Questions About Changes in Poop for Breastfed Baby....

Updated on January 17, 2010
W.D. asks from Chicago, IL
10 answers

Our daughter is a little over 3 months old. She was born 9 weeks early. Because of this, she was fed breastmilk through the bottle for the first 2 months of her life. She finally caught on to the breastfeeding about a month ago....and has been gaining weight with just breastfeeding and 1-2 bottles a day (about 4 oz total). She's now 8lbs6oz.

My question is ...about 2 weeks ago, she started not pooping as much as she had been. Prior to that, she was really regular - pooping about 4-5 times a day, and always the "breastfed, mustardy poop". For the last 4 poops...she has been going only every other day, or sometimes every 3rd day....and it is really thick, black/dark,dark,dark green, tar like poop....and very smelly....and alot of it! It almost looks like what I would think meconium would look like.

Nothing has changed in my diet (i'm a pretty boring eater). She does take vitamins and iron drops - but she's been taking these since day 1. The only thing that has changed is my breastfeeding her, instead of feeding her breastmilk through the bottle.

Has anyone had this happen to their babies?

We did call the doctor and bring her and a poopy diaper in. They tested it for blood and found none. The only thing they said that it may be a stomach virus. But they also said that normally with this, you'd see more poops rather than less.

She does also, and I THINK it's around the same time the poop changed, occasionally start crying and screaming .....but only in the evening and we can so far, get her to calm down.

Would love to hear what you all think. Should we be concerned? Or let the "stomach virus" theory play out. (they said this could go 2-3 wks!)

Thanks for your thoughts

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So What Happened?

I just wanted to thank everyone that has responded....it really helps to hear what other mom's personal experiences are when it comes to things like this! Though the doctor eased my mind a bit - this has helped, quite possibly, even more! :) We'll just keep truckin' along......as she is still gaining weight and she has at least 5-6 wet diapers a day...

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E.L.

answers from Chicago on

It may be a stomach virus. Was she on antibiotics earlier? That can change poop. She seems young to be getting iron. Was the baby anemic? My little guy didn't get iron until he was older- I want to say maybe 6 or 9 months. I gave it to him sooner and he threw up right away- upsetting to the tummy. They make a TriViSol without iron. Hope she gets better soon. Keep up the breastfeeding!!!!! That is the absolute best thing for her digestive system. Good luck!

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L.A.

answers from Reno on

As far as I know around 3 months babies start pooping less because they become more efficient at breaking the breast milk down. I'd keep an eye on it and if there's blood or it gets more solid I'd take her in , but if she's still got about 8-10 wet diapers I'd not worry

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A.R.

answers from Peoria on

I haven;t read all your responses, but I wanted to say does she absolutly NEED the iron drops? If she is getting too much iron it could make her constipated, which MIGHT attribute to her not pooping as often. It may just be her body though. My oldest (who is now 4) was pooping every other day or every two days, but eventually started complaining that her tummy hurt. I took her to the dr. and they put her on miralax (I'm NOT saying you should do this right now), and she poops everyday and no more tummy pains... so my point is sometimes what you think is normal really isn't, but you usually don't find that out until they're older.

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K.

answers from Chicago on

breastfed baby poop comes in all colors of the rainbow, IME. Depending on the local bacteria balance it can be yellow, green, brown, or blackish. And it can come 4x/day or once every 10 days. (my daughter did both; when she was in the 1/10 day schedule I was afraid to leave the house without a bucket after a week or so... and WOW did her farts smeel bad). So no, I wouldn't worry about the color or consistency as long as it's still not hard. Thick like peanut butter is just fine.

As for the crying, with normal newborns this evening fussiness usually starts around 6 weeks and ends around 12. I have no premie experience, but you'd be right in that same developmental period if you look at gestational age, so maybe that's what you're getting. It's simply a way your baby "reorganizes" and unwinds after a day full of stimulation. I noticed my son was particularly fussy if his day had been filled with many new and interesting things. It's just almost too much for their little brains to process without a good cry to reset them.

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J.J.

answers from Chicago on

Iron will definitely change the color and timing of the poops. I was taking iron myself when I was EBF my son and he was crabby and constipated. Once I cut it out, everything regulated itself.

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M.H.

answers from Chicago on

Has she had any vaccinations lately? That might make some changes, right after my son's two month vacs his pooping changed.

If you think she might be slightly constipated? You can put a little karol syrup (1 tsp) in the bottle.

Baby's do not get on a "real" schedule until later, so this could just be the stomach virus. Or not much. But it sounds like you are on top of things with the doc. So this should all straiten out soon.

Good luck and congratulations on breast feeding. I breast fed my son until 16 months.. he is now 1 week post breast feeding and doing great.

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K.S.

answers from Chicago on

It's normal for a breastfed baby's poop to change from multiple times per day to once every couple of days or even as little as once a week. This generally happens between 1-3 months. My 9 week-old just made this change last week. The poops have been huge and more gooey and smelly than before.

As for the color, I would attribute that to the iron supplements. Although I can't say why the sudden change in color would happen, I do know that when my daughter was on them, her poop was very dark too.

If you've already spoken with the doctor and your daughter is still wetting normally, I wouldn't worry about it.

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M.R.

answers from Chicago on

My baby never nursed but took expressed milk from a bottle for about 3-4 months. We, too, had the several poops a day and then all of a sudden it switched over to about one poop a week. When he would poop, it would be a super full diaper and looked like a jar of Grey Poupon exploded in it. I was worried but my pediatrician told me (and I read on here as well as other places) that a b-fed baby could go several days in between bowel movements.

The baby is NOT constipated if the diaper contents are pasty. Constipation is marked by hard, dry pellets. Just because the baby goes a few days in between movements does not mean he/she is constipated, so avoid the urge to feed her other junk to try to get her to poop more.

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S.S.

answers from Chicago on

Hi W..
Our son was the same way and I breastfed too. Totally normal! I called my ped and she said as long as he is growing and having wet diapers, he is perfectly healthy. Congrats on your new baby girl!

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R.R.

answers from Chicago on

Completely normal! My daughter was born basically on time in Dec, and is doing the same thing. She had her checkup yesterday and the Dr said it was completely normal. She had been pooping several times in the first couple of weeks and now is every other day. In fact, today it will be 2 days since she last pooped. When she does she has big blow outs. As long as she is gaining weight and having wet diapers the Dr said it is normal; just probably uncomfortable I am sure.

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