Gail Hertz MD writes: << When I talk to the parents we can communicate well on "just a little smear" and an "up the back out the legs of the diaper" poop, but the amounts in between still pose a problem. >> Gail I usually describe adequate poops this way: "by day 5 or 6, your baby should have about 3-4 poops that would fill the palm of your hand (I usually draw a circle on my palm with my finger) or the equivalent of that, for example 6 that are half palm sized, or 2 whoppers. Not very accurate or scientific but it has been working pretty well. Of course we occasionally see those babies who are not pooping much at all and gaining fine and others who poop lots and don't gain. So I remind moms weight gain is the gold standard for assessment of milk intake, while poop counts come in second as a very good screening method. I anxious to hear other ideas. Kathy Kuhn ParentsPlace.com LC private practice LC Eastern PA USA *********************************************** 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