When I talk about poops and pees in my bf class, I get pretty graphic about what is a proper amount of output.  I dump about a quarter cup of water into a diaper and pass it around so that they can feel a really wet diaper.  I tell them that the amount of poop each time may differ, but at the end of the day, if they had saved it all up, it would be a huge handful of poop.  I also talk about how most babies really fill their diapers on some kind of regular basis.  When you talk with moms on the phone, you do have to get really specific about output - often these babies are just staining the diapers or peeing just enough so they are a little wet but never soaked, but mom is attesting to 6-8 wet and dirty diapers per day.

The bestest and quickest way to increase weight gain, provided there is no milk production problem, is to increase the number of feeds and use massage during the feeding.  Many moms just do not feed frequently enough.  If baby is feeding and pooping well, but not gaining, it may be genetic or perhaps allergies (again).  I have seen both in my own child and others that with severe food allergies, growth may be slow no matter what you are doing.  Outside of the terrible excema which waxed and waned, my son was very healthy and happy and did gain steadily, but always at the bottom of the chart.  My other child, who was not allergic, fed less often and was very chubby.  They both grew up to be tall and thin children who are now tall and average weight adults.

Not sure if this also had to do with allergies, but my son always pooped several times a day whereas my daughter went once every 5 days, with a volcano-sized eruption on the fifth day, like clockwork.

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