Bowel Movements - Houston, TX

As others have said, this is perfectly normal. One word of warning -- with my boys, they would save it up for days; but when they went, no diaper in the world could have held it all. They always picked the most inconvenient moment to go, too. :)

Try adding a little bit of water to her diet if you are concerned about her bm. This will help her stay regular.

Hi T.,

don't worry it is perfectly normal. It's very unlikely that breastfed babies get onstipated according to my pd. I have a 3 months old and he has bm in every 4-5 days. Unless you see that her bm is hard and your baby is in pain you shouldn't worry. It means she absorbs more and more nutrition from the breastmilk.

Hi T.,

My BFed baby only pooped once every week to week and a half. On the days he did, it was a whole-day affair. It started out as being many times a day and at about that same age as your baby, it changed. At this age, the digestive system is just more mature.

This is perfectly normal. breastmilk is perfectly digestable and the bowels behave differently than if the baby is getting other foods. Please do not give your baby a suppository!!! This can be painful and harmful to her. Some bfed babies poop only a few times a month (like mine) and they are just fine.

Nature created babies to be able to communicate with moms when something is wrong. She has no symptoms of ill, it is just a new behavior. She is perfectly fine.

If this is the case on formula, however, you should push extra liquids and consult your pedi.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth! Ok, sorry, I know you are worried--but I thought something was wrong with my BF baby because she pooped EVERY time she ate.

In a way, the excess drool can be a clue, but not because she is teething. It is a normal digestive milestone...she is getting more efficient at digestion and hence creating less poo.

She COULD be teething, but that usually triggers looser, more frequent stools.

I remember this! Breast fed babies can do this. Sometimes bowel movements only once every 10 days! If she's not grumpy, and there's nothing hard indicating constipation just relax and go with it. It's completely normal for breast fed babies. I'm sure my son used to save it up for one gigantic movement, just when we were getting ready to go out and he was all dressed up in a cute outfit... LOL!
My midwife explained that because breast milk is so exactly tailored to their nutritional requirements, and constantly being "tweaked" by the close relationship between mother and baby, that there is not nearly as much waste as bottle fed babies. Hence less bowel movements.

I've read in several books that this can happen. It hasn't happened with my son, but if it did, I'd probably put in a quick call to the nurse just to be sure.

T., My daughter had the same problem. Rachelle did not have a bowel movement for four days, took her to doctor he said it is not uncommon for a baby to go up to 6 days without bowel movement. He told us just to go home and things would be ok. And it was ok

T.,

My youngest child was like this. I bf her exclusively and she would only go poop every few days. My other children had a BM every day and were bf so I was a little concerned. However, my DD never seemed to be in distress. I asked her pediatrician about it anyway and he said not to worry, everyone is different. Everyone has their "normal" bowel pattern. As my DD got older she started having a BM everyday and she's never had a problem with constipation.

It sounds like you are keeping a close eye on her and you obviously know the signs of constipation. I'd just keep doing what you're doing. That's the thing with children: as soon as you think you've got their routine figured out, they change! Good luck!

My daughter was the same way for many months and the peditrician said that it was normal for her not to go for several days since I was breastfeeding.

When she finally had a BM, it would usually cause her to strain and cry even though it was soft. I mentioned it to a friend of mine who's a pediatric surgeon and she said my little girl had a fissure probably inside her anus that wasn't able to heal since it reopened every time she went. She also said that my daughter was preventing herself from going since it hurt her until she absolutely had to. My friend then showed me what she was talking about and sure enough there was a tear. She then prescribed an ointment for the tear that would help heal and allow my daughter to have regular BM without all that pain.

She mentioned that this is very common for the little ones and most Pedis overlook it or don't consider it to be a problem. I didn't want my little girl to be uncomfortable if she didn't have to be so I to this day continue to use the ointment if she hasn't gone in a couple of days and it seems to work. Plus I don't have to give her something to make her have a BM.

Do NOT give her suppositories, nor rely on other things like apple or prune juice (or the dreaded "use a thermometer up there" trick). Breastfed babies can go as many as 12 days between BMs without any problems. She may have gone every day before, but now it's changed. Constipation is hard stools, not infrequent stools. 4 days is very very normal.

Hi! My daughter had the same thing happen to her at 6 weeks. The doctor assured me that breast fed babies can go up to a week without having a BM and it's perfectly normal. He told me to stop giving suppositories and let nature take its course because their systems are just trying to figure out how to work properly and it takes some time. After about four weeks of going three or four days without a BM she is back to having one every day now.

This is perfectly normal and extremely common with breastfed babies. Our daughter did the same thing starting around 3 or 4 months. As another mother pointed out, breast milk is highly digestible and your baby's system have just matured to the point where she can absorb more and more of the nutrients from the milk. As long as she isn't acting like she's in pain and her bowels are normal when she does have them (just be prepared for A LOT), it's nothing to worry about. If you're concerned about it, it certainly can't hurt to give your pediatrician a call. He'll probably check her tummy to make sure it's alright and then tell you not to worry about it.

T.,

My kids have always been good poopers. (sorry that sounds so funny :) Any way, my youngest was doing great, going every day and then around 5 months he stopped for 4 days. We took him to the dr, but they said not to worry. Unfortunatly they were wrong. He was extremly impacted with very hard poop and could not go. My mother is an RN so she called one of her friends that is a pediatric RN and we had to help him poop using q-tips and vasaline. It was either that or the Dr. said to take him to the ER and have them do it.

Now he takes 1 teaspoon of Flax seed oil every day to help him go, and he has prescription stuff so that if he doesn't at least go a little every day I can get things moving.

If this is the first occurance I wouldn't be too troubled, but you may want to ask the DR, if there is hard poop blocking the way out for the rest.

Good luck
R.
www.roxannebruce.pureromance.com

teething can cause this problem.

Hi T.,
you might try putting some white Karo syrup in some water between feedings....about 1-2 TBs per 4oz.... this should help. It is kinda an old fashioned remedy but it works.
Good luck and blessings

If she is not acting uncomfortable I would not worry about it. This is normal for babies this age. I had the same concerns when my son was that old. Try and stay away from the suppositories unless absolutely necessary. There pretty harsh on them, I always used a little prune juice in the bottle, like a tablespoon and that always did the trick.

It is perfectly normal for breastfed babies to go up to a week without a BM. They're just using all the goodness of the milk, it's all being absorbed into their body, so no waste. I know it feels weird not to do anything, but it really is normal. I didn't give my daughter any suppository unless it had been over a week.
Good luck & God bless!
H. B

Don't worry about it. My son was only breast fed and he went 7 days once without pooping. The pedi told me that was normal and I read in a book that they're just digesting better now. I also read that constipation is not the lack of a bowel movement but what the poop actually looks like. So if your daughter poops and its like hard pebbles then she would need some help like prunes or something. So it's ok.

Hi T.,

Solely breastfed babies can go up to 21 days without a movement according to LaLeche league. The reason is that they use allof the milk and there is less and less waste.

My son would regularly only go every 10-14 days and this is considered normal for a breastfed baby.

If your baby is happy and not acting constipated then there is no need to use a suppository.

I hope this helps.