Newborn not pooping!

[K1999]

Any advice? My 2 week old has mild jaundice. He's farting, peeing and eating well. But he hasn't pooped for a few days. I know this is how the jaundice is flushed so I'm a bit concerned it will get worse if he doesn't poop it out.

Breast fed?

Is he breastfed or bottle fed?

Breastfed babies can go days without pooing.

Yep he's breastfed

Can breastfed babies go days without pooing at that young an age? Mine have been the absolute opposite end of the spectrum for pooing frequency so I don't know. Probably worth a call to the midwife if you haven't been discharged yet OP, or HV if you have.

I spoke to her today and she said it's completely normal but to expect an explosion 😫😂

Could you try a little gentle tummy massage and leg cycling to try to get things moving?

We have lift off! Biggest poop I've ever seen a baby have 😆 an explosion was right!
We did a warm bath mixed with tummy rubs and cycling legs last night, that may have done the trick or it just might've been the right day to poop!

Breastfed babies can go a few days without pooping but only AFTER they are 6 weeks old. Before then they should be having at least 2 bowel movements a day and 6 wet nappies.

My son (also jaundiced and spent 2 days under lights) was an every 10-14 days kind of baby from birth. There wasn’t a nappy in the land that could have contained him when he went. He also produced the foulest smelling pumps from day 1. He’s 11 now and still doesn’t ‘go’ daily. No issues with constipation or anything, he just must have an exceptionally streamlined digestive system.

@UnicornPug yeah my baby also has stinky farts! Still not going regularly but all professionals I've spoken to said it's normal

It’s
Normal as long as they don’t seem to be uncomfortable or constipated. Jaundice will be worked through with lots and lots of breastfeeding, stick with it!

Neither of my 2 bf babies had 2 poos a day at that age.

Both were one poo every 2-3 days from birth to around 6 weeks. Then they started pooing fortnightly (they were very messy 😬).

Babies are different. Some poo lots, some less. As long as they are comfortable and generally healthy that's fine.

Regarding the jaundice; do you think the colour varies through the day? It's a good sign if it does. It took 3 weeks for Ds2 to totally get rid of his jaundice

Dd3 once went over a week without doing a poo when she was around 5 months, I rang the nhs helpline and the nurses said exclusively bf babies don’t go as frequently and that it’s lucky because there’s no wastage 😁 at 9 years old she still only goes every few days but she’s fine with it

In case this isn’t obvious...when there is a poonami may I suggest stripping the baby in the bath so you can hose them down. After all, all the clothing’s going in the wash anyway...