New Born hasnt pooped in 2 week.

[SamuraiMom]

Ethan is 3 weeks old today, He passed mec in the first week, but has passed nothing else since his Bris. He wasn't gaining back his birth weight, and in fact was losing weight into the 2nd week, but he was alert when awake, nursing well, and filling diapers, peeing that is. My Dr. suggested that I try a little formula to top him off after bfing, so I gave him an oz a day for three days which he DID pass as poop over a few days. We did go back for another weigh in and he gained 3 oz in 3 days. .... So why isn't he pooping out my breast milk???? I just left a message for my MW and we are going to see his Dr. in a bit. Our 2nd DD didnt poop for a week after her mec poops, but this is too long!

[cristeen]

If he's not getting enough BM, he won't poop. How are his diapers?

[theretohere]

How often is he peeing? How much? Is he still gaining?

[cheryllynn]

My DD had issues at the beginning with passing stools. We had two separate nurses show us how to do rectal stimulation to help release the stool. You could ask for help with that at your next appt.

If supply is an issue, I think there is a way where you can bring in baby and have baby weighed, then nurse, then have baby weighed again which should give you a good idea of how much baby is getting. I'm not exactly sure I like the formula idea. Adding formula will not help increase supply.

Does DS have any hard areas in his belly, something that would indicate a blockage or constipation?

[SamuraiMom]

He's peeing alot. I am changing diapers every 2-3 hours, before he nurses. And he seems to be getting alot.

[SamuraiMom]

Ya, I'm not doing the formula thing anymore, we are just nursing more and wearing him as much as possible. He just "climbed" up my belly to my chest! He's so funny. I was thinking of doing a before and after feeding at the dr's visit today, maybe he isn't getting enough. My intuition tells me he is fine, if he passed the mec and the little bit of formula I gave him, than we know his pooper works ! We'll go see the good doc and see what he says. He's a very supportive dr when it comes to alternative choices and wasn't really into the idea of formula feeding, I think he just wanted to see if it would help. Eldest DD took him into the tub w/ her this a.m. to soak his bum in warm water..... I am thinking some stimulation might be needed too....

[Carma]

My babies also didn't poop a lot from my breastmilk, sometimes weeks at the time. They were a bit older than 3 weeks when they had that phase, but well before 6 months (when we started trying solids). Remember breastmilk can be digested 100%. If your baby poops with the formula doesn't mean he didn't get enough without formula. If you baby is peeing enough there should be enough breastmilk.

Carma

[SamuraiMom]

Dr. , MW and I all agree to just keep going along as we have been and if he still hasn't pooped by next Wed, than we will bring him back and do more. The Dr. used a small plastic tube to stimulate and we got a little something out, I'm sure he will poop soon!

[pumpkinhead]

Personally, I'd want a 3 weeker who was having trouble gaining back his birth weight and who wasn't pooping seen my a health care provider.

Does he have an alert period at all? Does he nurse for at least 10-15 minutes? Does he cry and fuss a lot?

[D_McG]

Originally Posted by pumpkinhead

Personally, I'd want a 3 weeker who was having trouble gaining back his birth weight and who wasn't pooping seen my a health care provider.

Does he have an alert period at all? Does he nurse for at least 10-15 minutes? Does he cry and fuss a lot?

Agree. How is his weight gain now? Losing weight into the second week would worry me.

[pumpkinhead]

Woops, looks like you just had him seen . I hope he poops soon. Is he gaining now?

[littlemizflava]

im not really much help but i have a sugestion. have you thought about trying to EC him? the way you would hold him in your arms could help with him pooping also a potty like the little bg would make him in to a more natural pooping postion. some babies have a natural EC instinct.

i know my dd was really bad when she was small. she would hold it till i put her on the tolet she refused to go in a diaper. my ds was like this also but not as bad as her. when he was 6m he held his poop for 2 weeks cause we were not him. as soon as we reached home i didnt even get him out of the carseat before it was a huge blow out.

