Infant Massage Helped My Son Poop

I did it: after 72 hours of labor I give birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy. I was determined to breastfeed and at four days old it seemed to be going well, but then everything came apart. I didn’t feel right but the hospital discharged me anyway all the while telling me that since I was a first time mom I just wasn’t familiar with how I should feel after giving birth; despite my objections I was told I was feeling fine – that should have given me my first clue. I went to my pediatrician for a blood test, and 24 hours later he sent me back to the hospital for a blood transfusion because I turned out I was hemorrhaging.

After shocking news was delivered to me, my breast milk suddenly backed up and wouldn’t come down. After trying to breastfeed every 15 minutes for a day and a half I wanted to scream to someone: “get this child a damn bottle!” The first few days of formula were great but it wasn’t long until the sudden change in diet caused my son to become constipated. He cried and I could see he was having trouble going to the washroom. When I went to see the nurse at our playgroup that week I asked her what I could do she told me to give my son some “tummy time”. Even though 3 weeks is young to be starting tummy time, I figured it couldn’t do a lot more harm than the pain he was already experiencing.

 After a few more days I went to see my doctor who advised me to give my son 1-2 ounces of apple juice. The juice worked, but only if I gave it to him everyday – young children especially at his age should not be consuming juice every day. As a cure for constipation, the juice was a temporary fix but not something I could ever get behind as a routine cure.

One day he got so constipated that we ended up at CHEO. They looked at me like I was crazy (“You’re here because of what?”) but once they examined him they realized he really did need help and gave him a suppository, which again I was only to give when constipated. The baby kept getting constipated and I kept giving him enemas until I realized he hadn’t even tried to poop on his own. Back to the drawing board: what can I do to help my son poop? He didn’t want anything out of the ordinary; he just wanted to crap in peace.

Finally I discovered infant massage which has saved both of us a lot of pain and frustration. I was lucky enough to get this class free but if I have another child and they don’t offer free classes I would pay. They show you how to relieve gas pains and to get your child’s bowels moving so that they can poop, all while both of you bond. It’s like a 2 for 1 special: you get to help you child by relieving potential pain and at the same time spend quiet time together.

I would recommend this class to every parent and I think they should teach it in the prenatal classes. We learn how to bath and feed, swaddle and sooth, why not massage? After massaging him 10 minutes later the farting began and then the biggest poop I ever saw. I mean in his socks, up his back; the “man I’m glad I got this out” kind of poop. So if you’re having trouble with gas pains try this; I’m telling you it works. If you are a self-leaner you can even get a manual online or in bookstores to show you how to perform the routine.