>Hi All,
>Where do we have the research that a breastfed baby who is getting 
>enough should be making 2-5 dirty diapers in the first month of 
>life?  I would like to send the Ped some info, because he keeps 
>telling patients - they must be absorbing it all- and it is no 
>problem what so ever.  I am working with a baby who has made 2 times 
>since discharge from hospital.  Baby is 11 days old and I have done 
>test weighs and know that this baby is not transferring nearly 
>enough milk.  It is frustrating when I become the bad, overreactive 
>one, and it is hard to sit back for another 4 weeks and watch this 
>baby's weight totally slack off due to lack of intake.
>I did a medline search on stooling patters and could not come up 
>with the research.
>Help Anyone?  Do any of you find yourselves with a doctor who is 
>just too relaxed?  I feel like his head is in the clouds...
>Jessica Billowitz, IBCLC
>Israel
>

It doesn't matter what the paed thinks about stooling patterns, 
though, does it, if the baby's weight is causing concern. Test 
weighing would not show the overall pattern, just a 'snapshot' so you 
need to compare the weight now with the weight at birth and any 
interim weights.



Griffin A, Beattie RM (2001) Normal bowel habit during the first six 
weeks in healthy term infants. Ambulatory Child Health 7:23-26

The above is one paper that shows normal stooling.

Hope it helps.

I think weight is the crucial sign of effective milk transfer, 
though. It is possible, though very rare,  (in my experience) for a 
newborn to stool relatively infrequently and still gain adequately. 
The lack of stools is a symptom, not a diagnosis in itself.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK

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