One Month Old Baby Not Pooping

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!!

Jan 31, 2010

me too
by: Anonymous

I have a 6 week old and she is only breastfed but has only pooped once in 3 days. It was watery and the dr said she should be poopoing at least 3 times a day. She used to but now she seems like she is having pain bc she is grunting and cries when she passes gas and it is like a mini explosion every time. very stinky too. she is crying a ton and she also has a stuffy nose. i have a fever and a cold and was wondering if that had anything to do with her not pooping. plus i have not gone #2 either but i am not in a lot of pain.

Feb 07, 2010

Pooping and Lactose Overload
by: Anonymous

I have a 5 week old and he began pooping grass green poops. He is exclusively breastfed. He became very gassy and would only sleep for a few minutes and then would start crying like he was in a lot of pain and would spit up a ton of milk. We began using a lot of Mylicon and Gripe Water. For his one month checkup his Dr. observed his spit up and him beginning to cry, his poop had not yet turned green. She said it might be lactose intolerance and acid reflux. She told me to get rid of dairy products from my diet and to feed him shorter time periods closer together. I wasn't quite sure if I believed her diagnosis so I began to research lactose intolerance and ran across lactose overload. I was reading off the symptoms to my husband and he said that sounded just like our son. The only thing he didn't have yet was pooping the bright grass green poop. Well shortly after reading that he began pooping green. I called the Lactation Consultant the next morning and she told me to pump to get rid of the excess fore milk I was producing. (Lactose Overload is a fore milk/hind milk in-balance). I was instructed to pump 30 minutes before his feeding time. I got a ton of just straight fore milk - up to 4 oz in like 15 min or so). Well his poop started to go back to its normal mustard color but has what looks like spinach pieces or tea leaves. Then he totally quit pooping. The spit up is a lot better now. He barely spits up at all now. It has been over 2 days so far. I am going to call the pediatrician in the morning and am going to a Le Leche League meeting on Tuesday. Anyone else have any experience with this?

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Feb 07, 2010
Rating

Submitted by: Anonymous

Title

Comment
I have a 5 week old and he began pooping grass green poops. He is exclusively breastfed. He became very gassy and would only sleep for a few minutes and then would start crying like he was in a lot of pain and would spit up a ton of milk. We began using a lot of Mylicon and Gripe Water. For his one month checkup his Dr. observed his spit up and him beginning to cry, his poop had not yet turned green. She said it might be lactose intolerance and acid reflux. She told me to get rid of dairy products from my diet and to feed him shorter time periods closer together. I wasn't quite sure if I believed her diagnosis so I began to research lactose intolerance and ran across lactose overload. I was reading off the symptoms to my husband and he said that sounded just like our son. The only thing he didn't have yet was pooping the bright grass green poop. Well shortly after reading that he began pooping green. I called the Lactation Consultant the next morning and she told me to pump to get rid of the excess fore milk I was producing. (Lactose Overload is a fore milk/hind milk in-balance). I was instructed to pump 30 minutes before his feeding time. I got a ton of just straight fore milk - up to 4 oz in like 15 min or so). Well his poop started to go back to its normal mustard color but has what looks like spinach pieces or tea leaves. Then he totally quit pooping. The spit up is a lot better now. He barely spits up at all now. It has been over 2 days so far. I am going to call the pediatrician in the morning and am going to a Le Leche League meeting on Tuesday. Anyone else have any experience with this?

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Feb 13, 2010

not quite the same
by: Anonymous

my six week old is bottle fed and she has been pooping ike every other day..and the poops is as loose as water nearly...why? what should i do?

Apr 07, 2010

not pooing too
by: Anonymous

Today is the second day my six weeks son is not pooing.He strains,he goes red while doing it..cries a bit but not continously.am worried..am on formula n breastmilk..(only couple of times on breast)..since am trying to prepare to start work.
HOPEFULLY will poo soon,...

Jun 06, 2010

Relief...
by: mike

Pediatrician says our 7 week old should be pooping four to five times per day. He was going once per day or once per two days and he was very unhappy. We didn't get the connection till he told us. It's gross but stimulation of the rectum with a foreign body - like a suppository - will cause things to move along. He told us to lube up a rectal thermometer and insert it only an inch or two, wiggle it gently. One to two minutes of stimulation relived our baby of a little poo. This got things going after four or five tries over an evening/night. Now he is pooping more regularly and not as miserable. We are so grateful! I had to share to let others know this. Good luck.

Jun 06, 2010

Breast fed babys don't burp they should fart
by: mike - again

Just like the title says - don't burp a breast fed baby. If he needs to burp, he will. If you burp him he will upchuck some of his milk and along with it stomach acid. If he is straining they give him a suppository or place a lubed rectal thermometer an inch or so up his bottom to stimulate his bowels. A minute of that will produce some poo. He may protest a little or it may calm him down - either way, it works.

Aug 26, 2010

explosions
by: Anonymous

my 6 week old daughter generally poops 1-2 times a day, which looks to be about normal. It's normally yellowy in color, but 9 times out of ten it is an explosion. Is it ok to have this much force? She is also only breastfed.

Aug 26, 2010

Aug 27, 2010

Yes normal
by: Baby Help Line - Paula

Hi,

Yes, I think it is quite normal for young infants to experience "explosions" when pooping. I don't know why it is so, but experienced it with both our youngest kids. I assume it might be related to their still immature digestive systems.

Best,

Paula

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