Poop frustrations

[janedean77]

Frustrated isn't even a strong enough word. DS is 18 days old. At the 2 week check up, he was 3 oz over his birth weight and gained another 4 oz over the weekend. He has 10 or more wet diapers everyday. However, he only poops like every 2 to 3 days. I get 4 or 5 diapers on those days but I know he's not going enough. I know this means he's not getting enough hindmilk but I don't know what I'm doing wrong. He's nursing 20 minutes on each side and nursing every 2 hours.
The pediatrician's office only offered me a solution of an ounce of formula after every feeding. I called the LC but probably won't hear back from her until Wednesday. I'm just trying to get a handle on it before it becomes a bigger problem.

[melody330]

How do you know he's not getting hind milk? Because he's not pooping? I've never heard this before. Don't offer formula because you are afraid of this.

BF babies don't poop as much as FF babies. I'll add the link when I find it. DS would go every 2 days when he was that old. By three months, poop was once every 10 days. He was/is fine.

ETA - I'm actually reading some conflicting information so this might take a few extra minutes

I've just poked around on kellymom, and it seems if no one is concerned your LO isn't dehydrated, this pattern might be okay. Since baby is gaining great I wouldn't think it's dehydration.

[janedean77]

I appreciate the help. The NP at the pediatrician's office is the one who said we needed to pop more and that it was a sign he wasn't getting the hindmilk. I chose this office because everyone told me they were very supportive of breastfeeding. But both times I've met with the NP she has seemed more interested in supplementation.

[anotherdreamer]

For a few months my DDs were only pooping every 7-10 days. That is 100% normal and okay for BF babies.

[nursedesi]

When DS1 was 7 ish months and doing 95% ish BM he went 21 (yes 21) days with out pooping. We tried supositories, we tried a qtip with Vaseline, we tried bicycling his legs and rubbing his belly. It came out on its own and it was completely normal BF poop.

As long as he isnt acting like its hurting him to poop I seriously wouldnt worry at all about it. Kids poop when they want. BM is like a laxative. He shouldnt have troubles pooping with 100% BM. Trust your mom instint and just keep BFing. No supplementing needed. Infact it may make it harder for him to poop if you supplement.

[ellabee]

Agree with all pp's comments. Sounds like everything is just fine with LO and you got some misinformation from your NP.

[flcl]

It's totally normal. LO would poop every few days but on those days, watch out!! In fact, we called those days poop days and would deliberately wait till the day after to go out and run errands, etc... So long as LO is acting normal, eating well, making wet diapers, I wouldn't be too concerned.

[spacedew]

My daughter was the same way. She went 10 days max. When I talked to my pediatrician she recommend a stool softener but only after 10 days. She was worried about constipation.

[anotherdreamer]

I will add on that initially I looked online and saw it was normal, but still talked to my pedi about it. He is very up on BFing and his wife BF their kids, he said that this is normal. If they hadn't went after 10 days, or showed true signs of constipation (hard belly, straining to poo, abdominal discomfort) then we didn't need to worry about it. As long as they were making good wet diapers and growing, then he wasn't concerned at all.

[rayray007]

Gaining well and lots of wet diapers? Poop is soft? Then
I wouldn't worry about it. My 12 week olds only go every 2-3 days and they've been doing that for weeks.

[janedean77]

I wanted to thank you lovely ladies for the advice. My lactation consultant basically said the same as ya'll. I have plenty of experience with newborns just none with successful breastfeeding. So all I have to go on is what I've read and learned in classes. I do appreciate all of the time taken to provide me with advice. .

[babycaps]

That NP doesn't know what she's talking about!
Your baby can go weeks w/o poop!!
Nothing to worry about as long as LO is growing!

[Deleted]

For young babies not enough poop can be a sign they aren't quite getting enough milk. But then you'd see weight loss below 1/2-1 oz per day or 4-7 oz a week.
If you are worried about hindmilk and less poop then make sure baby is finishing side one before offering side two. Meaning don't switch sides when you think they are done at a certain amt of time. What til they pull off on their own burp and offer side two as dessert. To keep them nursing longer on side one use a bit of massage and breast compression to help them get more hindmilk.
Once you are past the initial growth spurts and baby has regained birthweight lower poop counts per day are just baby's normal poop pattern. As long as poops are good sized and soft but not very often that's ok. At certain ages and stages baby uses up almost all they take in.

If poops are very infrequent and very small and are hard like pellets then there is something else going on. Formula often complicates poop as since it digests more slowly and makes harder stools in general baby may start going even less often if you give formula.