52,726
62,676
25,203How Often Should a Breastfed Baby Poop? *
How often should a breastfed baby poop?
I’ve entered those words into Google and searched for a good answer no less than twenty times since Kara was born in December, and I never really came up with a great answer to the question.
You see, my breastfed baby only poops about once a week (and sometimes goes as many as 10 days), and since my experience with Evan was so different (he was formula fed, and pooped several times a day), I was worried absolutely sick that something was not right.
Is my breastfed baby constipated?
The first doctor we questioned about the poop problem did little to settle our fears, and I was left with the concern that something could be wrong. We were instructed to give our 2-month-old baby pear juice (even though her poop was not hard) and we were even set up with a GI specialist to rule out disorders like Hirschprung’s Disease.
Filled with worry, I wrote a post on Babble about Kara’s poop issues, and I also polled my Facebook community to find out what was normal as far as breastfed baby poop, and I was reassured that it is completely normal for breastfed babies to go several days between poops.
Not wanting to subject Kara to unnecessary testing, I sought a second doctor’s opinion.
Normal breastfed baby poop
The second doctor told me that it is completely normal for a breastfed baby to poop 10 times a day, or every 10 days.
He described breast milk as, “A clean burning fuel,” and told me that my baby was completely healthy.
Baby poop update
At 5-montshs-old, my breastfed baby still only poops about once a week. I no longer worry that anything is wrong, and I know that this is just what is normal for her.
I didn’t write this post because I have a strong desire to type the word poop on my blog thirty times. I wrote it because worrying that there is something wrong with your baby because her poop isn’t coming as frequently as you think it should, or because it’s green instead of yellow (I’ll do a post on what normal breastfed baby poop looks like next, haha) can be terrifying.
So, if you landed here after Googling: “How often should a breastfed baby poop?”, rest assured, your baby is probably absolutely health and normal.
10 Months: Too Close to 12
Baby Corral or Baby Jail?
Doctor Mom, Detective Mom
Hi, I'm Crissy, a Mom, writer, and photographer from Ohio — welcome to my blog! Want the full story? 
Please Don’t Sneeze In My Mouth! #CloroxIcktionary
Win A $200 Amazon GC or $200 Paypal Cash #Sweepstakes
Savvy Photo Sharing with @Familiar App + Google Nexus Tablet #Sweepstakes!
Sanity Savers: 5 Keys To Curb Stress
My breastfed son poops about 2-3x a day during the first 3 months! I didn’t know some breastfed babies can go for so many days without pooping! But if your doctor says everything is fine…
Now my son is 6 months, poop frequency has lessened, sometimes only once in 3 days (then I panic). It’s because rice cereal can cause constipation.
When my girls were little, they must have pooped about twenty five thousand times a day. It felt like a constant job to keep their diapers clean. I’m glad Kara’s pooping schedule is a little lighter and completely normal, although, I admit, I’m a wee bit jealous.
You know even after having seven children I worried about how often my eighth pooped and the color, well, if it’s green baby is getting too much fore milk and yellow is perfectly normal and the right combination of hind and fore milk! ;)
My midwife was the one to tell me that some breastfed babies can go days while others go numerous times per day.
I would never have thought to write a blog post about my baby’s poop! ;)
My DD was the same way. She was my first and pooped every week to 10 days as well. I’d always heard that BF babies pooped every time they ate, so I was worried! There was not a problem, though, and now at (almost) 7, she’s a pretty “normal” pooper…usually, but not always, once a day, and sometimes, still up to a week!
My DS1 was the typical poop after every feed baby. He’s almost 5 and EVERY night after dinner he gets a belly ache. He doesn’t have to poop, he says, but when I send him he goes. Every day.
DS2 pooped 97,000 times a day as a baby, and also vomited 84 million times a day. He was diagnosed at 2 months with a condition called “gastroparesis,” which he was supposed to outgrow. Now, at 26 months, he’s typically down to about 5-6 poops a day, unless he should happen to catch a stomach bug (which we avoid at all costs), and then all bets are off, and the virus will hang on for no less than 3-4 weeks!
Anyway, I’m saying all this because EVERY baby, even with the same parents, same “food,” etc., is different–and even as they grow they’ll be different. You’ll figure it out!!
I agree! My BF girl would poop every 5-10days… my BF son pooped every feeding, seriously.
Different strokes for different folks. I was very concerned about it, but my daughter never had hard poo either, so I didn’t consider her constipated and neither did her pediatrician. That is just HER normal. She’s almost two and has started pooping a little more often, but I’ve also started giving her a splash prune juice if it’s been a few days. :)
My babies pooped like every 30 mins to an hour it seemed like!!
