A definitive guide to the causes of baby constipation and natural approaches for resolving it whether your child is breastfed, formula-fed, or already eating solids.
Baby constipation should always be cause for parental concern. Some doctors prefer to chalk up baby bowel movements as within normal parameters even if they are as infrequent as once a week. However, a more holistically minded practitioner understands the critical importance of gut balance and bowel regularity. Such a doctor would likely come to a far different assessment of the situation. It pays to get a second opinion!
While there is certainly room for individual variation in the bowel habits of babies, once every two days should be considered a minimum by those parents who seek to ensure that their child’s digestive tract is functioning optimally.
What if your baby is obviously constipated and you do not wish to utilize any medications? These would include an infant suppository, which should only be used as a last resort anyway. What natural approaches could prove helpful to relieving the situation?
Baby Constipation Usually Linked to Commercial Formula
Most of the time, baby constipation can be traced to one of the many brands of commercial formula. This would include organic formula. It’s no surprise that babies fed commercial formula can tend toward constipation due to the worrisome, indigestible ingredients.
Commercial milk-based baby formulas are, simply put, dangerous concoctions of denatured milk proteins and rancid, cheap, usually GMO vegetable oils. They do a number on a baby’s digestive system. Even the organic formulas are not a wise choice as violent processing is similar even if the ingredients are not as toxic.
Hypoallergenic formulas are even worse as they contain an endocrine-disrupting quantity of soy isoflavones. These phytoestrogens have the very real potential to damage your child’s delicate and developing hormonal system.
The good news is that it is possible to make a nourishing formula for your baby yourself at home with quality ingredients that you source yourself.
If you’ve never considered this option before, this article plus video shows you exactly how to make homemade formula and explains why you should consider doing it.
In a good share of cases, the simple act of switching baby off commercial formulas and onto a nourishing and much more digestible homemade formula will resolve the constipation issue.
Difficulty Passing Stools if Using Homemade Formula
What if baby is still struggling to have bowel movements at least once every two days even while on the homemade formula?
Consider the following ten options that a parent can implement at his/her discretion in that situation:
- Baby constipation is more frequent with the homemade goat milk formula than the cows milk formula. This is possibly because goat milk is low in B12. If you are using goat milk to make the homemade formula, switch to cow milk or camel milk and see if the situation improves.
- Substitute homemade kefir, yogurt, or buttermilk made with raw milk instead of the plain whole milk portion of the recipe. Â
- Add a few additional tablespoons of cream to each 36-ounce batch.
- Reduce the amount of water in each batch of formula by 1/4 cup.
- Increase the amount of liquid whey in each batch to 1/2 cup.
- Increase the bifidobacterium infantis, the recommended probiotic in the homemade formula, from 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp per batch.
- Coconut oil helps loosen things in some cases so increasing from 2 tsp to 1 Tbl per batch of homemade formula may prove helpful. Â
- Add 1 tsp of dark molasses to each batch of homemade formula. Do not substitute dark karo syrup.
- Give baby a little prune juice in a bottle.
- Give the baby Digestive Tea in a bottle. Â To make Digestive Tea, a folk remedy for treating constipation/gas in babies, take 2 cups fresh anise leaves and 2 cups fresh mint leaves. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil and pour over the herbs. Let steep until the water cools. Strain. Give tepid tea in a bottle to the baby, 4 ounces at a time (recipe from Nourishing Traditions, Chapter on Feeding Babies).
Watch the Finger Foods
One final suggestion is to avoid feeding baby any grain-based foods in the first year of life. Amylase, the enzyme necessary to digest carbohydrates, is produced in only small amounts by a baby’s digestive system before age one. Following a conventional doctor’s advice to put rice cereal in a baby bottle (to encourage the child to sleep through the night) or feeding the child rice cereal as a first food is incredibly misguided.
Moreover, it is a potential disaster for a baby’s developing gut environment. Even Health Canada recommends meat as a baby first food over grains! This is in line with the practice of healthy ancestral cultures.
Also, if the baby is eating any refined grains such as Cheerios, teething biscuits, etc (many Moms start these foods as soon as the child is sitting unassisted around 6 months) these should be stopped immediately. Refined foods contribute to gut imbalance and perhaps constipation. No bread rolls or salad crackers for baby to chew on while in a high chair at a restaurant either!
If you are looking for an ideal early food, gelatin from homemade bone broths is incredibly soothing to a baby’s digestive tract. It is very nourishing too as opposed to those indigestible grain-based foods. Frequent gelatin in the diet goes a long way toward helping to resolve constipation issues. It can be mashed with cooked veggies for easy eating. This article plus video illustrates another ideal first food for baby that encourages proper development and balance of the gut.
