11 day old EBF baby: no poo for 24hrs and now massive foamy yellow poo

[monal]

Hi,

My baby daughter, who still has jaundice at 11 days old although it seems to be getting better, and she hasn't been too sleepy, didn't poo all day yesterday although she still had a lot of wet nappies. A doctor told me on leaving the maternity ward that up to three days was normal but reading more about it it seems it isn't for such a young baby. Before her poo was yellow and mealy, and today (she's pooed twice so far, once extra copiously) it is still yellow but no granules and it's sort of foamy. She does seem to have quite a lot of discomfort digesting. She was very farty yesterday even though no poo. She was born at 4.24kg and at 8DO weighed 4kg and the paediatrician was happy with her. Does the lack of poo and now the change in consistency mean she isn't getting proper nourishment? Hence the lack of weight gain?

I also suspect I have lots of milk and a fast let down in at least one boob, and I think that's not helping her, bf is a sort of desperate gasping affair with one huge swallow per jaw movement and occasional gagging. The other boob I had a blocked duct in last week with hotness, redness and fever, but with a bit of pumping and lots of feeding that seems sorted. However, that boob drives her mad: she often pulls off crossly and cries, relatches, pulls off, cries, rinse repeat. Latch frequently looks good bit my nipples do come out lipstick-shaped, so I am hoping to be able to see a bf counsellor next week in case she also has a tongue tie?

Right. Apologies for this long and garbled collection of information, I am typing one-handed and have a tiny baby chewing my nipple off in the other hand. What I want to know first of all is, should I see an HCP with any urgency because of the current poo situation?

Hi Monal

Congrats :)

Glad to hear you are getting tongue tie checked out, sounds like you know what you're doing :)

Try to express a little off before baby feeds so DD isn't gagging on a fast flow. Obviously not too much as this will increase supply otherwise.

Poo situation doesn't sound that strange. Have you been discharged from midwives yet? Certainly mention but not sure this is an 'emergency'. I understand that actual over supply (as opposed to early days milk engorgement) causing frothy poops is quite rare so I wouldn't be worrying just yet.

You know all babies lose weight to begin with so when you say lack of weight gain, is this what you're referring to?

PS - depending on severity it can take 4-6 weeks for jaundice to completely disappear. My DD wasn't admitted but was right on the line and took this long to lose the 'orange tan' :)

Thank you so much for replying! I know they lose weight, but she went down to 3.98kg, then 3.95, then went back up again to 4.01kg the day I was discharged, so I thought the curve was generally meant to be upwards from then on. I'm in France so I'm not under mw care in the same way, but there are lots of options if I need to see a doctor all the same, it's easily done. I have tried expressing a little before feeds, I can keep doing that. She is more or less constantly feeding today so either I have less milk and woe is me or else this is the 10 day old growth spurt of legend and she might actually put on some weight or grow a centimetre or something that would vastly reassure me. I am crossing my fingers.

Ime (3 breastfed babies) poo is very varied in colour and consistency. Breastfed babies often go considerably more than 24 hours too.
I think you may be focusing a bit too much on dd's weight tbh. She's very young still and the changes you're talking about are very small. You say she isn't unduly sleepy and has plenty of wet nappies. Clearly she can latch ok on that one side even if she is getting a quick meal so I think it's very unlikely that there's any major issue. Look at the baby not at her weight - does she look ok to you?
It's also perfectly normal for babies to feed all day at that age. Doesn't mean she's starved at all. Just means that right now she needs to feed and feed. 12 days ago she was on constant nutrition after all. It's a big change to move away from that. You sound very well informed and caring. I'm sure you're doing a great job mothering her.

My DD sounds similar to yours, she had jaundice which did take 3-4 weeks to completely go but she didn't need any extra treatment, she was quite slow to gain weight to begin with but has followed her centile line since (she is 10 weeks old now)
She also had some foamy poos- like she'd swallowed washing up liquid. I read that this can be a symptom of a fast let down, which I definitely have, so I try to lean back when the let down happens, so gravity is working against the flow and if she splutters then wait a bit, catching the streams of milk in a muslin, and when it slows put her back on. This seems to help although she does still have some very fussy feeds- especially if she has slept a bit longer and I am fuller. I think it is fairly normal though and should settle down as your supply regulates.

I think you have hit the nail on the head with the 'I'm terrified' thing. She does look ok, and act ok, and seems like a healthy baby to me, during the day. And then at 3am I'll start looking at the fat rolls on her thighs and wondering if they seem a bit flaccid.... :/

Yes! Like she'd swallowed washing up liquid. I've been trying feeding her lying flat on my back, or with her upright against me, she'll go for either of those sometimes. Right now though she's using her own special control method of clamping down on the nipple again. Owwwwwwwwww.

I have a miracle cure for no poo situations. It's 100% fool proof.

Pop them into a lovely brand new set of clothes, preferably white. Now, remove all spare clothing from changing bag. Go out. Find a baby change unit, walk as far away from it as you can get.

She will then poo. I will put money on it

Ah 3am - bad time of night I used to listen to what was then BBc7, now 4 extra for night feeds. You can't be a prey to the fears that attack at that time if you're concentrating on a BBC comedy from 2002.

Signet has a good strategy there too

I just wanted to say that my LO went a good few days between poos from v early on and all was fine. Once his meconium was cleared he pretty much pooed every six days like clockwork, until he was about 5mo, at which point he started pooing about six times a day to make up for it! [grim]

Keep on going, you sound like you're doing brilliantly.