new mom here in more ways than one. my birth story for Cam,eron can be found on December mommy board. healthy beautiful baby girl via c-section last friday, 12/8.

she's a very good eater. lately, my only concern is taht she sounds a bit stuffy and i do have to use the aspirator to get some mucous out occasionally. does this mean she has a cold and how do i know? i have my first pediatrics appt this friday but should i wait that long to have her seen?

also, she doesn't poop as much as she used to...does this mean she's consitpated or just getting older? she used to have a dirty diaper every time when we were in the hospital but now she only poops about once a day.

nervous first timer here...settle my nerves anyone?

this normal?

thaniks.

A couple of things,

1) Is the baby having a hard breathing due to the congestion?

2) Is she running a temp?

3) Is she eating well?

4) Is she alert (as alert as a one week old can be) intermittently throughout the day?

I used these questions to guide me as to whether I needed to take my son to the doctor. Of course, in the end it is about how you feel. When my son was deathly (quite literally) ill (and I didn't know it), the only sign that he had was that he wouldn't eat.

As far as the pooping issue goes, is your baby bf or formiula fed? If she is formula fed, the slowing down of the pooping is normal. I was not able to bf, so I don't know about bf babies. I am sure North will be on here later and she can give you some insight on that.

Amy

She may have a cold..my DS has been sick quite a few times already..hes just getting over a really bad cold..did you use a bulb syringe to try and clear his nose? that may help..or get saline drops and put them in her nose..that may help also..my doc had me put my DS on childrens dimetapp and tylenol before..that didnt really help him though..i would try that for now and if it doesnt work, the pediatrician will probably prescible something...
I heard its normal for babys to have a bm only once a day..it used to make me really nervous because it seemed like DS had to go but he couldnt..seemed like it hurt him so the doc gave me a stool softener to mix in his formula..it helped a lot...when DD gets a bit older, you can put oatmeal in his formula..that helped DS alot too..he goes like 3 times a day now..

hi manchak!

When my daughter was born and we were still in the hospital she seemed to be stuffy. I talked to the nurse in the hospital about this and she said it's completely normal for the first week or so because its the baby cleaning herself out.
That's just what i was told. If it continues you may want to just call a dr. to be on the safe side. But, i was told if she is eating fine then it was just the normal stuffyness that a newborn gets.

Good luck! hope all is well.
it's great to see us december mommies heading over here!

new mom here in more ways than one. my birth story for Cam,eron can be found on December mommy board. healthy beautiful baby girl via c-section last friday, 12/8.

she's a very good eater. lately, my only concern is taht she sounds a bit stuffy and i do have to use the aspirator to get some mucous out occasionally. does this mean she has a cold and how do i know? i have my first pediatrics appt this friday but should i wait that long to have her seen?

also, she doesn't poop as much as she used to...does this mean she's consitpated or just getting older? she used to have a dirty diaper every time when we were in the hospital but now she only poops about once a day.

nervous first timer here...settle my nerves anyone?

this normal?

thaniks.


HI Manchak!

I doubt your baby has a cold. It is very normal for infants to sound "snotty." I have read this several times in baby books and have also talked to people about it. My DS is almost 6 weeks and still a bit snotty and sneezy. Very normal for newborns.

My DS went from pooping after every meal to only pooping once a day now. Again, very normal.

Your baby is fine - just relax!

thank you all so much for the reassurance!

i did call pediatrician this am and was told to bring her in since they don't like to just assume things are ok with newborns. nice to hear being that this is the first impression of our pediatrician's office! my hubby and i went in together..first trip out since i was discharged from hospital on tuesday with c-section. healing pretty quickly! doc told me the exact same thing all you ladies just did....very common and does not appear she has a cold. was told to drop the saline drops in her nose at every feeding and before bed...whenever that is:)

thanks so much!
will like this board i'm sure!

any december mommies here that used to be on the pregnancy board? :wave:

Are you breastfeeding? I'm surprised that you weren't supposed to see the doctor before Friday -- I know that both the doctors I interviewed before picking one said they'd want to see us two to three days after being discharged from the hospital, so four or five days old, not two weeks. I think it was mostly to make sure the baby was getting nutrition, so maybe they only do that for breastfeeding mothers?

bxr35- i was told the same thing. i had to make an appointment with my daughters pediatrician(sp?) for 2 days after we were discharged from the hospital and i'm not breastfeeding.

i heard a couple of things for stuffy noses in newborns: 1. you can also use a few drops of breastmilk to dribble into her nose. the taste is more familiar to them than the saline once it runs down the throat. plus, it doens't cost you a cent! breastmilk is great for all sorts of things by the way! try it out.
2. i was also told not to use the nose aspirator too much. and by the way, if you are using the one they gave you home from the hospital, that's one for the ear. the one for the nose doens't have such a long pointy end and will close off the nostril better.
babies sniffle a lot, my daughter snorts and sneezes all the time and she's now 8 weeks old! but it's great you went to the doc's, they will tell you exactly what is going on and what to do.

let me tell you my daughter's poopy history and you will feel MUCH relief!!! she was regular coming home from the hospital but as soon as all the meconium was out she stopped poopying! one time she didn't go for 6 days! she wasn't having any discomfort or anything, it just took her that long. in the beginning we were very worried, called the pediatrician, the advice nurse, asked friends etc. and everybody was telling us something different. one good trick is using the thermometer to stimulate her a little, but now i just like for her to go on her own as long as she doens't have any discomfort. i rub her belly clockwise a lot to help her go, too. she seems to like that a lot. she's pretty regular now, but still is not going after every meal...i guess that's just her.
i guess what i'm trying to say is that i was told by various sources that some babies can go for as long as 8 days (!) without a bowel movement and be totally fine!!

you're doing great! have faith in yourself i and your abilities as a new mom and listen/look for cues in your daughter. little babies have such an amazing way of comunicating with us already!!!

congratulations on your baby daughter!

Befer.