Hello everyone. My breastfed 5 month old went from @#$%& very often throughout the day to @#$%& once every 5 days. When he does @#$%& it is very thick and smelly. I'm told by everyone that this is "normal" for breastfed babies, and that they are just "using every nutrient possible from the breastmilk and all that's left is a thick sludge." I was told that by a lactation consultant. I haven't been eating all raw (but I have been eating a lot of raw greens and fruit and few nuts or fats, and "whole foods cooked vegan". If I were to eat all raw, would things change? This doesn't seem normal to me even if "all babies" do this. As a raw foodist, I started @#$%& frequently and the smell went down, even as I know my body was assimilating more. If he was using everything up I would think the waste would be the same consistency, just less of it. I do still feed him through the night. Is that causing the issue? Like he isn't digesting it well at night, so it rots and stagnates in his intestines? Though I fed him through the night since birth and he's only recently started having trouble. He is fine otherwise, though he farts smelly farts occasionally and just recently, his sleep has been much worse at night. If its something in my diet that's causing the infrequent, smelly @#$%&, what specifically would be the likely culprit? Bread?

Ps, he is only having my breastmilk, nothing else. Though more recently he has taken a few bottles of my pumped milk that had been frozen. Only a few times when he was babysat.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2009 12:44PM by musicbebe.

musicbebe,

I am childless, so I cannot answer from experience, but a five-month-old should be moving his bowels very often, no? Are you sufficiently hydrated? Have you consulted several other people, both experienced high raw nursing mothers and other lactation specialists to get second and third opinions? Did your baby get full medical reviews the first few months, you know, to make sure everything is working properly? Lastly, is your baby showing signs of distress; is he colicky or unusually restless? Or unusually still? If he seems fine, perhaps the lactation specialist is right. I would still get other opinions, though, and probably take him to the pediatrician.

I do hope someone on these boards who has been through this answers your queries. Good luck.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2009 02:36PM by Tamukha.

Thanks Tamukha,

All my searching has been on the web. Except for the lactation consultant--I talked to her in person at my local health food store. He does seem fine otherwise. I've been massaging his abdomen and it usually seems to stimulate him to @#$%& a little later that day. So he's been @#$%& more, due to the massages. So far he's been @#$%& every day, or every other day. He doesn't seem to mind the massages at all. If he showed any pain, I would take him to the doctor. I too, am hoping other raw food moms will chime in on this.

I am sufficiently hydrated, and he got great health reviews the first few months. Another mom I know eats very "naturally" (no processed foods, organic, though still eats meat and dairy, though not much) and is having the same issue with her little one. All her babies (5 others) @#$%& every few days from birth. All sources I can find online say that it is normal for breast fed babies to have a wide range of @#$%& patterns...some many times a day, and others only once a week, or more. So to the standard medical community, and even the natural folks, this is "normal" for a five month old. Though I wonder if it's only "normal" for cooked food or meat eaters. This is my foray into the raw food community to see what else I can find out. It just doesn't seem right.

musicbebe,

I'm glad your little one seems to be well. I think this is a case where what is considered "normal" is probably unhealthy. Again, I don't know that much about infant @#$%&, but what little I know suggests this is weird. It seems to me that a baby being fed breast milk from a raw mommy should have an easy time evacuating his bowel, and that it should happen often. I mean, I wouldn't be astonished to hear that a baby being fed cooked soy-based formula is having a hard time--the undeveloped intestine just can't take that kinda junk. But you are feeding him mother's milk. Hopefully, this is just a temporary passing condition, and he'll normalize soon. I do wish you both good health.

This became an issue for my daughter as well, she also had really bad gas. We started doing the massage very early on, I would even massage my daughters belly in the middle of feedings so that she wouldn't get bad gas or constipation. These issues continued until she was way past a year old and finally "grew out of them". Looking back I think the issue may have been related to my diet. My daughter was allergic to soy, so I switched from soy to dairy products when I was breastfeeding. At the time I didn't know that my daughter was also sensitive to dairy because she wasn't having as extreme of a reaction as she had to soy, When she started being given milk (thanks to my in laws) she had some pretty bad reactions. I stopped giving her cows milk and switched to hemp, all the problems stopped. Now thankfully she has grown out of both allergies and is doing fine. Try avoiding the big three, soy, milk and gluten and see if that helps. You could also try giving your infant a pro-biotic which can help with the issue your describing, this is also really important if you had any yeast infections during pregnancy or have taken any antibiotics in the past.

