Can we talk about poop... « Back to Group Discussions

[Kindermama]

E has never been a normal poop'er since birth...sometimes going 8-9 days before we have to step in and help! We've had to give him suppositories 3 separate times (under the advice of our holistic ped). He definitely does not tolerate oatmeal, rice or wheat right now. They all make him have super dry poo and he gets super constipated and ends up in pain when he passes those poos. :( Last time, it made him bleed! 
 

Anyway, what's normal once they start to eat solids?

E is eating regular food that I either cut up or he mashes between his gums. Foods like sweet potato, chicken breast, turkey breast, pees, carrots, broccoli, occasional banana, avocado, lots of blueberries, strawberries, egg yolks...simple foods that I'm already cooking for everyone else! I just bought some baby food because it seems even without grains, his poo is still firm...like modeling clay firm (good news is he poops every day or two now that he's eating solids)! Maybe the extra water in the baby food will soften his poo. He likes to sip on water but never gets a lot of it. It just dribbles out of his mouth. Still nursing every 2 hours allll 24 hours of the day! What gives!?

I tried taking out eggs, wheat and dairy from my diet for a few weeks and nothing changed. I'm starting to think he might have some digestive disorder or something!

[AfricanQueen99]

Kid 1 - pooped once very other week for the first year. Then once a week. Now around every four days.
Kid 2 - poops 3 times a day and has since birth.
Kid 3 - once a week.

Solids didn't change the consistency or quantity of the BMs...just the scent.

[bentlaj11]

I was just going to post how I had my first "wash out the poo" diaper with DS2 (and was kind of excited and sad at the same time). He loves shoving food in his mouth, but I didn't think he was swallowing much. Guess he's been swallowing more than I thought. He was a constant poo'er for the first few months (he pretty much leaked poo). It slowed down around 2ish mo. Lately (since solids?) he's every other day. Before it was just runny poo, but now it's got chunks and smells more! DS1 was (and still is) a once a day kind of kid. If I find he's having trouble, I try to load him up with blueberries... that's a sure fire way to induce a BM around here!

[montessorimama1]

Ugh, don't even get me started on poop.  I've had to hose down the car seat TWICE this week.  WT...?  I'm thinking too much fiber, but the kid loves to eat and isn't happy on rice cereal.   He poops every other day, but when he does, WATCH OUT!  He was doing so well when he started solids, it was actually much easier to deal with those poops than the runny breast milk poop.  Guess I gotta get him to cut back on the lentils and quinoa.  

[Kindermama]

Hmm I guess this is a whole range of "normal". I just don't know if modeling clay-like poop counts as normal. So, it turns out his poo is A LOT softer when he eats baby food so that tells me to increase his water intake when he's taking in solids. 

[montessorimama1]

Zach had modeling clay-like poop for a while, but didn't seem to be bothered by it and would poop daily.  My ped suggested a teaspoon of olive oil spread out over the day mixed in with his solids.  Papaya has also been helpful, and lots of fluids.

[Kindermama]

Originally Posted by montessorimama1 

Zach had modeling clay-like poop for a while, but didn't seem to be bothered by it and would poop daily.  My ped suggested a teaspoon of olive oil spread out over the day mixed in with his solids.  Papaya has also been helpful, and lots of fluids.

The olive oil is a great idea! Thanks

[element2012]

Add this girl to the ridiculously  long time between poops, anywhere from 4 to 14 days.  I don't think in any of our efforts to get real food down her, that she's actually consumed enough to affect her poo yet.  She did catch cold lately, and all that mucus *did* affect her poo, oh man, that wasn't fun.

Originally Posted by montessorimama1 

Ugh, don't even get me started on poop.  I've had to hose down the car seat TWICE this week. 

Lol! Chunky monkey!

[montessorimama1]

Originally Posted by element2012 

Add this girl to the ridiculously  long time between poops, anywhere from 4 to 14 days.  I don't think in any of our efforts to get real food down her, that she's actually consumed enough to affect her poo yet.  She did catch cold lately, and all that mucus *did* affect her poo, oh man, that wasn't fun.

14 days!!!  Not sure if that would make me  happy or make me freak out, but she IS EBF so that makes all the difference.  Enjoy the time between poops is all I can say.  

[AfricanQueen99]

Man, I LOVED when my oldest only pooped once every two weeks.  It was awesome!!

[element2012]

On the subject of poo, how do we know when cloth diapers need to be rinsed off in the toilet before going in the washing machine? I would describe the current poo situation as still mostly "mustard" now with some clay-like pieces.  Still wash the whole thing? Gross, I know, sorry. :-)

[AfricanQueen99]

Oh, you'll know when.  Believe me!  It will smell like *real* feces and be chunkier.

[montessorimama1]

Yeah, if it looks like real poop and smells like real poop, then spray away!!  The consistency will change, too... Lovely stuff.  If it's mustardy, then it's still BM poop.  (lucky you!)

[element2012]

Ok, dd is obviously getting some food in her, her last poo smelled atrocious and was more like peanut butter. Sigh, I really hadn't prepared myself to be out of the easy EBF poo. So what do I do with these diapers now? I don't have a sprayer and really don't want one, with the high probability of spraying peanut butter poo all over everything. I was thinking to either use the free standing bidet in my bathroom (like in Europe... is that unsanitary??), or dunk the dipes in a bucket and then empty the bucket in the toilet. I've seen some mention of just soaking the dipe in the toilet?

Does anyone not use a sprayer? How do you get it done? (also how do you get the poop smell out of diaper covers??)

[AfricanQueen99]

I'm on my third kid and have never used a diaper sprayer.  I literally just dunk in the toilet and get the solid off (sometimes that means using two hands and rubbing the poo-covered part together), wring it, and toss it in the bag.  Then when I wash I do a rinse/spin before I do a wash.  My covers get washed with the diapers so it's not an issue, but I almost never use wool.

When the diet is really food based and not BM based the solid often just falls off the diaper in one clump.  In those cases I 1. jump for joy and 2. just throw it in the bag without rinsing.

[imakecutebabies]

I've found a few peas in my washing machine, just saying... lol 

Baby poop has become such a non-issue to me with this babe, and I'm a borderline germophobe usually! 

[montessorimama1]

I soak in the toilet, too!  I use flushable liners and throw the poop they catch into the toilet.  Then I just swish the prefold around (after flushing the liner, of course!) and if necessary use a clean corner to rub off the poop.  Then I squeeze out some of the excess water and into the diaper pail it goes (I do diapers every other day, which reminds me, gotta run a load before bed!!).  I do a long wash cycle on cold with Tide Free to get the stains out, then a hot cycle with Baby OxyClean and grapefruit seed extract to disinfect, and then an extra cold rinse with apple cider vinegar to get the smells out.  I wash the covers with the diapers (I use PUL).  Then I dry everything in the dryer for 30 minutes and finish the prefolds in the sun... This works GREAT for getting rid of nasty smells!  At one point I wasn't sunning the prefolds and they got stinky, but the sun does the trick every time!

AQ - Yes, those solid poops that make you jump for joy are treasures!!

[element2012]

Hooray, toilet soaking sounds much better than spraying!  Now I have to figure out some way to sun bleach my covers on my balcony without them blowing away...