immature gut the Dr. says

I am a first time mom with a 4 week old son. He weighed 5 lbs 12 oz at birth. He is having lots of problems with BM's and gas. The Dr. says it is an immature gut and he will grow out of it at 2-3 months. He screams out in his sleep grunt and strains ALL day and night and goes through fits of hysterical crying that can last anywhere from 5 - 30 mins. I am bottle feeding and have him on Carnation Good Start. The Dr. says use mylecon - which made him constipated then she put him on Kero syrup in his botle 2 times a day for that and was out on Apple juice once a day at 2 weeks. Does anyon have any advice or have you gone through this... I fins it hard to believe that I have to just let my son scream for 2 - 3 months... Please Help!!!
newmom01

APPLE JUICE???? I have never heard of giving such a young baby apple juice.

Without trying to be rude, may I ask why it is that you are feeding your baby formula? I know some Moms are forced to FF and I was just wondering if you were one in that category. If not, are you possibly still lactating? Breastmilk, along with Moms proper diet may be the answer.

Also, why would Mylicon constipate?

Ohhh, I hope he feels better soon. That must be so difficult for you to watch. Please update!

Warmly,
Wendy

My doctor told me the same thing when Nathan had the same problems. We tried Carnation Good Start and I felt it actually made the problem worse. Are you using powdered? I had to switch to ready to serve and that helped some. We also did Nutramgin(sp?) formula for 2 months and that also seemed to help. Nathan did outgrow the problem at around 3 months.

I had never heard of giving apple juice this early either... The Dr. said to either give him apple juice or pear juice. It does seem to help him with his BM's and it got him off of Kero Syrup!
I am not sure why Mylicon would constipate but we have been told to go back on it 3 times and each time we do he becomes constipated. No, I am no longer able to start BF him.

Every newborn has an immature gut and most outgrow it by 3 months. Gas, grunting and some crying are all normal.

I agree to try a different formula (that will probably fix the constipation too). You might also pick up Dr. Harvey Karp's book The Happiest Baby on the Block for ideas on how to soothe him.

hi, our son was born early and weighed 5 lbs 8 oz. he also had a lot of gas in the initial weeks. it was hard to see him suffer as he would cry in pain. we gave him mylecon drops, gripe water and chamomile tea. one of these seemed to help him get some relief. he is 4 months now and doesn't suffer from gas pain. i think things got better for him around 8-10 weeks. i hope your son feels better soon. also for gas you can try exercising his legs- bring them upto his stomach, it does relieve gas.
durga8

Mylicon constipates my DD too sometimes, so I only use it when she really seems to be uncomfortable.

I was worried when DD was only a couple weeks old, because she seemed to be going through the same thing yours is. My PED never said to give her Mylicon though. Both the PED and the nurses at my hospital's help line just said to make sure I was burping her REALLY well. I admit I wasn't giving as much attention to burping DD as I should have with all the concentration on just trying to BF her and all the general chaos that comes with having a new baby (and being a first time mom). As soon as I started making a whole hearted effort to burp her, and burp her successfully, she started improving and having less gas.

I'd get a second opinion on the juice issue. Everything I've read and been told says that juice is a bad idea even for older babies since it takes up space in their stomach that is needed for milk/formula. Besides, all the sugar isn't good for them.

Good luck, and don't worry, things WILL get better!
Jennifer

Annalia 03/03/03

I know exactly what you are talking about. My daughter still grunts and stains and cries, but she is getting better. She is 8 weeks old now. We were told to give her 1 oz of apple or prune juice to help with her constipation only after dark Karo syrup didn't work. The apple juice didn't work and that is when we switched to Good Start, hoping it would digest easier. She seems to be getting better, but who knows maybe it is because she is growing out of it. I also agree that better burping has all but eliminated her hysterical fits of crying.

mandy
mother of Hailey 8/21/03

Try diluted chamomile tea. You can even buy chamomile oil in a health food store and massage baby's belly. Chamomile is very soothing for the stomach and safe for babies. Hylands also makes chamomile tablets and a colic tablet. They instantly dissolve in babies mouth or you can dissolve it in a little water and then use a dropper to put into babies mouth. We went through the same thing and this seemed to work. I also heard to put a piece a peppermint into baby's bottle, this will also help settle the stomach. Massaging the belly should also help with the constipation. hope all is well soon!

Jen

I'm a first-time mom, too, and we had the same situation. Our DS was supplemented w/ formula for the first three weeks and the problem started about week 2. He would go days (4 to 7) w/o a BM and was really gassy. He did the same things as your DS (straining, grunting, crying, etc.). The ped didn't seemed too concerned about his lack of stools, but DS looked so uncomfortable and we were sure he was constipated from the formula. We were desperate to do anything that would give him relief. Here's what we tried at one time or another:

- Changed to a soy based formula, then changed to a lactose-free formula (ultimately we got him off formula altogether)
- Mylicon drops (this seemed to help temporarily)
- Apple or prune juice once a day (1 oz diluted w/ 1 oz water)-- apparently if he was constipated, this would soften his stool
- Warm baths
- Making sure he was well burped and keeping him semi-upright (holding him, car seat or swing) for 20 minutes after feeding
- I eliminated dairy from my diet
- Rectal stimulation

At about 7 weeks, DS started having daily BMs and his extreme gassiness disappeared. He's 9 weeks now and he's a lot more content. He still strains, grunts and cries a little at night, but not nearly to the extent he did before.

I'm not really sure what worked, but in hind sight it probably was his little digestive system maturing that ultimately resolved the situation. In the end, he wasn't constipated because his stools were never hard and pellet-like and I don't think it was the formula at all. I'm told that a baby's digestive system doesn't mature until about 12 weeks, but I think it improves little by little.

It's so hard to see your child in pain, but hang it there, it'll get better.

Joanne
Mommy to Nathan - 08.21.03