Don't be too concerned. Infants usually have some sort of digestive issue because their digestive systems are not mature yet, these issues usually go away with time. Breastfeeding your infant, while eating raw foods or not means that your child is getting everything he needs.

I have four kids. I think that if your baby doesn't seem uncomfortable, he's probably fine. Babies don't generally have regular BM's like older people do, and breast fed babies have an optimal diet, so if your diet doesn't have any common allergens in it like listed above, I wouldn't worry about it.

you can help by eating things that encourage bowel movements, like prunes. good luck!

Well, I fed him a little bit of apple blended with well water, and he started going again. I feed him this once a day, or so, and it seems to have gotten things moving nicely. If that hadn't have worked, someone at the health food store suggested infant probiotics.

I am a mother of 7 beautiful raw children. We have been 100% raw for nearly 6 years. My first 5 children were not all raw but the last 2 have been 100% raw from conception through birth. From my experience, I do not feel you have to worry about how often your baby has a BM...unless it is caused by an allergy and the baby seems cranky and has gas. I have been doing some extensive research on the issue of mercury in the human body and have been amazed at my findings!! Check out Dr.Sherril Sellman's website www.whatwomenmustknow.com sherril has some MUST READ information on the impact of mercury on infants and unborn babies. One of the first things affected is the intestinal tract...and mercury is absorbed into our cells 600% more!!!! when we are exposed to radiation from our computors, cell phones etc..My 100% raw babies actually seemed to have FEWER Bowel movements than the others. But I am finding now, that the raw food diet destroys abnormal fungus cells in the body which in turn release toxic mercury into the blood stream!! (Candida actually comes into the body to SCAVANGE mercury!) I am finding as a raw food mentor and teacher, that many of the 'detox' symptoms people experience on the raw diet is actually mercury poisoning!!! I have found it is VERY important to be using a pure zeolite product which is the most powerful oral chelator that pulls the mercury out of the body very effectively.The one I believe is the best from my own trials, is the spray zeolite from www.resultsrna.com .It seems to work very quickly and has excellant clinical studies!! To get an awsome CD of an interview with Dr. Sherril Sellman, call International Health 1-800-974-1879 and ask for the TOTAL BODY DETOX CD by Dr. Sherril Sellman. I cannot stress enough how important I feel this information is to us raw food moms as well as EVERYBODY else too! I have been passing copies of this to as many people as possible! This answers so many questions that I have been praying for the answers to for a long time!! For example: Why do some raw fooders get so thin and look "less than vibrant" when going 100% raw??? I KNOW the 100% raw diet is the PERFECT diet especially designed for us by our Creator. But when you begin to face the issue of mercury in our bodies, (and by the way, EVERYONE is exposed, as mercury is in the air from coal burning plants as far away as China!!) then we know we need to address mercury FIRST along with the powerful RAW FOOD DIET!! If any of you mom's would like to call me,I would be glad to share the info. I have been learning with you...we must SAVE OUR CHILDREN and give them the best possible!! In Love, Kristi
Purity Gardens Raw Campground
715-537-1045 puritygardens@gmail.com

I am currently nursing my fourth child and what you are experiencing with you baby is perfectly normal. Even more so if you are on a raw foods/ natural diet. You baby is getting the perfect meal every time they nurse and therefore there is not going to be a lot of by product (ie @#$%&). I nursed my first three children well over the age of one and not until solids were introduced did they start having more frequent bowel movements. My 4th child that I am currently nursing is almost eight months old and is not interested in starting solids and is still nursing regularly. He has a BM about every five days and it is a gross, sticky, tarry mess(sorry for the graffic detail) that stinks terribly. So your lactation consultant was correct in the information that she gave you and rest assure you are doing the best thing for you baby. It is a very hard task to be a nursing Mom so good for you on continuing to give your baby the perfect meal for their growth and development!