Constipation

So this is a weird one but my baby seems only able to poop while in her car seat. She has not pooped outside of her car seat since she was tiny. This means she can go days between poops but often as soon as we get in the car, she will start straining and crying until eventually she's able to go. We've been to a doctor about constipation and she gave us some laxative sachets but I cannot get her to drink them so she still doesn't poop on a regular basis. Other than sitting her in the car seat everyday regardless of if we're going anywhere by car I don't know how else I can help her. It's also an issue because as she's not going regularly, every single poop is a poonami, covering her clothes and her seat, so whenever I get to where we're going I have to do a full change in the back of the car (increasingly a problem with the weather) and then she will have to sit her in her poopy seat on the way home as I can never clean it properly with wet wipes. Has anyone experienced similar before? Or have any tips to get her bowels going regularly without the need to be in her car seat. Another type of laxative I could try that doesn't involve her drinking it? I've tried tummy massages and all that but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

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My little one got constipation while we were away and I fed him the Ella’s kitchen prunes which helped. Not sure what advice to offer beyond that as I’ve not dealt with this issue. The car seat thing could be due to the position she’s in. It can put babies in a position that makes it easier for them to poo, which is why she likely goes when she’s in it. Maybe see if there’s a way to replicate that body position in the house?

I agree with the prunes, every time he's struggling abit we whack those out and within the next few hours the pipes are cleared again 😅😂 we just get the Aldi one though

Might sound weird but try a potty! My baby was really similar, we often had poonamis in the car seat and once we started solids would go days without going and I saw her straining but often still no poop. Now I put her on the potty when I notice, or 20 mins after a feed if she hasn't been for a day or so and it works almost every time and is so much easier to clean up! If her poos are firmer I give homemade apple puree, always helps 😊

There’s a gap in the market for a car seat shaped potty! We are the same, she goes every time. Waitrose is 5 mins away and we usually factor in a detour there on the way to anywhere. Leave off the vest too until after the change. We usually put in a muslin down in case of any spills, maybe you could get a plastic backed sheet instead if it’s always a poonami. Won’t help the clothes but at least it’ll protect the car seat

My first would do this in her bouncer, which is very similar shape/angle to a car seat, and I assumed it was the angle/position that worked well. She grew out of it eventually (I'm sure by 1), but we joked we should cut a hole in the bottom and add a toilet as she was almost toilet trained already!! Have you got a bouncer you can try? Just pop in and ignore for a few minutes always worked for us! I've seen on other forums people recommending a cloth nappy over the disposable one in the car is helpful to contain the poos!

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