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Cloth 101: Breastfed Baby Poop
August 3, 2014 12:32 pm | by
Prepping Cloth Diapers

1538It’s World Breastfeeding Week, and to celebrate, let’s talk about one of our favorite subjects: POOP! We’re not going to talk about just any poop, though. Instead, we are going through the ins and outs of exclusively breastfed (EBF) baby poo. Now, if you don’t know, a breastfed-baby’s poop is a bit different than a formula-fed baby’s. Here’s what you need to know about EBF (please know that this information does not provide any medical advice).

What’s normal?

  • The color and consistency of poo varies widely in EBF babies. It also varies kid to kid. Babies who are exclusively breastfed will typically have watery stools. This type of poop varies in color (yellow, green, orange brown-ish) and does not have a strong odor. 
  • EBF babies do not have a certain frequency with their bowel movements. They might have several poops a day, or even go a week without pooping. If you experience this, it is important to focus on what your baby’s stool looks like instead of how often your baby poops. As long as everything looks like a normal EBF stool, then this is your baby’s routine.
  • Breastfed baby’s poop is water soluble and very easy to clean! You can literally just toss these dirty diapers in your dry pail or wet bag until laundry day and the mess will come out when you wash your diapers like normal. EBF poo does not *typically* stain, but if you prefer to rinse your diapers clean to help avoid it, feel free.
  • EBF poo is more liquid than solid, and some parents can mistake it for diarrhea because the stool is loose(r). EBF poop can lead to blowouts, which most cloth diapers can contain 😉 The best distinction between diarrhea and EBF poop is seeing a change in the amount, occurrence, fluidity and smell. 

When to Call Your Doctor: 

It is very important to call your doctor immediately if you notice any change in your baby’s stool. Whether it’s the color, smell, frequency, or texture, you MUST contact your physician for guidance. 

 

About the Author

Brittney is a social media coordinator for Cotton Babies. She has three sisters, loves pizza and enjoys listening to obscure bands no one has heard of. Outside of posting on the Cotton Babies Facebook and Instagram pages, she babysits a few cloth diaper-wearing kids and likes playing with her dogs.

Comments

1 Comment

  • Ginger said...
    August 4, 2014 at 11:05 am

    Our friends/family said ‘just wait until you start having to change those nasty diapers…baby poop is so nasty and smells SO BAD’ (like they took pleasure in imagining us going through the misery. Well, when we had our son, I waited and waited for one of those miserable, nasty, gut-wrenching diapers. Guess I was the one who had the last laugh! Don’t get me wrong, he had a few ripe ones here and there. Nothing that knocked me or my husband out. These same people who couldn’t wait for us to go thru their same misery eeeewww’ed us about breastfeeding. Go figure. They said all kinds of rotten things about me nursing. But, as this article points out, breast-fed baby poo usually doesn’t smell like much. And it’s so easy to clean. My son had a bowel movement just about after every feeding for about 3-4 months and then slowed down a little. I can’t imagine a baby going several days w/o a BM though. I just kept on nursing my son and tried not to let them get to me. And we have a very healthy, happy, well-adjusted little boy to show for it! I guess the joke was on them, after all! And we saved an amazing amount of money using cloth too 🙂