If there is undigested food in 8mo diaper....

[Mrshawwk]

does that mean she is not digesting those foods because
a) she is too young,
b) there is a problem with her digestion or
c) it's normal or
d) ???

I'm asking in the TF forum because I want your opinions, since I'm sure it is pretty "normal", but does that mean it's okay? She has only had small amounts of banana, butter and coconut oil off a spoon, , beef stew with carrots, potatoes and small itty bits of meat, yogurt and egg yoke. I see the little brown strings from the bananas, and the beef and carrots in her diaper. The other things might be there too but they would be much harder to find.

She is just 8 months, and nurses almost exclusively, these bites she had were mostly for entertainment. She really wants to eat, but she has no teeth and her poop is kinda greenish, so I'm reluctant to do much more.

Thank you for any thoughts!

[mamadelbosque]

Its normal. My DS' 27 months and I still find the occasional bean/raisin/corn/whatever while changing his diaper. And honestly, if you look at your poop after you eat stuff, you'll likely find it too - bits that didn't get chewed at all and then just came through more or less whole...

[granola_mom]

It's normal. I don't know why they don't fully digest certain foods at that age, but personally I would just let her eat what she is interested in eating by letting her self-feed. I don't consider it a problem that not everything is fully digested.

[tanyalynn]

Another vote for okay at that age. I think adults shouldn't see that, and I'm not completely sure where the cut-off is for when food shouldn't be recognizeable in poop, but I think it's a lot older than 8 months. Though I do think that if the food is recognizeable, not a lot of nutrition was gotten from it.

[BeagleMommy]

My vote is for A and C.
Sounds normal for a little one who is probably too young to digest those foods.
I have very rarely seen this (usually corn) with my daughter who is 2 1/2, but she had no solids until she was a year old.

[Holiztic]

I say A (which is sort of C, too): it's normal BECAUSE she is too young to break down much other than milk. At 8 months my DS was still nursing exclusively. Around 9 months we started with a little bit of yogurt and egg yolk. Even when he started to really eat (around 12 months) I tried to stay away from giving him too much of the foods that came through relatively unchanged.

[granola_mom]

Originally Posted by Holiztic

I say A (which is sort of C, too): it's normal BECAUSE she is too young to break down much other than milk.

Yes, I agree with this. My dd didn't start eating more than 5% of her calories from solids until she was two- before that point, the only time I would see something undigested in her diaper would be when she would be playing around with the food and a little would get in her mouth. I think she started solids so late because she just couldn't digest much else yet.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

I think poop is a great indicator of what the body is capable of handling and is doing. Just like diarrhea and constipation are indications of digestive troubles in adults, solid chunks of food are indicators for babies. Part of the problem with babies is that they don't chew up their food which is a key part of the digestive process. So while I like baby led weaning (allowing baby to feed themself rather than doing purees) I wonder if it's best because they miss out on the important chewing step.

From what I've read about traditional societies it seems common for mom to chew up bits of food and them feed them to baby. This would start the digestion of the food because your saliva would start to break it down. To make things easier on us, modern people just throw it in the food processor. But the food processor doesn't have digestive enzymes from saliva in it, so it's really not the same thing.

[Holiztic]

Originally Posted by Evie's Mama

I think poop is a great indicator of what the body is capable of handling and is doing. Just like diarrhea and constipation are indications of digestive troubles in adults, solid chunks of food are indicators for babies. Part of the problem with babies is that they don't chew up their food which is a key part of the digestive process. So while I like baby led weaning (allowing baby to feed themself rather than doing purees) I wonder if it's best because they miss out on the important chewing step.

From what I've read about traditional societies it seems common for mom to chew up bits of food and them feed them to baby. This would start the digestion of the food because your saliva would start to break it down. To make things easier on us, modern people just throw it in the food processor. But the food processor doesn't have digestive enzymes from saliva in it, so it's really not the same thing.

That's exactly why I love fermented foods as starter foods, because fermentation IS like pre-digestion!!

[skyerae]

Originally Posted by Evie's Mama

From what I've read about traditional societies it seems common for mom to chew up bits of food and them feed them to baby. This would start the digestion of the food because your saliva would start to break it down. To make things easier on us, modern people just throw it in the food processor. But the food processor doesn't have digestive enzymes from saliva in it, so it's really not the same thing.

I did this with my son along with baby led solids. At 15 months he does have some food that comes through mostly whole. Usually small things like peas that are easily swallowed without chewing. I consider it normal since the rest of his stool is healthy. His solid intake is approximately 40% of his diet right now, the rest is breast milk.

I have also read that allowing the body to "work" to digest is important for overall health. So, eating an orange is preferable to juicing it. Pureed foods also bypass this factor. So, in my mind, as a child learns about solid foods, some undigested food will be part of the process in most cases.