Can Breastfeeding Babies Get Constipated?
As little as ten to fifteen years ago, it was almost unheard of for a breastfed baby to be constipated.  In fact, the baby books at that time almost universally stated that breastfed babies don’t get constipated!
Nowadays, this situation is becoming more commonplace. The continuing decline in the quality of the diet of nursing mothers is a likely reason.
While it is an unpopular position within the breastfeeding community, the diet of the mother clearly impacts the quality of her breastmilk. Fats, vitamins and minerals in breastmilk vary considerably based on the mother’s diet although protein and immunoglobulins do not. Studies such as the Chinese Breastmilk Study confirm this.
Suggesting that a lactating mother can eat whatever she wants and still produce quality breastmilk is also irresponsible. It defies all common sense and historical study of healthy traditional cultures. These ancestral societies wisely put great emphasis on the quality of nursing mothers’ diet.
Generally speaking, baby constipation in a child that is breastfed is directly related to a mother’s gut dysbiosis issues. This means that she suffers from an imbalanced gut and likely exhibits symptoms like constipation, gas, reflux, bloating, heartburn, IBS, or ulcerative colitis. Chronic skin issues like eczema or psoriasis may also be present. Usually, such a mother took the contraceptive Pill, which is highly destructive to the gut environment.
While the best way to remedy gut dysbiosis is, hands down, the GAPS Diet, this protocol is not recommended during either pregnancy or lactation. This is due to the pathogen die-off that occurs from resolving gut imbalance issues. The toxins from this healing process could end up in the breastmilk.
Fixing a Breastfeeding Mom’s Diet
How to remedy a nursing mother’s gut issues without the GAPS Diet and help her constipated baby?  There isn’t an easy answer to this question. No doubt, getting off all processed foods and eating a minimal amount of grain-based carbohydrates that are traditionally prepared would likely help tremendously. Going completely off grains per GAPS is not a good idea, however. Grains, particularly soaked cereal gruels, are known historically to encourage ample milk supply. As a result, continuing to eat them in moderation is wise during lactation.
Elimination of pasteurized dairy and processed wheat is a good first step if you are a breastfeeding mother with a constipated baby. When I nursed my youngest child, she would spit up for an entire day and sometimes two if I ate any processed wheat. Even a single bite from a roll at a restaurant sent her over the edge. The wheat I carefully prepared at home with fresh flour that was either soaked or sprouted did not give her any issues at all, however. Similarly, my firstborn had terrible infant gas and digestive problems when I consumed organic ultrapasteurized milk. This is a very allergenic food due to the denatured proteins from the obscenely high heat processing.
The bottom line is that if you are breastfeeding and have a constipated baby, look to improve your diet first. You will likely find your baby will have easier digestion and greater ease passing stools right away. And, once you wean, consider the GAPS Diet as a way to heal your gut once and for all. Then, your next baby won’t have the same digestive issues when breastfeeding.
More Information
Squatty Potty For America’s Toilet Issues?
Chiropractic for Constipation
Five Strategies to Combat Constipation
How about adding homemade sour cream? I thought of this because it is one of the first dairy foods recommended for GAPS patients experiencing constipation. Cream could be cultured at home by using kefir grains or other culturing mediums. For GAPS folks with constipation, Dr Natasha recommends high-fat dairy at first like cultured (sour) cream / creme fraiche, butter and ghee (instead of high-protein dairy such as yogurt, whey, kefir and cheese). Culturing at home is recommended since commercially cultured dairy foods aren’t cultured long enough. I know this isn’t talking about GAPS per se, but for the constipation issue, the high fat dairy and especially high fat cultured dairy might be helpful for constipated babies. Just a thought.
I had always thought that breastfed babies didn’t go as often because they used up most all of it while otherwise there is waste. My baby did not go very often until recently when he has been having more solids. He was not crabby. He didn’t act constipated. His stools were not hard. He was completely fine. So, was I wrong in thinking that he was normal & fine in not going very often when he was exclusively breast fed?
It depends on who you ask. My daughter was never constipated on only breast milk and pooped often. My son was on half breastmilk and half commercial formula for a little while before I found the WAPF baby formula. He would poop about once a week and it would look like the black ooze from the x-files if anyone remembers that show. Once putting him on the homemade formula and still whatever breastmilk I can pump, he poops anywhere from once every two days to twice a day, and it is yellow like breastfed baby poop and a good texture. I think diet totally affects the situation in feeding.
