How long does your baby go between poops before you get concerned? My EBF 8 month old hasn't been pooping regularly for the past few weeks. She went 5 days without pooping. I panicked and used a Fridababy Windii stick on her to help her do a massive poop. We introduced solids at 6 months but aren't giving them to her on any consistent routine. How long do you think is normal between poops?
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I remember this happening I can't remember the age. Her ped just said she's efficiently using her food. It was not a long period just a couple months. But she never seemed to be straining or uncomfortable. Call your Dr if you are worried.
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@youboots: Thank you for your response. Did you do anything specific to help her poop? Or would you just wait it out? I used the Windii stick yesterday at 4 days no poop. But I am seriously concerned about her becoming reliant on assistance with pooping!
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@agold: I think we gave applesauce or juice when it had been a long time but I'd hesitate to use that kind of intervention without the advice of a Dr. That said we don't even have the windii and DD did not seem constipated.
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If my kids skipped more than a day I just started with the prunes and that usually worked. I've never tried the Windii.
I think it's different by the kid though. My first I wouldn't worry much but my second kid is a more frequent pooper and more finicky in general with tummy stuff so I get worried quicker.
Five days would have had me worried for either of them though!
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Mine went maybe 1-2 days without pooping, but is an usual daily pooper. When we started solids we fed him prunes mixed with oatmeal every morning. When he would strain obviously trying to poop we would open his diaper and massage his belly and bicycle legs, It would take a few minutes, but LO pass the hard stuff followed by the softer, newer BM.
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: maybe i will try the massage and bicycle legs. My girl's poop is always a little bit thicker at first, following by a majority of softer poop on the tail end.
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My daughter went 5-6 days without pooping often as a baby. Ped recommended prune juice and lots of water.
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@CatchAFallingStar: Thanks. Did you give her actual adult prune juice? And how would you give her the juice and water? In a bottle or a sippy cup?
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@agold: Gerber makes little 4oz bottles of prune juice or prune and apple mixed which we found helpful. We also used a prune concentrate with probiotics when needed (I checked with the pediatrician). I found that at CVS. I was told to incorporate fruits like peaches, pears, too. You have to be careful with apple. Apple juice will help relieve the constipation but too much applesauce will cause constipation. If LO was really into applesauce or bananas I just made sure to balance it out with other things that would keep him regular!
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0-6 months, my EBF LO used to go 3-4 days btwn poops, Dr was never worried. When we introduced solids, we did them daily and ramped up kind of quickly so he was pooping about 1x-2x daily at 8mo. But if you're not doing a lot of solids, I'd still think 3 days is within the realm of normal.... but not 5. What is the texture like? (gross, I know, oh well....)
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This is C. She's almost 7 months and goes 4-5 days between poops. We've done pureed prunes, apricots, diluted juice in her water... she is just a storer. It drives me insane! Today we spent AGES doing leg exercises and warm baths and she has still yet to go.. sigh.
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My baby can go several days with no poop. He is 7 months old and now that we are doing solids he seems to go more frequently. This past week he has a cold and seems to be teething and barely having any solids and no big surprise, hasn't pooped in 3 days or so. This is his normal. His brothers always pooped more and you could tell they were uncomfortable if they went more than a day or two.
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LO1 and LO3 have been daily/multiple daily poopers since birth. Around 6w old, LO2 started going loooooong times between poops (like 10+ days), and then eventually when we started solids it was more frequent than that, but not daily for sure. Now (2.5y) she goes daily+.
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Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand the prunes finally kicked in. FIVE poops today. She's gotta be all clear now!
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My EBF baby would go almost 2 weeks on occasion!
I was calling the doctor like all the time. They said it is actually a good thing for EBF babies because there is so much less waste with breastmilk. Their bodies just use most of it up. Now, once the baby is taking solids, it's a bit different, so I would not be comfortable going as long. After we started solids, we had to occasionally give tiny doses of milk of magnesia when nothing else worked (per our pediatric GI's orders).
I was also told that it depends on the consistency and LO's discomfort when they go... so if it's 4 days but when they go it's large and soft, it's fine. But if it's 4 days and they're pooping out rabbit pellets, it's obviously a problem.
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@agold: Around that age my EBF guy was a little off. I think he also went 6 days. Things evened out. I was worried but he was perfectly fine. Poops great (and often) now at 15 months. I've heard "everything" for EBF is normal.
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@jaguar: ah yes, when it comes, it comes.
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My little guy used to poop every day and has just recently started going a very long time in between. He's a few days shy of 5 months, EBF and no solids yet. Last poop was 3 days ago, before that he went 5 days in between. I haven't been too concerned because he doesn't seem bothered by it. I'm just hoping to avoid blowouts, because our dryer is broken right now and won't be fixed until next week!
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@agold: for breastfed babies I think up to 6 or 7 days is still considered normal. although every baby is on a different schedule.
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UGh. I remember these days!!! Our doc said they can go 8 days without pooping, which seems horrible!
We'd give prune juice if she went more than 4-5 days.
It totally freaked me out ... I'm pregnant now and totally forgot about all of the Adventures in Pooping.
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@DesertDreams88: Funny you ask about texture! But very valid question. I always think it squeeze out like a soft serve yogurt machine!
The first little bit is thicker, maybe like peanut butter. OMG, so gross. And then what comes out after is a lot softer. Ha. I think it seems like healthy poop. And she never seems uncomfortable to me. @jaguar: Maybe I should try to do some leg exercises. Do you do bicycle legs? Do you do it daily? And how many ounces of pureed prunes does she eat a day? Funny you say she is a "storer"!
@MrsADS: This was all very interesting and helpful! My baby is still all breast milk and like not very much real food and not very often. (Is that a horrible thing? maybe that's another post!) Definitely large and soft poop. And she's not uncomfortable. So I will hold out and see how long it takes for her to go on her own. Thank you sharing your thought!
@pachamama: Thank you so much. I'm feeling a little better about all of this.
@catlady: I'm always worried about a giant blow out too!! It was better when I could expect a daily big morning poop. Now I don't know what to expect! We had her dedicated at church on this past Sunday morning and I was so worried about that white dress she was wearing!!
@Mrsbells: Thank you for this info. I will try to hold out and let her do her thing without me intervening!!
@littlejoy: How did you give the prune juice? In a bottle or a sippy cup? I feel like my baby just chews on the sippy cup.
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@agold: LO was breastfed and formula fed (until 12 months), so we'd mix the prune juice with a bottle of formula ... looked like swamp water. I hated giving it to her (I worried about sugar), but it was effective. I think I'll be less worried this time around, as long as everything else seems normal.
And yes, even now if LO hasn't eaten for a day or so (because of illness), we'll try giving her natural pedialyte, and she just doesn't drink it. I think the prune juice was only effective because it was mixed with her formula.
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Our doctor always told us to do belly massage. Clockwise motions, spelling "LUV" (upside down, I guess). Coconut oil on your hands and massage for 10 minutes a day. We also did leg pumps (bicycle and then just a squat type motion).
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My 7 month old poops every 3 or 4 days. He also eats some solid food but how poops are still very much breast milk. He gets a little fussy before a big one but the consistency is like baby poop so I don't think he's constipated, just saves it for a massive blow out...
I was calling the doctor like all the time. They said it is actually a good thing for EBF babies because there is so much less waste with breastmilk. Their bodies just use most of it up. 
The first little bit is thicker, maybe like peanut butter. OMG, so gross. And then what comes out after is a lot softer. Ha. I think it seems like healthy poop. And she never seems uncomfortable to me. Reply
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