pooping while he sleeps?

[Jocie]

Hi my son is 3 weeks and 3 days old. Breastfeeding seems to be going well. Is it normal for BF babies to poop while sleeping? This is new to me, my first child who was formula fed never did have bm's in her sleep.

Thanks!

[Starflower]

My DD used to poop at night for awhile.

Here's a link to previous MDC thread and poll about it.
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=147783

Welcome to MDC.

[Jocie]

I forgot to mention that he has several dirty diapers throughout the day. Often times its just a small amount of poo like its happening whenever he just passes gas. The amounts vary but I lose count how many pooped diapers he has in a day. Just thought it might be worth mentioning.

Thanks for the reply and welcome Star.

[Starflower]

Jocie,

If I remember right, I think my DD pooped pretty much every time she nursed for the first few weeks. I would nurse her, and then DH would change her diaper. After awhile (I don't remember how long) it lessened.

If your baby is healthy, growing and the poops aren't showing any signs of blood or excessive mucous, I wouldn't worry about it. If you are going to the ped soon, you could ask them about it.

Or maybe there is a nurse-line you could call? Our hospital had a breastfeeding hotline and very BF friendly baby classes which I found helpful.

[sunnygir1]

Both of my breast fed babies poop(ed) at night. Dd went through a stage for several months where there was some poop in every single diaper I changed. I wasn't concerned, and neither was my family doc. I think it is within the range of normal. You want to watch out for runny, watery, or green poops because they indicate diarrhea.

[maggie80]

I believe my DD stopped pooping during the night around 5-6 weeks. I remember I was relieved b/c I was worried about the poo giving her a rash (it seemed like every diaper had a little poo in it). Now that she is 5 months and EBF she only goes every 3-4 days!

[mamadelbosque]

DS1 pooped at night for the first couple months as I recall... DS2 is still pooping at night occasionally (10 weeks) though its definetly lessoned hugely over the past couple weeks - from absolutely every night, to every 2-3 nights, and often waking up fully to do so. Good luck!!

[Sleepyheaded_Mama]

ALL my babies pooped in their sleep - day or night - when they were newbies. As well as while awake. In fact, I recall them pooping every. single. time. they. nursed. I don't remember now how old they were when that ceased happening so frequently, but yeah, it was a rare dipe that contained only urine for the first few months at least. I never worried and neither did our ped. I just figured that's the beauty of breastmilk, it is so gentle on their system and so easy to digest. And my babes were all big chunkers, so obviously they were retaining what they needed, lol.

[Chloe'sMama]

Until DD was around 2 months old, we had to change her diaper each time she ate (every 2 hours or so...)

I think after around 2 months, she went down to only pooping at night every few nights.

[ck1]

DS poops at night. Even at 16 weeks old! Now that he sleeps 11-12 hours you can image the poop that's ready to great us each morning. We hear him "exploding" at various times in the night, and then he just goes back to sleep. We ended up using a diaper cover to contain it all, otherwise he woke up in a poo-pile.

In the early days I would wake him to change his diaper, but then he'd wake up and I would loose sleep trying to put him back to bed. Instead I just let him go, he seems fine with it, if he's not he'll cry.

In the morning I air him out by fanning the diaper on him until he's dry, or let him do naked tummy time, that seems to help with diaper rash issues.