I'm trying to figure out what is wrong with my son. When he has to go to the bathroom, he cries hysterically. At first, I couldn't figure out why he was crying. I'd pick him up, burp him, try to feed him, bend his legs to relieve gas, nothing was working. Then, I would hold him sitting up with his knees bent and he would go to the bathroom. The crying would stop after that. Everytime he cries, I do the same thing, sit him up knees bent and he goes. Its not thick, so I don't thing it can be constipation. This has been going on for a few days. Now, I ate one or 2 oranges for a few days last week, usually I don't, so I think they would have caused gas. I haven't had any oranges for 2 days and still the same problems. Any advice on what could be wrong? Should I take him to the doctor even though he's going to the bathroom? It breaks my heart because he cries uncontrollably when this happens. He seems to be in so much pain when he has to go.

Does your doctor have a nurse you could consult? She might have a suggestion. Maybe it is gas that is just not easily relieved.

There is nobody on call at my doctor's office. Are stomach cramps/upset a symptom of teething? He seems to be chewing on his hands a lot and has been drooling like crazy for a while, more so now than before.

Are stomach cramps/upset a symptom of teething?




No...teething shouldn't cause an upset stomach.


There is nobody on call at my doctor's office.

Why not? My doctors has someone on call 24/7 and the offices that don't at least have an answering service to get ahold of someone if needed.


It's probably nothing to worry about, but i'd mention it to the doctor/nurse to see what they suggest.

Anytime that you suspect that your child is actually experiencing pain,it needs to be evaluated.something IS making him feel highly uncomfortable for whatever reason as his crying is the only way he has to tell you,this comes out in the way you are seeing.Babies or any other seemingly healthy person,should not be feeling pain.pain is normally(unless your spinal cord was damaged like mine)the indicator of our bodies way of telling us that something is wrong.in some cases,pain is the ONLY hint of something being amiss within our bodies.this poor little guy is quite obviously feeling 'something" is not right and is hurting him or he would not be crying the way he is.This could possibly be some sort of a colic type issue but that usually comes along with very hard stools too.being that the BMs appear to be okay and should be passing without a problem,there might possibly something else going on that really does need further evaluation."crying hysterically' really really does need to be looked into.he is obviouly suffering from something painful for whatever reason and this really does need to be found out.if at any time,you feel that his doc or any other doc is just blowing this off,don't let them and keep pushing it til you find out just what is causing your son so much incredible pain.you are his only advocate,he needs you to kick some a** when needed.i hope this ends soon for his sake and yours.please keep me posted.Marcia

I will call the doctor today and make an appointment. In Canada, many doctor's don't have after hours numbers. Its the price you pay for free healthcare. The ER is the other option when offices are closed. Waiting 5hrs for them to say everything is fine.

My daughter goes through the exact same thing and has since she was about 6 months, she is currently 10 months old. At times though, she has been constipated.

We have researched, gone to several Dr. appointments and tried many approaches. She simply does not like the sensation of going poop and will make herself uncomfortable trying to hold it. It is something that babies/kids go through according to the Drs. We've been told to encourage her and keep her eating a diet that will give her soft poo. This may be what your son is going through. I was unaware at first that she was holding it, until the Drs. evaluated her. Sure enough, she'd have to go at various times, she'd hold it until the feeling passed, then, by the time she just couldn't hold it any longer, she had given herself a stomach ache and her bottom hurt.

Definitely discuss it with your Dr. It's getting better for us now that she's crawling and furniture cruising around. We've been told most kids outgrow it at some point.

I was actually thinking about the same thing AlltheLarsons said. I had a cousin who was terrified of the whole pooping process. It got worse when they tried to potty train him. He would hold it until he couldn't anymore and basically make himself sick doing it. When they potty trained him, he held it so much he got an impacted bowel. He was literally stuffed with it. They too had to give him something everyday to soften it so he could go. It's a good idea to still talk to the doctor about it just in case but it could be the baby just doesn't want to poop.

How old is your baby??

I just got back from the doctor's. She checked him out head to toe, ears, throat, stomach.......she said about the stomach problems that everything looks fine. He may be getting cramps when he's about to have a bowel movement like we adults get sometimes. She also said he may be teething. There aren't any teeth yet, but some white spots on the bottom gums. She told me to keep an eye on him, if he gets a fever to bring him back. He's 12wks old.

DS just had a really good bowel movement. He hadn't gone all day, then he went a little bit at around 8pm. I laid him down and he woke up crying at 10pm. He started going and it was a lot! Here's the weird thing, it smelled funny. Not that stinky smell you would expect, it was like an old smell. I am trying to put my finger on what it was. I think that old dirty, musky sent is a good way. Is this weird or what?
I said he wasn't constipated, because he was going, but maybe there was some "stuck" in there and that's why he had the stomach problems?

Roxy, how is your DS doing? My DD is sucking her fists and drooling too. Just out of curiosity, have you introduced a new formula? I introduced a soy formula to mine (supplemental to b'f'ing) and her poop really smelled. Maybe he had a bit of trouble digesting?

Wow, good point you brought up. Yes, I did introduce a new formula, but when I went to the docs she said try eliminating dairy for a few days. I drink milk like crazy, so I stopped drinking it and he was fine. I do think the formula may have had something to do with it as well. I have a new formula and will try that a little bit at a time to see how he acts.