Bowel Movement - Osseo,MN

Totally normal. My doctor told me that breastfed babies can poop anywhere from several times/day to once a week. Gas is a good indicator that things are progressing. My 6 month old was the same way and it seems to keep changing. He currently goes once a day and that switched from 2 weeks ago when he was going once every 3 days. I would stay away from doing anything too invasive like suppositories or rectal temps unless it's really necessary.

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this is probably normal, unless you notice that your child has other symptoms - crying, discomfort, etc.

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awesome job mom for breastfeeding - i highly recommed finding a la leche league group near you. you will NEED this kind of support as you go on your breastfeeding journey! :D

As long as she isn't constipated (pooping hard rocks),in any pain or discomfort or loosing weight, she should be fine. I know you said she hasn't changed her eating habits, but have you? I don't know if that would make any difference or not.

My daughter is almost 3 years old…..but if I remember correctly, as their digestive system begin to mature they have less bowel movements. My daughter was breast-fed , as a newborn she ate every 2 hours and pooped each time. It was actually nice when there were fewer diapers to change! Ok so I just looked it up for you.
Do you have a copy of “What to expect the 1st year”? On page 164, it says that between 6 weeks and 3 months the rate of BM’s should slow down. They say it can be normal to have only one every 2-3 days. If it has been more than that it may not hurt to give your dr a call.
Hope that helps!

I would call the doctor to get their suggestions. Here are a few things that I was directed to do with my premature daughter who had problems with bowel movements from the beginning.
1. Give juice 2X per day
2. use suppositories (1/4 of a child suppository)
3. take temp rectally (if you don't know how to do this ask someone that does to not cause damage)

Another thing that sometimes helps is to let them sit in the warm tub for a little while.

I haven't read the other responses, but I am sure somebody else has said this too. At around 6 weeks an infants system becomes very efficient at digesting breastmilk. There is very little waste left. It is normal to go up to 2 weeks without a BM. My son would go 2 weeks & then have Bms all day. Just be thankful for it, it does not last once they start solids!

My baby did exactly that, at exactly that age, and it freaked us out! It was over Christmas, so we wondered what I had eaten...but he didn't poop for like 15 days, and normally he was a 3-4x a day baby. The thing I wish I'd known then, was that he really wasn't in pain. He was a little gassy, but the pain was something else. We finally got him to poop after EIGHT OUNCES of juice (waaaaaay too much, in my opinion), various rectal probes, lots of nursing, some added water...etc, etc. In other words--he was fine, and we kept poking at him! If he seems to be in pain, call your doc--we actually called 3 different docs and they all gave different (and sometimes conflicting) advice; call yours to see what he/she would have you do. But otherwise--it can be very normal!

I agree with Becky. This is very normal!I exclusively breastfed 3 babies and it happened w/ all 3. Increase your water a little, but it still might be 1-2 weeks.

Hi,
I had this happen to my 2nd son when he was also 3 months old! He was also exclusively breastfed and all of a sudden had days (11 to be exact) when he didn't have any bowel movement. (I know, that is a long time to not notice and I feel bad for that!!) Anyway, I took him in to our local clinic and they performed and recommended "rectal stimulation" (long q-tip thing doused in lubricating jelly and stuck up into his buns). This actually didn't work that well for him- they said it should clear him right out, but he had a small movement and nothing else. I then took him to my pediatrician and she recommended a much less invasive technique of a teaspoon of DARK karo syrup 2 times a day (use one of those plastic medicine syringe things and just slowly disperse it into the inside of their cheek- they will swallow it right down!) After the 1st day (of 2 doses) this started his "system" working again and he continued to have regular bowel movements as long as I gave him the dark karo syrup. I actually kept this up for the 1st year of his life and once he got on table food and whole milk, etc at about 13 months, the constipation began to resolve itself without the syrup. I did still give it to him occassionally between years 1 and 2 if he got bound up again. I thought breastfed babies weren't supposed to have trouble with constipation so I was very surprised when he had trouble, but the Dr. insisted that each child's "system" is just different and his was prone to constipation and needed a little help.I found the dark karo syrup to be an easy and natural way to help the situation.
Hope this helps some....

