Ooooo Aahhhhh
There have been no poops in 3 days. However, Kate doesn’t seem too concerned about it. She is sleeping well, eating, and had some happy playtime today. Not sure what’s up with that, but we’re both very much hoping for and dreading the poop that is coming. We’re going to a party today so I can only assume that the explosion will happen while she is wearing the cute dress.
My mom is here visiting, getting to know Kate. It is nice to have an extra pair of hands… and she’s even cleaning my kitchen! I also got to nap while Den worked in the yard.
Kate continues to smile and is now making little happy noises. Some sound like “gah,” some are more just squeals. This morning when Den had playtime with her I heard him laughing and went in to find her making “cooing” sounds (sounds like “aaahhhh!!” and “ooooo”) as she gave him huge smiles. We get all giddy when she makes noises. It is so cool!
The previous two nights I was able to put Kate down sleepy – but not asleep – in her cosleeper and sit with her until she drifted off. But last night it did not work, she kept waking up and crying… she just wanted to be held. I gave it three tries then just brought her into the bed to sleep. I’m just going at her pace. She continues to eat every 2-3 hours at night… closer to 2 hours. I believe she’s “snacking” – I nurse side-lying and we just fall asleep. She’s eating half a meal and falling asleep… so she’s awake 2 hours later wanting more. During the day she is taking 3-4 hour naps. Which are lovely, but I’d really like to switch that around! Not that it’s a huge issue, at night I only half wake up enough to help her latch. It doesn’t help that we have no routine yet… in a couple of weeks when my mom leaves and Den is back at work I think we’re going to settle down into a pattern as I figure out the SAHM thing. It’s a little overwhelming, the idea of being on my own… but I’m also looking forward to figuring out our new “normal.”
I don’t know if you are interested in helping her along in the poop realm, but taking her temperature rectally usually gets things going. It is like a reflex or something. But be prepared with a diaper or six underneath her, because it really comes quickly after that. It may save an outfit? She is adorable. I have been reading along with your story for a long time as an LFCA clicker, and just wanted to chime in, if you wanted any advice to get things moving. Just had my little one in April too. Those smiles are awesome.
Erin and Patrick were both every-3-to-5-days poopers. They were horrid, yes, but the peds never seemed too concerned. Breastmilk is more easily digested than formula, so it leaves less waste. It wasn’t until they started getting solids regularly that they started pooping every day.
I LOVE that smiling picture. She is SO STINKING CUTE!
by “they were horrid” I mean the diapers, not the babies…lol
she is just so gorgeous! och och och! and sounds utterly edible too :)
about the poop – bf babies can do 7 poops a day or one poop in 7 days and everything in between. Generally when they’re not pooping, they’re absorbing ALL the nutrients in the breastmilk leaving nothing to be pooped out.
Just here to affirm what others have said about the pooping. I freaked out when we went a week with no poop, but was repeatedly assured that EBF babies can be very efficient in their digestion of breast milk and days without pooping is fine as long as there are no other symptoms (bloody stool, hard stool, abdominal distention or obvious pain). And after our no-poop spells, I was always amazed at how normal the poopy diaper would be (when I would be expecting the poop or all poops).
As for the routine – I’m sure you’ll develop your own rhythm, but I made myself a little crazy looking for a pattern or real routine to develop, which for us didn’t happen until closer to 6 months. All babies are different, for sure, but try not to feel discouraged/unsettled if the only constant for a while is that things are constantly changing!
Ive been a SAHM for 12 years now (since I was 20) and you´ll soon figure it out ;)
Infact,I find that its so much easier once you are left on your own,because when you are in charge of her rutine,what and when she needs everything etc,you´ll feel more confident and more in control.
My husband always helped me out at first,but I loved it when he went back to work and I could finally settle into a rutine that suited just me,because it was less stressful (at least for me anyway lol).Id have a time for everything and that made me feel more secure kwim?
When everyone was pitching in and trying to help me out (which always happens in the begining) I found it impossible to find a pattern to stick to..everything was just random and Id soon feel the need to be left alone to find a rutine.
With just one child,its VERY easy (you´ll see) :) Then with the second +,you jump into a pattern even faster ;)
Oh..BTW,she is absolutely PRECIOUS :) <3 <3
Oh, that first picture is just precious… perfect! I think one of the best parts of having a blog after IF is sharing the pictures. Some of those pics are just too good to not show off.
I was pretty disappointed when my baby would show signs of constipation because I didn’t think that was supposed to happen to breastfed babies. We would usually get a BM within 3 days, but a little juice from a dropper will help if you start to get worried or she is having difficulty. I found my baby has a sensitivity to soy (well, I think he does, still experimenting) and he gets constipated and breaks out with eczema when I eat it.
It is completely normal for breastfeed babies to poo only once in up to 10 days. It just means they are getting all the good stuff out of the milk. Doesn’t mean they are constipated or have any other issues, unless she is showing signs of discomfort.
From around 8 weeks, DS would go 7-9 days between. This only changed when he started solids at 6 months.
She sounds happy, so this may just be her new normal. It takes a while for their little bodies to figure things out. I did find that the night before DS was due for a poo he was sometimes a bit restless.
We found using our fitted cloth diapers were great and we never had any leakage, even with 7 days worth coming out all in one go!!! ;) Good luck…hopefully it will happen while you are at home!
I’m commenting on your tweet “Mommy guilt is rough”. YES, it is awful. I feel it for every little thing I do wrong, even something as small as forgetting to change a wet diaper before we leave the house. Forgetting her favorite fruit, strawberries, at the store. Snapping at my 4 year old. Everything! Mommy guilt is the worst.
Nat- I don’t know if she is pooping more or not but because she is breastfed, your doc will probably tell you not to worry about it as long as she seems happy and doesn’t look like she is straining. After about the first month for Finn, he stopped pooping all the time. He started only pooping once a week! Then he would usually go a few times that day and then not go again for a week. When I mentioned it to my ped, she said that was normal for breastfed babies as long as he wasn’t straining or pushing…which he wasn’t. She also told me that she had one patient who only pooped once every 3 weeks….the mom had only changed 4 poopy diapers by his 4 month appointment! Anyway, it was so different for me because my daughter pooped every time I nursed her so I was kind of worried at first but I soon realized that was Finn’s pattern. Now, that he is eating solids, he poops more than he did when he was just breasted! Makes sense though because the ped said it was like he wasn’t wasting any of the breastmilk and with solids there’s more waist.