Expert: ruth kraft - 1/11/2009

Question
Hello,
My baby girl will be turning 2 months on monday (11-12-09) I am kind of starting to get concerned because she has not had a bowel movement all day today and I'm afraid that she'll continue on that routine, she is 100% breastfed and I have been reading some online answers which seem to indicate that this is normal, but should I trust that answer or talk to her pediatrician about it, it concerns me greatly because she used to do like 6-7 poopy diapers a day! I also wanted to know if Pepsi or coke is affecting her I limit my intake to 1 can about 3 days out of the week but I am decreasing that habit and eventually stop drinking soda, if this is the reason why she is not having a bm i will definitely stop. On a side note my mother is BF counselor as well but stated that she has not yet encountered a case where the bm are less than once a day so this concerned me even more, I sincerely appreciate your time and hope to hear from you soon.

Answer
This is perfectly normal. babies have colostrum in their milk for the first 4 to 6 weeks , and in that colostrum, there is a laxative which is what makes newborns poop all the time so their system can get used to going easily and effortlessly while it figures out how to work... then , around 6 weeks, it starts to leave the milk and the babies poop less frequently, and they grunt more with it... the reason for this, is so that they then start to learn how to control their own bowels. so in a month or two they wont poop while they are sleeping and can sleep longer at night. and then go on to potty train. take note that babies can even go 10 days without pooping at all.. and its completely normal . the only things you have to watch for is is the baby has a hard abdomen ( like rock hard ) and cry like they are in severe pain. you WILL know the difference...  that could be an obstruction. but chances are , if her bowels have been fine up till now, she doesn't have any bowel issues. it all sounds normal :) just be ready when she does finally go :) no dietary changes needed ;)

good job MOM :)

Ruth Kraft
www.honoringwomen.com