Dear Hetal

My son is doing a lot better since the last 5 days. And the icing on the cake is that i have given him colic aid just once in these five days. I am feeling so relieved and feel its an achievement that he has gone without colic aid for the longest strech of time since the last one month. Moreover, this time i didn't use the laxative also(though there was lot of temptation to use it). This time he pooped on the 4th day instead of 5th day.

If you go by his symptoms...i donot think its constipation. He poops(not hard, its like paste) within 3-4 minutes and without any discomfort. I think the fact that he is unable to poop say every two days...makes him gassy and uncomfortable.

Now for the changes i have made:-
As suggested by you, i m giving him the bottle feed in daytime.(in a day or two i wuld return to giving him the same as the last feed before settling for night).
You suggested that i shuld give him some water to keep him hydrated. My doctor is totally against giving him water, hence i haven't given him the same.
I was earlier giving him himalaya bonnisan once a day- one teaspoon. now since the last 3 days i am givng him the same ...thrice a day...1 teaspoon each time. I guess this has also contributed to make him comfy. (my doctor is against giving him bonnisan, but i personally feel that its far better than giving him laxative or colic aid).
My diet....i haven't changed much. Was already not taking any gassy food. I have increased the water intake, now i am taking abut 8 litres of water daily.(is it enuf?)

Regarding him holding his shirts edge(left side)very frequently and holding the tummy the same place when clothes removed, i applied a little presure on the tummy where he has been holding...there was no discomfort. Have brought this to doctors attention. She said nothing seems wrong.

Another thing, i am going to show my son to a different doctor this time. lets see how it works.

I can only hope now that his bowel movements become a little more frequent so that he is not uncomfortable.

thanks for ur advice.
chetana Hetal replied. some internet probs,,sry for duplicate posts... Hetal replied. good pointers neetu.your reply is worth thinking !
infantt colic lasts upto 3-4months and many babies go without bowels for upto 4-5days,,its quite common...mostly because baby digestive system is not mature enough until 3-4months of their life.
and it is not constipation at all, your baby is passing bowels before 5days,,which is the thin line we draw to identify constipation,,some babies have gone until 1 week as well..,,
thats how i asked you in first place,,that is your baby is having gas and is very fussy coz of not passng bowels,,,,why was he given colic aid,,gripe water is still fine,,,you can go thru it again...

offering formula at night does not make baby sleep, if that is what is bothering you and you are willing to change his feeds before night sleep,,upto you,,you are his mother,,you know it well !
but you are ready to offer gripe water so that your baby digest that formula welll, instead of trying for something that might help in longer run without offering ne kind of medication.
even though you think that its better to give gripe water(only because its a herbal supplement and not the allopath),,if thats your concern,,its still a medicine and not a tonic or supplement.
on the other hand,,water is much natural thing to give to infant than gripe water ! neways, i will not like to convince you,,you as a mother knows it well whats going on with your baby. this being virtual mode of contact,it becomes difficult to understand the situation without seeing or touching baby.
you are still doing the same thing, by offerng your child extra aid to digest formula or help in digestion procss by giving him gripe water...so the thing you are doing is just the same,,only diff is its herbal !! thatsall...

But neways,,you are his mother and you know it well how your child responds to each of these medication..my work was to tell you upto my reach wat all can be done,,and m glad to hear there is something going on postive side...a day made a lot of difference...
constipation, is only when baby passes more than 5 days,,and not before that,,so thats for sure that your baby was not at all constipated !! but after your dr suggsted laxative, i want to let you know that avoid offering it. gripe waterr or even colic aid wont make your baby get the habit but laxative will for sure !
also laxatives have proven to be harmful in long run, like drying out the linings and such other side effects,,,,which is individual to case...
also, ne medication that aids digestion is never good,,and esp in first 3months of life when ALL babies HAVE immature digestives,,its quite expected that gas, going without bowels for upto 4-5days, and colic or even reflux is all normal part of infancy stage...one should be worried only if dr shows the concern,or wght seems to be steady and not increasing at all,,,

otherwise sometimes overconcern of moms pushes dr to offer medication(which are many a times not needed at all),,and in that baby suffers in long run.
all doctors and myself,,we rely on mothers gut feeling or worries about baby being normal or not,,and whenver they try to push that no my baby is not well,,we start thinking in that direction !!! well,,that will happen with your new dr as well...
so make sure whenver you visit your new dr,,go by whatever he says and make sure to tell him what all you are giving so that it will help him understand the case better..ask him whats normal and by wght and such stats,he might press the tummy and such,,he will know hows baby doing,,
unless otherwise this is prelimnery sign of ne other sickness or disease,,this is not concern and a physical checkup for sure will reveal that.
about your diet, water intake is good, increase fibr intake, like spinach, oatmeal, pear or apple juice and it will keep you also refreshed and baby digestives will feel better. water is something basic that you have to take,,other than that, fibr foods, juices etc give body a good boost of refreshment and vit c, iron and lots of fibr,,so include that...

