6 Month Old Son Has Been Having Mucous in Stools

Updated on February 28, 2007
M.K. asks from Brookfield, WI
5 answers

Hello,
I starting to introduce rice cereal at 5 1/2 months for my son and it seems since I introduced the cereal he was having more bowel movements but still watery. (he is a breast-fed baby) A little back history first. He always had 4-5 bowel movements a day until he was about 3 months old, he went 10 days with out one at all. We tried prune juice but had to give him a Supporitory. He kept going longer strecths between bowel movement until I introduced the cereal on a regular basis. He went to the doctor to make sure he didn't have any blockages and didn't seems constipated but when he did have a BM it was more like peanut butter, thicker. Now I am giving him cereal and it was watery and more frequent and then became mucousy. I called the doctor and they said to hold off on the cereal for a couple days, then re-introduce it with breast milk and not water. I held off for 5 days and he still had mucous in all his stools, all 5 days. He goes back to the doctor in a couple days but I would like other feedback if anyone has experienced this or knows if this means anything? He seems pretty happy when he is awake, he still laughs an smiles. He was putting on weight fast in the beginning, but has slowed down a lot. Also don't know if this is related or just natural. He had watery eyes, runny nose and waking a lot in the night lately too. He was always a good sleeper until recently. At first we thought it could be because he might be teething. But with his wierd BM history, I am wondering if he should see a specialist?
Please help.
M.

2 moms found this helpful

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So What Happened?

Just an update if anyone is interested. Thank you to everyone for your responses. He had 2 BM that were thicker and no mucus!!! He is currently eating Oatmeal. My son saw the doctor last week for his 6 month check up and the doctor said the mucus isn't a concern at this point because there was no blood in the stool and no other signs of illness. Since my son is breastfeed, the doctor thought he might be a little more sensitive to starting solids, so I was to continue slowly and watch for blood in the stools. She said some babies have a harder time making the transition. I believe that was the problem. He does seem to sleep better at night when he gets solids so I should have started ealier I think because I was trying to get him to eat a lot too fast. Now I am trying to learn how to balance breastfeedding with the solids, always new challenges.
Thank you...
M.

More Answers

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D.

answers from Minneapolis on

In all honesty, his stools don't sound all that odd for a breastfed baby. The frequent stooling that ended at 3 months is totally normal. The extended period between poopy diapers is generally because he is using everything in the milk and there isn't any waste. The mucous is usually there because he's having trouble digesting things and the mucous helps it to move along better through his digestive tract. Try not to worry. As far as the sleeping goes, it could be teething or an ear infection.

1 mom found this helpful

B.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

His poops sounds normal to me. Its totally normal for a breastfed baby to have a movement after each feeding utnil around 3-4 months, and then its normal for a breastfed baby to go up to 2 weeks with out a poop from 3-4 months until solids are intro'd! ITS NORMAL! Because breastmilk is tailor made for your baby, his body is using up everything in your milk, because his body is made to digest and use your breastmilk, its the perfect food for him and his little body. So going a week or so without a poop is totally normal for a breastfed baby, and it doesn't mean he is constipated at all, especially when it comes out and its mushy, it should look like peanut butter, mustard, yellowey and seedy.

So I think your son is fine. Rice is a binder, so that could be the cause of some of the mucous. Try oatmeal instead. It takes up to a week or more for food to leave the system, so his stools could continue to be funky if the food disagreed with him. ANd it could be coincidence that he got a minor diarrhea at the same time solids were introduced.

I would try oatmeal isntead of rice. and www.wholesomebabyfood.com is a great site for making homemade baby food. Much cheaper and healthier for your little guy!

1 mom found this helpful
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A.D.

answers from Madison on

Hi M.,
His stools don't sound to be really abnormal.My initial thought was to begin some more solid foods. Bannas mashed up, mashed potatoes, toast, things like that he can gum up if there are no teeth present. If you add more to the diet he may not use all he eats and have something to pass. I may get some grief about it but I started my kids on a lot of table foods around 5-6 months. I didn't have to use baby food if I didn't want to. Neither of my kids were baby food fans. They prefered what I was eating to the bland mush in a jar. Saved me money! Any how I knew when they didn't sleep well and when the bms were slightly inconsistant to up the food intake. I have to find a heavier snack for my son to eat before bed if we didn't eat dinner close enough to bed time or he wakes up and fusses at night. Sometimes he would demand more food and won't go back to sleep until he got it. So the adjustment was made and we have been sleeping sound since. But since the body can only expell what was entered in the first place, I thought this may be a solution.
I hope it helps!
A.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.F.

answers from St. Cloud on

I agree with Amy D on this one. My daughter was that way when she was a baby and my doctor had me start introducing more foods to her diet and it fixed the problem right away. She was about 5 months at the time. She loved getting to eat some new foods!! I too never had to buy baby food. I'd keep a couple of jars on hand just in case we were out and about at the time or something but otherwise even at the restraunts she would eat what we ate or Id grab something that she could eat. I would just order something that she could eat without teeth at that time. So, when my son came along and I saw the first couple diapers like that I started introducing foods to him too. He has had 5 teeth by the time he was 5 and a half months old so that really helped. I would try to introduce a new food for breakfast in the morning, maybe a little banana or apple sauce in some rice ceral and take it from there.

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T.

answers from Minneapolis on

My son had a severe milk allergy and the only symptom was constipation...at first. It took us a long time to figure out that all of his bowel problems were from a milk allergy, and the peds didn't beieve us until it came up + in an allergy test. If your gut feeling tells you somthing is not right push to see a specialist. Worst case you catch it early, best case your son is healthy and great and you have peace of mind. Checking him out is a win/win. Good luck! (Runny nose and waking at night could be teething or allergy related, check out those little gums.)

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