Diarrhea?

[cmp]

My baby girl is 5 days old, she started out with formula at the hospital because I could produce absolutely nothing to feed her with. (I'm working on pumping and at least bottle feeding pumped milk if I can get something going)
She was excessively spitting up/throwing up, so we were switched to Similac Alimentum and adding rice cereal to it. She's holding it down much better, but today after pretty much every feeding she's had diapers that look literally like mustard in both color and consistency. The poop is runny enough that it's come out the back once or twice and looks like it's about to come out the legs.
I'm extremely concerned it's diarrhea, but everything I google makes it look like her poop is normal....but for a breast fed baby and she's not had any breast milk at all. I'm calling the pediatrician in the morning for sure, but am I worrying over nothing? She's eating fine today, just the diapers scare me.

 

[Zephram]

That's what baby poo looks like! Sounds completely normal to me. It is runny, mustard coloured and when you get a poo-splosion or poo-nami, boy does it go everywhere! Up the back, out the legs, across the room - no joke.

 

[cmp]

My concern is it's been a lot of diapers today...every time she's been fed she's had runny poop. It just seems TOO runny, and too much compared to the past couple days.

 

[jessmke]

As newborns both of my babies pooped (very watery) during or after every meal, it's totally normal.

 

[thexfadingpat]

Rice cereal is extremely hard on their tummies, especially that young. That could be causing issues. It really shouldn't be given until 6 months.

 

[sophxx]

I'd stop the rice deal she's way to young. If there's a issues with spit up reflux you need to see the gp or hv if your in the uk they can give medication to help these but at 5 days old non of this would worry me other than the rice cereal

 

[cmp]

I thought it was wrong to give them any cereal this young too, but I talked to a couple girls that were due around the same time as me, but ended up having their babies a couple months early. Both of them have been told to use rice/oatmeal cereal in their formula as well and all 3 of us use different pediatricians.
I'm in the US, I would have never even tried the cereal without talking to the pediatrician first. She seems better today.

 

[Zephram]

I definitely wouldn't give rice cereal. Your baby is way too young - wait until 6 months.

 

[noon_child]

The mustard coloured poop and pooping after every feed is totally normal newborn behaviour. Its a really good sign that she is digesting her food well and quickly (sometimes formula can cause constipation, so runny poop is a great sign that it isn't causing issues).

Regarding the spit-up: how much formula was being given per feed in the hospital? Babies' tummies are tiny and naturally spit up if they get over full as for the first week of life their tummy cannot stretch. Over the first week their tummy gets larger and at about 7 days old it begins to be able to stretch to accommodate larger amounts of food, so perhaps it was not reflux at all, just baby getting rid of excess food.

If it is reflux, thickening her milk may work but here is the UK we would never use rice cereal but rather a specifically designed food thickener HOWEVER we have the NHS and baby medicine is FREE. Your paediatrician may well believe medical thickeners are over priced or know they aren't covered by insurance so recommends something they believe works just as well. I've always been told that rice cereal in bottles is a choking hazard but perhaps there is a different product in the USA which doesn't cause this risk.

Regarding producing no colostrum (it only comes out in drops at first - literally you'd be lucky to get 1ml after expressing from both sides that first day), if it really is zero and no sign of milk coming in well after about day 5, then I'd maybe start asking whether you might have retained placental tissue. This stops milk production happening properly and often isn't spotted straight away.

 

[cmp]

She was eating about an ounce at a time, give or take, in the hospital. She continued with that at home, just the spitting up/throwing up started. The pediatrician actually watched her throw up a large amount at her first appointment and that's what concerned him, on top of what we'd just told him.

The cereal in formula must be very common where I live, I've had too many other moms tell me they do the same thing on doctor's orders.

Thickening the formula has helped, although she still will throw up small amounts on occasion. Sometimes I think she tries to throw up and can't as well, maybe silent reflux?

