Breast Feed Baby with Stinky Toots, Is This Normal?

Updated on January 02, 2009
J.S. asks from Raleigh, NC
22 answers

4 month old breast-feed baby with BM's only once a week and stinky stinky stinky toots. Help! Is this normal? I have heard it is, but boy...it does not sound healthy.

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S.C.

answers from Dallas on

My daughters toots smelled like rotten eggs. My mother-in-law would criticize me sooo much. But she was the best baby ever. I felt like as long as the gas was coming out and not staying in then she was fine. But I do agree with some of the other responses, she would definately have atleast one bowel movement a day if not more.

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C.H.

answers from Dallas on

The stinky toots are caused by whatever you are eating. Unfortunatley the most heathy foods like vegtables, salad etc are the stinkiest.. Dont worry its normal

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A.M.

answers from Dallas on

Don't panic. BM's only once a week is NORMAL for your baby as long as the BM's aren't hard and round (which they shouldn't be for an entirely breastfed baby). My 8 week old has gone from 2 BM's per feeding to 1 every 2-3 days. This is perfectly normal for my baby. Eventually, I expect he will be more like 1 per week. I find that the stinky toots tend to be caused by something I have eaten. (especially things like broccoli and asparagus).

A.

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E.N.

answers from Dallas on

Yes, this is very normal. Breast fed babies at this age often times will go through periods of not having many BM's. Both of my boys experienced this AND still have smelly gas!Just make sure he does not look dehydrated and consider speaking with your pedi about putting some more water in his diet. Congrats on your choice to breast feed!

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N.L.

answers from Dallas on

Greetings J S:

The stinky toots is not a big deal because baby is just metabolizing something you ate, but the BM's once a week is not completely normal. A baby should probably go once a day or so, or a few times a week. You know baby is getting a healthy portion of breast milk (exclusively breast fed) by the baby's weight gain. If baby is only going once a week, you may need to supplement YOUR diet with more fiber or introduce a little apple juice to your baby's diet, per your pediatrician. The healthier you eat, the more they stink. Natural is best, just like the breast! Also, water is good for baby's little digestive tract, but not too much because little one's need the nutrition in breast milk for brain development. I think you are doing fine to ask, but be mindful of all you will hear, even my comment. You have a pediatrician, use the pedi's hotline and nurseline to get your questions answered from a professional you can trust. You are going to be fine, hang in there.

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E.B.

answers from Dallas on

Completely normal! Babies have very immature digestive systems, so that's where all the stink is coming from.

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M.G.

answers from Dallas on

The smell of her toots is related to your diet. Maybe it is too high in protein and there isn't enough fruit or vegetable matter to balance it out. Also, make sure you are drinking lots of water and not sodas. It is completely normal though.

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L.F.

answers from Dallas on

Perfectly normal. My daughter had the same issue. I would give her mylicon if it got too bad, but otherwise we just learned to live with it. You may want to take a look at your diet just to make sure you're not eating too many gassy foods such as lots of veggies (especially beans and broccoli) and sometimes dairy can do it to. Other than that all I can say is that the baby will get through it and it's not hurting them at all. Good luck and welcome to motherhood.

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G.W.

answers from Dallas on

I would just say, watch your baby's actions. If he is happy and not crying and he doesn't seem uncomfortable, don't worry about it. TRUST ME... you don't need to give yourself one more thing to worry about as a mom.

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S.T.

answers from Dallas on

My son did the same thing and it worried me. My pediatrician was not at all worried, but sometimes, when he nursed it seemed like he wanted to poop but couldn't. I like natural remedies and I had a took him to a kiniesiolgist to check if something I was eating was bothering him, and nothing came of that. I was not a big eater of all the offenders. Here is what I found that helped - it actually took the stink out of the toots (and he could clear a room!). At a natural store like Whole Foods, you can buy acidofilus for babies, which acidofilus restores the balance in your digestive tract and is good if you or he had to have antibiotics at any time (my naturalist doctor felt it could have resulted from my being on antibiotics when my son was born for a UTI). Anyways acidophilus for babies is called Babydophilus and it comes in powder form. All of my kids would just eat the powder because it is kinda sweet or with my son, I would sometimes put it in a bottle with about 1 oz. white grape juice (supposed to soothe the stomach) and 3 oz. water and put the babydophilus in there and shake it up and give it to him. Like I said, it took the stink out of the toots, but did not change the frequency of BM, but he did not seem to be in pain at all any more - sometimes my son would go 10 days without a BM. It all changed when he began eating solid foods around 6 months. My other favorite natural remedy that I have since learned about with my other two is called Gripewater and I even saw that at Walgreens. It is safe for babies 6 weeks and up, and I used it whenever we went on trips or they seemed fussy with teething or any discomfort. They would see it coming and get excited so I really believed it made them feel better. Hope this helps! I have 3 children 9, 6, and 2 and really would like another, so talking about babies helps. :)

