My 4 month old hasn't pooped in 3 days. He is mostly breastfed but does get a bottle of formula from time to time when I can't produce enough milk. What should I do?
Hey J....this isn't that huge of a deal. It happens for whatever reason. I was told, if you have a rectal thermometer, just put it in there and move it around, just a bit and that helped get things moving.
I had the same issue at 4 months. My Pediatrician said its totally normal. He did eventually have a movement.
Is he having wet diapers? Does he seem to be in any pain, or struggling to go poop and can't? My son is breastfed and there is no rhyme or reason to how often he poops. Right after he was born he pooped every time he ate. Then they tapered off to 3 or 4 per day. Then, out of nowhere, he would go only once every 4 or 5 days! Now we're back to once or twice a day. As long as everything else seems to be normal, I wouldn't worry. It's normal for BF babies to go awhile in between poops, and one theory is that they're having a growth spurt and they need everything they're eating to support growth so there's nothing left to poop out!! Now, if it's been more than a week or so, I might call the pediatrician to see if this warrants a visit, but in the meantime, get ready for the poopsplosion, because when he does go.......... ;)
I would call the pediatrician immediately. He is probably pretty uncomfortable. Infants poop pretty much as soon as more comes in their mouth, so 3 days is a long time (based on my multiple-poopy-diapers a day infants). I called my pediatrician's nurses for every little weird thing I did not understand and they were very helpful. I spoke with them many more times than we ever talked to the doctor. They expect new moms to have questions, so go ahead and call and you will feel better and so will your baby.
I do not think this is abnormal. My son was breastfed and around 3 months he went several days (may have been up to 5) and he ended up having a big blow-out on Easter! I'm sure that's what will happen here - just take extra diapers, wipes, and an extra outfit with you in case it does. Unless he has any other symptoms, I really wouldn't worry.
Be very careful with what formula you use- check out Weston Price for what to use if you are not nursing, as well as how to produce more, so this isn't necessary. For an alternative Barley "milk"- from slow cooking barley pearls(the roman army moved on barley!) has digestible protien- the problem with formula is it is all pasterized, and difficult to digest.
Baby has to go- the probiotic Bifidus is the best ph for babies- and I really respect the one made by Simplexity as the best I have found- find them on the internet, or send me a msg, and get him on this asap.
best, k
My breast fed daughter had a record of 5 days with no BMs - our pediatrician said not to worry unless she was trying to poop and not able to...
When my son was a baby, he used to go for incredible lengths of time without pooping -- 8 or 9 days without a BM was not uncommon, and I think his record was 2 weeks! He wasn't a big eater then and has always been on the thin side (so was I when I was a kid. . .not anymore, sadly). This made my wife extremely worried, but there wasn't anything wrong with him. He simply grew out of it eventually.
If your doctor thinks he's OK, then just enjoy the fact that you're changing fewer stinky diapers than most of your friends. :)
EDIT: After looking at the other answers, I should mention that my wife didn't produce a lot of milk, so my son ended up drinking mostly formula. Again, he's perfectly healthy now.
Your milk supply is probably just fine - and at 4 months, I don't know why you'd think otherwise. If you are judging your milk production by how much you pump - PLEASE DO NOT! You must judge by if your child is hydrated, alert, and hungry. Cluster feeding is normal and necessary for your body to increase or decrease as needed for the infant's needs, so him breastfeeding a lot doesn't mean you are not producing enough, it means he is telling your body he's ready for more.
As for the pooping issue - - breastmilk is extremely easy to digest and most if it will go completely towards body function, not waste. Using formula in addition to breastmilk may be working against you... formula usually causes a cycle of constipation and diarrhea. Start giving less formula, give yourself and your body more confidence, keep hydrated, eat a well balanced foods (attempt to limit dairy and caffeine products), and don't stress so much!
Keep track of the firmness of the bowel movements - they should be firm but not hard. As long as they stay like that and are not little round, hard pebbles, then your son is getting enough breastmilk.
Put him on baby probiotics~keep him off grains.
Very common in breastfed babies especially if you have started rice cereal. At about this age my daughter was only going once a week and my dr. said as long as it was soft when it came out, she should be fine. If he's still having normal wet diapers and doesn't appear to be in pain, I'll bet he's fine. That being said I always go ahead and the pedi if I know I'm going to constantly worry until they tell me everything is ok.
I was with my daughter and my grandson's 1 month doctor's appointment a few days ago. The doctor told my daughter not to worry, that some babies only poo every 7 days. But, the doctor did say she wanted a phone call if the baby hadn't had a poo after 5 days.
I have a 2 month old who only goes once a week. I get paranoid and keep asking my pediatrician if it's normal and he says breast milk is 80+% water so naturally they'll have more pee diapers (which she does). He did tell me that if a week comes & she doesnt go, a rectal temp check will relax her muscles and help her go?
Hope I helped a little. Good Luck with little one! :)
what are you eating? I am also wondering what the reason is for you to not have enough milk for your 4 month old. Are you drinking lots of water? Make sure to eat LOTS of healthy green leafy veggies, fresh wholesome grains (not bread but the real grain itself), NO dairy products and you should be able to produce lots of milk. I only ate beans, veg, grain, nuts and seeds and a bit of fruit and had so much milk I wanted to donate. You can also eat fenugreek seeds to lactate more.
It's not uncommon for breastfed babies to have infrequent bowel movements, but if this is a sudden change for your grandson, keep an eye on it. If he seems to be experiencing pain, or eventually has a large, hard poop or many hard small pellets, he's constipated. If the poop is soft, he's probably fine.
A good, short-term, emergency-only fix is a liquid glycerin suppository for babies. You should check with his doctor if this becomes a chronic problem.
Here's one informative link on the topic:
http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/04_bf_cns...
In a breastfed baby, variations in pooping patterns are perfectly normal!
I agree that you should drop the formula, though--you will make enough milk if you nurse. The baby's demand will change your supply, so just let him have those days when he nurses A LOT and then he'll go back to his normal schedule when he gets your milk supply up. Plus, they get more efficient at "emptying" the breast as they get old. (In quotes because they're never really empty.)
I can't say enough how normal it is for their pooping and eating to change periodically, especially when they're growing!
