Starting solids is a big step for your baby — he’s learning a whole new way of eating, after all! All those new foods affect his every aspect of his digestion, including what ends up in his diapers.
That’s right — we’re talking poop today!
Starting Solids? The Poop Changes!
Before you start your baby on solid foods, it’s best to prepare yourself in advance for the fact that starting solids will probably affect your baby’s poop. The poop will smell worse. The poop may be brightly colored. The poop may appear many times a day. Or, the poop may stop coming altogether.
We repeat — the poop changes.
6 Ways Your Baby’s Poop May Change After Starting Solids
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The poop will smell even worse.
Now, poop never smells great. There’s a reason you won’t find any poop-scented perfumes on the market! But up until the time you start your baby on solids (and this is especially true if baby has been exclusively breastfeeding), the poop probably didn’t stink to high heaven.
Once you start your baby on solids, though, that’s going to change. Solid food produces smellier poop, and as your baby eats more and more solid food, the poop will only get stinkier. There’s no way around it. Just plan on doing lots of mouth-breathing during diaper changes. 😉
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The poop may be colorful.
Before starting solids, your baby’s poop was probably a consistent yellowish-brown color. Nice and predictable. After starting solids, though, that’ll likely change. Feed your baby plenty of tasty spinach for lunch, and you may very well see green poop at bedtime. Offer a big bowl of yummy steamed carrots for dinner, and you might wake up to a diaper full of bright orange poop the next morning.
This is nothing to be worried about; brightly-colored poop is normal at this stage. Your baby’s digestive system is still fairly immature and is learning how to process solid foods; as she grows, her poop will change to a more normal color, regardless of what she eats.
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The poop may get firmer.
If your baby’s been on formula, this one may not apply. But if your baby’s been breastfeeding up to this point, you may discover that after starting solids, his poop is firmer and more “shaped”. Breastfed babies typically have runny, liquid-y poop; once they start solids, however, it becomes firmer, more like paste.
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The “poop” may look a lot like undigested food.
This isn’t an issue when you’re feeding your baby smooth purees, but once you start adding some chopped table food into the mix, look out!
I remember taking my oldest son, when he was just 9 months old, to a dinner buffet. I loaded up a little plate with all kinds of vegetables and felt so proud when my son gobbled them up. The next morning, however, I was a little shocked — the contents of his diaper looked almost exactly like the contents of his plate the night before. The poop didn’t look like like poop at all — it looked like food!
Turns out I didn’t need to be worried; again, this is just a sign that my son’s digestive system was figuring out how to handle pieces of table food. Over time, as he ate more and more chopped table food, his poop returned to normal.
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The poop may start appearing more often.
By the time you’re ready to start your baby on solid foods, it’s likely that he’s pooping pretty normally (as in once or twice a day). In fact, if he’s being breastfeed exclusively, he may be going a few days in between bowel movements. That’s considered very normal for breastfed babies. And how nice for you, right? Poop-free diapers are so much easier to change. 🙂
But once you start your baby on solid foods, that may come to an end. For some babies, starting solids means pooping more frequently. We can chalk this up (again) to their immature little digestive systems. As your baby’s systems figure out how to process solid food more efficiently, you’ll find that he returns to more normal amounts of pooping (thank goodness!)
Note: Diarrhea can be a sign of a food allergy or sensitivity. If you suspect that your baby’s frequent pooping is actually diarrhea, talk to a healthcare provider about possible food allergies and sensitivities.
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The poop may disappear altogether.
Some babies poop WAY more after starting solids. Other babies, though, have the opposite problem: constipation. Constipation often occurs when you offer your baby lots of “binding” foods, like bananas and rice.
For more information on the signs and symptoms of constipation, as well as ways to alleviate constipation naturally, check out our post on “How to Handle Your Baby’s Constipation.”
Everything You Need To Know About Starting Solids – All In One e-Book!
What if you could find everything you needed to know about starting your baby on solid foods – when it’s best to start solids, how to introduce solids, complications, food allergies, etc. – in one easy-reference guide? Now you can! Your Baby’s Start To Solid Foods: A Comprehensive Guide will walk you through every step of starting solids. Plus, your e-Book package includes several bonus materials, designed to maximize your success in starting solids. You’ll get a thorough guide to treating constipation, a dietitian’s advice on how to avoid 5 common solid-foods mistakes, and a weekly meal plan for your baby’s first year. Grab your e-Book today, and ensure your baby has the healthiest possible start to solid foods!
