Slimy Mucousy and Foamy Poop

by Lidya Hiandinata
(Pagewood, Sydney, Australia)

I have 3.5 weeks fully breastfed baby. He used to have yellow mustard poop with seedy thing inside. He often passed gas with it. He always strain when having bowel movement.

But in the past 5 days, his poo has become more watery and less seedy, sometimes is little bit slimy and foamy. The color changes between yellow and bright orange. He strains a lot now even though his poop is more watery than before. Sometimes he strains too strong that make him hiccups.

He is little bit fussier that before and seems to have discomfort on his stomach before pooing. He will move his body a lot like there is something on his stomach and this will sometimes wake him from his sleep.

I eat normal food, no dairy product. Just don't know what cause this. I have oversupply breast milk. But as far as I know if there is imbalance on the milk, the color of the poo will be green. It was foamy green one time and the pediatrician advised me to give him Infacol to reduce the gas on his stomach, but it didn't help. Just wondering whether Infacol could cause this.

Could you please help as my son is having less sleep because of this. The pattern of his feeding become random now as he sometimes awake for 6 hours just because he has to spend more time for straining and pooing.

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Baby Help Line:

Reasons For Slimy Poop When 1 Month Old

At your baby's age, breastfed babies normally have four to eight yellow-greenish, semi-solid to liquid stools a day. This will slow down at around 2 months of age.

The color of the poop should be of no concern. Anything from yellow to green to orange is actually normal, unless the baby appears to be ill.

Very slimy poop can indicate that a cold is on its way. In such case, you'll know within days.

Babies often grunt, strain, or turn red or purple when having a bowel movement. This is usually normal, and if the stool is soft, this does not mean the baby is constipated. (Breastfed babies do not get constipated if they are healthy.)

Your baby is now getting more fat and nutrients in your milk than he did before. Your milk changes consistency through the first few months. (You can read more about the components of breast milk here.) This is normal and it happens no matter what you eat. Your body produces what the baby needs at different stages of growth.

The change in your milk can cause the poop to be slimy, foamy, and it can also cause your baby to be gassy. Make sure you continue to watch what you eat, so if he gets too gassy you can eliminate certain things from your diet. (Learn more about what foods to eat and avoid while breastfeeding here.

You can give him Mylicon drops for the gas. (Althoug many parents don't feel that they are very helpful. But you've got to try on your baby.) If he starts to have severe stomach aches then I would take him to a pediatrician.

Since you have over-supply, it is very important that you let your baby eat for a long time on one breast. I had the same issue, and when I switched to only letting the baby have one breast per feeding, things turned to the better. If you have a lot of milk, you might even have to feed him twice or more from each breast before switching.

Hope this helps,

Paula
(Answer approved by our Medical Reference Team)

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