Does anyone have a baby with 'grunting baby' syndrome (infant dyschezia)

My 6 week old baby has what we suspect is grunting baby syndrome as at night she strains and grunts to the extreme in the hours leading up to doing a poo (which feels like most of the night). Apparently it's not being able to coordinate her anus to let the poo out and it's normal whilst her muscles are immature. It's really distressing to see her like that and it's also extremely loud so my partner and I are getting very little sleep. Is anyone else in this situation?

Read more on Peanut

The views expressed in community are solely the opinions of participants, and do not reflect those of Peanut.

Learn more about our guidelines.

Add a comment

My son grunts a lot before pooping but not at night. During the day. I gave him GasX drops and that really helped! But I don’t give it to him daily. Every now and then when his belly is really hard and is struggling to release the gas

Almost all newborns have infant dyschezia to some degree as the digestive track and coordination of muscles are immature at birth. Most infants will out grow it by 8 weeks or it will at least start to improve. My daughter was one of the lucky ones to not outgrow it until 9 months. 🙄 But that’s very rare!

We absolutely had this, it took our baby 30 mins to try and poop and it kept her a lot as it would be after every feed day and night. Got much better by the 8 week mark 😊

Hey yes! But he outgrew it at around 2 months

Yep, my LO is 6 weeks today and we're in the thick of it right now. Ours happens during the day as well as at night and think it's coinciding with a growth spurt/developmental leap as well. We've got all the fun over here 😩 At the moment, he cycles between waking up and wanting to be fed,start the feed which stimulates his gut, straining, going beet red and then crying and pulling off the bottle distressed, I comfort him, he falls asleep for maybe 10 minutes and then start the cycle again. Really hoping this passes quickly because I am STRUGGLING.

in our community

When do things get easier?

As we entered the 9-12 month stage, my son started crawling and pulling himself up. He also became more clingy and does not play alone, still doesnt sleep through the night, and this week has been sick (so EVERYTHING amplified). I am tired and overwhelmed. Please lie and tell me things get better. 🥺

Colostrum storing?

Has anyone successfully extracted colostrum before the baby’s born? Apparently it gets produced from 16w pregnant and you can start storing it in the freezer but I’m 34w looking at my nipples and the syringes on amazon wondering how it works?? Like what did you use and did it hurt? 🥲

Dummies🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

Has anyone got any tips on how to GET RID of dummies😂🤦🏼‍♀️ my little girl is obsessed and i have no idea where to start!!

Self settling

Any tips or advice of how to teach 6.5month old to self settle? I’m up multiple times in the night to cuddle her back to sleep and put the dummy in. I understand she will wake up and want a cuddle etc but any tips on self settling would be appreciated 🥰

Baby losing weight

Hi all, it's been a long time since I had a baby (my son is 15!). My daughter is 10 days old and was 9lb born, she has since lost weight at every appointment and is at a 12% loss. I am breast feeding every two hours for over an hour and topping her up every feed. I pump and can get 60ml in 10 minutes so I know my supply is okay. Anyone had this before? Can give me some tips? I currently feel like I'm letting my baby down.

Hi ya'll

Is anyone else's 4 month old randomly screeching now? I'm not sure what to do and she's been doing this for the past two days. She's usually a quiet happy baby so im not sure why she's doing this now. Aby suggestions?