Baby has ONE poo every 3-4 weeks. Worried.

[titnomatani]

Hi there, just looking for some advice or guidance. My baby is 4 months old and pooed as a 'normal' baby might for the first week when he was born only. He had to be taken into hospital on day 8 because his jaundice worsened and he needed phototherapy for a few days. Since then, he's had a poo every couple of weeks. He's EBF and I know babies can go up to 10 days without emptying their bowels but up to a month- is this normal? I've mentioned that I'm worried to the HV and our GP but keep being told I'm overthinking it and he's fine. Baby is alert and happy mostly (currently going through the 4 month sleep regression which is a pain) and has lots of wet nappies but he passes very, very smelly wind. Any insight into what might be going on?

That does sound like a long time and sounds like a bit of constipation to me. I used to massage my dd's stomach and move do bicycle legs to help her go when she was younger. Also is there anything you could be eating or drinking that might be making him constipated? When my DD was a bit older but still bf, I was prescribed codeine for something but stopped taking it when I realised it made dd constipated.

My DD also sometimes got a bit of colic type pain and we gave her infacol which also seemed to help her go sometimes iirc.

A decade ago, DD was an ebf pooing every 8 - 10 days baby. If it got to say 8, there had been no action and I was going out over the next couple of days and might not be able to deal with a poonami, I used to lie her on a change mat after bath time with an old towel and one of those absorbent bed pad things on it, massage her tummy and cycle her legs and wait for the flow to begin. As I used to do this, I never discovered how long she could go naturally.

Thanks for replying quickly ladies. I've tried the bicycle legs, have tried giving him fennel water (a teaspoon or two), massage, holding him so he's squatting over a nappy in the hope the poo comes but apart from some very smelly farts, nothing. I called the GP earlier and they're saying they want to see him in person which is now panicking me. His tummy is soft so he's not bunged up but he does squirm while feeding and soon after he's finished. Could it be silent reflux related? He doesn't bring up any milk usually.

My diet is atrocious atm- I grab what I can as I'm running after my toddler and doing jobs my man child of a husband should be doing. I mentioned if my diet will be impacting baby's bowel movements but the HV said that's not true- what a mum eats doesn't make a difference to the baby? I'm too tired to see if there's any truth in that statement atm.

I've also worn him in a sling for outings and when around the house in the hope that being in that position will help him have a bowel movement but nothing. He's due to be seen by a Paediatrician soon for an I defended testicle (he was 4 weeks early)- any chance that might be causing him not to poo?

Ok is your baby happy, having lots of wet nappies? gaining weight well? These are the key factors. Yes it's on the long side of normal but then some one has to be. The only thing I would suggest is to speak to a breastfeeding counciler which I'm sure you will still be able to do either over the phone or the internet, the breastfeeding network is a good place to start.

But if the poop is not solid then it's not constipation. Don't forget brestmilk is very well digested and means there is little waste products. Pooing once a day or once every 2 weeks is normal. But it never hurts to speak to an expect to get some extra advice.

Thanks for that @MigGril. Just come out from seeing the Dr and he's agreed that baby's tummy is nice and soft and that he's also alert and happy so nothing to worry about. He has given me some lactulose to help baby poo and has also recommended giving him some cool, boiled water. He's confirmed that my diet won't effect baby's digestive system so at least that's one thing less to worry about.

One thing the HV mentioned was weaning premature babies before 6 months- should I try some puréed vegetables to provide some roughage for baby?

Ps. Don't forget brestmilk is very well digested and means there is little waste products.

My firstborn was BF as well but pooed like clockwork so maybe I'm unfairly comparing the baby to him.

I had one baby that pooed rarely, also EBF. He was happy, soft belly, lots of wet nappies, Paed said stop worrying it's normal. So I just forgot about it. But when he did go it would be up the back and put the sides, I used to hope it happened at home.
I brought him home in a nappy and blanket a few times after poonami happened when out and about.

Hits head against wall at GP . Sorry they don't have much training in breastfeeding. Don't give water to a breastfed baby this is really poor advice, at best will just make your baby fill up on water instead of milk. Breastmilk is mainly water anyway so this isn't the problem. Introducing solids to babies is often what starts problems with constipation not helps so that's not a solution either, solids latter in this case is probably a better option not eariler. Also giving any form of medication unless babies poo is hard is a bad idea as given to often when they are young can make their bowels relient on it and cause no ends of problems. So should always be a very last resort.

They would need to have hard foarmed, painful poo and crying while passing it to really justify giving medication. This can happen with formula but is often resolved by changing the type of formula being used.

This website is really useful
kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/enoughmilk-older/

And if you'd like to speak to some breastfeeding experts these people are really good. They have a phone line and online web support.
www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/questions-about-your-baby/

One of mine was similar and we had weekly paediatrician appointments due to another condition he had. The paediatrician thought it was a bit extreme but as he was gaining weight, having wet nappies and was having abdominal ultrasounds that didn’t show any constipation then we just carried on. He soon started shitting around the clock when solids were introduced. I wouldn’t give lactulose or extra water to a baby unless they were straining to pass hard poo or had a hard tummy etc. Otherwise it’s trying to solve a problem that doesn’t really exist.

My other DC was also ebf and did 2 or 3 poos a day. It was a bit of a shock! But (anecdotally) shows that two babies can be entirely different and that there's nothing wrong with either of them.