My daughter's six week old baby has not had a bowel movement in over a week. He's totally breast fed. She is concerned. Any suggestions?
Thank you everyone for your helpful responses. It's wonderful to have access to so many mothers willing to share their experiences with their little ones. The suggestions helped.
It can be very normal and one of the great perks of breastfeeding, the other perk being no constipation. They absorb all the nutrients of the breast milk and if the mom is eating well it's a not brainer.
If baby seems severely bloated and cranky, a call to the doc would be warranted.
Hi M.,
I hear a lot of parents complain their babies are not having bowel movements everyday. It is important that everyone even babies need to have bowel movements every day as it helps to release toxins. I have my grand babies on jadegreens as well as healthy water that I add to the formula to give the babies proper hydration and enzymes. They go everyday. They are breast fed also.
If you would like more info email me and I will share what I am sharing with many parents and it is making a difference.
Have a good day,
N. Marie
____@____.com
It can be normal, I'd call my doc, but my first was like that. He would go to days and days and then have a massive blow out. He was totally healthy. My third just never stopped pooping! So both can be completely normal. My first did have pretty bad reflux so I figure between what he used for nutrition nd what he threw up, there just wasn't much left to poop!
call the dr....better safe than worried. :)
Completely normal with breast fed babies. They digest a lot faster. Wouldnt be concerned unless baby is acting bothering or ill.
No need to worry. BF babies use everything they drink. All digested so nothing left over, so to speak.
i've had one child that would poop 5-6 times a day (even now that he's older he goes about 3 times a day). Then my daughter would only poop every 7-9 days - though it would be a massive blow out.
my daughter went almost 2 weeks without pooping around that age. i called the doc after 5 days--they said totally normal. As others have said, if he seems uncomfortable, then i'd call the doc.... but he's breastfed, so i wouldn't worry about it!
That's totally normal, it happens, but if he doesn't have one soon and she's worried, she can give him some baby apple juice (I used the Gerber brand). The general rule is one ounce per month old, so at six weeks old I'd try one ounce first and give him another half if it doesn't do anything, but I'd expect a blow-out after the first ounce! :-)
Dr. Jack Newman (breastfeeding expert) said in his book (Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers) the longest he's seen a breastfed baby go without pooping is 30 days.
However, there was an article that came out recently about the infant gut and microbes. http://holisticibclc.blogspot.com/2011/06/gut-microbes-an...
His behavior is the best gauge.
My daughter went every 5 days like clock work. She can ease her mind by calling the doctor but it's totally normal :) Congrats on the addition to your family!
Breast milk is almost completely digestible so in a lot of breast fed babies they don't poop a lot or that often.
The best measure of if they are getting enough is how often they soak a diaper and they should be gaining weight.
Their most rapid weight gain is in their first 5 months and the rule of thumb is they just about double their birth weight by month 5, then it takes to their first birthday to weigh 3 times their birth weight.
My son was 9 lbs 1.5 oz at birth, 18 lbs at month 5 and 25 lbs at 1 yr (which wasn't quite tripled but his Dr was quite happy with his weight gain).
Both my children were like this. Though I knew it was normal, they both did seem a little uncomfortable towards the end. What worked for me: put them on the changing table and just hang out (keep the air temp warm). It sometimes helps to wipe their bottom and massage a little bit. Bring their legs up and down many times and play games. You can also do gentle belly massage.
My son, for some weird reason, didn't like pooping in a diaper. He would wait until he was on the changing table and let go. It was such a mess but he was happy and more regular. I got used to it and was better prepared. It helped that we used cloth diapers and a diaper service.
My daughter was the same one. My doctor assured ne that once a week is sometimes the norm for breast fed babies. However, when I noticed thstvshe was struggling to go, the doctor advised me to help her, by laying her in her back, rubbing her belly and gently holding her feet while pushing her legs to her chest. This would help her to push. Just remember to keep her covered! I learned that the hard way. Ithe doctor also said I could put a couple of drop on corn syrup in her breastmilk in a bottle and that would help. That worked as well. Just don't give too much.
Take care. I know you feel for your baby, but you will find what works for your baby.
My baby went two full weeks once. It's extremely normal.
She needs to mention it at her drs appt but my son got to a point he pooped every 11 days. Like clockwork. I think he was older than 6 weeks though. My doc called him, efficient.
Because he's breastfed bowel movements can be anywhere from once or twice a day daily or 10 days in between.
Breastmilk is much more efficiently digested than any other food so there's often very little waste left.
I'd really talk to the doctor if I were you. That's a long time to without pooping. My kids were breast fed too and they had at least one poop a day, usually more, even when I was exclusively breastfeeding them.
Please talk to the doctor if it goes on much longer.
Dawn
