[cllockhart]

I now have my new baby boy! But I have a question about him. He is a month old and is being breast fed. In the past week though he has only had 3 bowel movements total. I am curious about what to do about this constipation. I know he is eating enough because I have tried pumping and feeding with a bottle. He seems so uncomfortable at times. I just want him to feel better.

[DoulaLC]

If his bowel movements are still the mustardy color and soft he isn't constipated. What it looks like is more key to constipation than how often he goes at this age. With constipation you would see small, hard, pebbles that are difficult to pass. Rare that an exclusively breastfed baby will become constipated due to the high water content of breastmilk and its ease for digestion. It is not uncommon for breastfed babies to start to space out their bowel movements after several weeks, sometimes going several days between them.

So really no need to pump unless you are offering the occasional bottle or storing milk for later use.

Young babies in particular will often be very dramatic with their bowel movements... making faces, turning red, and producing lovely sound effects. But again, if the results are consistent with what he normally produces, he is likely fine.

As they get used to the new sensations of what their body is doing while trying to have a bowel movement, some babies are more bothered by this feeling than others.

[Alty]

Doula covered the advice part, so I'll just say congrats. :)

That 9 months really flew by, for me anyway. ;)

[redhed35]

I read back over your thread,and just wanted to say congrats on the birth of your new baby.