BF baby - sudden decrease in dirty nappies

[Snowgirl1]

My DD is 5 weeks old and is bf. Until now we've had lots of dirty and wet nappies (very few were just wet - they were pretty much all dirty as well). In the last 24 hours there's been a sudden decrease in dirty nappies - we've only had a couple with a tiny bit of poop in. She's been feeding just the same, so I'm a bit concerned about the sudden change in her nappies. Is this normal? Anyone else had something similar?

Is it just the dirty ones that have decreased?

The great thing about bm is that it is pretty much all used up and not much is left for poo. A bf baby can go for a week or so without doing a poo and not be constipated. So long as there are still plenty of wet nappies, the poo still looks like chicken korma and she is not in any discomfort then I wouldn't worry :)

This is normal at about this age, snowgirl :)

I know it's often said everything is used up with a bf baby but this is not the explanation - otherwise why would there be an explosion when the poo comes (and it will) :)

It's just a normal, physiological change in the lower intestinal reflexes which are not as easily triggered in babies beyond the newborn.

Thanks for your replies Indith and tiktok - I'm reassured.

True tiktok, so if it is anormal intestinal thing then why is it that it is ok for bf babies to not poo often but not for ff babies? The "not much in the way of waste" is the usual explanation given by the MCAs at the bf workshops I assist at.

Indith, yes, it is the usual explanation. But it's clearly inadequate, and it's just not physiological and in no text book I know of.

What happens with the babies who don't poo for a week or more?

Yes. Laundry emergency. Poo-up-the-back-of-babygro. Cascade of poo.

Whatever - nothing that looks like 'not much in the way of waste'.

The baby stores the waste in the lower intestine and then lets rip.

Formula fed babies stools are generally more formed, and will not store in this way. If the ff baby goes too long between poos, the poo impacts and this is obv not a good thing.

With young babies, the 'gastrocolic reflex' is trigger happy. Something goes in the top end, something goes out the bottom end. This reflex matures as the baby gets older, and pooing is consequently less frequent.

Thank you, that makes sense (being happily stored vs impaction due to being more solid). Learn something new every day.

Mmm poo explosions. Don't you just love them. Something we try not to mention tooooooo much to all our lovely nervous and thinking about bf but not too sure mums .