infrequent newborn poop?

[slgt]

DD#2 is 5 1/2 weeks. since about 2 weeks, she poops 1-2 times per day, and not even every day. normal?

[mrsdocmartin]

DD is just 3 1/2 weeks and is mostly the same way. She has gone every day, but sometimes just one or two little ones. She's gaining well though, so I'm not too worried.

[Knitting Mama]

A couple of questions. First, is she exclusively breast fed? Second, when she does poop, is it normal EBF consistency (mustardy, probably containing little curds/"seeds")? Third, is she peeing often and gaining weight well?

If the answer to all three of those is yes, then she is probably just fine. My daughter also didn't go often as an infant. My pedi explained to me that breast milk is often used very efficiently by the baby's body, and sometimes there's just not a lot of waste to get rid of. As long as weight gain is good and pees are good and she's not in obvious discomfort, then it's ok. She also explained to me that constipation is very rare in newborns, and when it does happen, it's more about the consistency of the poop (hard, generally) than it is about the frequency.

[calizacar]

Also need help.

What about a 3 month old??? DS poop has all of a sudden changed. Up until 2 weeks ago he was pooping a few times a day and it was pretty watery. Now, when he poops it a little more like poop and I think I'm going on day 6, possibly day 7 without a poop. Do I need to be concerned? Is that normal? Will it be an explosion when it finally decides to come out? A little worried.....

[slgt]

Cecelia'sMama - yes exclusively BF, yes gaining well, yes peeing. Consistency is different than I remember from DD#1 - much more liquidy, and slightly darker in color, no seeds. But, I took DD#2 to the doc today to have her weighed, because I am a paranoid mama. She's fine, gaining no problem over 1 oz. per day (go me!), so she is just using mama milk very efficiently. Hooray!

Calizacar - starting around I think 10 weeks, DD#1 once went for 10 days without a poop! I echo what PP said - it is extremely, extremely unusual for an exclusively BF baby to be constipated; they are just very efficient! I do remember consistency changes, but don't remember when they happened. if your child is on formula, there could be other considerations and constipation is possible.

My concern was more about adequate weight gain - and we're fine!

[calizacar]

Sigt, I'm EBF so that makes me feel better. It's just so hard when everything all of a sudden changes right?! Just when I thought I knew what to expect....... He's also eating less now during the day and seems to be making up for lost time at night. Is this also normal?

[Knitting Mama]

As long as he's still gaining, still peeing and isn't in obvious discomfort, it's probably totally normal. There have been times when my daughter was between growth spurts where she suddenly dropped off in her nursing-- it was very noticeable, because I make only about a half supply and use donated breast milk for the other half. Suddenly her supplemental milk intake was way down! But within a couple of weeks she was growth-spurtin' again, and her intake went right back up.

[calizacar]

Huh, that's really interesting. He has been growing like a weed so far so that could be why he was eating so much. And he definitely goes to town when he is hungry. Wet diapers are still present and maybe not as many but that would be normal if he were eating less. I didn't think about the growth spurt factor. He's also started teething and I hear sometimes babies don't eat as much during that time as well.
Thanks for the advice. It's just so hard to know sometimes, especially when you haven't done this before.

[Knitting Mama]

Oh I know! I feel so lucky to have a good support group around me and an awesome pedi who is really very AP!