Hi I have a 10 week old daughter (6 weeks preemie) she is strictly BF and she hasn't had a BM since a week ago Monday. She is passing very smelly gas but there is no BM. Her doctor says this is normal for BF babies - have any of you had this problem? Also do you have any suggestions to help her have a BM? She is normally not in any pain but sometimes as she paases gas she'll cry (constipation?) - Thanks you
M., Are you nursing? If so, my first child as a new mom was definately a learning experience when planning my meals. I found that although my meals agreed with my needs they did not always agree with his. One example I found was to try a food a day- that was the best way for me to identify if this was good or bad for my son. Possibly keeping a journal may help the new mom learning curve and share with your pediatrican. Good luck!
I think the advice you have gotten so far sounds great. I didn't know that if a mom increased fiber in her diet it would effect the breast milk that much, I am sure if you ate prunes that would help too! That would mean that what you have eaten since her last bm could have constipated her. Did you eat more bananas, white flour or cheese recently than you normally would have? All those foods can be constipating. Also, I have heard that some newborns who are breastfed (once they are 2-3 months old) can go for several days w/o a bm because the breast milk is so well digested that there is little left as waste to make up much of a bm. Another reason may be that the bm is so liquidy that it isn't putting enough pressure on the inside of her anus when she pushes and strains for the bm to come out. Think about what her bm's normally look like, this may be the case. Good luck!
Hi M.!
I would listen to your doctor...it is very normal for BF infants to go a very long time without a BM and be just fine. My own BF daughter went for about a week every so often and I have heard of perfectly healthy infants going as long as three weeks or so. Babies who are strictly BF almost never get "constipated" their bodies just use the breast milk very efficiently =) Congratulations on your little one!
I've heard that if you have canned pears and then breastfeed, it can help move things along. But maybe only start with a few pears. A friend of a friend got this advice and ate a whole can. That evening, her baby blew her diaper off, with the resulting mess going all over the walls of the nursery.
Good luck.
My son was breastfeed and I also supplemented with formula during the first few weeks of my sons life because he didn't have a bowel movement for 9 days. My issue was that my son wasn't getting enough BM resulting in no bowels and that's why I had to supplement. As long as your baby is gaining weight I wouldn't been too concerned. My doctor did say mention though that I could put a teaspoon of prune juice in the formula to help with constipation. Call your nurse hotline if you have one and ask if prune juice could help or if they have other advice to offer. Oh, and when my son did get his bowel movements back he only had 1 a day &/or would skip a day. He's now 3 months and typically has 1 bowel a day. I have friends that say their babies have bowels after every meal...it just proves that all babies are different.
