Breastfed babies' feces are quite soft that sometimes it comes out a little when your baby farts or urinates. It is soft enough to soak the diaper, create foam, and its color can also vary (green, brown, etc.). In these cases, you don't need to worry or stop breastfeeding. Soft or mustardy stool comes out when your baby comes down with an early stage cold, has a fever or is at an early stage of enteritis. In addition, if you feed your baby too often for too short a period of time, it may bring about imbalance in the fore milk and hind milk and produce soft green stool. If your baby produces soft feces too often, you should see a doctor.
Your breastfed baby misses BM
A newborn baby who is only breastfed may produce stool only once every one or two weeks. You may become concerned about the possibility of constipation and surgical diseases. However, in most cases, this is normal. In this case, one of the followings is the cause. Of course, if your baby demonstrates an abnormal toilet habit, you should see a pediatrics specialist.
(1) Normally-breastfed babies
This may sometimes be found in normally breastfed babies. Because they digest breast milk so well and have no stool to produce. If your baby gains weight normally, no particular abdominal expansion is found even when he fails to produce stool, and if loose stool comes out after a long time, then you may disregard these symptoms.
(2) Babies with insufficient breast milk intake
When your breast milk is insufficient, your baby will absorb most of it, leaving little stool to pass down the bowels. In this case you should pay attention to your baby's fretting or changes in weight, and you would instantly understand if breast milk intake is insufficient or not.
(3) Latent diseases
The most common examples of latent diseases are hypothyroidism (internal) and congenital megacolon (surgical). Hypothyroidism can be checked through a congenital metabolism test which is performed right after the baby is born. If the test confirms your baby to be normal, you don't need to worry. Meanwhile, if your baby has congenital megacolon, you should examine if your baby's meconium has been delayed by more than 2 days after birth, abdomen enlarges excessively when he doesn't produce stool, but goes flat too much after producing stool, and it continues back and forth. In this case, you are recommended to visit a pediatrics specialist.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH & WELFARE 13, Doum 4-ro, Sejong, (30113) Republic Korea