Thoughts on Newborn sleeping through...

[thursday2]

We did part-time EC with DS from birth - part-time meaning he wasn't naked a whole lot until he was about a year and he slept in diapers, but otherwise we were very quick to change him as soon as he went, cue him when we could, offer him the potty a lot, etc. Now that DD is here, we intend to be a little more proactive in terms of naked time, nighttime, etc. simply because there's no chance of peeing herself in the face...LOL.  Seriously, that's the main reason DS slept in diapers. =)

She's not even a week old yet, but I don't like her sitting in pee/poop at all (I think that would be true even if we weren't doing EC...).  However, she's had really, really runny poops and diarrhea because I have a milk oversupply - we ran into the same thing with DS, but it's a lot worse this time around, so she's getting nothing but foremilk until my supply can regulate a bit/I can pump and shake it up.  I know what it is and she's gaining and we're working through it, so I'm not too concerned about her health, but I don't like her sitting in her stuff...but she poops CONSTANTLY and usually right after she's fallen asleep.  What do you think?  Do I change her immediately and wake her up, hoping she'll fall back asleep (but that usually means nursing again a little, which means more poop as soon as she's out, which means a vicious cycle...), or do I just let her sleep in it for 2 or even 3 hrs until the next feed/she naturally wakes?  It's barely an EC question, more a diapering question, but EC adds an extra layer of being torn about what to do...

[skycheattraffic]

I can understand your reluctance to have your LO sleep in her poop. While I know a full on diaper change would wake her, maybe something quicker might work. I would try to keep her bottom bare and put her over a flat or prefold. Nurse her down and if she poops while latched on, let her continue nursing while you gently lift her legs, give her a quick wipe with a warm washcloth and slip a clean diaper under her. Hopefully she will nurse through it and not wake fully. If this works, I'd just scoop her up with the clean diaper under her and lay her down. I have no idea if it would work for your LO but sometimes I have to pull a similar stunt with my 17 month old (for pee not poop) and it works fairly well as long as I keep her latched. I hope that helps :-)

[seraf]

I totally second the advice already given and want to add that most breastfed newborns poop with every feed and it's typically liquid. I wouldn't know what diarrhea looked like in a newborn, but 20 poops a day would still seem normal to me.

So yeah, I second the above advice with the bonus, slip a potty under her while nursing and cue her. But don't worry too much, soon she will pop off when she wants to poop.