newborn and poop--Update

[Therese's Mommy]

DD was born Tue night. By Thur she had passed all her meconium and had a transitional poop. Since then she has had one poop and one squirt (both transitional). It is now Sunday night. I am beginning to worry. She is wetting a lot of diapers, but she wants to nurse almost non stop. She is passing a lot of gas, but it doesn't in any way seem painful for her, it just comes out. I hear her belly making a lot of noises. She is pretty content, but when she wants the breast, she wants it. If she is crying I don't have any problem calming her, usually she wants the breast. Do I have reason to worry?

I hate these first couple of weeks. Even though this is my 3rd bfed baby (the other 2 weaned after 2+ years so I am no amateur), I still cannot relax and just enjoy my baby. Adding to my stress is the fact that my second child has lots of food allergies and I am so worried this one will have them as well (my first has no allergies at all).

So what do you think? Thanks.

Beth

[mysticmomma]

it's what my dd 10/9 just did. now she is pooping every other day.

[PatioGardener]

If baby is not a sleepy/lazy nurser, is actively transfering milk, and is making at least 6 heavy wet diapers in 24 hours (heavy = 3 tbsp of water in a diaper) then I wouldn't be overly worried, but I'd still keep a close eye on things.

La Leache League have a great article on newborn stool counts - and explain why stooling is important in newborns and what to look out for/some ideas to help things http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/LV/L...an98p123.html#

From that article:
"If a fully breastfed newborn younger than 6-8 weeks old is not producing several yellow, seedy bowel movements each day, the Leader may encourage the mother to:
Have the infant's weight gain and well-being checked by a health care provider.
Practice effective positioning and latch-on techniques so baby holds nipple behind the milk sinuses.
Use breastfeeding strategies that allow the infant to take in more of the higher calorie hindmilk.
Possibly work to increase her milk supply, the length of feedings and the total number of feedings per day.
Infants with inadequate urination (wetting fewer than 6-8 cloth or 5-6 disposable diapers/nappies in 24 hours) require immediate medical referral. "

[Therese's Mommy]

She is still wetting a good number of diapers (I changed her when she got up and within an hour she was good and wet again) but still no poop. I am going to try and get her in for a weight check today. She was 9lbs at birth on Tue and on Thur she was 8lbs 6oz (so that is a 7% loss), but at that time my milk had not come in, at least not completely. As soon as it hits 9AM here I am calling the lactation clinic at my local hospital to see if they can get me in today. If not, perhaps I will see if I can take her to my mw for a check. I don't want to take her to the ped's office as the flu is rampant around here right now and I would be going there with 2 other kids in tow...not a good situation.

[PatioGardener]

I agree - avoid the flu!!!

If you get a weight check, remember that different scales may vary by 0.5-1 lb! A good infant scale, and then using that scale the next time you weigh is the best way to get accurate weight gain.

Oh - and be ready for a pooplosion at any time Probably when baby is in a car seat...

[Therese's Mommy]

Originally Posted by PatioGardener

Oh - and be ready for a pooplosion at any time Probably when baby is in a car seat...

Yeah, I keep thinking how happy I will be to have to clean up an awful poopy mess

I am going to the local lactation clinic tomorrow morning. I didn't bother calling my mw because I found out one of her kids is sick. I don't want to expose mine, and probably more importantly I don't want to take her away from her sick child.

Still no poop. She has wet at least 7 diapers today. I will say that today is the first day that I feel she has a rhythm going with the sucking and swallowing. Before it was like she was out of sync or something. Also, I realized that perhaps I am not keeping her at a single breast long enough. After recently nursing a toddler, I have forgotten that it takes a newborn longer to get to the hindmilk. I am now making sure that she stays at a breast for a while and am paying more attn to how long she is at a breast. She definitely seems more satisfied today.

[Therese's Mommy]

I went for the weight check this morning. When I took her clothes off she had pooped, but she has gained a little less than an ounce since Thursday. I have made some changes in the last 36 hours and the lactation consultant thinks that is why she pooped. She simply wasn't getting enough hindmilk. I am now concentrating on keeping her sucking at a breast at least 10 minutes and am trying to do nothing but sit with her and nurse her anytime she seems willing. I will go in for another weight check on Friday if she isn't pooping regularly by then.

Beth

[PatioGardener]

I'm so glad you figured this out and have been working on it before the weight check - and now have another weight check for Friday too. That's great!

Poop is great (never thought I'd be writing that!) - was it typical breastmilk colour, or still that brown of meconium?

Keep working at it, Mama. You guys are doing awesome - both of you are learning. Every baby is different, and you'll figure this out together.

Please post again and let us know how it's going - especially if you get more poop!

[Therese's Mommy]

She pooped last night and overnight. The one last night was brown and runny/pasty. The one I changed this morning was more transitional looking. It was brown, but when I wiped her the wipe was yellow and it smelled like a bf poop. Unfortunately, both had blood in them She also had 2 poops last week that had blood in them, but the ped thought it was caused by blood swallowed in labor. I would be surprised if this was still from that....she was born a week ago. Around her anus the blood vessels red and my mom thinks that blood vessels right inside have burst, but I am not so sure. I would think that the blood would be alot brighter. I posted another thread about it, but no one has responded.

Beth