I remember my breastfed son "taking breaks" from pooping. He would go several days, and then--look out! ;-)

If she has plenty of wet diapers and doesn't seem to be in pain, don't worry.

If you feel like you must stimulate a bowel movement, one very easy way is to take her temperature rectally (or at least pretend to). I got that advice from the book "Baby 911"; the authors claim it is the most dispensed advice given over the phone by pediatricians. I only did this once for my son, and it worked!

This is perfectly normal, especially for breastfed babies. In a couple of months, they'll start increasing again. Just take advantage of fewer poopy diapers now, but expect blow-outs when they come! If she goes more than 5 days, you may want to call your doctor then. Infant massage also helps regulate the baby's digestive system. I don't know where you live, but many yoga studios that have pre/post-natal yoga offer infant massage classes. If you are in minneapolis, check out www.blooma.com.

Mine is two months old and she usually has only one BM per day. Sometimes she skips a day. We know that it is normal, but we still had to bring it up to the pediatrician. He told us that unless it's hard as a rock, then we should not be concerned. She's fine and there's nothing to worry about if the poop is soft.
He said that pediatricians have been taught to tell parents that the reason they don't poop as much when breastfed is because the breast milk is so full of nutrients that very little of it is wasted, if at all. So hopefully that makes you feel good! :) It certainly sounds much better than "it's normal", doesn't it? :)

It is normal for a breastfed baby to go up to 2wks without a bowel movement. Breastmilk is designed specifically for what your baby and her body needs, so there is no excess, her body uses every last bit of it.

Around the 2/3mo mark is when my boys both started only pooping once a week. Beware too, when it comes it may be a doozy, a 'blowout'.

As long as her poops aren't dark, round hard little pellets (like rabbit poop) then she is fine. Again its totally normal for a breastfed baby to go days or even a week or two between poops.

Our pediatrician told us this was totally normal for a breastfed baby when we had the same issue with our daughter. Breastfed babies can be all over the map with frequency of bowel movements. She just told us to call if it had been more than five days without one and she would consider trying a glycerin enema or something. But, as long as she had plenty of wets (between 8 and 12 in a 24 hr period), we shouldn't worry. I think it's also good news that your daughter is passing gas. I'd just wait and see, maybe call your pediatrician if it goes to day six with no bowel movement.

Enjoy the decrease. You'll know if there is a real problem (hard stools). It is perfectly normal. I liked that there might be 3 days with no poop. Of course when it does come, watch out :) Take comfort that this is normal.

I know you have a lot of responses...I just wanted to reiterate that this is SO normal. Both the pediatrician and the lactation consultant said that exclusively breastfed babies CAN NOT get constipated. There is a natural laxative in your breastmilk that prevents constipation. Both of my girls had that happen around 4 months old. They were never uncomfortable and my oldest even went 12 days once without pooping.

I remember my son's doctor and my lactation consultant telling us that it is completely normal for bowel movements to decrease at a certain age...something to do with their little tummies maturing (he is now 8 months). In his case he went down to once a day or every couple of days. But watch out...because once the quantity goes the amount per diaper goes up. Welcome to blowout city :-)! As long as your daughter doesn't seem uncomfortable she is likely just transitioning into the less 'poopies' stage. But...if you ever feel like there is a problem call her doctor...that is what they get paid the big bucks for...and your intuition is most important. Good luck!

WE have a 7 month old (breastfed and eating food for the last few months) and it was/is the same. Basically for whatever reason she gets constipated. We have to make sure she drinks a lot of water, because if they are eating solid foods of any kind, they will need water to help digest it. We also have to give her raisins or prunes that have been soaked in water and then pureed a couple of times a week.

This is totally normal! My son did the same thing at about that age and was breastfed exclusively. He went once every 7 days. Enjoy it because once they start solids it gets much more frequent! There isn't alot of waste in breast milk is the reason I guess.

No advice but unless she is acting like she is in pain and trying to push then i wouldnt worry. At about that age my son started going only every few days once for as long 5 days but he was just fine. I would say your daughter is fine if she is acting fine. once my son started solid foods he started going 3 times a day again. enjoy the lack of poopy diapers while you can :)