7 week old, no bowel mvt in 48 hours

[Nicole915]

I have a 7 week old daughter, who is breastfed. She is having normal wet diapers, but has not had a bowel movement in 48 hours. Should I be worried?

She is eating/sleeping/acting normal in all other respects. I have not changed my diet, and am not on any meds other than the herbal supplement Fenugreek and a daily vitamin. Her bowel movements before this have been yellow/brown with the seed look that is typical of breastfed babies. She is very occasionally supplemented with formula via the SNS (up to 60mL per day), the last time she had any formula was Saturday.

Thanks in advance, sorry if this is a total new mom neurotic moment.

[fruitfulmomma]

It is normal for breastfed babies to go a few days without pooping. I would not be concerned unless she acted like she was uncomfortable and/or stopped peeing.

After 5 babies, I *know* this and I still get crazy when it happens.

[tinuviel_k]

Yep, I remember this well. I forget just how old she was (8 weeks? 12?) but when my EBF baby pretty much stopped pooping for a few days I got really worried. A few days turned into a few more, and by day 5 I was freaking out.

To make a long story short, my daughter settled into a "poop once every 5-7 days" routine. I'll tell you, it made cloth diapering really easy. Though by day five or six I was a little scared to leave the house because of the impending mega-poop that was sure to come within a day or two.

She did this until the day she decided to start eating solid foods at 12 months old. Then she started to have consistent once-a-day poops.

It turns out I was the exact same way as a baby. it scared the pants of my mom at first, too!

[tessie]

Originally Posted by fruitfulmomma

It is normal for breastfed babies to go a few days without pooping. I would not be concerned unless she acted like she was uncomfortable and/or stopped peeing.

Yup. There's less waste with breastmilk so less to poo out. (Mine went the other way and pooed after pretty much every feed for months but she likes to be different.)

[lalemma]

My baby poops once every 6-8 days. I knew that breastfed babies did this, and it still freaked me out the first time it happened.

To make a long story short, my daughter settled into a "poop once every 5-7 days" routine. I'll tell you, it made cloth diapering really easy. Though by day five or six I was a little scared to leave the house because of the impending mega-poop that was sure to come within a day or two.

YES. Hahaha...

[freckledgirl]

My pediatrician said seven times a day, once every seven days, or anything in between is fine!

[Carlyle]

My dd was a once a week pooper for a while there when she was exclusively breastfed. Once I was able to stop worrying about it, it was lovely!

[Nicole915]

Thanks sooo much for the peace of mind. Its so great to have some amazing women with so much collective wisdom at my disposal. Thank you!!!

[Abraisme]

It's totally normal. Both of my children started pooping a lot less around 2mo. My DS only went once every 7 days and my DD goes every 4-5 days. I also freaked out when my first child didn't go for several days. After a trip to the pediatrician I found out that it's normal.

[SeekingSerenity]

Originally Posted by tinuviel_k

... my daughter settled into a "poop once every 5-7 days" routine. I'll tell you, it made cloth diapering really easy. Though by day five or six I was a little scared to leave the house because of the impending mega-poop that was sure to come within a day or two.

Originally Posted by Abraisme

It's totally normal. Both of my children started pooping a lot less around 2mo. My DS only went once every 7 days and my DD goes every 4-5 days. I also freaked out when my first child didn't go for several days. After a trip to the pediatrician I found out that it's normal.

to both of those.

My 3rd child was the first one that freaked me out with the Poop-Every-4-Days routine. The pediatrician wanted me to give her corn syrup mixed with water in a bottle. My mom was the one that said don't worry about it.

Baby #4 consistently pooped at around 4pm every Thursday from the time he was about 8 weeks old until his first birthday or so. I used disposables and had a Diaper Genie... it took almost 6 months before I needed a refill cartridge! I swear, you could practically have set your watch by this kid's poop schedule.

None of my others ever did that. Of course #6, who is the cloth-diapered child, still poops like twice a day.

[Xavismom]

We are not to this point yet at 9 weeks, but I am VERY excited to see if it will happen soon, as we cloth diaper.

DS is currently having 3-4 a day still, which is still way better than him pooing after every nursing session like he was for a while!