Breastfeeding and Stools

You say she's on the bottom of the weight gain scale. Has her weight been in the same percentile consistently? I know she's only 6 weeks or so, so you may not have had enough time to get a good feel for where on the scale she'll be. A friend of mine was super stressed about her daughter's weight (because the doctor made her stressed). She's a vegitarian and was 110% committed to BF only, no formula. But the doctor made her feel like she was starving her baby. She found another doctor, more holistic and crunchy like she is, and was able to relax more. And the visually obvious thing is, both she and her husband are petite and very slender. You almost couldn't imagine a 80% percentile baby coming from them! She also told me that those charts are based on formula-fed babies. Their weight gain tends to be more than BF babies.

Good luck with the BM issue. My son had issues when he was around 1 year up until after 2 years. I looked at it like a previous poster - I only had to deal with a poopy diaper every 10 days. I could count on not getting stuck out at the store/on a plane/at the pool with a nasty diaper. But I don't have any thoughts to add for a newborn with the same issue. Good luck.

Hi,
My youngest daughter had this happen. She is exclusively breastfed and is now 5 months. The first months were poops eveyday and than every 2-7 days for about 6-7 wks. The day of "the poop" was cranky and difficult too. The Dr. said it is normal and not to worry as long as she is eating and gaining weight. The percentile she is matters if she was 95% and dropped to the 25% in a month or two. They always told me that as long as they gained at an even keel they were fine(weight, length head circumference all close). I did try apple juice but it didn't do anything since she hates the bottle and wouldn't drink it.
Just a note my 2nd daughter is 29 months and in the 3% tile and eats more than her 4 yr old sister. Healthy and happy!

She may be having a hard time digesting the formula. Have you considered switching?? I used Good Start with both my kids and never had a problem. That aside, a good friend of mine had to give her son prune juice to get him to poop when he was a baby. I think she's actually still doing it and he's 5 now. I know that 6 weeks is too young for solids but keep this in the back of your head when she's a bit bigger.. my cousin would give her son one spoonful of pumpkin (the kind in a can that you use to make pumpkin pie) when he had a hard time and he'd be going within a half hour.

Congratulations and good luck!

K. - SAHM of 2 boys, 5 and

When our son (now 4) used to have a tough time with his stools our pediatrican said to put a tbsp of Karo syrup in his bottle. The karo syrup doesn't go into their blood stream it just helps line the walls of the intestines which makes it easier for them to push out any stool. We stopped having to put it in his bottles when we went to regular milk. Also, I have read that giving breast milk and formula is hard for their digestive system. I decided to switch my now 5 month old daughter strickly to formula (around 6 weeks) because of it. She also was struggling to gain weight and I was told to supplement and breast feed but it was too much on her and me. Ever since the switch she's been so much happier and has regular bowel movements.

Hope this helps.

So, my son had this problem. The doctor said the same thing about the prune juice but my son had a very rare reaction to it, where his body covered in hives, but he couldn't eat baby food from the store either, he had a lot of food allergies his first year, so I wouldn't worry about that. But what we did find out, since we had to work on something else, was that his muscle coordination was off, so he wasn't relax the muscles to poop while straining to push it down. This happens sometimes in babies, but not alot. First thing to know, is that if this is the case, they all grow out of it. But for now, since we couldn't use prune juice, they told us when he was clearly straining, whenever that was to take a retcal thermometer cover it with A LOT a vasoline and put it in just a little into his bottom. So, more than just allowing the straining to be effective, it also starts to teach the muscles (over time) to relax while they strain so eventually they can poop on their own. Now, he did poop sometimes on his own without this, but the doctor thought from the amount of time, straining and discomfort that it was because there was so much in there, it eventually had to come out. Feel free to ask you doctor about this method if you feel okay doing it. Also, we would bicycle his legs while he strained and rubbed his belly in a clockwise motion (the direction the intestines go) these motions force a little relaxation (you'll probably notice she's pass gas when you do it) but if she's straining at the same time, it may help move things along. Good Luck!! Feel free to contact me if you have anything else you want to know (____@____.com). PS my son is now 3, there is nothing wrong with him, so you will get through it, but it's always scary!!

May I ask... Your daughter is on the low end of the weight charts, but how is she doing on length and head circumference?

I ask because I have two children, both of whom rode the line at 5-15% on the weight charts, but also rode the line at 90-95% on the length charts. The real issue, as I understand it, is that the growth curve, not how it compares to the average. Average is just that--the middle of the road, with some babies heavier and some lighter. Your child may be genetically on the lighter side. You might ask your parents and your husband's parents whether their babies were pudgy or slender.

I ask this also because having lots of wet diapers is an indication that your child was getting enough breast milk. I hate to see you supplement if you don't really have to--it's a waste of money if it's unncessary and it is causing problems that may not be necessary.

I would not worry about this and I might quit the formula. I have a daughter that as a baby would poop only every few days and then it was a bunch. She was exclusively breastfed and is now 7yr and totally fine. I have a son that as a baby was over 8lb at birth and then dropped to between the 3rd and 5th % but always grew just slowly. We let the dr. run tests and got spun up over it. We moved and switched dr. the new dr told me to look in the mirror. My husband and I are neither one very tall. My son is just small for his age he is now 10yr and happy, healthy, and normal. I would go with your gut on this. Does she look healthy to you or ill? If she is constipated, formula would only further complicate her problem. It is very unusual for a breastfed baby to be constipated. you may want to contact your local La Leche League. for additional information and support

I breastfed my daughter 100%. Sometimes she would go two or more days without a BM and then really blow the mustard! But she never acted uncomfortable. I figured this was just her normal system. She never had hard stools as breastmilk does not prduce such. Your daughter may be doing what is normal for her. Wait and see. AF

if she looks healthy and is happy, why not stop the formula and stick to just nursing or pumping breastmilk for her? i've never heard of breastmilk causing constipation, but i have heard formula can.

try soy formula....my pedeatircian was against it but i did it anyway and he finally got on a somewhat normal b.m. schedule

Hello,
I have three boys, all breastfed to at least 1 yr. The first had pretty regular stools, the second once went nine days without one and I was really nervous so we gave him a suppository (Dr. suggested) and he pooped right away. My third child actually went 19 days between stools once - and it was normal for him to poop once every two weeks. The stools were always very loose - its not that they were constipated. And they did not seems to be in any distress when they finally did poop (normal grunting and pushing but didn't appear to be in pain/no crying or anything). All boys were in the 25th percentile for weight - and are pretty much the same now that they are 7, 5 and 3. You didnt mention if the stools were loose or hard when she finally has one. I would say that unless they are hard little balls and it's painful, to trust that they are just using your breastmilk efficiently! I was very concerned about the two week routine, I finally just quit worrying about it and appreaciated that I didnt have to change poopy diapers all the time. Just one really really messy one about every two weeks.

D.

The question is what are you eating. If your diet isn't good with a bit of higher calorie intake, your breastmilk
will be lower in calories. BF babies usually poo more often.
I'd go to the health food store and get you or her probitoics for good interestinal health or eat yogurt, not sugar free though. She should do much better!!!
You can breastfeed full time!!!