# How soon does a newborn need to poop?



## ChristianMomOf2 (Jul 30, 2007)

My friend had her baby last night at 10:30pm they took it to ICU because it hadn't pooped and kept him there til 4am when he finally did.... I've NEVER heard of this... mom and dad are mad, but don't know anything about this.

I told them they should talk to a patient advocate before they leave, because there is no rule as to how soon a baby needs to poop (mine didn't right away either and there was never an issue).

I'm just double checking with the knowledgable mama's here!


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## tinyblackdot (Aug 31, 2007)

Well i am sure that they where making sure that there wasnt a GI issue. Like a block, or twised colon. Did they do anything invasive?

I dont know how healthy it would be for a baby to keep all of that meconium inside....i would think that a baby would need to get that out pretty quickly after being born.

Im interested to hear other mamas opinions...


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## amydidit (Jan 21, 2005)

With DD2 I'd say it was about 8-9 hours after birth that she pooped. With DD1 it was about the same.

Are they sure it was just the poop issue? Maybe the hospital was concerned about another possibility and the poop was a part of it? ~sighs~ Most likely they jumped the gun because that's what hospitals typically do.


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## Romana (Mar 3, 2006)

I could be wrong, but my recollection from dd's birth is that she was born about 1 a.m. and had her first poop sometime the next day. Dh walked into the bathroom holding her naked butt in his hand with this big grin on his face, saying, "Look how beautiful our baby is!" and then there was a telling noise and his hand was covered in mec. I think that was her first poop. So I would say between 8 and 16 hours after birth, probably? She was born at 38 wks gestation; don't know if that makes any difference.

http://www.justmommies.com/articles/baby-poop.shtml

According to the above website, most babies will have the first poop within 12-24 hours and if it doesn't happen in the first 24 hours it could be a sign of a problem. Sounds like someone overreacted. I'm so sorry they were separated from their baby.


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## amydidit (Jan 21, 2005)

Hehe... DD2's first poop was on DH too. He was cradling her in his arms and blurt! Pooped on. LOL


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## tinyblackdot (Aug 31, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ChristianMomOf2* 
My friend had her baby last night at 10:30pm they took it to ICU because it hadn't pooped and kept him there til 4am when he finally did.... I've NEVER heard of this... mom and dad are mad, but don't know anything about this.

I told them they should talk to a patient advocate before they leave, because there is no rule as to how soon a baby needs to poop (mine didn't right away either and there was never an issue).

I'm just double checking with the knowledgable mama's here!


the ICU!!! I totally didn't see this before! Holey Moley i would be royal ticked off!

That is the only reason? Yeah i would be taling to whomever i could about that!


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## ChristianMomOf2 (Jul 30, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tinyblackdot* 
the ICU!!! I totally didn't see this before! Holey Moley i would be royal ticked off!

That is the only reason? Yeah i would be taling to whomever i could about that!

unfortunatly I didn't get to ask a bunch of questions since they talked to my sister and not me... but I gave the kellymom site to my sister and read her the responses here... she's going to be talking to the dad this evening. Hopefully he'll address it at the hospital before they leave (which is not til tomorrow). I think this is nuts if this is the only reason they took the baby. If it were my baby I would not have consented... but I have my midwife on speed-dial & would have called her to make sure I was doing the right thing if I wasn't sure.

Not to mention this is their 1st baby and they don't have all the resources yet.


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## JamieCatheryn (Dec 31, 2005)

That's nuts. They need to poop once the first day, twice the second, 3 the third, so on til like 5 then stay at that many. Surely they could demand the baby room in with them?! Who cares what the policy is, newborns belong with mom.

That said, mine pooped on his way out of me and was born with his lower half covered in it.


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## soxthecatrules (Oct 20, 2008)

"Who cares what the policy is, newborns belong with mom."

Actually there are times and very valid reasons when a newborn is better off in the nursery under observation. My DS was one of them. They kept him there for 4.5 hours. Maybe this hospital was overreacting and maybe they didn't. Sounds like we may not know the whole story yet. I will withhold my judgement on the hospital until we know otherwise.

And, for what its worth....DD pooped on the doctor as soon as she came out!!! LOL Pooed again that afternoon and then we didn't see a thing for 4 days!!! Had to give the poor thing a glycerin suppository.


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## jecombs (Mar 6, 2008)

I had my DD at 6AM and she pooped later that afternoon or evening. I'm sure it was around the 12 hr. mark. I had her in the hospital and they never got alarmed or anything because it took her that long to poop.


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## JamieCatheryn (Dec 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *soxthecatrules* 
Actually there are times and very valid reasons when a newborn is better off in the nursery under observation. My DS was one of them.

Well sure if they have trouble breathing or something serious like that, but I'm seeing this as a routine: "Sorry, our policy is we keep the baby for observation until ____ [x hours, first poop, first bath, routine testing, whatever nonsense], we will give you your baby when it's time. Get some rest." As if they own the baby until they're ready to hand it over to the parents.


