Breastfed baby with a sudden decrease in pooing

[shivawn]

Hi all, my baby is 6 weeks old and is mostly breastfed but usually gets one bottle of formula from my husband in the evenings. He normally poos loads everyday, maybe 8-10 times in 24 hours, but he didn't go at all all day yesterday until 8pm yesterday evening when he had a massive poo, at least 3 times bigger than he would normally do. His poo was about 30 minutes after he got the bottle of formula. He was straining and crying on and off from around 4pm yesterday like he was trying to go, this isn't unusual for him but he always goes frequently.

I was hoping that things had resolved but he's had no dirty nappies at all overnight and he would normally have had 2 by now. He was happy and settled all night but I woke up at 5:15 to him straining and kicking his legs in the air again. He's passing gas but no poo.

I know breastfed babies can go a long time with no bowel movements but this is not normal for him at all. Has anyone experienced anything similar or have any idea what's going on?

I believe that as babies get older, the digestive system becomes more efficient in that it absorbs more of the feed no matter what the feed.
You should still get wet nappies regularly though
.
As long as baby IS peeing, pooing and happy, there’s nothing to worry about.

At 6 weeks the frequency of poos can change dramatically, so this is bang on normal! Our LO used to poo basically continuously all day and night until that age (nightmare for nappy rash as basically impossible to keep her clean no matter what we did). She changed totally at around that age and since then only goes every 2-3 days, and up to 10 days can be normal I believe. When they do go it tends to be a bigger amount.

The straining however might be an issue, I'm afraid I don't have a lot of experience with that. If bicycle legs and tummy massage don't help maybe get a medical opinion on it?

My son was the same op, quite a regular pooer but could go up to 10 days occasionally without going. My daughter is 4 months and was every 3 days for the first few weeks, now she’s once a week/10 days. If baby is straining or looks uncomfortable you can help by rubbing his tummy in a clockwise circle quite firmly or by doing bicycle legs - if he’s struggling it can help get things moving.

At 6 weeks the frequency of poos can change dramatically, so this is bang on normal!

I'd read that they change around 6 weeks but I didn't expect it to be so dramatic! Until yesterday I was used to seeing a dirty nappy at almost every change, now they're just wet!

I said it to the GP about the straining at his 6 week check on Monday and she wasn't concerned, just suggested that I could try Infacol which doesn't seem likely to help but I'll get some today.

We always knew when my son was having a growth spurt as a baby as he wouldn't poo for days. He was using all that milk for growing. When it was over he'd do one mega poo so be warned lol

My youngest would slow down his pooing if I had eaten nuts as I think the nut protein was upsetting his belly, he used to cry alot every evening and only poo once a day until I took the nuts out of my diet then things increased again and no crying :)

DD did exactly the same from about 6 weeks. She went down to about once every 6 days at one point! I believe that breast milk starts off containing colostrum, which is a natural laxative, but at around 6 to 8 weeks it changes and no longer includes the colostrum. So that's why this happens.

Infant dyschezia. They have to start pooing consciously and some of them don't get it right straight away. They have to line up the urge to push and relax some muscle at the same time. If they don't line it up they are straining against a closed door. It doesn't hurt them, that's effort you see, not pain.

If the poo is soft and normal when it arrives, this is confirmed. If it's hard and compact then it's constipation.

Maybe try a few days without formula to see if its blocking him up a bit. I think almost all formula fed babies i know suffered from at least mild constipation. Never looked comfortable when they had to poop!

Sounds about right, went from 6-8 times a day to once every 3 days pretty much overnight

Oh and nappies cannot contain it - have spare clothes!

Thanks everyone for your replies! No poops so far today but he's been really content and happy all day with no more straining and crying....amazes me that he can be so different from one day to the next!

From reading all of your responses it seems like this is normal at this stage so I'm not going to worry as long as he seems settled. I just had a bit of a panic last night because it's such a deviation from his usual pattern.

Maybe try a few days without formula to see if its blocking him up a bit.

@JustWonderingIfYou I was actually planning on switching to expressed milk from this week anyway. My lactation consultant told me not to pump until 6 weeks so I'm going to start from this evening.

Infant dyschezia. They have to start pooing consciously and some of them don't get it right straight away. They have to line up the urge to push and relax some muscle at the same time. If they don't line it up they are straining against a closed door. It doesn't hurt them, that's effort you see, not pain.

@BertieBotts Yep, that's it. I hate it. What's funny is that it seems effortless some days and he has to work so hard other days, poo is always yellow and runny though.

went from 6-8 times a day to once every 3 days pretty much overnight

@gogohm Wow such a difference in such a short space of time.

Yy to Infant dyschezia. As long as the consistency of the poo is not constipated then it’s fine.