I am very confused by this article. I had my 3rd child 5 months ago. She has been exclusively breastfed. I have been eating very well for several years now and have absolutely no symptoms of gut dysbiosis that were described in this article yet my daughter would sometimes go as long as 11 days without pooping. She was not fussy or gassy during this time and when she eventually did poop it was completely normal. In all of the reading I have done it seems as if this is completely normal for breastfed infants. My daughter only really did this between 2 months to 3 1/2 months old and then she went back to a normal almost daily pooping.
Sounds like a growth spurt; the timing/s right. When your supply caught up to her hunger, did she poop? Breastmilk is pretty completely metabolised so except for gut bacteria there’d not be much to eliminate if growth were using everything you put in.
Good article and comments. I would like to add that sometimes a good chiropractor trained in infant adjustments can also be another good source for help with constipation. It is not always diet that causes this.
My nephew as an infant would go a week without a bowel movement, had many digestive issues, and had a lot of pain from these problems. He would easily move his bowels several times within the 24 hours following an adjustment. No doubt a change from commercial formula would have helped also, but definitely look into a chiropractor who adjusts babies!!
Two random question….my kefir grains have grown into something crazy and now I have waaaay too many to handle….I dont want to throw them away but noone I know makes kefir or even really knows about it. Anyone have any suggestions? And Ive been thinking lately….at least around here, where we get our raw milk, pastured meat, it all comes from amish people. Ive met the people who we get the food from and about 90 percent of them have bad looking teeth. If they eat such good diets and prepare foods the traditional way (they should considering they’re member of WAPF) then why wouldnt they have healthy looking teeth? Ive really just been wondering this lately.
Hi Alexis,
You can eat the grains for an extra probiotic boost. Just blend them into a smoothie if the texture bothers you. If used in cooking my experience has been that they cook up in a tiny area that is gooey. Not a big deal but it makes for some strange looks from the kids! The Amish have healthy sources of their foods. My limited experience though is that they do eat processed foods as well. My understanding is that they have lots of sweets. I have not heard if they have a focus on sacred foods which would make a difference as well. Most Amish cookbooks are loaded with desserts and very little seafood recipes. More of a focus on the farm foods with white flours and sugars added. Just my best guess!
Hey thanks for responding! I had nooooo idea you could eat them! Thats definitely what Im gonna do…every morning I make a kefir smoothie for my one and two year old and add their probiotics to it. Now they’ll have some grains mixed in too! And you might have a point about the sweets because the amish I get the food from are just recently WAPF members and just within the last 10 years maybe (maybe not that long) started their farm and food more WAPF like too. They just recently took soy and everything out of the feed so maybe they’re just now starting to steer away from sugar and white flours and such. Thank you very much again for responding!
Traditional Amish cooking includes sweets at almost every meal–pies, cakes, cookies, jams, and jellies that are all homemade but include high amounts of white sugar. Also, the amount of inbreeding that tends to take place is a factor in highlighting negative traits such as crooked teeth.
Hi Sarah, I love your articles. I have breastfed all 6 of my children, including a set of twins. I know that nursing moms need all the support and love from family and friends to be successful at nursing. I commend you for pointing out that the nursing mother needs to really look at her own diet since this is what goes into her milk and into her child! Each child is certainly different and unique, but as a nursing mother, you need to be aware of how your own diet affects your nursing child. I had a child that was constipated and she had gas and was uncomfortable, but healthy otherwise. I stopped drinking pasteurized milk, and it resolved itself. To me, it is not normal to go more than a day or two max without a child, (or adult, actually) especially a baby not having a bowel movement. I would never assume that is normal or healthy as toxins build up and get recirculated in the blood if not emptied out from the body. So, if it is not the diet, something else may need a closer look. Most nursing mothers, and new ones, want to feel good about what they are doing and want to be informed and get answers for their concerns, so I think this information is informative and will help many moms find correct solutions for constipation. Keep up the good work Sarah, I follow your site and LOVE it. You are a corageous woman and I admire your willingness to tell it like it is!!
Tracy – interesting comment. I have 3 healthy little breastfed boys and have been keenly aware of their developing digestion from day 1. I think that Sarah is right that constipation in a breastfed baby is a red flag, but I agree with you that is doesn’t necessarily mean there’s trouble. I think that looking at the baby’s growth pattern and behavior are also important. Ask yourself, is the constipation accompanied by rashes, sleep disturbances, gas, fussiness, changes in eating behavior? Then you likely have trouble brewing. Is baby happy as can be, eating well, growing well, sleeping well etc? Give it some time and a poop will likely come. I too have worked with mothers who have been TOLD to give up breastfeeding due to constipation or other issues before they have been coached about dietary changes…. Stay with it moms! And seek some help if you need it!
Excellent information, thank you for sharing it!
