Jessica from New Zealand sent us the following e-mail this week…
I just have a question about the quantity of my babies poop. She is 9 months old and has been on solids since 6 months. She has 3 solid meals per day and 4 breastfeeds. The amount of poop she does at a time is quite a lot, as if all the food I feed her comes straight out. Is this normal?? I just worry because her milk feeds are becoming shorter (which is normal as she begins to eat more solids) and it seems that she just poops out all her solids, so is she getting enough food being digested?? She’s developing great and nothing else shows that she’s not getting enough, maybe I’m just being silly?
First off, Jessica, you are not being silly at all and are – quite sensibly – checking if something that seems unusual to you is, in fact, normal!
The amount of poop that babies produce varies from one individual to another. We hear from parents whose little ones only produce one poop every other day – and from parents whose babies seem to produce poop at every diaper change.
You don’t mention seeing any undigested food in the poop, which seems to show that she is digesting her food perfectly well (although it is normal to sometimes find undigested food in baby’s stools, particularly the harder-to-digest foods like raisins, beans and corn, which are more difficult for the body to break down).
Also, you say she is developing normally, which is a good indication that she is getting the nutrients she needs from her food.
It really does sound as if there is no cause for concern. However, ANY time that you are at all worried about your baby, we recommend that you seek advice from your doctor… if only to set your own mind at ease.
Do YOU have any advice for Jessica?
Does your little one seem to poop excessively? Have you ever sought medical advice, or do things seem to have settled down by themselves?
Please let us know YOUR opinions and experiences.
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crystalgrace
Wednesday 17th of April 2013
My son is 6 months and he's pooping every diaper change. we introduced solids and he does great with them, but he has almost 10 poopy diapers a day since we did! they're solid though. not runny at all anymore, he is also breastfed
SharonG
Saturday 28th of July 2012
My daughter is six weeks old and she poops almost every hour she is gaining weight just want to know should I asked my dr
Homemade Baby Food Recipes
Saturday 28th of July 2012
@SharonG It's really common for very young babies to poop a lot - it seems as if you're forever changing diapers at that stage! And the fact that baby is gaining weight means that it's unlikely there's any problem at all - but please do remember that it's always a good idea to seek a professional medical opinion if you are at all concerned :)
Cat
Friday 26th of September 2008
Don't know if this is what is going on with you, but I had similar concerns awhile back because my 12-month-old started pooping a lot more frequently and having really soft stools all the time. It wasn't diarrhea, so her doctor said it was likely just that she was eating more solids.
However, I did see that she was having some undigested food in there and I just had a gut feeling that the food wasn't getting absorbed properly. I cut back on her sugar a bit, limiting the amount of juice (even watered down) and peaches, pears, etc. (Basically anything that you would give to a baby who was constipated to get them to "go" I avoided). I also tried to add a bit more fat to her diet. She had just started to try cow's milk, so I think this helped somewhat.
This helped. After a day, her poops were more solid and back to one or two a day (which had been normal). I didn't in any way stop feeding her fruit. She loves it. But, I did try to make sure she didn't get lots of juice at the same time she was eating fruit, for example. I also did cut out orange juice, though, and it seems to have helped.
I think we had been less careful for a bit and were giving her too much juice, plus the occasional commercial yogurt, which seems to always have sugar added. Plus, we sometimes fed her applesauce a couple times a day, etc. I think it was just too much for her little system.
Anyway...not sure it helps. But I thought I'd throw that out there.