Combining Breast and Bottle feeding and the frequency of baby's poo.

[Mammi]

I've recently returned to work and was going to put my little Cutie, who is exactly 4 months today, on formula but since I was dreading it and a nurse advised that I can actually combine the two, I decided that it was a better idea than formula feed only. So now Lil A is feeding on average five times a day and two of these (in the day time) are formula with one expressed breast milk in between. But what I've noticed is that when he was exclusively breastfed he would poo 3-4 times a day, now that he's drinking both he can go up to 2 days without doing a poo. When he does it's stinkier than before but still soft so I am not too worry about that, however I was told that if breastfeeding only then he can go up to ten days without pooing and this is normal (which he didn't) but now that he's formula fed as well I am a little worry. If anyone knows about the frequency of poo for baby who are drinking both please set my mind at ease. Thanks.

[Seona1973]

my ds was formula fed and went 2-3 days between poos from around 5/6 weeks old. As long as it still remains soft and is not hard little balls of rabbit poo then it doesnt matter how many days pass between them (within reason, of course!) Constipation is not the time between poos but the consistency when it arrives.

[constancereader]

I mix fed with the same proportions as you and ds would often go for two or more days without a pooh.

[macneil]

For the first 4.5 months I expressed and ff, about 30%-70% respectively. When there was more breast milk, there were very slightly more poos, even though I always read that breastfed babies do it less because all the milk is used. For a long time, maybe a month, maybe about month 2 to month 3, she was pooing once a WEEK. From the fourth month on, this sped up rapidly until she was up to 2 a day, and this coincided with me winding down the expressed breast milk because I had to give back the hospital pump. I was told this was because breast milk is more easily absorbed by the body so there's less waste. But horrible poos she had when she was mix-fed, weird dark green liquidy things, but I blame that on the weird formula I bought at the time. Never any constipation at any time.

[macneil]

Right, what I have just written is the most absurdly confusing thing ever, I'm just reading it back. But basically, the frequency of poos went down to one a week, and then up to two a day, and I couldn't pin it on the breast or the formula, it was just one of those things.

[mumtoone]

My dd has mainly EBM with some formula. When she's had the formula she tends not to poo for nearly 24 hours whereas on EBM she poos several times a day. She is 7 weeks old. This seems quite normal to me.