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BF help/advice plse for exhausted mum and 5 week old

12 replies

twyfordlautrec · 06/02/2007 11:36

hi, i'm new here, hoping someone has advice - 5 week old girl bf really well but poo is very runny - like yellow/oraange water - and has been since day 3, and really strains for it, twice a day, and its projectile when it comes (can feel it in her nappy, very loud, and she did one during a change so we know!!)

apart from her being so uncomfortable, one always comes at 4 or 5 in the morning, causing discomfort from 3, so not settling well between night feeds and we're suffering too...

HV no help at all, just "thats how it is". infacol made it worse if anything, gave it up after 3 weeks. no regular food/drink i'm having as diet varies alot but am being v good although craving curry and beer!

any advice or survival stories? thanks...

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crumbs · 06/02/2007 11:51

TBH it doesn't sound like there's much worng. It's been a while for me, but I BF both of mine for 9/10 months, and certainly when they're exclusively BF, they are very much of the English mustanrd variety.

It's maybe not much comfort, but just think about how much your DD has changed already in 5 weeks. Things will be a whole lot different again in no time at all, and she'll grow and develop. Once you begin to introduce solids, her poo will change then too.

My DD was hard going for the first 6 weeks, then slept through. DS took a lot longer, but that's another story!

Good luck. You're doing the very best for her by BFing, and I'm sure you'll come through. The first few weeks are always the hardest.

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tiktok · 06/02/2007 11:51

Have a curry and a bear, twyford! It is unlikely to make any difference!

Sometimes, this is 'how it is' but I do wonder why she is in discomfort. Can't really comment without more info - have you called any of the bf helplines to talk about it?

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crumbs · 06/02/2007 11:53

Oh, and make sure you're getting your sleep as and when - to make up for the nights. I used to turn off the phone and put a Do Not Disturb note on the front door at regular intervals throughout the day.

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Mumpbump · 06/02/2007 11:58

My ds was exactly the same (although he didn't have to really strain to have a poo). But I do remember changing his nappy in the middle of the night when he had another bowel movement which was so explosive that it flew beyond the end of the changing mat and landed on our bedroom carpet... He was probably about 4 weeks at the time and positioned at the top of the changing mat, so that was quite a distance!!! As far as I know, bf babies do have runny (ds was pretty much liquid most of the time) and explosive bowel movements.

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twyfordlautrec · 06/02/2007 12:02

thanks all, really helps to hear advice and support too!! we'll look forward to mustard, its orange squash right now! DH and i have talked about just waiting for her system to just be able to cope better. you'd think bf would be easier on their little tummies being natural and all that...

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Mumpbump · 06/02/2007 12:09

Well, just think about how much harder she would find it if she was ff which apparently tends to produce firmer bowel movements less often!!

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LucyJu · 06/02/2007 12:11

Bf baby poo is supposed to be runny - when people talk about mustard, they are talking about the colour, not the consistency.

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macneil · 06/02/2007 18:41

I have the worst of both worlds because of mix feeding, I think. dd's is totally runny-watery, but that lovely iron enriched greeny-orange-brown. She has a bit of a spastic colon, so it sometimes only comes once every three days and bubbles out the top of the nappy when it comes. Then she sticks her feet in it while i'm cleaning her up. When she's been straining for a whole day, though, I find it an absolute pleasure when it arrives.

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Difers · 06/02/2007 21:32

In a few months you'll forget about about runny and expolsive your baby's poo was. I'm glad you reminded me. DS's came out like a shaken up can of coke and I had to ask the HV about it because he made so much noise straining I was really worried"

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talcam · 06/02/2007 21:41

Sorry no advice but just a note to let you know it is normal and something to make you smile...
Read in magazine as a pro for BF...Breast fed babies poos don't smell
Now I am an experienced mother of 2 very smelly BF daughters that makes me smile, just as well that wasn't my only motivation

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Twinklemegan · 06/02/2007 21:42

Ah yes I remember this. I took DS to the doctor as he'd been sick as well and I thought he was ill . Know what you mean about the projectile poo, feeling and hearing it - yuck! Unfortunately though I an't advise as DS didn't usually poo in the night I don't think.

LOL Macneil - that exactly describes how DS used to be . Now he's on solids he does lovely little lumps that hardly smell and can be flushed down the loo - bliss!