One Month Old Baby Not Pooping

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One Month Old Baby Not Pooping

by Shelly Koenig
(Belgrade, MT, USA)

My grandson has not pooped in 4 days and he is only 1 month old. He has been on breast milk since birth. They give him breast milk and then top him off with one ounce of Infamil formula.

Is it normal to not poop for so long? Their pediatrician told them that it could be possible for him not to poop for up to 5 weeks. That does not seem right to me.

Baby Help Line Response:

Hi Shelly!

Five weeks... Never heard of a baby that didn't poop for such a long time! The pediatrician must have meant 5 days! Up to two weeks for breastfed babies can be normal, however, in case the baby seems to be fine and not in pain.

Usually a baby who is only one month old still poops every day, but this really can vary, especially for breastfed babies.

For example, a very general rule of thumb is that babies have a growth spurt at 6 days, 6 weeks and 6 months... At this point in time they tend to need more food to be content. Breastfed babies then start fussing and eat more often to increase breast milk production and they might poop less, since they make use of everything they consume.

Maybe this is the reason why your grand son hasn't pooped in four days?

Since he is mainly breastfed I really wouldn't worry for at least a few more days. If he does start showing signs of constipation, (pain, straining, the poop that does come out is hard etc), a possible way to help the baby is to cut down on the formula or switch to another brand.

Chances are, however, that he is just fine and just growing rapidly.

I hope this helps!

Comments for
One Month Old Baby Not Pooping

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Feb 04, 2008

the same
by: Anonymous

my daughter have the same problem have not poop in 3 weeks on her own i have to help her every time using a suppository. the doctor also told me is that is k that i have to give her time to develop, but i am going crazy just looking at her pushing and getting red but nothing happen. i don't know what to do. when she does poop with my help the poop is not hard and is normal in color and sometimes water like. but she is having no pain at all.

Feb 18, 2009

Almost the same
by: Anonymous

My daughter is 5 weeks old and for the last 4 days she has not been able to poop without me giving her a suppository. she grunts, and pushes so hard her little face turns red, then nothing but a fart comes out. When ever I call the doctor he just says to give her another suppository.

Is this normal? What should I do? She seems to be in pain.

Jul 04, 2009

3 Weeks old with irregular pooping
by: Anonymous

My son is 3 weeks old and having irregular pooping. He also grunts and turns red only to pass gas. Someone stated that he may have a HERNIA but he was also checked by his doctor who didn't see anything wrong. Any suggestions!!!!

Oct 04, 2009

3 month old
by: Anonymous

I have a 3 month old little boy and he has problems pooping on his own also. He is breastfed but when I went back to work I had to supplement one bottle of infamil formula.
When I started that he went 4 days without pooping. And after that he went up to 7 days without pooping. I tried the karo syrup, pear juice, prune juice, and the rectal stimulation but nothing seemed to work. I tried the suppositories last and as soon as I got half of it in there was an explosion. Boy was it big. I was so excited he pooped I didn't care about the mess.

Oct 20, 2009

normal!!
by: bee

totally normal. my 2 month old baby didnt poop for 7 days. then he'd have a bowl movement and then not go again for days!! this used to happen for a while. dr said it was normal b/c some babies get the perfect amount of nutrients from breast milk and their body won't excrete poop! i was soo worried back then. now my baby is 2 yrs old and we laugh at how worried we used to be!!