> 2) breastfed babies (usually older) stool with less frequency because with > breastmilk there's less waste. > > I have heard this, but can't recall any references. My own perspective on this is that there is a wide range of normal, but if I do hear that a baby is not stooling for several days, I go to the next item of the list to make sure he is really breastfeeding effectively. In my experience, more babies are not stooling *and* not gaining well than simply not stooling (in the absence of other problems). In terms of 'treatment' : Some babies will drink a sip or two of EBM out of a cup or spoon after a not-so-good feed, and then have a bowel movement. Others do well with a combined feed (SNS). Still others do all right with expression-at-the-breast (aka breast compressions). I like to see all-out pumping and breastmilk-feeding as a temporary means of ensuring a baby is getting calories while he is learning to breastfeed, but I'm not at all hesitant about suggesting hand-expression at or after a breastfeeding. Chances are good that something is wrong with the way the baby's mouth is working or connecting to the mother's breast, but while we are figuring out what it is, a reminder to baby that this good stuff *is* plentiful and can be had can work wonders. Jo-Anne Elder-Gomes, IBCLC *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html