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recent or current breastfeeding moms I have a question

smurfy1smile's picture

Its been over 6 years since I breastfed my youngest child. So I can't remember everything clearly. Here's my question - what does breastfed baby poop look like from your experience?

I know weird question but BM claims to be exclusively breastfeeding and accordning to the poop I see she clearly (no pun intended) is not.

Sweatheart's picture

In my experience, it has curdles in it, kind of like cottage cheese mixed with yellow mushy or runny poop. Once you start formula, the curdles go away. It changes with your diet.

ColorMeGone2's picture

My two didn't have the cottage cheese poop, but it was yellowish and on the mushy side. It changed based on what I was eating and, of course, what else they were eating with the breastmilk. It got more solid as I added new foods to their diets. I would think consistency (hard, soft, runny, mushy) would be a more likely indicator than color or smell. I breastfed both of mine exclusively, never a drop of formula, but their poop wasn't identical. It changed based on what was in my diet and what I added to theirs.

♥ Georgia ♥

"Good men don't just happen. They have to be created by us women." (from ROSEANNE)

kathleen's picture

I don't know where you are going with this question. It could look many ways. Mostly yellow, smooth, but if the baby is starting on mashed bananas etc. it could change.

Call me a bitch defender of birth moms, but I think we spend too much time questioning them, and creating conflict. Let it be, take care of the child while you have him/her and honor it. If bm is breastfeeding, it is probably a very difficult thing for her to have that child out of her sight, let alone with someone who isn't a close family member or friend.

I love my husband, but I nursed my child for, not as long as I would have liked, but for at lest a year and a half. I did not feel comforable with someone taking my child away from me, even my husband, for any length of time.

Try to remember what it was like for you. How, I weaned, when I weaned, was personal, and between me and my child. I would be so offended if someone thought they had a right to judge me in that regard. Sorry. I'm all about supporting the step moms here, but I respect and honor the mother, especially a breastfeeding mother.

So I would ask why you want to know about the poop? What difference does it make? I would want to ask, if I am honoring the mother, loving the child, and creating the best possible environment for the beautiful, innocent child to grow and develop in to the best possible human being s/he could be.

Just my opinion.

ColorMeGone2's picture

I think I understand why she's asking and I would hate it if the BM is using breastfeeding as an excuse to withhold visitation, but... I would err on the side of caution in this instance.

♥ Georgia ♥

"Good men don't just happen. They have to be created by us women." (from ROSEANNE)

kathleen's picture

I also pumped religiously, a time consuming, obsessive, life altering thing so that when I wasn't able to be with my child I had milk for her. After she reached a year, I occasionally supplemented with formula because I couldn't keep the milk cold or something happened. Just a thought to think about before you judge.

ColorMeGone2's picture

But hey, I'll never have sunburned thighs again! Wink

♥ Georgia ♥

"Good men don't just happen. They have to be created by us women." (from ROSEANNE)

LizzersBG's picture

I second the deflated boobs.....I've never seen mine so small, just hanging there not even remotely like the boobs I swear I just had a couple years ago:)

I BF my 16 month old until she was 13 months, supplementing with formula as I slowly dried out. I fed until I couldn't bc I wasnt producing anything. For a year I kept my baby with me 24/7 and NEVER let anyone watch her for more than 1 hour. I pumped, but never used the milk bc I would always change my mind and not leave her. I did not want to leave her with my Husband either. Not bc I don't trust him, but bc of the close bond I felt/feel with my baby. If I had to let someone else take care of her I would have gone certifiably crazy. I still have phantom engorgment feelings, and still feel like I am the best one to care for my child. I took her to a daycare ONE DAY about 2 months ago and she still has diarhea. I will never do it again and I quit working the one full day a week that I was working. She had never been sick (nope, not even once) up until that point.

As far as the bowel movements go-they varied. I take medication on a daily basis and changed my medicine so that I could nurse. I kept in close contact with my Dr to monitor this. I began giving her some solid food and she became very constipated. Then I quit giving her milk and she stopped being constipated. While nursing though, she had loose stools everytime. Sometimes the color changed and it only looked seedy for the first few months of her life. If I ate green she usually poo'd greenish.

One sign I noticed with both my girls (while nursing) was that they both turned their heads toward my chest anytime they were anywhere near the nursing position.

Hopefully there is not actually anyone out there using BF as an excuse not to let anyone else around their child (when you get divorced or break up, you have to realize someone else may come along-sorry, but thats the facts). No matter what she is doing with this baby the BF is still entitled to visitation. This woman is probably experiencing severe anxiety. babies bond when they are little, maybe she feels like she is losing out.

I would be interested in knowing what you find out.
What do you feed this baby while it is at your home?

ColorMeGone2's picture

Would you believe that I still get this? My "baby" is five, hasn't nursed since she was 18 months old and I still sometimes get that rush every now and then. Believe me, it's an interesting combination with the hot flashes I'm experiencing with my early menopause. Blum 3

♥ Georgia ♥

"Good men don't just happen. They have to be created by us women." (from ROSEANNE)

smurfy1smile's picture

I thought I was the only one. I still get phamtom pains once and a awhile and did not realize what is was til your post.

