Nursing during Pregnancy - is my prenatal vitamin giving my toddler diarrhea?

[domermommy]

Sorry for the gross question, but I'm trying to figure out what's up with my 21 month old DS.  He started having very loose stools yesterday and only this evening did it seem to be getting a little better.  He's not acting sick -- he's eating normally and sleeping well.  The only thing I can think of is that I started a new brand of prenatal vitamin a couple of days ago (I'm 6weeks pregnant.) 

Anyone else have this issue? I'm thinking of going off of the vitamin for a few days to see if it helps.  

Thanks!

[DPerez87]

Hello there, I know this is a little over a month old but I did a search and found your thread!

I have a 3 month old baby who started getting green, bloody, watery, mucousy stools at about 5 weeks old. I cut out dairy, nuts, gluten and eggs. After that, the blood and green stools went away, but he was continuously was having watery, dark yellow, mucousy stools. I was considering cutting out more foods until my fiance pointed out that I started back up on my prenatals once my son was about a month old (stopped right after giving birth). I recently have slowly reintroduced gluten and eggs, but also stopped taking my prenatals a couple days ago, and every day my son's poop has gotten better! Well I found out that since women usually get constipated during pregnancy, most prenatals contain a laxative. I'm not sure if it's strong enough to cause diarrhea in a breastfed baby, but obviously something in it affects the baby!

Hope this helps!

[Laney1983]

If I were either of you I'd take the baby to see a doctor. However, if you're certain it's the vitamins, maybe you should try a different formula.

This one contains no laxatives: http://www.eganmedical.com/Prenatal-Pack-Prenatal-Vitamins-p/msvs-pnp65330.htm

That said, I'd still take the baby to a pediatrician.

[JudiAU]

It is critical to take your prenatal right now and or at the very least folic acid.

Sometimes bm later in pregnancy can affect the bowels but it sounds early. Iron in particular can cause green poop.

More likely, he just has a minor tummy bug.

[domermommy]

Thanks, ladies! As a followup here, my son did get over the diarrhea fairly quickly and I continued on my vitamins as normal. It probably was a stomach bug, I'd have to guess. I wish I could say that he's still nursing, but he stopped about three weeks ago (shortly after his 2nd birthday and me getting deeper into the second trimester of this pregnancy.)