Very stinky gas + poo, thinking of giving up bf'ing...

[TCK_Runner]

Ok, so I haven't had an easy time so far and I admit that, but now my baby has gas pains on and off all day and night and very stinky gas + poos (when she is finally able to pass). The last few days have been miserable -- she grunts at night and brings her legs up, etc, it's so so difficult for her and it's grating on us. We're putting her on her tummy, football hold, bicycling the legs, it's just painful for both of us. I've been feeding her mostly via expressed breast milk and yes, I spend enough time on the pump and massage my boobs til they're dry, because I know how important the hind milk is. And I shake up the expressed bottles.

Her poo is kind of stinky, watery, although it is mostly yellow rather than any other color. But it's very runny sometimes. She seems to be able to pass gas easier (although it is also stinky) the few times now that she's had formula. We haven't given her formula in a few days now, however, as I was hoping to transition entirely off of it (originally it was mostly to supplement my low milk supply and usually just meant one or two feeds per day). But at least she could process that. I don't know if it's something I'm eating or what, I'm at wit's end here. I eat the most boring diet ever already... I'm ready to give up bf'ing entirely if it means she can pass gas and be less fussy.

 

[Rachel_C]

Honestly, none of that sounds unusual. Breastfed poo is kind of watery, often with little mustard-seed bits (sort of like curdled milk really), it's not meant to be pasty/peanut buttery like formula fed poo is. Baby fussing over passing wind is also very normal and some babies are really smelly with no reason.

When you say 'at least she can process that' are you maybe just expecting BF poo to be like FF poo? It really isn't and BF poo is the norm, it's FF poo that's 'wrong' for want of a better word.

 

[TCK_Runner]

is it supposed to smell so bad though? I read everywhere that it shouldn't smell?

 

[special_kala]

It can have a strong smell. Like sickly sweet.

 

[special_kala]

Shaking the bottle will create more bubbles making wind worse

 

[staralfur]

All poo smells bad. For the record, when we were supplementing with formula my LO's poo smelled WAY worse.

She struggled with gas for a month or two and then was completely fine. I think tiny babies sometimes just struggle to figure out how to get it out.

 

[moomin_troll]

My boys are 5 and 2 and god they stink still.
Bottle fed babies nappies, in my experience are worse and constipation happens a lot more.
So this shouldn't be a reason to give up, if ur not happy then that's why you should

 

[Perplexed]

have you tried tummy massage? i massage my baby's tummy when she seems unsettled. in the first 6 weeks I believe she had trapped wind issues and cried a lot. The massage wasn't immediate relief but it's worth a try.

I did read though that having wind is normal. She still has wind now at 4 months but not as bad.

It will get better. If you want you could change things around with your diet to see if it makes a difference for your baby. But honestly I haven't changed anything and we have more good days than bad ones right now thankfully.

If you think it's really bad you should ask your pediatrician if there's anything else going on.

 

[Perplexed]

All poo smells bad. For the record, when we were supplementing with formula my LO's poo smelled WAY worse.

She struggled with gas for a month or two and then was completely fine. I think tiny babies sometimes just struggle to figure out how to get it out.

I agree with this. My baby had way more trouble with trapped wind when she was younger but it's much better now.

 

[special_kala]

Oo yea formula poos smell far worse then even the smelliest bf poos I've come across

 

[TCK_Runner]

Hmm she didn't have smelly formula poos, but the wind was awful - but at least she could pass it. I'm watching her struggle right now besides me in the bassinet with trapped wind... she's had a lot of really stinky poos today, too, and they're very runny...

No, I'd give up my bf'ing for other reasons too, this just feels like I'm approaching the last straw.

 

[TCK_Runner]

It can have a strong smell. Like sickly sweet.

LOL these are definitely NOT of the sweet kind! My husband was gasping for breath when changing her earlier......

 

[sheldonsmommy]

Sometimes it takes a while for baby to learn how to push out the uncomfortable farts. I think my son grunts out of frustration sometimes rather than pain.

My son's poops and toots are pretty rank for a bf baby. Ds1 was formula fed and ds2's are way worse lol. That being said, he only poops once per week, so it smells like sour milk kind of, like really pungent.

Maybe it's something you're eating?

 

[TCK_Runner]

Sometimes it takes a while for baby to learn how to push out the uncomfortable farts. I think my son grunts out of frustration sometimes rather than pain.

My son's poops and toots are pretty rank for a bf baby. Ds1 was formula fed and ds2's are way worse lol. That being said, he only poops once per week, so it smells like sour milk kind of, like really pungent.

Maybe it's something you're eating?

