For those who already have kids..need some opinions

Ok, so asI said in one of my other posts I'm having milk supply issues so I've been giving Lily formula along with whatever breastmilk I can get.  For the first 3 days she pooped like a champ...several times a day. But for the past 3 days she has not had a single poopy diaper.  The first day of no poop was the day BEFORE I started the formula.  She also had no finished passing the meconium because her last one was still black and tar-like.  

I took her to the ped for a weight check today (they said in 2 weeks but i wanted her checked now).  I ended up seeing the one doc I really don't like but he was my only choice.  He said to give her til saturday and if she doesn't poop by then to either do a glycerin suppository or give her an ounce of juice a couple of times that day and see if it helps.  I don't agree with either of those.  First of all the suppositories are bigger than her poor little poop hole and I just wouldn't feel right doing that.  I also don't think a baby this young, especially one still adjusting to formula AND breastmilk needs to have juice introduced.  

So my question is...what other tips/tricks have you had to use to get your baby to go #2?  I plan on trying the "take-a-rectal-temp" trick if I can find my rectal thermometer.  I've used the Dark Karo syrup mixed in a bottle but again I think she's too little for that.  

BTW, when she left the hospital saturday she was 6 lbs 15 oz (7 lbs 2 oz when she was born).  Of course the hospital nursery always weighs them naked. Today at her appt she was wearing a clean diaper and a lightweight sleeper and was  7 lbs 5 oz.  So she's doing ok in the weight dept.  At this point though when she does finally poop she'll probably lose those 5 oz LOL.  

[smjmekg]

LOL. Poor baby! Not 100% sure on it, but I'm gonna guess it's the BFing and formula that's doing it to her. Elijah had the same problems.

I did the thermometer trick, and used some vaseline too...seemed to do the trick, Elijah, poor baby. He was just SO constipated. He'd grunt and grunt, and turn almost purple, then he'd just cry and try again and again...I remember one time (sorry tmi) after using the vaseline/thermometer he went it was like five inches long and almost rock hard! I couldn't believe it!

My grandma recommended trying a little bit of sugar mixed in water, obviously you have to be careful since the water is so thin, BUT I'd do about 1 oz with maybe half a teaspoon of sugar with Elijah...it seemed to help. I eventually switched him to soy at 9 weeks because he was spitting up a lot too, and it all went away for the most part.

The peds told me he could go up to four days without going, I felt SO bad for him, if it was two days in a row I'd give him a little sugar water and within an hour or two he'd go. The thermometer I only used when he was straining really hard.

[smjmekg]

BTW, not LOL at her not going, just remembering how at first (before I realized Elijah was having problems) that it was so funny when Elijah was trying to go poop...his little grunt sound!!

[julianovak]

Its never good to mix formula and breastmilk.... DO either one or the other, i know its not good to hear this. But MANY babies cant do both at once. Its like giving them two very different formulas.... Hence the reason ppl dont switch between formulas. Im sorry about your supply issues, ive had a similar problem as well, just stick to formula so poor baby can poop.... Its painful for little babies, esp. newborns.

[Ashelen]

yeah Kahlan had serious digestive issues going back and forth between breastmilk and formula...she was a much happier camper when I had to surrender on the breastfeeding and supplementing and we switched to exclusive formula...Grey on the other hand was able to switch back and forth without ANY problem..he barely even spit up.

I've heard that one small watered down dose of apple juice is safe to do just to get things rolling for a newborn....I just waited it out when Grey became constipated about 2wks after birth (he was exclusively breastfed at that point, but he apparently reacted to something I ate...oddly enough I think it was the sour cream in the homemade stroganoff, lol)...he cried so hard for about 5 hours one day, took a HUGE poop (filled one diaper and then proceeded to fill another that I had slipped under him) and then he was all better.....but if she's in a lot of pain and it's just not getting any better I would say a small thing of juice wouldn't hurt her..better that than agonizing pain.

Julia's right though...you can always switch to formula for a few days and ONLY pump until her system gets back...and hopefully by then your milk supply will be up enough to switch back to the breast. assuming she doesn't get nipple confusion, that is, neither of my kids did tho.

