Chalky pink substance

Hi all.

My son is 3 days old and today I've noticed he has a pink chalky substance in his nappy. It a very small amount and appears to be coming from his Willie.
His last to nappies haven't felt wet either.

Anyone know what this is???

Thanx

It's urates, and pretty normal at that age :) my DS had it too. Basically it's just really concentrated wee.

Oh does it hurt the poor wee man? He never cries. I just worry about him not having wet nappies :(

Ummm, I'd be very very concerned that baby isn't getting enough to drink. My youngest baby had urate crystals in his nappy at 3 days old and he was borderline dehydrated as my milk had not come in yet. It was quite serious, especially in a baby so young so I'd be looking at ways to either increase what he is getting at the breast, or if that is proving difficult, I would look at possibly using expressed BM or even formula to get some fluids into him.

I had a midwife come LC who said it was completely normal, Nothing about being dehydrated and I never followed up with EBM or formula. When you're trying to set up your supply isn't formula the worst thong to do? Wouldn't they be needing the colostrum still at day three anyway?
Would Barb venture this way?

He won't latch on but we are persisting and he has EBM more and more each day as my supply increases. He did get all my colostrum as I hand expressed it and sucked up every last drop with a syringe.
My milk started to come in late day 2 and now at day 4 is quite strong. I am getting 60mls each pump (both breasts) so I'm hoping it will flush him out nicely. That's up from 30mls yesterday :)
He has done one poo and pee today with only pinkish markings on the nappy not the actual substance so that is a good sign :)

Both my DD's had urates in the first few days as my milk takes up to 5 days to come in. Both of them lost just over 10% of their weight as well. My midwives weren't concerned so much about the urates but the weight loss, but they never mentioned formula just extra expressing. Once my milk came in though, the urates disappeared. If your middies aren't concerned, and bub is as active as you would expect a newborn to be (waking for feeds etc), don't worry. Just bring him to the breast often so he gets that colostrum and stimulates your supply.

Yes, it can be normal Helle, but it can also be a sign of dehydration in an infant and NOT to be written off as something to ignore when they are this young. yes formula can be detrimental, but sometimes it may be needed so stop the dehydration getting worse - no one wants a dehydrated baby do they? So while it can be normal, and even common, considering that the OP also has feeding troubles, to me, that signals that the urates are not normal in this instance and when it happened to me, I did whatever I could to get fluids into my baby to get him urinating normally and if that means a little bit of formula while waiting for my milk to come in, then I'd do it. It might only be a small top up after a breastfeed and in no way does it completely ruin the BF relationship.

ETA - Jaki, we posted at the same time. I'm so happy to hear that things have improved today and that his wee is more normal.

I was told urates were OK up to day 5, and beyond that a bit concerning. My LO defs had them right up, and lost 5% of her birthweight, but they faded over time. She was a really sleepy feeder and my milk wasn't fully in til late Day 4.

Sounds like you're on track now Jaki. You'd expect those wet nappies to increase to 6-8 (or 4-5 disposables) onces the milk is in. Before that you expect 1 per day of life (all else looking well)

Thanx again ladies.

I went to the LC today and she said it ok, now that my milk is in and in good supply he is getting plenty of fluids to flush him thru.

Turns out he has a wee tongue tie and jaundice so we are expressing full time, yet still attempting the breast.

Are you getting the tongue tie snipped? It only takes a second and it can make a huge difference to feeding.

The lady yesterday said that it wasn't bad enough.
I went back today and the other lady didn't seem to think he had a tongue tie at all! Grr.
She thinks he doesn't see my breast as a pleasant place to be because we had troubles from the start. Therefor he is stubborn and wants to fight with me.

I just don't know anymore. We will keep battling on...

I wouldnt think that a baby of only a few days old would associate your breast as unpleasant. That just seems like a very strange thing for someone to say...

Well that's not quite so encouraging. Bubbies love the boobs, they're hardwired that way - I hope with a little encouragement you'll convince him of that.
Could you get a second opinion (or third rather) about the tongue tie? I always regret not getting DS' clipped. I don't know for sure it would have made a difference, but it couldnt' have made it worse.

Thanks guys. We have had alot of goes at it this arvo and I'm happy to say we have just had a lovely long booby feed :)

I'm heading back to emerald tomoz and will see the LC there on thurs, so I shall get that 3rd opinion ;)

well there you go, he loves your boobs! :) Hope you're back on track and no more dramas

Yay for boobies!!

Fx everything goes smoothly now!!!
Xx