screams when doing poo, 5 week old b/f bub

Hi my baby boy is 5 weeks old, on Zantac for silent reflux and fully breastfed. my question is when he does a poo (poo's are loose) he gets really restless and screams (i mean screams) he actually cries real tears this can go on for 1/2 hour then when he does the poo he goes really red in the face as if he's constipated then it's like an explosion in his nappy, he then stops screaming and becomes settled, he does alot of poos, sometimes one before a feed, during the feed and after the feed. It's only once or twice a day that it really bothers him and he screams. I asked the paed. and he said sometimes they get a pain when the bowel contracts like when we have gastro. Has anyone else had this problem and when did it stop. I'm not coping with him being in pain, he's crying and i'm crying for him, it can't be normal for a baby to be in that much pain. Please help, any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you..

Mason used to become quite upset when there was a poo on the way which luckily for me came at night ;) . I don't remember how old he was by the time it settled but I guess it may have been when he started sleeping longer at around 8 weeks.
He almost always did a big poo when I was feeding him at 2am. He would pull off the breast and put a great effort into it.
I was told it was his digestive system still getting used to working as it should but I agree it's not nice to see your little one in so much pain from something that has to happen.
Have you tried baby massage? The tummy strokes are to help with the digestion in come cases.

Hi there,

I am certainly no expert but I know this helps my baby nephew.

I lift up his legs and it helps him get it out. It makes it a much short process too and i find he doesnt freak out as much

i dont know if this will help or not as he is not breast fed.

good luck!

Hi, I'd suggest speaking to a naturopath or gp, as it might be something to do with the Zantac killing intestinal flora in his belly. My daughter is 7 months but when she was 6 weeks we gave her Nilstad to clear up thrush on her bottom, thankfully it worked but as soon as I started her on solids she would also scream and cry when trying to poo, it would break my heart everytime as there was nothing I could do to help her. Eventually I spoke to a naturopath who advised that the Nilstad kills intestinal flora and makes it hard to poo, so I now give her acidopholous powder and yoghurt as well as lots of water & watermelon. Its made a massive difference and she no longer cries. I know this may not be that helpful given your baby is so young, but there might be something you can take (eg acidopholous tablets) that might then pass through your breast milk to your little one.
Goodluck:)
EJ

Sadly, this sounds much like my daughter at the same age. It's only really changed in the last month or two since she has become more adapt at ridding herself of wind.

Explosion in the nappy is exactly how I describe the poos too. She grunts and wiggles and sobs at times and then when it's all out she's as happy as larry. It's like they don't realise that they don't need to strain quite so much to get loose poos out IYKWIM?