Breastfed baby not pooed for 7 days

[Loulouhels]

My 14 week old little boy has not pooed for a week! He has gone four/five days twice before and when he did go the poo was very soft and there was a great deal of it. Had to shower him down!!!!

I just wanted to find out if this is normal as there seems to be a lot of conflicting advise. He is very content, eating and slepping well, doesn't seem to be in any pain and had lots of wet nappies. Some people say this is normal in breastfed babies as there is not much waste from breast milk but others are saying put a drop of orange juice in water and feed it to him as he is constipated.

I really do not like the idea of doing this as he seems wrong to interfere with his digestive system but at the same time I don't want to leave it in case there is something wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

PS He has been excl. BF apart from 6oz of aptimel he had last week in a bottle.

i would not give anything - it is normal for some BF babies to go a long time between poos and you will probably have an explosion soon.

If you're worried speak to your HV, GP or BF counsellor. But it is Very unusual to find constipation in a BF baby- I think they just absorb stuff well...

I think it's normal. If he's in no pain then I would leave it.

Message withdrawn

it's within the normal range for bf babies (even 8 days!), constipation is when the poo is hard and pellet like. check out [www.kellymom.com] for more info

My Jaz went 2 weeks at times when only on BM, she was fine. Its coz theres no waste with BReast milk, aslong as LO continues to have wet nappies, I wouldnt worry too much

Normal normal normal.
I had this with ds1 so would just say that its perfectly normal but I'd stand well back when he starts doing a pooing face!!!

my ds pooped explosively once a week and his record was 12 days. Took him to the doctor for that one, she had never heard the likes, but his belly was soft, so she wasn't too worried. It eventually came and we were awash.

When this happens with my dts I always make sure that wherever I go, I bring LOTS of wipes and clean sets of clothes as I know the explosionm could happen anywhere, and it tends to destroy EVERYTHING in it's path!

erfectly normal n a breastfed baby that age. They can even go fo a couple of weeks between poos. The eventul explosion will be impressive, though...

The juice/constipated advice only applies to formula-fed babies but is sometimes over-generalised by well-meaning people giving advice about breastfed babies.

This echoes what others have already said but just to add our experience, I understand it's perfectly normal for bf babies to go for long periods between poos as there is little waste in bm. And, as long as poos are not hard pellets, baby is not constipated (so also no need to give water with brown sugar in it as we were once advised to do).

My dd went 10 days after birth and now goes about once a week. And, as has been said, watch out when it does come as it will be a big one - last memorable one filled nappy and overflowed onto daddy's shirt as we walked into a restaurant...!