5 week old, 8 days no poop

[CookAMH]

...and she's in discomfort. She'll be in to her ND on Tuesday for a WBV. From some reading, I believe it's too early for her to have such infrequent poops. She hasn't even had a single squirt since last Saturday. 

Here's what I've been doing and I'm open for suggestions

- block feeding, since Saturday (dealt with forceful letdown with first baby, a little bit with this one but not quite as bad). Plenty of wet diapers but she hasn't been emptying the breast each feeding (and I rarely offer the other side b/c she is full) - she pops off and is done and wants the paci, angry at milk after a while

- tummy massage with each diaper change that she is calm, the one from LLL with downward motions, then circular, then bicylces

- I know there are differing opinions on this, but today I tried stimulating her bowls with a thermometer, and maybe 1/4 tsp came out (nice yellow bf poop which was good to see).  She has seemed more fussy and straining since then (that was about two hours ago). My mom had explained that my brother, around the same time as DD's age, had an issue with his sphincter where it was tight, and they needed to do that for a week and then he was fine.

- she seems to pass gas ok, without straining at the time of gas, but at other times, seems to strain and struggle with no result. I know some of this is normal for a newborn. Her gas stinks like poo.

- took a bath with her on Saturday, may try again tomorrow. She was calm and alert and seemed to enjoy it.

- cut out dairy 2.5 weeks ago, she got better, so I trialed it and she got fussy and uncomfortable after three days so I cut it back out four days ago. I'll stay off dairy longer this time. Nighttime sleep got better after awhile then regressed this past week, so hopefully that'll improve once milk is more out of my system. Poops were green first 3 weeks then jaundice was gone, quit dairy, and they turned more yellow before ceasing last week.

If she wasn't in discomfort, I'd let it be.  I know some have gone longer but nothing is telling me that this is normal for her at this point, though that could prove to be true later.  She's been seeing the chiro b/c of my precipitous birth and a hematoma that is now resolved, and she will be in tomorrow or Tuesday.  I'm sure the chiro will have something that could help.

What else is there? What medical intervention would be recommended if the situation warranted? (I'm not looking to get intervention, but I am just wondering, what is the next step if these things don't work?) Her tummy looks normal and seems soft when she's calm and I do the massage. Rigid of course when she's screaming on the changing table.

[sunwise]

Hi mama,

Yes, 5 weeks is young for a baby to start having infrequent poops, but it is not unheard of. That is exactly the age my DS was when he went for a 13-day stretch with no poop last September/October. (In fact, if you search, the thread I posted at the time may come up!) DS didn't even have a squirt for those 13 days (and we did try to stimulate him with a rectal thermometer - we got nothing.) The fact that your DD is in discomfort is some concern, but you have an appt with your ND, so that's good. They can feel around on her tummy and make sure there is nothing obviously wrong there.

I don't have any other suggestions for you beyond what you are already trying. And to be honest, we tried a lot of stuff too, and in the end nothing worked. We just had to wait it out. The 13-day stretch we had with DS was the beginning of months of infrequent pooping (without discomfort). (He never went 13 days again though - it was usually 4 or 5.) But we did notice a pattern start to emerge - we could tell that DS was not going to poop soon if his gas didn't smell bad. But when his gas started to smell like poop, that meant the blowout was imminent. That pattern held for months until he got some kind of a stomach bug that caused diarrhea, then he never went back to his old infrequent pooping patterns. (And now that he is on solids, I actually miss those days!)

I hope your LO feels better soon!

[PatioGardener]

It's great that you are heading in to be seen for her WBV - you'll get her weight and that will be reassuring too.

I was told at that age it is 'difficult' to poop. Baby has to relax some muscles, tighten others etc and it is just difficult for them to learn. As long as the poop is soft with no blood then it isn't constipation.

It seems like you are on top of things to 'fix' any breastfeeding issues that may have caused this. Remember too that she may be having a growth spurt and using all that milk to grow, not leaving much to poop out!

Is she in discomfort between episodes of passing gas/straining to poop? Is she fussier than usual?

I hope she poops soon :)

[stelly]

You poor thing, I have no suggestions, but I know how stressful it can be.

[Greenlea]

I would try the thermometer trick again.  I did that with DS1 a couple times before he wasn't fussy/gassy anymore.  Just be careful, as after like the third time he exploded all over me LOL.