[mom2ariana]

i was going to say try taking her temperature, i have tried that one several times with ariana and its worked. however i have used apple juice for her and it has always done the trick..its never failed and she is perfectly okay. i'd suggest calling up the other doctor that you trust and asking him / her if apple juice is okay.

[5n1]

hey my baby 6 weeks old was having trouble pooping they said use a q tip and put pressure down there near her hinny or use a glycerin suppository...they also prescribed me lactulose(sp) I have been using the supp. once every week or so and it does the trick in like five minutes

[LACh1]

hey, I would say it is just her little body adjusting to the formula and BM.  My little man was only BF and he would only do a poo every 10 days - yes this used to freak me out but then i was told it is normal as the BM is such a perfect food for them there is virtually no waste.   They also said that as long as when it does come out it is soft and not hard and like pellets than there is no issue.  I do seem to remember that this didn't really start till he was a bit older than your Lily though, maybe 4-6 weeks.  Anyway my other little girl was only BF for a few weeks and then went on formula and she went through a period of a few weeks where she got a bit glued up with the change -i used a bit of boiled water 20ml and this seemed to help as well as infant tummy massage and warm baths to help everything relax - pushing their legs up and back also helps.  I have also heard you can wash your hands well and with a bit of vaso rub around and slightly in there poo hole with your pinki to get the rectom muscle working. Hope this helps a bit.

[BTS1022]

What about Karo syrup? I know Lily's little body is trying to adjust to both breast milk and formula, but it beats the glycerin poop poppers, and the juice.

[JoyRenee]

Another alternative to Karo syrup is Molasses. We used a teaspoon of Molasses in my two older girls' bottles when they were stopped up and it worked like a charm! Plus the taste is pleasant. They say not to give them Karo or Molasses but when I researched it I found that the chances of anything happening is like way less than 1/2%. Just do that when she hasn't pooed in the past couple of days and not as an everyday kind of thing.

Also I highly recommend Milk Maid tea at earthmamaangelbaby (if you put that in the URL and then add the com at the end it should take you to the site).

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Thanks Ladies.  I've been doing the leg thing..pushing up and in gently, plus massaging the left side of her tummy and tried the thermometer trick. So far all i've gotten is a really stinky fart LOL.  She starts grunting like she's pooping and you can see her pushing out like she's trying to but nothign comes out.  I'm gonna try the Karo syrup tomorrow.  I've used it with my other kids but never this young so I'll only put a dab in and see.  I'm also gonna check and see if walmart has the child sized suppositories just in case.  Hopefully we can get her unbound soon.  

I'm gonna talk to my doc tomorrow about my milk production issues and see if there's anything he recommends I can do becuase I honestly believe it's related to the anemia/blood loss. I had supply issues with my others but not like this.  

[jessimika]

I had really bad milk supply issues with my daughter after she became really sick and I was prescribed motilium (not sure how its spelt but sounds like that) and it brought my milk production up a lot within a few days. My son was a preemie and had really bad problems with constipation even in the hospital so they gave him glycerin suppositories when needed but they cut them into 2 or 3 pieces so they weren't too big I also did it once he was out of the hospital. I also used baby prune juice half juice half water and it helped sometimes

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Well Ms. Lily finally cleared herself out...I think she lost about a pound LOL but I'm so glad she got it out.  I'm working on reestablishing my milk supply so for now I'm going to stick with giving her just formula til I have a good reserve of breastmilk and switch her back.

[rebekah385]

I also had a prescription from my Dr that helped boost my milk supply with my first baby that might really help you if you are trying to continue breastfeeding and let me also say I think that the constipation is probably from the formula I both breastfed and supplmented 3 of my babies and did not have any trouble with them getting constipated until they switched to just formula. my youngest (5 weeks odl today) is exclusivly breastfeeding and has had no problems, so far. it may just be her adjusting to having formula =, I personnally would continue to do both unless it was really causing a lot of problems. I agree with you though that i would not want to give such a little baby juice or a suppository, I'd rather give miralax if i had to, my sister-in-law had to give her baby a very low doasage of miralax (under a Dr guidance) to help keep her baby regular. Good luck and hope your milk supply comes back up!

[LosingMyMindInGA]

You are probably referring to Reglan (metoclopramide).  I'm already taking it.  But I spoke wtih my doc today and we are doubling the dose to see if it helps. Thanks for the advice :)