Isn’t it amazing the little things that can make us worry? My 2nd and 3rd really were constipated, and it was not fun. You could see them straining to get something out, and then just crying in pain :( Now my 4th is pooping with almost every diaper change, so like 8-10 times a day, and I shout with joy over each successful poop, lol. I’m making sure what I eat this time isn’t causing problems. Recently discovered I can’t eat spinach without it hurting baby’s tummy and causing a rash on his poor bum :(
My first son pooped once every 7-10 days, and my parents told me he was sick (and I was a bad mother for not giving him laxatives, even though his pooping habits were none of their business and the peds and books I read said this is normal for a breastfed baby). My second son poops about 4 times a day, so I miss those once a week poops!
Once you realize that it is normal, and get beyond the worry, the once a week poops are definitely NICE! :)
I haven’t had a newborn in a couple of years but wouldn’t it be AWESOME if it were normal for newborns to poop ONLY ONCE DAY?! Ahhhhh…a girl can dream can’t she??? =)
for my LO it was once a week :)
Man I could have used one or two of those “only poops once a week kids” All four of mine pooped multiple times a day. And continue to not miss a day! Would have saved a bundle on diapers!
But in all seriousness I am glad you are no longer worried. I just discovered this myself! :)
My now six month old breast fed baby poops about once a week. She’s been on that schedule since about 4 months. I was so worried the first time she went a week without a poopy diaper. Our doctor also suggested pear juice. She wanted nothing to do with it and I never forced her to take it because the lack of poop seemed to bother me a lot more than it bothered her.
I breastfed all 4 of my babies & my youngest (3 months) only poops every other day. Like you said that is completely normal!
Hi! I don’t know how old this post is, but |I thought I’d share my experience. My breastfed only daughter went 47 days without pooping!! Seriously. 47 days. I had her to our gp, he referred us to a pediatrician, who said “she just uses up every last bit of stuff from your breast milk, she’s fine!” She has a quick metabolism still to this day, and does not poop every day and she’s 7.5 now. Enjoy the savings on diapers :)
Wow. This was an eye opener for me. My son has about 3-4 BMs a day and one day, had none! I was alarmed, but thankfully all is well. It just goes to show that just like all humans, babies are unique to their own.
Thank u for you time writing this it help me a lat I was super worry sick becouse my baby is 3 months and was 8days with out pooping
I’m one of the people that googled exactly that phrase when my daughter was first born. I could not believe how many diapers we were going through and thought there was something wrong with my little girl. I bet I called the nurse 2 or 3 times every single day for weeks. Haha, post will help others I’m positive of that ;)
I just started a series on things I google just like this one. And when Emily was breastfeeding she hardly pooped at all, but then on formula she’s like a poop machine. I kind of miss the breastmilk…
Oh and my mother-n-law is a pediatric nurse and would rest my weary mind about her lack of pooping when she was breastfed. Her doctors office airs on the “it’s normal” side while mine would probably freak out & send for tests. UGH!
My 4m old baby pooping 3 to 9 times per day, is it normal?
My 9 month old son is breastfeed and from time to time has gone 5 or more days with out pooping. I had talked with a few doctors and they gave me some “remedies” to try to no avail. I find this very information and very helpful. Thanks!!!!
This is interestin topic, we need to understand that pooping happens because there are left overs in our stomach that our body no longer need*sigh* a breastfeeded baby only eat milk. What happen is the baby’s body uses all the milk it gets from the mother to keep it stron nd healthy. So it is perfectly normal and you have nothin to worry about when your baby doesn poop every now and than
Thank you so much, Kara’s mommy. I’m quite satisfied after reading your article / experience. I was also worried about my 2 months old Nabira’s pooping habits. Thank you. Love to Kara.
Thank you so much for this! My baby used to poop every hour then all of a sudden it was every 2 days (and boy is it 2 days worth all at once!)and he has always been exclusively breastfed so I was getting concerned. I feel much better now :-)
We are on day 3 of no poop. I was starting to worry, but I feel much better! Thanks for writing on a subject that I am sure many moms think about!
This is really useful..I am a new mother,my baby Evan is having the same problem.Docter told me to apply some glycerin in a bud,once glycerin applied,he poop..but I am not satisfied with that(I dont know about the consequences of applyng glycerin.)so now we are giving grape water and that works,Thnk God.