!!
I give my 3 yr old two teaspoons of flax seed oil organic a day and it’s helped her hopefully it will help anyone else out there