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## tinyblackdot (Aug 31, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ChristianMomOf2* 
unfortunatly I didn't get to ask a bunch of questions since they talked to my sister and not me... but I gave the kellymom site to my sister and read her the responses here... she's going to be talking to the dad this evening. Hopefully he'll address it at the hospital before they leave (which is not til tomorrow). I think this is nuts if this is the only reason they took the baby. If it were my baby I would not have consented... but I have my midwife on speed-dial & would have called her to make sure I was doing the right thing if I wasn't sure.

Not to mention this is their 1st baby and they don't have all the resources yet.










well when they took my dd away to the NICU they didnt really ask for my consent, they just called me (yeah CALLED me in my room to tell me they where taking her away) and told me....

thats is just awful! I freaking HATE drs! Always worried about their own a$$es, and not what is in the best interests of the child or mother! URGH!


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## tinyblackdot (Aug 31, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JamieCatheryn* 
That's nuts. They need to poop once the first day, twice the second, 3 the third, so on til like 5 then stay at that many. Surely they could demand the baby room in with them?! Who cares what the policy is, newborns belong with mom.

That said, mine pooped on his way out of me and was born with his lower half covered in it.

mine pooped in the womb!


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## PaigeC (Nov 25, 2008)

Plus, wouldn't breastfeeding be the best thing for this? Can't do that in ICU.


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## soxthecatrules (Oct 20, 2008)

Ok Jamie I think we're in the same frame of mind.

DS went to the nursery b/c of minor breathing issues. They give him oxygen at birth. They let us hold him for about 5 minutes and then took him. Even though I delivered b/c of pre-eclampsia he had all of the classic signs of a baby whose mama had GD that wasn't controlled. Didn't know I had GD.

DD...we held her and the nurse worked with trying to get her to BF. We had her in the room for over an hour before they took her. She was back in my room probably 30 minutes later.


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## ilovebabies (Jun 7, 2008)

I bet they did something invasive. If a baby is not pooping, they will stick their pinky up there and feel around to make sure there isn't a "stopper" and there's something else they check for when they do that but I can't remember. That poor baby.







That is ridiculous. It was too soon to even be worried about that yet.

My last baby was born at 6:20am and we were released from our birthing center at 6pm that evening and he hadn't pooped yet. he didn't poop until the next day. As a matter of fact, he wasn't a frequent pooper at all and was 100% bf. He would go several days, sometimes up to a week. It was normal for him though and he did this the whole time he bf. My Ped. said some babies are just like that and he didn't have any issues. Just didn't poop much!


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## sweetsadie77 (Jun 13, 2006)

For a term baby, if the baby hasn't pooped by 24 hours I would want to hear about it. If the baby hadn't pooped by 36 hours I would be consulting with a physician for futher investigations.
It doesn't make any sense to me to take a baby to the NICU before 24 hours for not pooping......unless there's been some concerns about GI stuff on the ultrasound or during the newborn exam? Weird.


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## kate3 (May 4, 2007)

Quote:

My friend had her baby last night at 10:30pm they took it to ICU because it hadn't pooped
There has got to be more to the story than this. I have been an OB nurse for almost 20 years and I have never heard of this. Babies are not ever kept in the ICU to monitor for stool right after delivery. I could see if the baby was a few days old, vomiting, had a distended belly, etc. But immediately after birth?

Quote:

For a term baby, if the baby hasn't pooped by 24 hours I would want to hear about it. If the baby hadn't pooped by 36 hours I would be consulting with a physician for futher investigations.
It doesn't make any sense to me to take a baby to the NICU before 24 hours for not pooping......unless there's been some concerns about GI stuff on the ultrasound or during the newborn exam?
Yes, this. I am also wondering if something on the exam raised a few red flags.


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## tinyblackdot (Aug 31, 2007)

yeah was there any concern of a teatherd cord or anything?


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## Kidzaplenty (Jun 17, 2006)

:


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## ChristianMomOf2 (Jul 30, 2007)

everyone is playing phone tag... hopefully one of us will be "it" soon!! I'm anxious too, but I won't leave you all hanging!


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## JennTheMomma (Jun 19, 2008)

Hunter pooped in the womb, and because of the amount of meconium in his lungs he wasn't breathing at birth. He was on oxygen but remained in my room. After that he had his first poop the next day, which was less than 24 hours.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

OP: It's quite likely the hospital was also worried about something else...no guarantee that your friend will know that, though. They don't tell you stuff if they don't want to.


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## BugMacGee (Aug 18, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *PaigeC* 
Plus, wouldn't breastfeeding be the best thing for this? Can't do that in ICU.

Oh yes you most certainly can!

OP, there was something else going on. Abdominal distension. Bilious vomit. Something.


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## barefootpoetry (Jul 19, 2007)

Wow, I've never heard of that before.

DS1 pooped in the womb and DS2 pooped as soon as he was born, all over the midwife.







But neither of them pooped again for 3-4 days, I think. We all just have sluggish bowels, nobody in our family poops every day.


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