# 2 week old not pooping?



## laneylue (Jun 15, 2006)

My son is two weeks old. He was having several poopy dipes a day up until the day before yesterday. That day he only pooped once and it was a big blow-out. Yesterday he didn't poop at all. He has a very wet disposable diaper about every two hours so I know he's getting milk. Should I be alarmed that he hasn't pooped yet?

One thing I should mention is that his poop has been dark green but seedy. I have a very fast and heavy let-down so I think the foremilk/hindmilk balance has been off. I've been trying to rectify this by doing two hour block nursing (nursing from the same breast in a two hour time frame) so he can get more hindmilk. Not sure if that has anything to with his not pooping.

Also, I have been on antiobiotics for mastitis. Could this affect his stools?

TIA!


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## melanie83103 (Jun 23, 2006)

hmmmmm, I remember going through this (less pooping) when my son was a little older, like 5 or 6 weeks, and I remember my doctor saying it was totally normal..... maybe it's the same thing, just earlier? I can't remember now what the exact reason for decreased pooping was, just that it happened and the doc said it was expected and ok. Did you call your doctor? Couldnt hurt to just call and ask!

melanie


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## laneylue (Jun 15, 2006)

Thank you so much.

I didn't want to call because they always lecture me for not bringing him in yet (I am waiting until he's one month old), but I decided to call. The nurse said that it's ok as long as his belly isn't distended and he's not feverish. She said he's probably just using up everything I'm giving him to grow and to call back if he doesn't go in the next couple of days. She also told me how to administer rectal stimulation but said to give him time to see if he goes on his own.

This is just so odd because DD pooped like clockwork and never missed a day. Weird how babies can be so different from one another!


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## Shanana (May 11, 2005)

I just replied to a thread like this on the LWAB forum for a slightly older baby, so here's the link to that. We had similar problems, but not until dd was maybe 5 months old. Your babe is awfully young to not be pooping very often, but at such a young age it seems like its possible his body is still figuring things out? I would keep a close eye on him, and also listen to your instince on the matter. I think mamas often know better than doctors when it comes to this kind of thing.


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## snowbird25ca (May 8, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *laneylue* 
The nurse said that it's ok as long as his belly isn't distended and he's not feverish. She said he's probably just using up everything I'm giving him to grow and to call back if he doesn't go in the next couple of days. She also told me how to administer rectal stimulation but said to give him time to see if he goes on his own.

If your ds was older - ie 5 or 6 wks at least, she's somewhat right. In a baby your ds's age this is not normal.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *laneylue* 
My son is two weeks old. He was having several poopy dipes a day up until the day before yesterday. That day he only pooped once and it was a big blow-out. Yesterday he didn't poop at all. He has a very wet disposable diaper about every two hours so I know he's getting milk. Should I be alarmed that he hasn't pooped yet?

One thing I should mention is that his poop has been dark green but seedy. I have a very fast and heavy let-down so I think the foremilk/hindmilk balance has been off. I've been trying to rectify this by doing two hour block nursing (nursing from the same breast in a two hour time frame) so he can get more hindmilk. Not sure if that has anything to with his not pooping.

Also, I have been on antiobiotics for mastitis. Could this affect his stools?

TIA!

From your description it sounds like he's not getting enough hindmilk. I would switch from 2hr block feeds to 4hr block feeds.. this is what it took with my DD to take care of this problem.

The dark green but seedy sounds like there's still some meconium being cleared. Can you take him in for a weight check somewhere other than his dr.? Just so you know what his weight is doing? My dd took 3wks to get back to her birthweight and I'm sure the overactive letdown and oversupply was a big part of it. And we did NOT supplement to help her get back to her birthweight... there are other options.









For the record, I have to copy & paste this post that I made on another thread ages ago... it's very thorough in explaining why older bf babies don't always poop as often. And also what to watch for, what not to do, that kind of thing. I did write this myself based on my own research and what dd's dr. told me, so keep that in mind, but it gives you a starting point... many many dr.'s are grossly uneducated when it comes to bf babies pooping patterns and interfering with their normal bowel function. You NEVER want to do rectal stimulation on a baby... especially after only a few days without poops.

**Keep in mind that newborn babies are a different story and should be having at least 1 good sized poop a day.**

Without further ado... here's the copy and paste that I've saved - feel free to copy it and pass it on if you want.. one of my pet peeves is moms being told to give laxatives, juice or rectal stimulation because their ebf baby hasn't pooped in 3 days.







: (And keep in mind this was written when my dd was a baby and not to your ds's situation... just easier for me to copy it from word than to rephrase it.)

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Perfectly normal. When my dd was ebf she was an every 9 or 10 day pooper, although she did go 14 days a couple of times. We had her checked at the dr. a few times because I couldn't stop obsessing, but we were always told everything was normal.

Bm is so completely digested that there isn't a lot of waste left. Unless the poop is hard & like little pellets when your dd poops, then there's nothing to worry about. Even the straining is normal - it takes some practice for babies to figure out how to coordinate the muscles used to poop.

Technical reason for this is that colostrum is a natural laxative. Once your milk comes in the colostrum gradually decreases until around 5 or 6 weeks when it's pretty much gone and you're left with "mature milk." Up until this point the colostrum has been triggering the poop reflex, so once it's gone, ebf babies often don't feel the urge to go until they're "right full up" so to speak. Of course this doesn't happen to all babies - just some mom's get lucky enough to only clean a poopy dipe once a week.

So, basically, pooping once every 2 weeks is just as normal as pooping multiple times a day for a bf baby. Rectal stimulation or glycerine suppositories in general shouldn't be used in an ebf baby. Similar idea to what happens when adults use laxatives frequently - if you're giving artificial stimulation to cause your dc to poop then their little body never learns to go on it's own and can become dependent on the stimulation.

There are rare circumstances where an ebf baby can become constipated, and if it happens you'd likely see a fever develop, a hard tummy and unusual fussing & prolonged crying. If that were to happen you'd want to take your dc to see the dr. anyways and not just try to treat it at home.

You might notice that your dc passes some real stinky toots when it's been awhile since their last poop, this is really a good sign that their intestines are moving properly and isn't anything to worry about. Grunting and straining can also be normal just because babies have to figure out how to actually work the proper muscles so that they can poop. My dd fussed a couple of minutes right before every poop because she just plain didn't like going. Now that she's older & on solids it doesn't even phase her though.

So long story short, unless your dd has hard pellet like poops then she's not constipated. Anywhere up to 21 days can be normal. Just look out when she does go because it'll likely be a big mess. I have to admit that when dd would be going on day 10 and still hadn't pooped I'd be scared to take her anywhere for fear of where we'd be when she pooped...

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## zeldamomma (Jan 5, 2006)

My perfectly healthy little boy has always been an infrequent pooper. When he was your baby's age he would poop every day or two. When he got to about 6 weeks old, he started going every week and half. Now that he's eating solids, he's back to every day or two.

I don't know if I could have changed his habits by changing exactly how I nursed him, but he's a happy, healthy baby.

ZM


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