Hello all! Charity Pitcher-Cooper BSN, RN, CLC current job title MOM- 24/7...Coming out of lurkdom for this awesome thread. I love it when we can all toss out those ideas and theories that have been buzzing around in our heads for a while. While I certainly understand Jennifer's outlook on infrequent stooling given her son's allergy/stooling history. And I do believe that there are babies who have infrequent stools that are typical for them but not normal (ie indicative of some underlying health issue) just as there are frequent stoolers who are actually experiencing diarrhea; I cannot believe that every baby with a non-average stooling pattern is ill and in need of medical attention, chiropractic adjustment, or a mom on a drastic elimination diets. Nature loves genetic variety. Thanks to recent research into breast milk production, we now know that different mothers have different capacities for milk storage and milk production. There are large breasts and small breasts, big nipples and small nipples (you are getting my drift here, I hope). Why can't there be differences in digestion as well? Big stomachs that can handle large amounts of breastmilk even if mom produces like gang- busters, and waits long periods between feeds, small stomachs that need frequent nursing 8-10 times per hour- shorter intestines that remove the needed H2O and return 10 runny breastmilk stools per day and those longer intestines that remove more water and return a stool of firmer consistancy less often. One of the great things about breastmilk is that it encourages the gut to create more surface area. Why? So there is greater absorption of nutrients and a greater re-claiming of needed materials- like water, salt and trace minerals. I do not believe ALL infrequent stoolers are just letting waste material to sit and ferment- creating toxins like food left to spoil outside in the sun. Some are just better digesters and can use up the breastmilk so there is very little waste. In my personal experience, 1-3 day poopers do not have gigantic stools. Bigger than a baby who stools 10 per day, but not 3 days worth of stool. More like a stool and a half...no unusual odor or color, and not liquid, but certainly not difficult to pass. Also- just as an aside, I do not think we should compare exclusive breastmilk stooling pattern to any other (adult or child). Ideally, what makes the bulk of adult stool is non-digestable fiber. The fiber content of breastmilk is very low;-) so it can all be used up- there should be very little to "waste". -----"My Leo is a perfect example, I had undiagnosed celiac disease while pregnant with him. He was born at home--never had a drop of anything other than my milk. Within 2 weeks of birth, he was only stooling once every few days (happy, growing like crazy, though). He was severely allergic to soy and removing it from my diet changed everything for him. It also made me realize that soy was a problem for me. My gut was and is definately the problem. IMO, this is an underlying cause in allergy in most babies. Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA" If Leo was happy and gaining, what in your mother instinct gave you clues to his digestive problems? Can you recall? Warmly, Charity (who's little boy is about to turn one...where did that first year go?) *********************************************** 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(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html