Bad-smelling stools with my exclusively breastfed baby?

[Helen White]

I'm hoping someone can help me figure out what's going on here. My 5-month-old, exclusively breastfed daughter, has had normal breastmilk-poop ever since she was born. A week or two ago, she had a several-day bout of watery and/or mucousy stools. They were more frequent than normal, dark-greenish, and foul smelling. She seemed uncomfortable or unhappy for the first day, but after that she seemed to feel fine. I assumed she was fighting off some type of stomach bug, but since she wasn't becoming dehydrated and didn't seem to feel ill, I didn't see any need to go to her doctor. After several days, the foul odor began to improve, and a week later they were back to normal.

Now, a week or so later, the bad smell is suddenly back, along with the watery/mucousy consistency and dark green color. I have no idea what might be causing this problem or why it would be coming and going. Has anyone ever experienced something like this with their baby? I should add, she does take one medication for her congenital hypothyroidism, but she's been on it since birth, so that can't be what's causing it.

I'm going to cross-post this in the breastfeeding forum, in case it might have to do with a food she's reacting to in my breastmilk, but please, I'd appreciate any ideas or suggestions you might have in this forum too.

[hibana]

No real advice or help... my dd has had funny stools (ranging from white to dark green) and every time, it sorted itself out in a day or so. Wiser mamas will know more, though...

[5thAttempt]

My 4-month old just had a rotovirus. He had green terribly smelling poop for 4 days (1 per day), low grade fever, irritable, crying etc. After 4 days we had more normal looking poop but with increased frequecy (4-5 per day, very unusual for him). Ped said that green poop with foul smeel is a stamp for rotovirus , even in the absence of real diarrea. The odor was bad, also he farted a lot (with the same bad odor). May be you little one has the same thing. I am not sure why it is returning...

[5thAttempt]

double post

[quietserena]

Yup that sounds like it was a bug of some sort. That is one of the reasons why BFd babes get green poops. (Others are: sensitivity to food mom is eating like dairy, foremilk/hindmilk imbalance and teething)

[Helen White]

For those who are thinking it's a bug: do you know if it's common for something like this to go away for a week and then come back again?

[SimpleBean]

I had this exact same experience when my daughter was ~5 months old. Also, a good friend of mine had the exact same thing with her son when he was ~5 - 6 months old.

In my case, and my friend's case, we both believe that our babies were just experiencing changes in their digestive system. My daughter's poo was varying shades of green/brown/orange/yellow and very stinky for about 1 week, then it mysteriously stopped. Then a couple weeks later, the same thing happened again. I do not believe she had a virus or illness of any kind. And my diet had not changed. Same thing with my friend. She freaked out thinking that she had eat too many cookies, and that caused the change in her son's poop. Both of our babies are EBF.

The one thing that happened shortly after my daughters poop, is that she cut her to front bottom teeth. Not sure if it was related. I've read some doctor opinions that teething can contribute to poop changes. The idea behind it is that there is an increase in swallowed saliva, which changes the contents of the stomach, which changes the color/smell of the poop. Not sure if this is true or not.

As a side note, I've noticed a considerably different smell in her poop when I use the Hyland's teething tablets. But they give her so much relief, that I'm willing to hold my breath, and then throw the dirty diapers out immediately!

I would not worry about it.

[Helen White]

Thanks, that is reassuring.

The moms over in the breastfeeding forum think it might be the strawberries I've been eating, so I will do a little experimenting there to test that theory. She has been drooling and chewing a lot, so it could be teething too. I hesitate to think it's a bug, just because no one else around here is having similar symptoms.

ETA: But I cloth diaper her, so tossing them isn't a very cost-effective option!