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Childbirth

6 day old, no poo

34 replies

JoyfulJoyful · 21/02/2013 04:41

Hello
My baby is 6 days old but hasnt done a poo in 4 days yet he farts a lot. Midwife said to give him a few spoons of water which I did but all he does is fart.
I try to wind him after every feed (strictly breast feeding).
Can anyone advise what to do?
Thank you in advance

OP posts:

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GingerDoodle · 24/02/2013 19:30

We had exactly the same thing. The NCT breastfeeding counsellor scared the life out of us saying that if she didn't poo the midwives would make us go back to hospital. Midwife just shrugged and said it was very common.

She poo'ed after we started toping up with formula (which i am happy with, we mix fed for 3 months then switched to formula - my milk never properly came in). That said she only ever poo'ed every couple of days. its only now we are weaning there is a lot more poo!

noyouhavehadawee · 24/02/2013 19:28

congratulations on yours and his delivery

MrsHoarder · 24/02/2013 08:27

Fabulous. Babies often decide to poo/do the big burp/sick that's been bothering them when presented to a doctor.

CelticPromise · 23/02/2013 20:23

Ah how brilliant. Glad all is well.

JoyfulJoyful · 23/02/2013 20:15

Hello again
Thank you for the advice. I called the MW helpline and was told to go to A&E which I did, my baby was assessed and Dr said everything is fine. 10 minutes later, it was poonami!! I have never been excited about poo in my life but I have to say, I was elated!
He's done a massive stink and I'm one very happy mom.
Thanks again for all the advice.

OP posts:

CelticPromise · 23/02/2013 16:36

Hi again Joyful.

I don't want to scare you, but I do think it is a little worrying that he has not pooed, and I think it should be your top priority for someone who knows what they are talking about to observe him feeding.

However, there aren't many BF drop ins at the weekend, and I think you need to see someone before Monday. Post natal ward is a good idea. You could also call one of the BF helplines, they are open at weekends.

Every two hours sounds ok. Is that from the start of one feed to the start of the next? Round the clock more or less? He should be feeding 8-12 times in 24 hours. Are you offering both breasts each time? Standard advice is to feed on one side until baby stops/falls asleep, then change nappy or rouse them some other way and offer the other side. It's not uncommon for young babies to need waking up to feed.

How long is your baby feeding for? Very long feeds can be a sign of ineffective feeding. To assess effective feeding, you can look for big, slower jaw movements when baby settles into a feed, you may be able to hear swallowing, you may sometimes see milk in his mouth. But I think it's best to get a feed observed asap.

It is usual for babies to lose some weight- up to 7-8% of birth weight is not a concern.

MrsHoarder · 23/02/2013 14:24

You should still be under the post natural ward, give them a ring. Seriously, don't leave it until the gp opens.

JoyfulJoyful · 23/02/2013 14:16

Hello everyone and thank you so much for all your advice. This is day 6 now and he has not pooed yet. I am getting a lot of stinky farts and wet nappies but no poo. I tried giving him a few teapoons of water 3 days ago but nothing has happened yet.

I feed him on demand which is about every 2 hours although he does sleep for about 3 to 4 hours sometimes.

DH thinks there is nothing to worry about because he's farting a lot but I want poo. I will take him to the GP on Monday.

How can I tell if he is latching on? He seems to feed well because my nipples are in his mouth and he sucks but I don't know if this means he's feeding. He's lost a bit of his birth weight which MW said was normal.

OP posts:

changeforthebetter · 23/02/2013 08:18

This is a concern. She is newborn and should be producing 4-6 dirty nappies a day with each poo bigger than a £2 coin. (WHO Baby Friendly training)Please see another midwife. Advice about water and sugar is outdated and wrong. Try a bf counsellor to get your latch checked and do lots of skin to skin, baby in bed with you, nothing but bf. Please do this quickly. Newborns can become very ill very quickly.

RikersBeard · 23/02/2013 07:38

Hope you have had a result but if not....
My ds2 did this. Meconium poos but then nothing for a week. I was told it could be a sign of not enough calories (he had tongue tie too, clipped on day 6). Plenty of wet nappies though. I was advised to express and top up with syringe. When it came it was indeed poomaggedon.

twooter · 23/02/2013 07:36

My dd3 was slow to poo because she wasn't getting enough hind milk, just filling up on the watery stuff. I was told to feed for longer on one breast at a time.

roundtable · 23/02/2013 07:31

Hi op, hope things are ok. Has your baby pooed yet? Make sure you're happy that midwife is checking him thoroughly. As other posters have said he must be putting on weight and have plenty of wet nappies.

Sorry I didn't mention that in my original post, I'm slightly sleep deprived by my own 8 week old newborn and teething 18 month old. Well done the other posters who pointed that out.

Hope everything is ok.

