Let’s talk about poop, Baby!

Let’s face it, when we have infants we worry about everything all the time. I’m guilty of this as being a first-time mom and one of the things that worried me was Johan’s poop. When he was much smaller his poop is different every time and I pretty much drove hubby to frenzy when I wanted to bring Johan to his pedia every time a new colored poop came out of his sweet chubby butt.

So, it is really helpful when I chanced upon this topic in Momcenter.com.

How a baby poop looks may be indicating a hidden message. Aren't you interested to know what the stool indicates? It could gross you out but deciphering what the poop tells you is essential in baby care. Here it goes:

• Thick, sooty stool is a newborn's first poop. It is also called meconium, which consists of mucus, amniotic fluid, water, bile, lanugo, and cells. This poop is almost sterile and doesn't smell. The message: baby poop tells you what it's like inside the womb, sterile and dark under normal condition.
  
• Dark green to black stool is common in babies given with iron supplements. The message: Iron works! Conversely, if the baby is not getting any iron supplement yet passes such type of stool and it's not the meconium, it could be melena, which is a tarry stool containing blood and possibly indicates gastrointestinal bleeding. The message: seek doctor's advice right away!
  
• Creamy, yellow poop is the usual type of poop that baby passes when breastfed. The message: baby intestines are functioning as they are supposed to.
  
• Foamy, bright green poop results when the baby is being breastfed poorly. The message: breastfeed longer.
  
• Sticky, peanut butter-like poop is what the baby passes when fed with formula. The message: the formula is A-okay.
  
• Funkier, brown, mushy stool is commonly expected stool of babies fed with solid foods. The message: it's weaning time.
  
• Poop with chunky consistency means that the baby is being fed with solid foods that have not had enough time to be digested. The message: don't hurry foods to get through his mouth; allow the food to be digested before feeding your child another. He's just a starter with maybe a few teeth for chewing. If the stool repeatedly has partially undigested food, seek medical advice to make sure the baby is absorbing enough nutrients from ingested food.
  
• Loose stool may be a diarrheic stool. The message: medication may be necessary to fight off infection and clean baby stuff and surroundings regularly. The same thing goes for slimy poop (with mucus).
  
• Desiccated, rock-like poop is an indication of constipation. The reasons might be lack of water, weaning, or formula fed is unfit. The message: make your child drink water more often. If it persists, ask your pediatrician for feeding guidance.

 Hope this helped other new mommies such as myself to understand our babies’ pooping habits. Happy pooping, babies! =)