It happened. We finally did it. We talked to friends, un-married child-less friends, about out kids poo. I can’t believe it.

I knew this was going to happen, after all when we were married but child-less we were forced to sit through any number of discussions by friends and family that had children about the bowel habits of their young ones. I never understood what made pooing such an interesting topic to parents (aside from some of the inevitable funny moments like one of my nieces going white-knuckled at the Thanksgiving table as she strained to poo while the entire family looked on and laughed) and such a compelling topic to share with others. That is, until I had a babe of my own.

With babies there are very few indicators of health and well-being on which new parents can monitor their little ones. There is the babies general health and apparent condition, their weight gain and growth, their urinary habits (which indicate that the babe is hydrated), and their bowel movements (indicating that they are getting enough milk and that they aren’t constipated or otherwise unwell).

Any change at all in any of these indicators is enough to send me to the bookshelf with all the baby books on it and the internet, scouring to find information on whether my child is “normal.” So, imagine my surprise and concern when Ewan’s bowel habits made a sudden change. Near the beginning of the month Ewan changed from pooing several times daily to a much less frequent schedule. He took a 4 day hiatus.

I dug for information on this phenomenon. Was he plugged up? Was there an obstruction? What was happening to my babe, who seemed totally unfazed and content with his lack of poo?

All the sources told me that for exclusively breastfed babies this is totally normal. Some babies even go a week or more between bowel movements. It is believed that breastmilk is so easy for babies to digest that there isn’t always much leftover to void. Additionally, after the first six weeks or so a mothers milk matures, the colostrum (the early milk with a laxative quality) leaves the system and bowel habits often change.

After more than 4 days without a bowel movement, we decided to help our baby remedy the situation (even though he wasn’t in any apparent discomfort). We pulled out the rectal thermometer and lo and behold it worked like a charm!

After that it was another six days before his next very very tiny movement, all the while I am again scouring the internet and calling other parents to reassure myself that this is normal and that my smiling, cooing babe is ok.

Four days later (almost ten days since his last substantial bm) the proverbial flood gates opened. Changing the two poopy diapers that day required four hands. It is lucky that it happened on the weekend, I’m not sure that I would have been able to handle it myself.

Now he is most certainly all cleared out and I am left to wonder, when will the gates open again?