take care and let me know the update.
Hetal replied. good pointers neetu.your reply is worth thinking !
infantt colic lasts upto 3-4months and many babies go without bowels for upto 4-5days,,its quite common...mostly because baby digestive system is not mature enough until 3-4months of their life.
and it is not constipation at all, your baby is passing bowels before 5days,,which is the thin line we draw to identify constipation,,some babies have gone until 1 week as well..,,
thats how i asked you in first place,,that is your baby is having gas and is very fussy coz of not passng bowels,,,,why was he given colic aid,,gripe water is still fine,,,you can go thru it again...

offering formula at night does not make baby sleep, if that is what is bothering you and you are willing to change his feeds before night sleep,,upto you,,you are his mother,,you know it well !
but you are ready to offer gripe water so that your baby digest that formula welll, instead of trying for something that might help in longer run without offering ne kind of medication.
even though you think that its better to give gripe water(only because its a herbal supplement and not the allopath),,if thats your concern,,its still a medicine and not a tonic or supplement.
on the other hand,,water is much natural thing to give to infant than gripe water ! neways, i will not like to convince you,,you as a mother knows it well whats going on with your baby. this being virtual mode of contact,it becomes difficult to understand the situation without seeing or touching baby.
you are still doing the same thing, by offerng your child extra aid to digest formula or help in digestion procss by giving him gripe water...so the thing you are doing is just the same,,only diff is its herbal !! thatsall...

But neways,,you are his mother and you know it well how your child responds to each of these medication..my work was to tell you upto my reach wat all can be done,,and m glad to hear there is something going on postive side...a day made a lot of difference...
constipation, is only when baby passes more than 5 days,,and not before that,,so thats for sure that your baby was not at all constipated !! but after your dr suggsted laxative, i want to let you know that avoid offering it. gripe waterr or even colic aid wont make your baby get the habit but laxative will for sure !
also laxatives have proven to be harmful in long run, like drying out the linings and such other side effects,,,,which is individual to case...
also, ne medication that aids digestion is never good,,and esp in first 3months of life when ALL babies HAVE immature digestives,,its quite expected that gas, going without bowels for upto 4-5days, and colic or even reflux is all normal part of infancy stage...one should be worried only if dr shows the concern,or wght seems to be steady and not increasing at all,,,

otherwise sometimes overconcern of moms pushes dr to offer medication(which are many a times not needed at all),,and in that baby suffers in long run.
all doctors and myself,,we rely on mothers gut feeling or worries about baby being normal or not,,and whenver they try to push that no my baby is not well,,we start thinking in that direction !!! well,,that will happen with your new dr as well...
so make sure whenver you visit your new dr,,go by whatever he says and make sure to tell him what all you are giving so that it will help him understand the case better..ask him whats normal and by wght and such stats,he might press the tummy and such,,he will know hows baby doing,,
about your diet, water intake is good, increase fibr intake, like spinach, oatmeal, pear or apple juice and it will keep you also refreshed and baby digestives will feel better. water is something basic that you have to take,,other than that, fibr foods, juices etc give body a good boost of refreshment and vit c, iron and lots of fibr,,so include that...

take care and let me know the update.

neetu replied. just a thought. if it is not constipation why did your doctor prescribe a laxative?

my baby has tendency to become gassy and gets constipated with banana all the time. i have to give him laxative whenever i give him banana. my doctor says he gets constipated with banana.he said he will outgrow but it is still the same.my doctor says keep offering it but i don't want to give laxative after dat.so i have stopped giving banana from last month.

i had to start formula for my 2month old because of low supply of bm. after giving formula, my baby started passing stools once in 4days.so my doctor adviced me to offer 2oz of water between the feeds when he was 2months old.It helped me.then he started passing stools once in 2 days. alteast he was not irritated and gassy.

my doctor was strictly against giving gripe water. he said gripe water will relieve gas,stomach upset and infant colic but will not relieve baby from constipation.so even though i got it from india, i didn't use it.

i have also heard from other members that mostly whenever formula is introduced, baby gets constipation after a short time and i also read one case in feeding board that her doctor adviced her to offer diluted fomula with more water to relieve baby from constipation. so i think water is needed.
and like hetal and your doctor said, you should not worry for 4-5days.it is common for breastfeed or formula babies to go without 4-5days.i was also told the same thing by my doctor.my baby was passing regular stools after he completed 4months.i hope your baby recovers soon.
But, i definately think that you should change your doctor. let us know your updates.
i am not the right person to talk about dis, but just wanted to share my experience. i hope you don't mind.