EBF 5mo VERY mucousy nappies [WARNING: pics]

[NW2SW]

Two of DCs nappies from today. He's had mucous for 2 months. I initially chalked it up to a bad cold which lasted for over 6 weeks, but here's over that and it's just getting worse.

He doesn't seem to be uncomfortable or in pain. However he's had reflux since birth which is now easing to frequent posseting. Other symptoms include: hiccups, congestion, early night waking, gassy (but no pain) and occasional constipation.(never for more than 2 days)

He's really really happy, none of these symptoms seem to cause distress. But I wonder if he's got some kind of allergy and thinking I should get to the bottom of things before solids as it could get worse.

I've been looking into total elimination diet, wondered if it's helped anyone else? Turkey and spuds for two weeks isn't exactly my idea of fun

If he's teething and dribbling a lot that could be it.
I've ebf 3dc (youngest is nearly 2) and I remember that sometimes their poo was weird (and mucusy) for ages linked with colds, tummy bugs, vaccinations, teething, all-sorts. If he's not in discomfort I'd not worry too much.

Hope he's ok

Is he teething is the first question and then I would say have you looked at lactose and cmp intolerance? Those nappies look like DS2’s were. He was diagnosed at 4 months and it was a hellish time feeding and with the frequency of poonami’s we had.

Might be worth trying. It's up to you how you do it, one or two foods at a time or completely exclude most common allergies and add back in one but a time, but only once all symptoms have cleared up.
Id recomend trying the common ones. Dairy and soya, wheat and gluten, eggs, nuts, onion and garlic.
But bear in mind only dairy can take a few weeks to completely leave the system and see a difference. Most other foods leave the body within 2 or 3 days so if you want a quick solution then maybe start with others first to rule them out before committing to cutting dairy.

I've had two babies with allergies (to dairy, soya and DC2 had a couple of others) and they both had reflux, mucus in nappies, poor sleep, and other symptoms similar to yours. Non-ige allergies so all digestive symptoms (rather than ige allergies which can cause rashes etc). I breastfed them both until they turned 2.

You don't need to do a total elimination diet. The first thing to do would be to cut out all dairy. Don't replace dairy products with soya. You might not see improvements immediately, give it 6 weeks and if dairy is an issue baby will have improved by then. You can then confirm it by doing the "yoghurt test" (eat a yoghurt or something else high on the milk ladder, I had milkshake) and if baby's symptoms return then you've confirmed the allergy.

If cutting out milk improves but doesn't eliminate the symptoms you would then start cutting out other things. The most common other allergies are soya, egg and wheat but it could be anything. Keep a food and symptom diary and you might start to notice patterns.

Lots of helpful advice at dilanandme.com/confirm-cmpa/
If you're on Facebook the associated group is very helpful; "breastfeeding with CMPA and other allergies".

Have you got fast letdown? Could be caused by that.
My DC’s nappies were like this. I gave up milk and soya for 10 months. Sometimes I wonder if it was my letdown all along as the nappies only really improved when he started to eat solids and reduced milk feeds.

However, my DC did have a lot of antibiotics when he was tiny, also when I was pregnant and the HV said that can cause sensitivities in the stomach which then cause allergies. It’s really common for them to grow out of this quite quickly when caused by antibiotics. Did your LO have them?

Good luck, I remember the absolute stress of opening each dirty nappy to yet another abnormal poop, never understanding why they weren’t ‘normal’! It’s horrible and anxiety inducing so hope you’re okay xxx

Oh god yeah the dribble! I did think it was too early for teething though, definitely cannot see any teeth.

Do they smell bad? My boys both had a CMPI and their nappies were like this but smelt putrid

Nappies look normal to me. EBF babies can go 5-7days without pooing for not going for a couple of days is also normal. They key for me in your post is that you keep saying he's not in pain or distress. If there was an allergy then I believe there would be signs of discomfort and he'd have trouble sleeping as well. No personal experience but someone I follow on insta documented their babies allergies and they said they baby was visibly in distress. Like other PP have said, could be teething, extra saliva causes the gut to produce more mucus to protect it.

2-3 days is handy to know, I'm fairly useless at food planning so I thought the extreme version would be simplest for my frazzled pp brain. I have cut down on dairy but no significant difference and as I've said I don't think he's uncomfortable at all which is why I've mistaken it for other issues

Not really, I can't smell his gas either... Definitely can hear it! And he's doesn't seem to be in pain, just farts a lot.

No antibiotics or anything like that fairly swift and straight forward labour

These looks like normal nappies for ebf to me. His behaviour also sounds like normal baby behaviour...

I’ve got 3 kids, all of them have had similar symptoms, reflux, mucous nappies, only the 3rd had allergies. I didn’t cut out anything until we weaned, as I didn’t really click on until she was about 5 months that it might be an allergy, she was happy and gaining weight, so I didn’t feel I should cut out if it was unnecessary. We found out when she had porridge made with cows milk, she came out in hives. Then reacted to egg a few days later. So she has immediate reactions (IgE) I then was advised to cut out egg and milk from my diet and hers initially. I did reintroduce as per the allergy clinic after several months off and her nappies were horrific, so I remained off for the rest of my breast feeding journey. (Which ended this week, so first pizza and chocolate this weekend!)

I think it is easier to determine what your baby is allergic to from direct consumption, but obviously you need to tread carefully and introduce common allergens slowly and in small amounts to test. It’s so hard through your own diet. Although I did at one point keep a diary for myself and baby to figure out what was going on.

I have to say that my daughter was not in pain, not distressed, slept 12 hours and gained weight. She did have reflux, but not bothered by it. I found out once she weaned that she had an IgE allergy to egg and milk. And when I cut milk out my diet her reflux stopped within 2 weeks. I think if it’s a non IgE allergy then the symptoms you mention would be very accurate though.

Ds had mucus nappies amd has cmpa