Happy little guy!

Lactation consultants are not only interested in what goes into your baby; we’re also interested in what comes out! We like to see very frequent stooling that is yellowish in color with lots of chunky white curds. That is normal breastfed baby poop. If baby is not pooping frequently, or poop is a different color, that is not normal and we want to know why.

We look at the way the baby is using his tongue. We look at the swallow. We look at mom’s diet. We look at baby’s body for structural issues that may interfere with digestion. When necessary we refer out for body work to help baby digest food better and be more comfortable.

Here is a story illustrating one mom’s journey as she tries to find relief for her son’s digestive issues: She posted this on facebook after reading a discussion (in which I was a participant) about what’s normal for baby in terms of elimination patterns. She agreed to share her story here to help other mothers and babies. Thank you, C.V.!

My son is two days shy of 6 months and has had ongoing digestive/elimination issues since birth. That is what I, the mom, says. Our physician says there is nothing wrong. But his very frequent, mucousy, green poop just did not sit right with me.

To make a long story short I worked with a lactation consultant and got my hyper lactation under control, have taken him regularly to a chiropractor, and a few times to a cranio sacral therapist and have steadily been eliminating foods from my diet and working on my own gut health (although I have no outward problems). Nothing was helping. I was actually starting to resign myself to this being the norm for him until I read this thread. I want his health to be as optimal as it can be and I didn’t think it was.

So, I finally (why I didn’t before I’ll never know) contacted my acupuncturist. Wow. Two treatments along with a stomach massage regime I do every day and he is improving by leaps and bounds. Basically, he told me that my son’s digestive energy was very low and he had cold and stagnation in that channel. We are working to strengthen that energy so his body can perform optimally. All of this is to stay that there are definitely different ways to approach the issue of gut health and if one isn’t working we should keep looking.

If you are concerned about your baby’s tummy/digestive issues or discomfort, please contact an experienced IBCLC.  If she can’t help you directly, she will point you in the direction of other professionals in your area who have experience with infants and digestion concerns.