Newborn not pooping!

[miamommy]

nak

dd is almost 4 weeks old and since she was 4 days old has had very erratic pooping...at the most 1x a day and at the least once every 3 days. She is exclusively breast fed and gets very uncomfortable as each day passes. Ped had us do rectal stimulation with our finger, rubber glove and vaseline but it seems to make no difference and totally freaks her out.

Has this happened to anyone else? Ped keeps telling me it's ok, but haven't talked to him in over a week because it seemed to be improving and now she has skipped two days - ped is out of town! I totally trust ped, he is a very well known (if not famous) ped who combines traditional and alternative views, more alternative than trad I guess. I feel really stuck - any help appreciated!

[crazydiamond]

Was your DD born early at all? A lot of premature babies have immature digestive systems and the muscles in their intestines do not work together like they should. This causes them to have a lot of difficulty in having a bowel movement. Some full-term babies are like this too, though. I don't really know if there is a solution, but I know that it's okay and will get better as the baby gets older and develops some more. It sounds like you have a great ped, so I'd just keep on trusting him.

[EmmalinesMom]

nak

my ped (also wonderful ) said she doesn't think much of it till between 10 and 14 days, unless there is jaundice involved or if there are other symptoms besides discomfort. she also used the q-tip and vasaline treatment once.

it took my dd#2 (full term) a couple of months to have a more regular pattern

[miamommy]

not naking for once! haha! dd was actually very over-ripe - she pooped just fine for the first few days. Ped's office told me to do the Q-tip thing yesterday so I will do that today if she hasn't pooped by this afternoon. The main problem for me is that she is so uncomfortable and her poor belly look huge sometimes. I am planning on taking her back to the ped on Tuesday. He thought it would be worked out by now and I was suprised to see it get worse again.

[Felicitymom]

First I will say that I really woudn't worry too much. I know this is an impossible task for a new mommy, but I thought I would say it anyway.

In my experience... some babies poop really well and some don't. The main reason babes may not poop regularly is thier immature digestive system. Sinceyour babe is ebf... you REALLY have nothing to worry about. What you can do is try to ease the babes discomfort between poops and try to help get the poop out. BTW, my baby went 14 days without pooping once and regularly went 5 days between poops for the first 3 months.

First you can eliminate lots from your diet that passes through the milk and that your baby can't digest easily - gassy veggies (broccoli, cabbage, collards, brussell sprouts, cauliflower) - egg whites - peanuts - all diary - chocolate - wheat. Most moms only have to eliminate some of these foods and not all of them. For me it was diary, egg whites and peanuts.

Second you can help your baby by bicycling their legs, tummy massage and verbally reasuring them when they are straining or in a painful gas situation.

YOu can also do the finger/suppository up the behind thing, but I would only do this after many days (my personal choice)

Third you can buy gripe water to help ease digestion or give chamomille tea or mylicon drops.

I don't think it is strange to miss several days of not pooping. It really does take another 3 months for your baby to mature in their digestion... for me at almost 3 months exactly all of a sudden 2 poops a day , then when I introduces solids we were back to every 3 days... then she went regular again... then when I intro certain foods she skips a few days again. And on and on like that.

Good luck,
Nancy

[alegna]

Normal. Nurse nurse nurse then nurse some more. And drink TONS of water.



-Angela

[sarah_bella1050]

I agree with pp's your baby is fine. My dd did the same thing, and I was assure that it was perfectly normaln with EBF babies. Just keep track of it and call the doc in a week if she still has yet to poop.