Finallygotaroundtoit · 23/02/2013 07:25

Oh dear - hope this is now sorted but 6 days in a newborn is not normal, this baby needs seeing urgently

MoonHare · 22/02/2013 16:21

Congratulations on your baby.

We experienced exactly this scenario with DD1, after passing her mecconium she went beyond 10 days old without pooing.

In her case the issue was that she was not getting enough milk (ebf).

It is not unusual for ebf babies to go for several days between poos but it isn't the norm and definitely not for such a young baby.

Think about how often and for how long he is feeding? Every couple of hours at his age would be about right and that's 2 hours from the start of one feed to the start of the next, not 2 hours from the end of one feed to the start of the next.

There is a very rare condition called pyloric stenosis that health professionals usually want to rule out in young babies that are not pooing.

DD ended up in hospital for a suppository - twice - before any health professional cottoned on the the fact that she wasn't pooing regularly because she wasn't getting enough milk and by this time she was almost 5 weeks old.

Don't worry about seeking help from bf counsellor or from your GP.

Best wishes

stargirl1701 · 21/02/2013 20:14

Hi. I think this is a concern at the beginning. DD didn't poo for 6 days after the meconium poo. She lost more than 10% of her body weight. Her latch wasn't deep enough due to a posterior tongue tie.

Kafri · 21/02/2013 20:11

not sure how it works in other PCTs but in mine you can stay under MW until dc is 28 days and the HV has to have seen you by day 21.

I was told a small amount of water then as he got older I could add a tiny amount of brown sugar.

also - bicycle legs, clockwise tummy rub and stimulating the bum with a small amount of vaseline (while shielding yourself)

anything that encourages leg movement - bath, laying on back etc.

oh and you could always use the sods law theory. put dc anywhere you want to keep clean without a nappy on! sods law dc will oblige then!

Twattybollocks · 21/02/2013 12:11

Has he been weighed yet? Are there plenty of wet nappies?
If his weight gain is ok and he is feeding frequently and producing lots of wet nappies then you can expect an enormous poo in the near future.
If he isn't doing at least 6 wet nappies a day, weight gain isn't good or hasn't been checked, i would be ringin the midwife or gp. It is unusual for babies of this age who are bf to not poo every day, but it can happen that everything is fine and they are just saving it up for a monster nappy. Sadly it is far more common that bf babies aren't feeding well, the weight gain/loss isn't checked early enough etc. there should be no need for water for an ebf baby at this stage, that's very bad advice!

CelticPromise · 21/02/2013 09:16

Hello- while it can be normal for BF babies not to poo for a few days, it is not normal in the first couple of weeks of life. Are there plenty of wet nappies? Any yellow poo at all since birth? How's the weight?

Is it possible for you to get to a breastfeeding group and get your latch checked? Just to make sure feeding's ok. Water is not necessary.

InvaderZim · 21/02/2013 09:15

I thought not pooing in the first couple of weeks was a very bad sign? Mine wasn't pooing in the first week and it turns out she was dehydrated and wasn't sucking properly.

It was on later on - around 5 or 6 weeks old - that DD started going a long time between poos.

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 21/02/2013 09:01

That sounds normal for a BF baby, no need for water!!

Is he having plenty of wet nappies?

gillian88 · 21/02/2013 09:01

My little baby struggled to poo, my midwives advice was to lie her with no nappy on and use a wet wipe/ wet cotton wool to gently rub her bottom, and it worked. Apparantly like animals- their mothers lick their bums to make them poo!

MammaCici · 21/02/2013 08:52

Congratulations!

Check the kellymom website link below. It is by far the best resource for any queries regarding breastfed babies. You will get the best advice there. The link below outlines what to expect nappy wise for the first few weeks. Search the site for more specific queries. I found the first few weeks of breastfeeding very hard but struggled through and eventually breastfed my boy for almost 2 years. This website helped me so much. I had a lot of bad advice from well meaning people (family, friends & health workers). My advice is don't listen to hearsay, go to kellymom when in doubt. It's also really helpful to meet with a lactation consultant. In my experience, they are the only healthcare professionals who you can trust regarding breastfeeding advice. And breastfeeding is undoubtedly the best feeding method for an infant. Best of luck!

kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing/

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Carolra · 21/02/2013 05:29

This is the type of situation that leads parents into 3am high fives over a soiled nappy!! before I was a mum I had no idea how much I'd discuss and monitor poo... Our dd was the same, the merconium was fine then we had about 7 days before the next poo.... We were really worried because they tell you a baby should poo every 1-2 days, but try not to worry too much, keep mentioning it to the midwife and I'd probably put a call in to the GP or health centre if he's still not pooped in a couple more days.

JoyfulJoyful · 21/02/2013 05:10

roundtable

OP posts:

JoyfulJoyful · 21/02/2013 05:09

Thanks myglass and roundtable. Not sure what MW's plan is but I won't be signed off if I'm not happy, well, if I can help it.
I will hold off giving water as I wasn't too happy to do that.

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