I've been attempting to pump and getting almost nothing, I don't even feel I've changed in size or feel engorged at all. I think I'm just unfortunately not producing well enough, which is very disappointing.

We are using a different formula and it has helped with the poop issues, quite a few of those diapers I originally posted about were nothing more than liquid. I know I said they were like mustard, but there were some that were nothing more than mustard colored liquid with nothing even remotely close to "solid." That scared me quite a bit to be honest.

 

[jtink28]

i would ask your doctor about the consistency of the stools, but liquid poo can be very normal. they're just drinking liquids, after all!

 

[noon_child]

Thickening the formula has helped, although she still will throw up small amounts on occasion. Sometimes I think she tries to throw up and can't as well, maybe silent reflux?

The thickening will stop it being as easy to throw up I guess, but that won't stop her stomach trying to (especially if she takes too much at once which can happen when babies have reflux as the sucking action soothes them - how much is she getting per feed now?)

I've been attempting to pump and getting almost nothing, I don't even feel I've changed in size or feel engorged at all. I think I'm just unfortunately not producing well enough, which is very disappointing.

It is very rare that a woman will produce nothing even if a baby is not feeding, milk should still come in - I think you need to be checked for retained placental tissue.

We are using a different formula and it has helped with the poop issues, quite a few of those diapers I originally posted about were nothing more than liquid. I know I said they were like mustard, but there were some that were nothing more than mustard colored liquid with nothing even remotely close to "solid." That scared me quite a bit to be honest.

Yup, mustard coloured liquid sounds about right! I'm glad you feel happier on the new formula but honestly I think what you describe is normal newborn poo. I'm sure my daughters were rarely thicker than a gravy or cheese sauce type consistency.

 

[cmp]

I've switched to another formula that is helping her so much more, to the point that we aren't using rice cereal any longer. Although, I do trust the judgement of the pediatricians around here, I know it's different outside of the US.

I still don't feel the poop was "right," it really was like colored water at least half the diapers. It made me nervous since the hospital had already made me feel terrible about the weight she lost in the hospital. They made a very big deal about her nursing and how it wasn't going well.

I did work at pumping because I still wanted to use breastmilk, even if it was through a bottle, but there was nothing more than maybe a teaspoon on the "good" tries. Maybe I didn't work at it hard enough, or screwed up in some other way...I AM disappointed it didn't work out with breastfeeding. I suspect her tongue tie is a problem as well.

 

[IchigoMewMew]

, I did work at pumping because I still wanted to use breastmilk, even if it was through a bottle, but there was nothing more than maybe a teaspoon on the "good" tries. Maybe I didn't work at it hard enough, or screwed up in some other way...

If you do have some retained placental tissue as noon child suggested pumping is not going to increase your supply. You'll need to see a doctor and get it checked out, if there is any tissue left your body essentially thinks you're still pregnant so doesn't signal your milk to come in because it thinks you don't need it yet. There's alao a risk of it becoming infected if it doesn't pass by itself.
What colour is the liquid that you've pumped? Is it still more yellow rather than white?
Has your daughter's tongue tue been assessed properly? My DD had a severe one it was the cause of her reflux as she swallowed a lot of air because she couldn't make a proper seal with her mouth. The sooner they are cut the better as after a certain point they need general anaesthetic and they can cause speech problems

 

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Wouldn't I feel "off" if I had a placenta issue? A fever or something at least? I've felt great, totally normal since the day I had her. No pain killers necessary or anything. The bleeding and all has tapered off and is just pink if anything at all for the past several days.
The liquid I pumped was kind of off-white I guess, not yellow but not bright white either. I had one day of my boobs feeling "full," but I'm very small to begin with and didn't actually get any bigger throughout my pregnancy or after having her. The fullness, which wasn't much honestly, went away as soon as I pumped and didn't come back.

I wasn't aware that tongue ties could cause reflux, I do plan to get it cut. I am tongue tied and so are several other people in my family, none of us have had speech problems, but for me personally, the tie is annoying.