For the first time I am very concerned with your site. I breastfed 5 babies and am extremely aware of the breastfeeding baby. I had one baby( my second) that was a voracious eater. She would go six or seven day and then have a large perfectly pure bowel movement. If you tell your vast audience that breatfed babies can be constipated, there will be many many first time worried mothers. They may easily give up and turn to an alternative and blame themselves for what they feel is a flaw in them. I KNOW new mommies as I have helped hundreds. Their confidence in themselves is often very weak.
I have to say the same thing as theTraci above. I have nursed 8 baby’s with the same results as she had and I would hate to find out that my fellow sisters-first time moms could become worried about their method of feeding their babies.
I’m with Traci also. When my little man was 100% breastfed he would go a long time without a bowel movement and then do a ‘perfectly pure bowel movement’ too. At one stage he went as long as 14 days (I was freaking out) but then he did a normal bowel movement. Apparently as breastmilk is so good for them nutritionally there’s not a lot unused to push out. I’m no expert, that’s just what I was told. I was on a no sugar or wheat diet at the time and was getting introduced to the WAPF so my diet was very good, certainly in comparison to everyone else I knew back then.
Regarding increasing milk supply, I found protein had the biggest impact on my supply.
They are right. It is completely normal for a totally breastfed baby to go up to a week between bowel movements after the first few weeks. I have fully breastfed all five of mine and also worked as a breastfeeding peer counselor for WIC. We would not worry at all about this if there was nothing in the baby’s diet aside from breast milk. Add in even one bottle of formula per day and the whole thing changes.
I wish it was true that babies who are breastfed “used up” all the breast milk (but if that’s the case then what are the breastfed babies who still have multiple bowel movements doing wrong?) but that’s not what’s going on with babies who have infrequent stooling. Bowel movements of infants and adults alike are made up of 70-80% bacteria from the gut. Less bacteria, less poop. I had constipated babies and was told that they were just efficiently using the breast milk. Several years out my poor gut health (and their compromised gut health) has become much more clear. I wish I’d known then that it was a gut issue and not just the efficiency of breast milk. There is an excellent explanation of the issue in this blog link. http://holisticibclc.blogspot.com/2011/06/gut-microbes-and-poop.html
thanks to all you who commented on it being normal. I read this and thought, what am I doing wrong. I’m a 42 year old first time mom of a 2 month old. She poop on average about every 4 or 5 days. Came home earlier from camping last night because she cried so much. this morning she pooped twice. She had pooped on Sunday monday, then weds. Has been 6 days apart for 4 weeks before that. Interesting, I ate what we would all call ‘crap’ food when camping. It was easier to buy that boxed rice. However i still ate my regular eggs and the bread I always eat. Sprouted no, cost to much and Im not constapaied on what we eat. I believe yes it should be sprouted grain. Bible says so. But as any first time mom, I don’t have time to sprout all my grains. I do some. Been a work at it goal for a year. learning. Other then that I have a diet even this site would call good. I’m very picky about what goes in me. 95% good food the sometimes i just want to eat out crap food 5%. I use to have 6 years ago exama. Started take proboitcs and it was gone i a month. Stopped eating dairy because of poop issues and sinse problems and everything is good now. I know I have good flora. Yet with way baby poops it sounds like I don’t so I ended up thinking maybe I should take more probiotics tables. Raw diary. who can afford to drive over 1 hr to the farm ‘near’ us to get it and pay that price. then I still may have problem with it. Some still do with raw. someday I will get ahold of raw and find out but not today. so anyway I do eat right and my kid just doesn’t poop most of time everyday. Did when I ate some crap food.
my breast fed bub poos about once every 4-7 days. not sure if it’s a ‘perfectly pure ‘ bowel movement, it’s not totally runny, more a a soft tube. I’m hoping it’s normal?? I don’t have gut imbalance symptoms myself…anyway glad other mamas out there have had babies that poo infrequently…
I am just sharing a note of observation between elimination and building up of toxins. I have a 10.5 month old with eczema. We were prescrbied a homeopathic spray to give to her for helping restore the flora/fauna in her gut. On numerous occasions if she has gone one day without pooping then she gets far more itchy. After she elinates within hours the itching has decreased. Since we have moved she snubs egg yolk but on the bright side we have been able to source pastured chicken and she inhales broth! Can you give them too much? Nursing is her favourite food still!
Sarah, Have you considered testing for parasites? There can be a link between bowels, itchy rashes and parasitic infection, which is surprisingly common. In the 1960’s children were regularly screened and tested for parasites, but not anymore. Moms would sometimes open a dirty diaper to find that the treatment was very effective!