Infants with IBS?
#307786 - 05/22/07 10:24 AM
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I was wondering if anybody knew if infants can have IBS? I have tired everything and researched everything and recently stumbled upon this website. My 1.5 month old seems to have all the symptoms from soon after birth, with diarrhea. He is healthy and gaining weight but always in horrible pain while having a BM.
Before I put myself on this diet because I am nursing, I wanted to find some information to see if it may even help my son. I have already gone off dairy and peanut butter and tried a wheat free diet for a few days. It is hard to eat this diet so just want to check into it more.
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Hi Allisons4 and welcome to the boards,
You have asked a very good question. I don't know the answer, but I will relate my experience with my son. He was the "perfect baby", slept, ate, smiled and gurgled when he was awake, then when he was six weeks old, he developed colic. He cried almost nonstop when he was awake, and you could tell that he was in pain. I was breastfeeding, so I cut out everything gassy that I could think of to no avail. His doctor finally referred him to a specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, who said that his digestive system was just maturing slower than "normal". ???? He could not tolerate any food until he was 10 months old and then it was mashed banana. It took almost a year of slowly introducing foods one at a time to get him on solid foods. I was only 29 years old and didn't know anything about IBS. I am now 59 years old and developed IBS-C within the past year & a half.
Now I wonder if colic in a baby is IBS????? Does anyone else have any thoughts??
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Snookie, IBS-C
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When I read the first question, I wondered the same thing. My daughter had colic, and was breastfed, and I had to be very careful what I ate. She's 20 now, and has problems with dairy and certain other foods. Since my diagnosis, we've had lots of discussions on what and what not to eat. But I wonder-like you-is colic really IBS in infants?
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Very interesting. Two of my three babies had colic; one of them for FOUR months. In both children it began during the first week of life. My boy (now 10) who had it really bad (4 hours of screaming every night!!) now has an iron stomach. He can eat ANYTHING!! My other son (now 12), who did not have it quite as bad, can not eat any meats, very little dairy, no tomatoes, and has to watch the fat content.
Another rather funny thing: I have IBS; my mother has IBS; her mother had an iron stomach; but my mom's grandmother had a stomach ache every day of her life. She lived well into her 90's, but always in pain.
Very strange. It sure seems to run in families.
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It sure does. My mom, sister, aunt, and a cousin all have IBS symptoms. Whose knows how many of the other ones have something going on and just don't say anything.
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If you're not dead, you've still got time.
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Food is so tricky with infants already. I'm sorry your poor little one is in pain. Have you seen a doc about this? You may be cutting things from your diet that he needs.
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***********************
If you're not dead, you've still got time.
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Have you spoken to your doctor? Loose stools are very common in nursing babies (yellowish/mustardy) but if it is real diarreah than maybe something else is wrong. My non-medical guess though would be that he is having trouble with something you are ingesting. How about the veggies you eat? Any pattern there? My son was premature and severely colicky for 7 months. No matter what he ingested, it was just developmental b/c his system was so sensitive. He had all sorts of digestive problems...from d to c to green poop/gas, reflux, etc..
I've never heard of ibs for infants...it seems unlikely based on the plausible causes out there for IBS. I'd be curious to hear what others think. Hope your baby feels better. I know it can be very tough to see him suffering.
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Originally IBS-D for a million years!
Then IBS-A, Now a transformed slightly C
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Interesting about colic possibly being IBS in infants but I tend to think otherwise. I'm not really sure of my reasoning...I don't have any medical research to back it up, but from experience I can say that my first born (premature by just over 5 weeks) had it horribly for 7 months and still spit up solid foods at age one. I had only nursed him for about 6 weeks and I swear that when he had the breast milk from my freezer he was fine. It did coincide with the 6 week marker for maybe colic starting, but like I said...breast milk for a day...and then fine. Without it, hypoallergenic/soy/whatever formula...threw it up usually and wretched in pain with the arched back obviously in tremendous pain. (For those of you who have gone through it, you know what I'm talking about. Poor thing:() So doc suggested Lactaid for the next year (since at the time I thought I was lactose intolerant), he was fine, then went to cow's milk at age 2 and has had a rock-hard stomach since (except if he eats too much junk food which he is not used to).
I swore I would nurse my daughter longer b/c I was petrified history would repeat itself...so I did...and she had the nightly hours of crying, but just the typical baby stuff...I wouldn't classify as colic at all. I know breast fed babies can be colicky too..but I guess I was lucky that I could eat most anything.
I do think that digestive problems are related in families (they call it the family curse on my mother's side...my great-uncle has always traveled with t.p. in his car trunk  ), but as for newborns, I think it is an immaturity of their system (if not a recognized allergy). Like for the same reasons they spit up (some lots, almost all at least a little)...that muscle (whatever it's called) that holds the food down is not that strong yet so it comes back up.
Just my opinion....no need for debate. Whatever it is, what a shame it is that us parents can just stand by and watch them in pain. In retrospect, I should have taken my son to a gastro- to maybe go on prilosec or something. He took levsin and the simethicone for the gas but they didn't help.
Anyhow, sorry this turned out to be so lengthy. To the original poster, I hope you can figure out what will soothe your little one.
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Originally IBS-D for a million years!
Then IBS-A, Now a transformed slightly C
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Has your baby been seen by an allergist or gastroenterologist? When my son was an infant, he was tested for allergies and I had to eliminate LOTS of food. My diet was basically bananas, applesauce and rice until he weaned at 13 months. Before going on this diet, you need to have your baby tested. Breastfeeding already puts alot of stress on mom's body, no need to go on a strict diet until you know exactly what he's allergic to.
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My son had terrible eczema and colic. I knew a little bit about food allergies, as my sister had discovered she had a dairy intolerance, so I cut out dairy. He improved a bit, but still had nasty flare-ups of eczema. I knew that tomatoes were a likely allergen, so I cut those out of my diet, too - and the improvement was dramatic! I did all these under my doctor's supervision, and he commented on the improvement in my son's skin condition in a matter of days. Ever since then, he has avoided cows' milk and tomatoes, and only has flare-ups of eczema when he accidently eats something with dairy in it, like biscuits. Also, he has a very sensitive digestion, and often has painful gas and cramping tummy ache, also C. (He is 15 now).
My father always had to watch what he ate, and my mum still suffers with digestive problems, although less so than when she was my age (40s). My sister also has IBS. So I have no doubt that IBS runs in families.
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