BF - no poo to FF - poonami!

[TakeLovingChances]

I've started one or two threads on here about my DS's bowel habits and have had some helpful advice and comfort.

Background: I'm bfing 19 week old DS. Not quite exclusive BF, he got the odd FF every so often at night from about 7 weeks. In the past week I've started to try to change from BF to FF, very gradually. I've replaced his lunchtime BF with FF and next week I'm planning to replace his late-afternoon feed.

In the early days DS really struggled to poo, often going 7-8 days between bowel movements and being in a lot of pain - crying, huge straining, waking in the night. This continued until about 2 weeks ago.

As I've started to up the number of FF he is pooing much more often and seems to be in less discomfort.

Problem is, he poos maybe once or twice a day but they are EXPLOSIVE! Pure safety googles and elbow length gloves material! Is that normal??? Going from one extreme to the other! I have nothing to compare him to, as he's my PFB.

Any experience to help me? Btw, sorry this is so long!

What formula are you using? Some of the ones we had DS on resulted in liquid curry-like poonami's (vom)

Using Aptamil.

Yes, Aptamil First Milk, it's a blue colour container.

Overall, DS is happy with it. He drinks it well, and appears happy and healthy after it. Even with the explosive poo he's still happy. He giggles and coos as normal. It's just me who is at the amount of poo produced.

It's almost like he's pooing out a few days worth at a time, as with the bf he wasn't pooing much at all.

Yeah, that was the idea. My plan was to bf as normal and over the next month phase it out and replace with ff. However, from 6 months I wouldn't mind doing a morning and night bf for a wee while longer.

I know some people may tell me to just keep bf for next year or two, but I really don't want to!

To be honest (and according to my HV my DS is a bit odd in this) his digestion when 100% bf is the problem. To me him not pooing and being in pain is more of a worry than his explosive poos when ff.

HV said usually formula makes babies constipated and that she didn't know why DS was the other way around. Her only advice was to use some formula if I thought it was working.

aptamil does contain fish oils.

It's normal for breastfed babies to not poo (for up to ~2 weeks), though...

I know that it's normal for bf babies to poo infrequently, I'm not doubting that.

What is a problem is the pain evident in his facial expressions, noises he makes etc when he's bf and not pooing.

I don't want to bf for much longer than 6 months, so I guess the whole thing will be a non-issue soon as he'll then be solely on ff and water and will get started on solids at that stage.

I'm feeding him myself as I type this - still do bf him early morning, mid-afternoon, late evening and during the night.

Have replaced his lunchtime, dinnertime and bedtime feed with formula. Over the next few weeks until he's 6 months I'll gradually replace all feeds with formula (although I might keep the morning and during the night feeds going for a while longer).

I wasn't trying to 'convert' you back to full BF btw, just mentioning it for any new mums reading the thread thinking "OMG my baby hasn't pooed in a week".

Its the prebiotics in formula that tend to lead to the explosive poo or too runny poo thing, not the LCP's, generally.

You want the fish oils, they need LCP's for brain and eye development.

Not all formulas "follow suit". If you want a formula that does have LCP's (good!) but doesn't have prebiotics (and I promise you this is what is causing the explosive poo), then try SMA.

Avoid Cow & Gate. Hipp Organic doesn't have them but it dosn't have the LCP's either. Or is it Heinz. Anyway, I would suggest you try one WITH LCP but without prebiotics before you try one with neither.

Which is SMA.

Regarding no poo when breastfeeding - if they are not constipated or in discomfort or suffering, it can just be that they absorb so much of the goodness in breastmilk that there's not much left to poo, as it is such perfect nutrition for them, there is little wastage - but if they are suffering and uncomfortable, it can just be "them" - i.e. something they are a bit prone to.

Of course SMA may also lead to constipation...

So basically you can't win!

One of the things that attracted me to bfing when I was pregnant was the idea that it was such a complete food for babies that didn't produce much excess wastage like formula, as it was perfectly tailored for babies.

In that regard I was/am happy with DS going days between bowel movements, but it's just the straining, pain and bloating that upset me, as it's so clear he's in discomfort.

Thanks for advice re. LCPs and prebiotics, will give SMA a try.

Butterfly effect -I've noticed a link between my fruit and veg consumption and dcs poo frequency when breastfed . I can't think of a plausible mechanism, though. Maybe when I eat less fruit and veg I also eat more saturated fat or something? The balance of fats mums eat affects the types of fats in the milk, though not the overall fat content.

In respect of feeding different formulas at different feeds, why not? I mean that seriously. They're all breast milk replacers, and the only people with an interest in you buying the same one all the time are the manufacturers. There's one school of thought that actually it might be a good idea to regularly buy different ones, as they're all made from slightly different ingredients. As has also been pointed out, although the overall nutritional composition must meet set standards (and therefore why wouldn't one be as good as another?) even when you buy the same brand, the actual ingredients change from time to time, so it's not necessarily identical.

Right, it doesn't really matter now anyway DS must have just been having explosive poo with the formula as it was new to him.

I've been giving it to him at lunchtime, dinnertime and bedtime for the past few days now and he hasn't pooed at all.... it's like how he was when he was just bf. He doesn't seem in discomfort yet, but his belly is a bit bloated.

I've been rubbing his tummy as I was taught in a baby massage class, and he does burp and fart, but nothing else is coming out. Plenty of wet nappies, just no dirty ones.

I eat veg, drink smoothies, eat fruit too. Doesn't make a bit of different. I wish it did!

Might take him to the doctor if he starts to get uncomfortable again, try to figure out why.

It could be that the formula isn't causing the poonami, just the fact that he goes so long between poos = poonami when it finally arrives!

TLC - yes, it is very likely that it's the gaps are causing the huge poos.

My daughter (exclusively breastfed though, no formula) would go up to 14-15 days with no poo and then do about 5 in one day complete with purple face grunting, shouting and leg stiffening.

If you're worried that he's genuinely constipated, do see a doctor, but nothing you've described re: breastfeeding poos sounds abnormal to me. Can't comment on the formula poos though, as have limited experience in that area.