Thanks for enlightening me!

smurfy1smile's picture

BM is telling BF she is exclusively breastfeeding and the proof she is lying is in the poop. Baby's poop is super stinky and looks like mud. I know from my experience nursing and from talking to other nrusing moms that breatfed babies poop does not smell like a grown mans. I commmend her for trying and to keep on trying. We all know breastmilk is best but it does not work for everyone whether by choice or the body does not want to produce. BM limits parenting time due to her "nursing" but recently has started sending some breastmilk for baby. Which is great.

I nursed my youngest til she was about 6 months old. Stress from my divorce caused me to dry up. I also pumped several times a day to be sure she got enough to eat and to give to her BF when he has his parenting time. So I know how hard it is and how time comsuming, etc.

My concern is that BM outrights lies about it. The neighbor girls has fed the baby several bottles of formula and there are formula jars and bottles all over the house in plain site. If you are going to lie about exclusively breastfeeding at least hide the evidence that you are lying. We give baby the breastmilk mom supplies and usually end up giving him formula too cause less than 2 ounces of breastmilk is not enough. We use the same kind as we see in the house. The glass bottle BM uses to give us breastmilk is a formula bottle from some ready to use stuff. BM has tryed to peel off the labels but that did not work so well so we can read the name of forlua she uses. We have forgotten a couple of times to return the empty glass bottle and BM does not ask for them. I am guessing she has a steady supply at home.

Asking other moms that have breastfed and know stuff about it helps both of us come to terms with yet another lie from BM. Thanks for all the advise and such.

I like to keep my babies close too and they are 7, 12, & 16.

ColorMeGone2's picture

My BD's poop stank to high heaven and she never had even a drop of formula, so I don't think you can go by stink alone. (Honestly, to this day my sweet little girl can put her dad to shame with her bathroom odors!) BS didn't stink at all. But you have plenty of proof that she's not "exclusively" breastfeeding, even if you can't use the poop as 100% proof. When I went back to work after maternity leave, I pumped so that BS would have milk at daycare. I stopped in to nurse on my lunch break. There's no reason why she can't pump during the week and freeze enough bottles to get him through several hours. At this age, the baby should be starting solids, anyway, if he hasn't already. She can probably use the "tender age doctrine" to prevent overnight visits up until age three or so, but even with breastfeeding, Dad does still have a right to bond with the child. Maybe they could work out something where Dad could visit with the child with Mom nearby in case nursing is required. That was the arrangement I offered my ex when we split during my pregnancy.

♥ Georgia ♥

"Good men don't just happen. They have to be created by us women." (from ROSEANNE)

happysomeday's picture

I breastfed mine until he was four. And suddenly I realized that having a little kid squirming around with his teeth on my boob was not at all comfortable, and he had stretched them out enough already.
Now they're like two socks that somebody dropped a hamburger patty into.

And when he was a baby, getting breastfed only, his poop was yellow and runny...and sorry to be saying this, but if someone was questioning what I was doing or not doing with my baby and my boobs, I would have been pretty angry.
I guess if she's saying the baby can't be away from her because of breastfeeding, it's not right. But seriously, I really didn't want my baby away from me for that long, either, with anyone else, and that's just natural.

And today, he's 8, and his poop stinks worse than anything I've ever smelled come out of any person or animal.

smurfy1smile's picture

With BM it is all about control. She will probably claim to be breastfeeding til the kid goes to college!

Sita Tara's picture

I can still express a few drops over a year after quitting. The other day I tried again to see if it was still there, and it was dark brown/green. Gross! I have some cysts and thickening that is examined carefully with a mammogram every year so I was worried about it and looked it up online. It seems this is normal from now until I get through menopause (not menopausal yet but I am 40 in a month.) I keep wondering when they become completely mine again! Not until I'm way old evidently.

Peace, love, and red wine

ColorMeGone2's picture

I can still express a few drops, too, and I stopped nursing my last one over three years ago. I'm afraid once you give them, you never get them back! On the upside, after nursing two babies, my boobs can take any kind of torture. Mammograms don't hurt me a bit.

♥ Georgia ♥

"Good men don't just happen. They have to be created by us women." (from ROSEANNE)

Sita Tara's picture

I have cysts that make mammograms painful. PLUS my boobs are always big (D cup) and I have a small frame (normally around 125 lbs.) Since having BD 2, I am stuck at 150 (Stress eating m and m's and one too many glasses of red wine throughout the week). I swear though at least 15 lbs of that is extra boobs as I am still DD plus a year after nursing.

That size makes mammograms SUCK even more. They can't even fit them on the damn plexiglass to shoot the film.

I have had to have mammograms since I first had the cysts/growths at age 31.

Sad

Peace, love, and red wine