stools - how soft should they be at 3 weeks?

[nk1605]

sorry if this is tmi!

my dd is 3.5 weeks old and always seems to struggle when she's having bowel movements - she grunts, strains and cries until she passes wind or does a poo. my mum has commented that her stools are quite solid looking - as a first time mum I'm not sure how soft or runny they should be. I would say her stools are soft, a bit mushy looking but definitely not runny or thin.

can anyone advise if this is normal?

My ds looked like seeded mustard

It depends on how your feeding - it's totally normal for bf PPP to look like and have the texture of mustard.

I've heard that anything thicker than toothpaste shows constipation. I think the NCT a website has some good info on this.

For a breastfed baby it should be runny but not waterey (korma sauce is the unfortunate comparison!), and may well have the look of seeds in it as well. I think formula fed babies often have a thicker poo, but I wouldn't expect it to be approaching solid at all.

It's really really common for babies to grunt and strain at that age, it's not really a sign of constipation. Apparently it's more a sign of them struggling with their coordination - they are trying to figure out releasing and pushing poo out at the same time, it's complicated!

Babycentre.co.uk has a poo slide show!