How much poop???

[mirpmama]

ok, i know they say 8-10 poops a day or after every feed, but my 6 day old daughter is not pooping hardly at all....she is exclusively bf and is not doing too great with that, but is starting to do better....she has nursed 10 times since midnight last night, though a few of them were only a few minutes long, i could hear that she was getting some so she is not just sucking...my ds is nursing like crazy since the milk is back in and his poops look like great newborn poops ....i just made my dh call the dr....coz i am so nervous......she has an appointment tomorrow morning to check her weight, they said her billirubin was fine, it was elevated at the hospital so they had us check it yesterday and they said it was fine.....she has dislocated hips from being breech and i did not know if that could be effecting anything...she is very gassy and keeps smelling like she is making a poop - but then there is nothing there......my hormones just cant handle this!

[alllyssa]

Hi there,

My 3 week old daughter, Klara (DOB 2/05), isn't a "big pooper" either. She's my 5th baby, but if she were my first, I'd be nervous too!

Klara pooped a little when she was born, but then didn't poop for 2 days - my midwife came for a postpartum visit to my home, so we (she!) did a rectal temp to help get her going and then she pooped a bunch. Klara was pooping a couple of times a day for a couple of weeks and then skipped a day, had a day with only one poop - really creamy, not curdly at all, but definitely NOT constipation. Since she's gaining weight great and is a terrific nurser (waking on her own every couple of hours, obviously swallowing and peeing lots) and she physically can poop, I'm not worrying about it (too much :-).

I just wanted to clarify as far as the wet and poopy diapers are concerned: From La Leche League's website:

"Once mother's milk comes in, usually on the third or fourth day, the baby should begin to have 6-8 wet cloth diapers (5-6 wet disposable diapers) per day and at least two to five bowel movements every 24 hours for the first several months, although some babies will switch to less frequent but large bowel movements at about 6 weeks."

These are additional important signs that indicate your baby is receiving enough milk:

The baby nurses frequently averaging at least 8-12 feedings per 24-hour period.
The baby is allowed to determine the length of the feeding, which may be 10 to 20 minutes per breast or longer.
Baby’s swallowing sounds are audible as he is breastfeeding.
The baby should gain at least 4-7 ounces per week after the fourth day of life.
The baby will be alert and active, appear healthy, have good color, firm skin, and will be growing in length and head circumference.

Hope that helps!
Alyssa
Mama to Scott (15), Katie (13), Karlie (11),
Kimberly (almost 5), and Baby Klara (born 02/05)

[alllyssa]

This made me feel even better!

http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/bm.html

THE FIRST SIX WEEKS

Most babies, after the first few days, have two to five bowel movements every 24 hours, until they are about six weeks old. The stools should be as large as a US quarter to "count" in this number. Some babies will have more frequent bowel movements, and it is possible for a healthy baby to have fewer bowel movements. If a baby younger than six weeks has fewer than two bowel movements a day, that can still be a variation of normal provided that the baby has an adequate number of wet diapers, is known to be gaining weight at an adequate rate, and the stools produced are substantial in volume.

[Mytwokids]

Oh I so know how you feel. My little guy was born 2.5 weeks early and is now 6 weeks. He is my third and my laziest nurser. He also isn't much of a pooper. After the meconium he went 3-4 days without a poop and then continued on a every 36 hour schedule. I called the nurse one sunday a week after he was born hysterically crying because I was so stressed about it and totally out of control hormonally. My ds also had slight jaundice. After about 7-10 days the nursing got better but he still only poops once a day, sometimes less. Now at 6 weeks he is a total CHUNK! but still an infrequent pooper. Try to relax and just keep an eye on his/her weight gain and all will be fine.

Micky

[Boobiemama]

My baby passed all the meconium, then went 3-4 days without pooping. peed plenty, 8-10 pees a day, just kept farting! lol finally she went and it was huge! And now at 3 weeks she goes 1-3 times a day and is fine.

[Sleepymama]

Yes this is us too--my milk took 5-6 days to come in and after the first couple of meconium poops she stopped pooping. One every 2-3 days! So we weighed her and she was gaining fine and having lots of wets now that my milk is in, so we just think she isn't a big pooper. She goes 1-2x a day now. We will be monitoring her weight weekly though since I had major supply probs with DS. She lost over 10% of her birth weight and that first week was hard b/c my milk took so long.

Originally Posted by alllyssa

This made me feel even better!

http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/bm.html

THE FIRST SIX WEEKS

Most babies, after the first few days, have two to five bowel movements every 24 hours, until they are about six weeks old. The stools should be as large as a US quarter to "count" in this number. Some babies will have more frequent bowel movements, and it is possible for a healthy baby to have fewer bowel movements. If a baby younger than six weeks has fewer than two bowel movements a day, that can still be a variation of normal provided that the baby has an adequate number of wet diapers, is known to be gaining weight at an adequate rate, and the stools produced are substantial in volume.

[aguacates]

Nora is pooping a lot, but when Zoe was a newborn, after passing her meconium, she would go about a week in between poops. That lasted for months. It didn't seem to bother her at all, and she was 13 lbs by her six week check-up, so I knew she was getting enough milk. And when she finally would poop, watch out! People kept telling me to give her apple juice, but since breast milk is a mild laxative, I didn't really worry about it, and completely ignored her doctor. So, yeah, I think there is a pretty big range of normal.

[mirpmama]

thanks for all the support!! she is pooping more now and the dr. is not worried coz she has plenty of wets and and is gaining well......the dr. said it was well within the range of normal - that some breastfed babies only go once or twice a week and that is fine!!! i guess i forgot how hard it is with a new baby when you second guess everything -even when u have done this before!!!!