Yeah, I thought so too, but my diet is super boring... and honestly it hasn't varied a lot since Day 1! Although I did notice it was way worse the day after I ate Indian food and then fed her what I'd pumped in the 24-48 hours after that. I also cut out the bran flakes I was eating for a few days in the chance that that might have been causing the issue.

Normally I've been having coffee and bread products - and nothing out of the ordinary other than that. I have a wee bit of dairy (a mini ice cream bar, since I am usually lactose intolerant anyways).

I have also been taking lactulose, almost every day (a tablespoon because otherwise I don't poop! TMI sorry), but I don't know if that matters?

My diet for most days looks something like this:

- breakfast - 2-3 pieces of toast with nutella, cream cheese, or butter + jam. A cup of coffee - decaf or half-caf. This is essentially the exact same thing I had when in the hospital and throughout the first week; problems didn't begin until late last week, so I've written off these items being an issue.
- trail mix - peanuts, almonds, cashews, raisins. Not every day, but as a snack before/during/after pumping. It's convenient. Have also been eating since the first week.
- dinner is usually my "variety" meal. This is the one hardest to track - sometimes it's green beans and tofu or a little bit of fish; other times it's rice + curry, pizza, quiche, or an omelet. I guess these items are where something might be going awry, if it is indeed something in my diet... The midwife did tell me that the Indian food and the curries - because they often include whole chickpeas and lots of herbs and spices - could have/be causing some of the issues. I had my last curry two nights ago, so I'm hoping the continued wind is because I fed her refrigerated milk I pumped yesterday, which I guess is when the curry would have last been in my system??? God I just hope this passes! I am having pizza for dinner tonight, fingers crossed!

I do drink some multi-v fruit juice... only started that last week. I wonder if that could be causing it?

EDIT: geez just realized I should be eating more fruit!

 

[sheldonsmommy]

You'd have to keep a food journal and track baby's behaviour to be sure. Though as soon as you find a correlation baby probably will have grown out of it lol

If you feel like you have many valid reasons to give up breastfeeding, I don't think you'll find many people on here to try and convince you to do otherwise. We can only offer support that some things are normal and it will get better.

 

[Cyan]

We had real bottom issues here too at the beginning, she struggled to pass it and cried when it was stuck. We persevered and things are much, much better now. It must have been around the 6 week mark that things settled down.

Apparently it can take a while for newborns to learn how to push the wind/poo out and simultaneously relax the sphincter to release it. Left to their own devices they'll work it out soon enough. It's known as 'grunting baby syndrome' and is perfectly normal so don't let it worry you. Not very nice for the little ones but normal.

Oh and the smell? Perfectly normal too I'm afraid. We often wonder how such a sweet looking baby can produce such foul air, especially when it wafts up past her collar into our faces!

It sounds like you're doing all the right things, hang in there and keep smiling.

 

[sun]

All poo smells bad. For the record, when we were supplementing with formula my LO's poo smelled WAY worse.

She struggled with gas for a month or two and then was completely fine. I think tiny babies sometimes just struggle to figure out how to get it out.

Agree with this - mine have all been exclusively BF and were very different. My 9 day old is pretty chilled out so far, but my 1st son had a much harder time. I don't find that BF poo doesn't smell (it has it's own gross smell) - it just isn't as "poo-like" as when they're on solids. Mine have always had super yellow, really watery poos which I think is pretty typical. Not sure what formula poo is like to compare though.

 

[rottiemama]

Don't give up breastfeeding, I was overwhelmed too ... LO had gas at night from 9 to midnight I changed my diet often and it didn't help with anything I only noticed it was worse after thai sauce to be honest. His poo smells like warm old cheese it's really smelly but after 3 months his gas got better and he's almost done his fussyness, I never thought it would end but it really is better now, I'm proud of myself for keeping my sanity and breasfeeding. Don't give up it will get better I know that's what everyone says. You can do it !! Keep it up and try to be positive and know that it will get better.

 

[TCK_Runner]

Thanks everyone for the responses and encouragement... she's been better tonight (thankfully) and I'm now up at 4:30-5AM for a pump session!

 

[supertabby]

That all sounds perfectly normal for bf poo and wind at your lo's age. Formula usually makes the poo a bit more solid and less watery but this isn't the norm for a young baby, while in an adult a watery poo would be diarrhoea, in a baby it's supposed to be like that.

Grunting, snorting, squeaking, pushing, stretching in sleep in all normal too - a newborn sleeping sounds like a farmyard! They grow out of it though after a couple of months.

PS don't shake the bottles, it makes too much air and that leads to more wind. A very gentle whirl to get the cream off the sides at most.