[mkksmom]

I used to do a belly massage and then take her temp rectally and get my little one to hopefully sit or sleep in the swing. This combo sometimes helped. The position of the swing really helped. Here is a video of the massage I used to do, but I also bicycled her legs in addition to this.

For both of my girls, it seemed to take a bit before they really got the hang of pooping. I didn't really worry about it unless they seemed uncomfortable and things have just evened out over time.

[annettemarie]

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[Boot]

My understanding is that they should be pooping several times a day at this age. I believe that it's older breastfed babes where not pooping isn't a concern. I would see a lactation consultant if I were you. It sounds like he may not be getting enough breastmilk. Also, have you tried posting your question on the breastfeeding forum here?

[bender]

My son was a low pooper as well, but he was alert and nursing well. However, he wasn't getting enough milk, which was confirmed with a weighed feeding. My mama intuition said things were fine, but they weren't. I'd do a weighed feeding if you can, just to be sure.

[Jane]

If he's not pooping and he's not gaining weight, he must not be getting enough, no? I mean, it's not all going to make body heat. If he were getting adequate amounts of milk, and not pooping, he should be full of poo and heavier than expected. I would be concerned enough to probably rent/buy a scale for daily weigh-ins. A very accurate lactation/preemie scale can do before and after nursing weights. Less accurate scales can do daily comparisons.
I do worry about babies who pee and don't poo, b/c pee is not a very good estimate of baby's intake, the way dirty diapers are. Even severely dehydrated infants can pee a lot of clearish pee, for weird new-baby reasons.
Do you have an alternative source of breastmilk? Perhaps a 20 ounces or so from someone's freezer stash could help? I hate to introduce formula to new baby who has a willing and able mother to nurse him, if just for bowel bacteria superstitions. But I would take a chance on overfeeding him for a week to see if he responds well.
Another option is to pump after feeds and top him off with your own breastmilk. In cases of missing weight gain, it's usually one of four things:
1. milk not there in breasts - retained placenta, mom had blood loss, pituitary problems, breast reduction, other rare stuff that is not applicable if you nursed other babies
2. baby can't get it out - there's a mismatch on feeding somewhere, tongue tie, lip tie, bad suck, bad latch, missed cleft palate, baby too premature, baby too sleepy to nurse enough, baby has headache from birth
3. chill baby issues - baby is so chill and undemanding that he doesn't get enough time at the breast, also known as third baby syndrome, where baby #3 just fits in so well and chills out and doesn't fuss and get popped on the boob enough and mom is chasing other kids. I recommend 40 minute feedings, minimum, both boobs in that time. 8 feedings minimum per day. Wake baby if more than 2 hours has passed since the end of the last feeding. Continue this until baby passes birthweight. Pass out in exhaustion from effort.
Good luck! I'm cautiously optimistic!

[pumpkinhead]

I do think that no poop at this age is a concerning factor. Later on it isn't but until he has gained back his birth weight and is steadily gaining, it's definitely a concern.

[lmclanahan]

I agree. Passing nothing but meconium by three weeks is a big red flag. You can have an alert, hydrated baby who is not transferring milk as well as they could be. My third child was like this. She ended up nursing for 5 years, so obviously, we fixed it. :-) I pumped after nursing and finger/cup fed her an ounce or two before nursing. It perked her up more and her nursing improved. It took me 2-3 weeks to see that she had a real problem, because she was peeing so much, and was very alert.
A baby this age should be having typical breastmilk stools, usually 3-5 times a day, at least once a day. Babies vary, of course, but not having ANY is the main concern.
Has anyone actually observed this baby nursing? If not, that is the first step. I was a LLL Leader, with 7 1/2 years of nursing under my belt, and it took a more trained eye than mine to spot the problem my daughter was having!!

It sounds like baby is not in any immediate danger, I am more concerned for your long-term milk supply if this continues. During this time, you are setting the stage for this baby's and your nursing relationship, and the better the milk transfer, the better.

My daughter started pooping again about 3 days after we started the ebm. I only needed to do this until she was 6 weeks old. She then had bms every 2-3 days. They were the normal yellow, seedy stools we look for.