Great pooper not pooping...

[schoonersam]

Ok, so it's been about 24 hours since DD's last poop.  She is 7.5 mos. old, and has never gone this long without a poop.  She usually busts out 3-4 good ones/day, and it was around 5 mos. that she was able to sleep through the night w/o a diaper change.  The last month or so (along with starting on solids in addition to BF - avocado, carrot, squash, sweet potato, oatmeal), she's been really regular, at least in her morning routine: wake up (after a dream feed a few hours prior) with a wet diaper, play on the bed for about 1/2 an hour, work out the poop, diaper change (sometimes taking quite a while if there's a mid-change poop) and we're good for 3-5 hours before the next one.

Some random background that is most likely unimportant/unrelated, but just in case...

We just got back from a big trip across the U.S. from east coast to west, with the return flight being a red eye.  I would be concerned that this was the problem, but the flight out didn't seem to lead to any problems.  I will say that last night - our first back home - she was pretty fussy and wouldn't sleep in her crib for more than an hour or so.  She usually sleeps in her crib next to our bed and in Seattle she was in an arm's reach co-sleeper, but ended up in bed with me much more than when we're home.  I also feel like she's having a growth spurt at least in terms of her legs (jammies fitting tighter lengthwise) and it looks like she's more on the verge of crawling than I've ever seen her.

So when do I worry, when do I call the doctor?  I'm trying not to worry too much, because my SIL said that her DS would go days w/o pooping.  But it's just so different from her norm...

[twinpossible]

I had the same issue a few months back, call the doctor and he said that if your baby is all BF then they can go up to a week with out pooping. He said that their bodies slow down to absorb nutrients before a growth spurt. I would give it another day or two and if still no poop then give him a call. If you are on solids you can try pureeing a little prunes into her normal food. I do that now every other day or so now that my twins are on breast milk and solids.

[schoonersam]

Thanks for the reassuring reply.  She actually had a nice big poop last night around 0400, definitely more meaty than before - I guess she's starting to process those solids and I did feel like the last week of solids she 'consumed' a fair bit more than before, when it was really just about playing.

Also, really good to know about the prunes - you're the second person I've heard that from and I'm glad of it because prune juice was my life saver while I was pregnant.  Do you think I should wait and see if she develops a new BF+solids poop routine and see if she needs the prunes, or just do automatically.  I guess it couldn't hurt to at least introduce the prunes.

Thanks again, gotta go give her a boob :). 

[Katie8681]

I think if her poops are still soft, maybe stay away from the prunes until the next poop-strike.  :)  When my baby was about 4 months old he suddenly and for absolutely no reason I could tell went 48 hours without pooping! This from a kid who normally poops 3x daily. It just happened, he went spontaneously (we didn't leave the house for a while, though, I tell you that), and he's never gone so long since then. He did go 24 hours without pooping after we traveled for the holidays.

[schoonersam]

Thanks Katie, that makes total sense.  And it really is so good to hear about others' experience...I feel like it would be so easy to get sucked into "1st-time mama" worry every week.

Today is still a little funky as she just seems to be going longer than in the past, but I'll keep my cool :).

[twinpossible]

I give the girls prunes if I feed them something that is constipating like bananas or apples. A little goes a long way :)

[Katie8681]

Agreed, schoonersam! I really like being able to bounce things off these message boards. This is my first, too, and I didn't have much infant experience before him.  Babies are so weird, huh?! Their little bodies are full of surprises (and poo)!