Red flags in the breastfed infant
Although it may be normal for a healthy, older (>4 weeks), breastfed baby who is gaining weight well, to not pass stool daily, a breastfeed newborn should be passing stool daily in the first few weeks of life. The absence of daily stools, and insufficient weight gain, in those first few weeks of a breastfeeding baby’s life is considered a red flag and warrants further assessment.
According to Health Canada, breastfed newborns should regain their birth weight by 10-14 days of age and should, on average, be passing three or more yellow stools per day in the first few weeks of life.
Breastfed babies should gain approximately 1 oz (30 g) per day in the first three months of life. When a baby is gaining less than that, it is a red flag. The purple line on the chart below shows a breastfed baby girl gaining well (1 oz/30 g per day) and the pink line shows a breastfed baby girl that is not gaining weight well (1/2 oz/15 g per day) and falling off their growth curve.
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