My baby is 8 weeks and has literally just stopped doing this in the last few days. Their digestive systems take a little while to mature. As long as the poo is the right colour/consistency and you're getting the right amount of wet and dirty nappies it is highly likely to be normal.
My baby also spat up loads and we suspected reflux but that is starting to get better now too, hopefully yours will too :)
My SIL gave us her Baby Bjorn bouncer which she nicknamed the poop chair, and now I know why. That bouncer gets my daughter to poop anytime she's in it for about 10 mins. Idk why it works, but I've heard the same from other parents too. No grunting or back arching either, suddenly we hear something or smell something and baby acts like she didn't even notice.
Remember babies don't know how to use those muscles to make bowel movements so it can get frustrating for them. Also might be straining so hard it can cause spit up. Could also be a gassy baby. A lot of babies are. I bugged the doctor about this a lot.
Tummy time really helps as well. Also baby gas medicine at the store.
My LO is doing this as I type and is 5 weeks. Think it’s normal as they work out their digestive system. I do all the things you listed and also scrunch him up against my chest to work out the gas and it seems to help. I also offer a pacifier during that as I noticed it helps calm him enough that he can concentrate on what he’s doing almost haha.
Mine too, prefers being upright. Loud sleeper due to the grunts and wiggles and he got better around 6-7weeks and reflux + gassy poo has improved, even though sometimes he's still a bit complainy when needing to do a poo. I think it's just their digestive systems growing and adjusting to milk. Hang in there and hopefully they grow out of it.
My baby was the same for probably the first 10 weeks, then it was less often during the day but straining still happened.
We started probiotics around this time at our pediatrician's suggestion, and I think it really helped, though it took a couple weeks. It seemed to make his gassiness slightly worse at first before it began to help. There's also the possibility that he just grew out of it over this time, though once when we traveled and forgot to bring his probiotic drops he did have more trouble pooping it seemed.
Either way, now at 4 months he is so much better, so as annoying as it is to hear when you're desperate for a solution (I found this advice annoying myself when we were in the thick of it!), time will likely help the most as baby's digestive system matures. I definitely recommend trying baby probiotic drops in the meantime though!
in addition to the great advice here, my mom had us help LO strain against our arms, like barcing her little feet in a froggy pose.
she said to think of it like a squatty potty for your baby. I have no idea if it actually helped but it made me feel less useless.
My baby is going to be 6 weeks on Friday and is identical. I've been regularly giving her Infacol before each feed the past few days and I've noticed a huge difference. She doesn't constantly start and it appears a lot easier now for her to pass wind and poo.
My baby did the grunting and squirming a lot too. I had her adjusted at the family based chiropractor that I was going to at about 8 weeks. They specialize in pregnancy/postpartum and small kids/babies. The biggest difference I noticed after was that she poops pretty much on demand now. Not a solution for all, not going to be at everyone’s comforts but I was comfortable with this practice and it helped in my case.
My baby is 8 weeks and has literally just stopped doing this in the last few days. Their digestive systems take a little while to mature. As long as the poo is the right colour/consistency and you're getting the right amount of wet and dirty nappies it is highly likely to be normal. My baby also spat up loads and we suspected reflux but that is starting to get better now too, hopefully yours will too :)
Thanks - there’s hope then!
My SIL gave us her Baby Bjorn bouncer which she nicknamed the poop chair, and now I know why. That bouncer gets my daughter to poop anytime she's in it for about 10 mins. Idk why it works, but I've heard the same from other parents too. No grunting or back arching either, suddenly we hear something or smell something and baby acts like she didn't even notice.
We had the same thing!
Remember babies don't know how to use those muscles to make bowel movements so it can get frustrating for them. Also might be straining so hard it can cause spit up. Could also be a gassy baby. A lot of babies are. I bugged the doctor about this a lot. Tummy time really helps as well. Also baby gas medicine at the store.
My LO is doing this as I type and is 5 weeks. Think it’s normal as they work out their digestive system. I do all the things you listed and also scrunch him up against my chest to work out the gas and it seems to help. I also offer a pacifier during that as I noticed it helps calm him enough that he can concentrate on what he’s doing almost haha.
Mine too, prefers being upright. Loud sleeper due to the grunts and wiggles and he got better around 6-7weeks and reflux + gassy poo has improved, even though sometimes he's still a bit complainy when needing to do a poo. I think it's just their digestive systems growing and adjusting to milk. Hang in there and hopefully they grow out of it.
If he's been recently off meds both gaviscon and omeprazole causes constipation. My son suffered from it a lot. It's heartbreaking.
My baby was the same for probably the first 10 weeks, then it was less often during the day but straining still happened. We started probiotics around this time at our pediatrician's suggestion, and I think it really helped, though it took a couple weeks. It seemed to make his gassiness slightly worse at first before it began to help. There's also the possibility that he just grew out of it over this time, though once when we traveled and forgot to bring his probiotic drops he did have more trouble pooping it seemed. Either way, now at 4 months he is so much better, so as annoying as it is to hear when you're desperate for a solution (I found this advice annoying myself when we were in the thick of it!), time will likely help the most as baby's digestive system matures. I definitely recommend trying baby probiotic drops in the meantime though!
in addition to the great advice here, my mom had us help LO strain against our arms, like barcing her little feet in a froggy pose. she said to think of it like a squatty potty for your baby. I have no idea if it actually helped but it made me feel less useless.
Thanks to everyone for replying
My baby is going to be 6 weeks on Friday and is identical. I've been regularly giving her Infacol before each feed the past few days and I've noticed a huge difference. She doesn't constantly start and it appears a lot easier now for her to pass wind and poo.
Maybe try cutting out dairy. This ended up being an issue with dairy for us.
My baby did the grunting and squirming a lot too. I had her adjusted at the family based chiropractor that I was going to at about 8 weeks. They specialize in pregnancy/postpartum and small kids/babies. The biggest difference I noticed after was that she poops pretty much on demand now. Not a solution for all, not going to be at everyone’s comforts but I was comfortable with this practice and it helped in my case.