Question about a 6 wk old's poop: looking for thoughts from other breast feeding mothers

[matte]

Hello all,

I am hoping for some advice/thoughts/perspective on something that has me puzzled with my6 wk old DS. During the first three weeks of life he was pooping five or six times a day, quarter sized, seedy, yellow to yellow brown. Now he is pooping much less often, every two days, sometimes every three days. These poops are HUGE. Now his poop is of a slightly different consistency, a little more creamy, a little less seedy (though there are still seedy spots).  This change was fairly sudden -- he just stopped pooping frequently and went to this schedule -- but he has had a few days where he went back to pooping several times. 

So in short, his pooping has changed:

From 'normal' frequency to every three days.

From 'normal' amounts to GIANT super poops, like filling two diapers in a row and a diaper worth of poop on the prefold I use on top of the changing pad (over the cover, try this, it works great!)

The current poop is still sweet smelling (kind of curry/yogurt), yellow (to mustard), and with seeds (though not many). It is soft, kind of like hmm melted soft serve? When it does come out it comes out easily, in two or more 'sets'/'squeezes.' 

Is this normal? It doesn't seem like something that's worth going to the pediatrician for, because he's not overly uncomfortable, and the poop itself seems normal in consistency etc. 

He does not have a fever. He does sometimes struggle and grunt, without pooping. He is always MUCH happier (and sleeps better/is easier to settle) immediately after pooping.

I was worried it might be a hindmilk/foremilk imbalance, so I've started block feeding (I was pretty engorged when this started, but seem to be back on track now. I am also taking probiotics and have cut back on dairy and caffeine. Not sure those have had any effect, but they're better choices for me anyway. I've also been doing various belly massages for him, bicycling his legs, etc, but that doesn't seem to do much (at least not immediately).

Ok, do I need to do anything about this? Worry? 

[lilikoi]

I would not worry about it. What you described is very normal. 

[matte]

Whoopee!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lilikoi]

My DD used to go every 2-4 days when she was 8 weeks old. When it happened it was like you described. HUGE! One time it happened when we were out and I had to change her on the floor. It got all over me and her. Now at almost 8 months she goes every day like clock work. 

[sunwise]

My DS went 13 days between poops when he was 5-6 weeks old! It totally freaked me out, but we saw the doctor and she told us he was fine. But when he finally did poop, it was huge. Before that 13-day stint, he had pooped multiple times every day, so it was a very fast change. After that, he usually pooped once every 3-5 days until he was about 4 months old or so. (I miss those days now!)

[matte]

Funny, writing this must have broken the dam somehow... today he had three (largish) poops. Maybe as soon as mama stops worrying, it comes? Hilarious! Thanks for all the calming and helpful responses!

[tooraloora]

It's totally normal for an exclusively breastfed baby's bowel movements to decrease around the 6 week mark. Sounds like he's right on schedule.  It's also normal for their diaper to overflow when they do go. If he goes over a week, you might want to get him checked out just to be safe, but otherwise, as long as his poop isn't hard and dry he's not constipated.