My daughter is 6 weeks old. Mainly breastfed, except one bottle of formula each evening.She cant poop…..?

The poop thing is normal for breast-fed babies, frequency can vary and usually isn’t as often as formula fed babies. And the color for now is normal as I’m sure you know.

As others have said – the formula may be responsible for the gas and any discomfort she is having. Her little body may just be having difficulty making the switch back and forth – their digestive tracts aren’t very mature and the slightest thing can upset their tummies – even something you’ve been eating can upset their tummies.

If this continues for much longer – you might want to do a little investigation on your own and try a bit of an elimination diet and keep a food log. You can google elimination diets (or ask your doctor) – basically you start out with a bland, basic diet avoiding some of the big allergy/gas/discomfort offenders and then slowly add foods back in – keeping a log of what you’ve eaten and her mood/behavior can help you find what foods bother her. Anything that tends to bloat us or cause gas will often do the same for babies – and you may find spicy foods affect her, or lactose products, too many raw veggies can sometimes be a culprit.

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Breastfed babies do not get constipated beause the breastmilk is almost completely digested…the soft yellowish stool that you see is COMPLETELY normal. It is also normal for it be a bit seedy or grainy (almost like mustard).

The formula she is getting can be responsible for the smelly gas. It’s not the breastmilk. Exclusively breastfed babies do not have foul smelling gas.

It is also normal for breastfed babies to go for up to 7 days without having a bowel movement. So long as their tummies do not feel hard or distended and they are not crying in pain or discomfort–they are fine. You are mentioning that she is having trouble falling asleep and is “irritated” (I am thinking you mean irritable?)… Here are a few thoughts on this:

1) at 6 weeks they go through a growth spurt and want to nurse a lot more all of a sudden… it might seem that you can’t keep up with her demands and that might be why you have felt the need to supplement with an occassional bottle of formula… it’s better if you don’t supplment because the more she nurses…the more she is stimulating your breasts to ramp up milk production to meet her increasing demands. If you offer formula here…you are not triggering your breasts to make as much milk as she now needs… She WILL be irritable for a few days until your milk supply catches up with her increasing needs… and she WILL want to nurse almost constantly for a few days…but breastfeeding is a supply and demand operation… the more she demands…the more your body will make… if she gets an occassional 4 or 8 ounce bottle of formula….that’s 4 or 8 ounces your body is being told it does NOT need to make…

2) Cow’s milk has large proteins that are hard for a baby to break down and digest and this can cause a lot of stomach discomfort for an infant because their digestive systems are too immature to handle it. Formula is made from cow’s milk–so it is harder for your baby to digest. Also, if you yourself consume a lot of cow’s milk–those large proteins pass through into your breast milk and can cause discomfort. (This was something I didn’t know as a first time mom… during pregnancy we are encouraged to drink milk…I figured the same would hold true for breastfeeding… milk in, milk out, seemed rational to me… but it caused my son digestive upset… when I cut back on my milk intake…his discomfort reduced completely… I was able to gradually increas my dairy as he got older…)

If I can offer any assistance please give me a yell…

Source(s): Breastfed all 3 of my babies for the first year and beyond… very well verse on breastfeedng education and myths… there is so much misinformation out there… and the first 2 months are the hardest!

PS There is a great breastfeeding group here at Yahoo Groups… poop is a very commonly discussed subject. LOL. There are more questions about that than probably anything else!

PPS: Shine Clouds answer is COMPLETELY off the mark–an early childhood educator does not qualify you to offer breastfeeding advice! The information she provided has nothing to do with the NORMAL poop you are seeing from a breastfed baby… And a 6 week old should NEVER have solids!! Not before 6 months! (And even then they are not essential yet–just to get our baby used to the idea of solids–breastfeeding will still be her primary source of nutrition for the first year). You are doing a GREAT job…keep it up!31

Constipation is properly defined as infrequent, difficult and/or incomplete bowel function. Breastfeeding doesn’t make a difference, because, as at any age, she should “do” more frequently than once every three days (beware absorption of intestinal toxins!).

The fact that she’s becoming fussy and having trouble sleeping is a sure sign that she’s getting constipated.

Businessmom had the right idea – when it’s been 48+hours and she’s in distress, put a glycerine suppository in her. Lay the baby on its side. Wet the suppository and insert it into the anus. It might make her cry when you put it in, but it’s safer than any other medication and I guarantee it’ll help her do a dooey in under 20 minutes.

the first poster is right on. I have a 12 week old and Breast fed babies simply do not go as often and it is suppose to be yellowish/grainy. I appreciate your concern (b/c we had the same). The smelly gas is probably just something you are eating so don’t worry. It was so embarrasoing in the early days when my newborn son would expel unpleasant gas, but everyone accepts baby toots (so don’t worry)… read more on the net about BF babes… now as for the crying thing – can I please recommend “The Happiest Baby on the Block”… ? Best book ever, and I followed to the T with my daughter and with my newborn, and I have two fantastic sleepers. 🙂

My son would get constipated when he was that age but he was on formula. I got tips here and there and this is what worked for me. Put a rectal thermometer in, not for the temp just using it can cause a BM for some reason. Also put a little dark karo syrup in her bottle. Good Luck! I’ve never heard that is normal to go so long w.o a BM, if that were me I would see the doctor. You can never be too careful when they are that young.

could be the wrong formula or something in your diet. it isnt a big deal if she only has a bm every 3 days as long as it is soft and not hard. but if yousay she gets bothered then i would try taking her of the formula to see if that is it, and if she still has a problem maybe you should switch to formula instead of the breast because it could be your milk causing it. but then again there may be no problem at all. you should consult withher dr before doing anything

I’m sorry, I just had to post a big LMFAO at the person that said to feed your 6 week old daughter solid foods. WOW

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Hi. I think the best thing to do here would be to take her to the doctor. Below is some information on yellow stool, but it may not be the following so don’t get worried. I would get a face to face answer.

Yellow Stool

Yellow stool can indicate that food is passing through the digestive tract relatively quickly. Yellow stool can be found in people with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). Symptoms of GERD include heartburn, chest pain, sore throat, chronic cough, and wheezing. Symptoms are usually worse when lying down or bending. Foods that can worsen GERD symptoms include peppermint, fatty foods, alcohol, coffee, and chocolate.

Yellow stool can also result from insuffient bile output. Bile salts from the liver gives stool its brownish color. When bile output is diminished, it often first appears as yellow stool. If there is a greater reduction in bile output, stool lose almost all of its color, becoming pale or grey.

If the onset is sudden, yellow stool can also be a sign of a bacterial infection in the intestines.

Source(s): Early Childhood Educator

Breastfed babies don’t always poop. Both my kids can go up to 10 days! It’s nice and soft so they aren’t constipated. The fussiness is most likely gas/colic and there are things you can do for that (probiotics, swaddling, you can read more on the internet), but don’t worry about the lack of poop!

Source(s): Mother and pre-med student34

when my son had similar problem, his doc said to use a suppositary once and if the poop was not soft and of his usual consistency then he was okay. kids that age go through this. in a few mnths her cycle will be set more and she will poop regularly

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