Fill me in on baby digestion...

[Buzzer Beater]

So now that we know what we're all feeding our babes, what are they digesting?

GG just started eating at ten months (we started offering at seven or so) and it seems like just about everything she eats goes right through, some of it in its original form! We struggled to get her interested in food and now that she is I'm wondering what it's worth to her little body if she can't digest much of it. Last night she went crazy over broccoli, and this morning it's out already. Is broccoli bad? What should transit time be? Is this what made her wake up and cry six times last night? We probably let her eat too much of it as it was literally the first thing she has shoveled in her mouth.

Sorry so many questions. TIA.

ps It doesn't seem to matter if it's purees or solids, and we're avoiding grains, citrus, etc... trying to get her BLW but she's had some oral issues so we're off to a slow start.

[Buzzer Beater]

Forgot to add she's pooping about 8 times a day now instead of 1 or 2 and it doesn't seem like she's eating much.

[Buzzer Beater]

Nobody wants to talk poop with me today?

[JessieJune]

What I remember (haha, a mom remembering something) is how shocking it was to look in DSs diaper the next day and see four peas, two bites of carrot, and a bit of banana. Peas, especially, still occasionally go through untouched. So in my experience the food coming out seemingly undigested within 6-24hours is normalish. I don't remember the number of poopies a day increasing, so I can't speak to that. I remember that the poop didn't really turn into "poop" (splashers, as I called them because when dumped in the toilet they literally splashed) until DS was eating 3 times a day with at least 2 servings of grains. He was about 13 months old then.

Hope this helps.

Jessi

[SeattleRain]

So broccoli is delicious, but I know that when I eat broccoli it can give me a lot of gas and it can definitely be "fiberous" on teh way out. Think about it, if you ate a diet of mostly fruits and veggies, you'd be pooping crazy stufff too. I've found that meats and starches help process the roughage.

[Buzzer Beater]

Yeah, I gues I should expect that with broccoli, but it seems everything that goes in comes out pretty much unchanged. We're holding off on grains for a while, and she hasn't had any meats yet. I did see some really cool recipes on the Weston Price website for early meat eaters and thought I might try some of those. One of them was fish and coconut, kinda cool. I also didn't want to overload her with fruit, but so far that seems to bother her the least. And sweet potato.

[MJB]

You know, if you smushed up your own poop in a cloth and looked through it, you'd find a lot of chunks of undigested food. That doesn't mean you shouldn't eat it or you aren't getting any nutrition from it! 

I've read that it's easier for them to digest purees (since chewing is part of the digestion process, and they can't really do it themselves at first). We do a mix of both because I think learning to pick up and chew food is good practice even if it goes through mostly unprocessed. Fruit, grains, and meat seem to be processed (ie, turned into smooshy poo) pretty well by my 8 month old, veggies less so. But insoluble fiber is good for them anyway and isn't actually supposed to be digested. 

[expat-mama]

Originally Posted by MJB 

You know, if you smushed up your own poop in a cloth and looked through it, you'd find a lot of chunks of undigested food. That doesn't mean you shouldn't eat it or you aren't getting any nutrition from it! 

This messed up pronoun referencing is pretty funny (sorry, I am an editor/english teacher)... I'm betting you didn't mean you should eat your own poop! You *might* get some nutrition from it though, seeing as it has chunks of undigested food...