Newborn breastfeeding habits?

[Ky-Momma]

Hi all,

So, my 4th baby and second daughter was born yesterday morning at 6:25am, a homebirth, and our first full term baby.  All three of my others were preemies and NICU babies.  So, this is my first time to actually be feeding and taking care of my baby in those first precious hours.  It has been great and I am so thankful that everything worked out this way, but I have just realized that I'm not really sure how my baby is supposed to act about the breastfeeding.  I know to nurse on demand, which we do about every 2-3 hours.  She nurses like a champ and has a great latch, she is wet every feeding. 

My questions are: when are they supposed to have their first meconium?  How much are they supposed to be eating?  We have a Medela Baby Weigh scale that tells us before and after feeding weights and tells us how many cc's the baby has taken (we got it to deal with our preemies and feeding issues).  I know my milk isn't in yet, so I know she isn't getting much, but I didn't know what an appropriate amount is...

How long should the meconium last before it turns into the nice BF poo?

Some of these I could find a little info online, but not many places talk about those first 24 hours or so and I'm guessing it's because so many people have nurses and such keeping track of all that for you in the hospital so you don't have to worry. 

Thanks so much for the help!

[PatioGardener]

congrats!!!

this should help

and this

and this

first 24 hours = 1 pee and 1 poo, increasing 1 more pee until holding steady at day 6 with 6 pees each 24 hours, and increasing 1 poop each day until holing steady at 3-4 poops each 24 hours. mec gone by day 5. nak sorry so short.

Edited by PatioGardener - 7/8/11 at 4:26am

[ZakareyasMama]

DS had meconium staining before birth so he didn't poo at all until he was 3 days old. We had to stimulate his bottom with a q-tip. If DD isn't pooping you might try that. Also with breastfeeding DS ate ALL the time. "Every 2-3 hours" for him meant each feeding lasted 2-3 hours and then he started all over again lol! Nobody told me that till later but it's normal. 

Enjoy every second with your precious babe!! 

[PatioGardener]

I agree with the PP that nursing 24 times in 24 h is completely normal for a newborn! Until they reach 2 weeks old or gain back their birth weight I feel more comfortable going no longer than 2 hours from the start of one feeding to the start of the next during the day, and a max of 3 hours from the start of one feed to the next at night. I had to work on waking my guy up to get him to feed that often... but he needed it.

[HawaiianBlesing]

LLL states that for the first 5 days pees and poops should equal their age. 

[Ky-Momma]

Well, last night my milk came in and sure enough, her first diaper after she ate after I woke up swollen and leaking everywhere was the biggest, messiest black tar diaper ever! :)  Guess she was saving it up.    I'm feeling much better now, thank you so much for the advice and the links!

[PatioGardener]

Yay! I bet you get more poops now and more pees too. The lowest weight for a baby is usually day 3, and then they start to gain again.

Congratulations on your sweet baby!

[Maurene White]

Congrats on a beautiful new baby girl, term birthing at home and getting off to a great start with breastfeeding. I gave birth to my second son at home. When his head and first shoulder and arm were born his fist went immediately to his mouth and he sucked vigorously. The second arm born second fist to the mouth to join the first. Very hungry baby, barely cried he was so busy working on the fists. He was 9lb 13oz 22" long. We had to pry his fists out of his mouth and hold them to his sides to help him latch, which he did, and barely came up for air for 10 hours. He barely had any meconium, perhaps  2 oz, and he never lost weight.

Don't worry - although your little one has likely passed all her meconium by now - and it is not wise to use q-tips or insert anyting else into a baby's rectum, it causes sensation she does not need, she'll poop on her own when something fills her rectum and inserting an object could be damaging too. In my nursing career in post partum (10+ years) very occasionally we would see a similar baby with very little, almost no meconium. Some nurses and MDs are quite compulsive about their need to see meconium, and  stimulate the rectum for hours - uselessly - because there's nothing there! One jumpy pediatrician even had an abdominal x-ray done of a baby who did not poop for over 3 days. Nothing there, he was a bit sheepish! Next am, a little yellow bf poop appeared. Meconium is a product of the baby having ingested amniotic fluid, which contains lots of protein, the baby's hair, shed skin cells, etc, but some obviously don't drink very much of it! My son as he grew turned out to be a moderately light eater with very strong food preferences. He grew quickly and was quite chunky, nursed til he was nearly 4, and a lot of his early weight gain was from mother's milk. He is an adult now 6' 2" and 200 pounds, still has gourmet tastes, and helps a lot with the cooking.

Babies start out with the nice yellow bfd poop 4 - 6 d after they've begun to digest breast milk; many don't poop every day.