No poo since Thursday - 6 days old

[Emster30]

My baby is six days old and on Wednesday we had to go back into hospital as he was quite jaundiced and he had also lost 12% of birthweight. He had to have formula topups overnight. He did three big poos (the final one was yellow) while we were in hospital, but since we came home on Thursday there's been nothing. He has had mainly breastmilk since then - my milk finally came in yesterday - with a couple of formula top ups. We're still struggling with the breastfeeding but getting some really good support.

Anyway, I meant to call up today to check about him not having pooed but haven't done so. Our breastfeeding advisor(trained midwife) who came round this morning doesn't seem too worried, but I have seen in several places that he should be pooing twice a day at this stage.He is producing plenty of wet nappies and doesn't seem to be in any discomfort. Can anyone offer any advice?

Breastfed babies can go quite a while with no poo, know of a baby who didn't go for 15 days.
Best to speak to phn or dr though if you are worried.

my dc3 was born on a sunday and had a few meconium nappies but didn't do a proper mustardy poo until the saturday. i was quite concerned (baby was exclusive BF) but my milk really hadn't come through until the fri..baby had lost a little bit of weight.

i'm guessing your midwife is not too concerned as baby has wet nappies...always a question they ask, is the midwife visiting tomorrow? do you have a no. for them if you have any worries? my midwives always said they would come every day until i didn't need them, for everyone who has a daily visit there will be those who have a couple of random spaced ones then are handed over to the HV.

go with your instincts though for your own peace of mind

As long as you have plenty of wet ones and he seems happy and content don't worry about it. Formula may constipate him a bit so the more breastmilk he gets the better. There is no "should be pooing xyz" to be honest Sounds like you are doing fab to me.

When is your m/wife coming back?

I would get that checked by the GP. The no pooing thing amongst BF babies usually happens later than this (6 weeks +). Your baby is probably fine but it is outside of what I have experienced with my two so I would check it out.

Thanks for all your advice - it's hard to know what to do. The person I saw today said formula can bung them up a bit. I'm not due to see anyone tomorrow but I have a number to call at the hospital to speak to one of the community midwives any time. I might call in the morning just for peace of mind (hopefully we'll have an explosion overnight).

He seems absolutely fine and at least he's weeing lots. The jaundice is definitely improving.

Congratulations on your new baby Emster.

Can I really recommend this book which is really specific about what is normal for a baby at any particular week to be doing in the way of wees, poos, sleeping etc. It has a useful section for each week about things where you might want to see the doctor. I found it so reassuring because it was quite precise about normal ranges, and is written by a consultant paediatrician. It doesn't take a hectoring tone either. It was my bible.

Your baby week by week

Obviously other people agree with me- it has 102 5* reviews on Amazon!

huge poo explosion overnight, thank goodness!

phew!

Many breastfed babies hardly poo. My DS only pooed about once a week for quite some time.

I reckon they should sell this more as one of the benefits of BFing!