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R.H.

answers from Dallas on

If you are eating foods that cause gas, you pass it along to your child. I don't care what my doctor said about eating whatever I wanted, it does matter! Good Luck.

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B.S.

answers from Dallas on

As long as baby is having lots of pees, and the BM is large in volume and soft when she does have one, and is continuing to be happy and gaining weight and all that, she should be fine. Exclusively breastfed babies cannot get constipated. As long as she's happy, you can be happy too!

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J.P.

answers from Wichita Falls on

My daughter was the same way! I thought it couldn't be healthy either, and to hardly ever go, but the doc said once even every 7 days was okay!!! We endured her stinkiness and she lived and is now 5. I'm not even kidding though, her Papa watched her one evening and said it took him 30 minutes to work the kink out of his mustache :) That story went in the baby book.
Hang in there. It will get better!
J.
http://J..yoursmh.com

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H.M.

answers from Dallas on

My son had problems having BM's too. I would talk to his dr. My dr said he should have one at least twice a week. But would rather once a day. I used infant suppositories on him. They worked like magic.

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K.B.

answers from Dallas on

Try the infant suppositories. You won't even need to put the entire one in, just insert and roll it around but be ready for the mess. He needs to be having way more BM's than he is. Good luck!

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K.S.

answers from Dallas on

take an inventory of what you are eating. Remember that what you eat passes to the baby. It is normal if you are eating gassy foods like Iceburg lettuce.

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V.T.

answers from Dallas on

Oh my goodness! My baby (who just turned one!) was breastfed only and I could not believe the smells that came out of his little behind, and he was only 1 month old when it started. I found that frequency of BM's directly correlated to the gas. If he took an antibiotic, which normally would cause diarrhea but in his case made him actually poop daily (he would go 7-10 days between BM's), he did not have gas. However, when he would only go 1x week, horrible gas. My doctor was not concerned either since he was breastfed, but he would act really uncomfortable after not going for 3-4 days so my doctor said I could try giving him dark Karo syrup. He recommended putting it in a bottle and mix with the breastmilk, but he wouldn't take a bottle. I would dilute about 1 tbls of syrup in water, just to thin it out, and squirted down him with a medicine syringe. Once he started cereal, which your baby is old enough now, I put a large dollop of syrup in his cereal every night, and it did the trick. It works because of the fiber in the syrup, and he would go every 1-3 days instead of every 7-10 days, he acted much more comfortable, and no stinky gas!

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H.O.

answers from Dallas on

Every child is different of course, when my son was little he would have 1 BM a week. His DR said that for him that was normal and that as he got older it would change. It also could depend on what you are eating as well.

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M.A.

answers from Lubbock on

OMG!!! I just wanted to thank you for a good laugh! My kids are 11 & 9 now, but your request brought back my memory of thinking the same thing! Pee-uuuu-we! I assure you, it is normal. Enjoy your precious, bubbly baby!

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P.B.

answers from Dallas on

It's been a while, but I breast fed all 4 of my children. They can get gas from the foods you eat as well. So, check out what you're eating. If you are getting gas, they could too.

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L.L.

answers from Dallas on

That is NOT normal. A baby his age should be going multiple times a day--especially being breastfeed. The "toots" are telling you that he needs to go---just like adults when they get constipated---it is a blessing that he is "tooting"--otherwise he would have severe colic! You need to discuss this with your doctor---do you take vitamins with a lot of iron in them---iron constipates infants. Look at your diet carefully-----it could be affecting your milk. If he is on any cereal or fruit---has it always been this way---when did it start---try to figure out what changed about his diet when it began---but get him some help---that can turn into something very painful for him.

Me: Mom of 2--Nana of 3--breastfeed my own!

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M.C.

answers from Dallas on

If you eat corn, your baby will have the foulest smelling toots. I am sure there are other things but corn did it for me and my little "stinker".

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