How has your baby’s poop changed since starting solid foods? Share all the smelly details!
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Lindsay says
My daughter has been eating solids for about a month. We started her with oatmeal cereal and recently introduced avocado. Her poop has significantly changed. Instead of the bf color, she now has dark green poop. The smell is horrible and it’s a little runny. Definitely saw chunks in the poop as well. My only concern is the watery part. Mt husband makes fun of me for how closely I examine her poop. I got him back though because I caught him doing it too.
Kody says
My wife is concerned our 7mo old daughter isn’t ready for Gerber 2nd Foods because her poop is significantly thicker. She’s a breast fed baby, she started 1st foods about 5 1/2mo old now she just turned 7 mo old. Am I wrong? I thought it was normal or is my wife right she’s not ready? She esta all 4oz of the 2nd foods in one sitting.
shahjida says
My baby girl is 9 months old. From last few days she frequently poop in a day after her every meal. It’s not too soft but looks like she could not digest her food. But before that she had constipation problem. Her Dr told me to give her family food and I am following that suggestion. Her weight is almost 18 pounds. Is it normal? Which food can help her to improve her bowel movement? Thanks.
Priya says
Same thing is happening with my 8 month baby, as I have also started giving her semi solid food from 7 the month… I think her digestive system will take some time to mature…
Anna says
My lo is almost 7 months, started solids at 6mth 1week. Every time he has banana he has very liquid poo, otherwise seems fine and not unwell. While exclusively breastfed he was pooping every 1 to 2 weeks!! Now about once or twice a week. He only has one liquid poop the day of eating banana and the rest of the time. It is smooth and pasty. I am starting to think he might be intolerant of banana, it is high in amines, check out fedup.com.au for information about food intolerance in infants and breastfed babies
Rachael says
My baby is 21 weeks old, and had been showing interest in our food during mealtimes… I smashed up a little banana mixed with breast milk & he ate probably just 3 tsp. total. That was 48 hours ago and since then he’s had 3 small stools that are liquidy. He has normal wet diapers, and he acts completely fine. 1st question: was I wrong to feed him a little banana just to see how he does? I called my doc & told her nurses & they told me I shouldn’t have done that til 6 months… He showed all signs of wanting to try solids. Shouldn’t we go with what out baby wants rather than what is “standard”? 2nd question: should I be concerned that he’s still having liquid stools after it’s been almost 2 days since he ate the banana? Thank you.
Anna says
I’d take him to the doctor just to be on the safe side
Jessie says
Hi my little one just turned 5 months on 27th of august and we started him on Semi solids (Baby Cereal- oatmeal banana)once a day when he was 4 months and 2 weeks on the advice of his doctor as he was showing interest. Ever since we started him on that his poop is dark green and the texture is like peanut butter. Also he poops every second day.Is that normal?
Alyson says
My LO is 6 1/2 months old and his poops are getting more formed and smelly. He’s exclusively breastfed and currently teething. Is this normal or is someone sneaking him some solids?
Kelly Stellato says
Hello Alyson, we can’t say for sure of course, but this change in poop pattern is common when babies do start solids. I am not saying that anyone is sneaking your LO food, her digestive system may just be holding the milk longer and therefore it forms. You can let us know if you find out if your LO is getting some carrots behind your back! 🙂
Alyson says
Thank you for the response. I had him to myself for several days (so I made sure he wasn’t receiving any solids) and his poop stayed the new peanut buttery texture/smelliness so I guess it just did change with age, which I wasn’t expecting. His digestive system has slowed down a lot over the past month so I’m guessing that that was the cause. I was glad to realize that no one was sneaking him anything since his father and I wanted to be the first ones to introduce him to solids. 🙂
Deepa says
My little one poop twice a day. He is exclusively breastfeed . I gave him sweet potato with breastmilk once a day when he is five month. Still he poops only twice a week. Is that normal?.
EmilyDeJeu says
@ Deepa – This sounds normal to me, although if you are concerned, you should certainly speak to a healthcare provider. He/she will be the best judge of your baby’s overall health. Thanks for commenting!
Ash says
My lo is 6 month old and he has been recently introduced to semi solids since a fortnight.For the past week he has been pooping during every feed. And that is greenish yellow in colour. Watery a couple of times on the whole. And mainpoint..the quantity. Its not much. He pushes hard.. And poops not more than a spoonful. Am really confused!!
EmilyDeJeu says
@ Ash – very normal, I’d say, although if you’re at all concerned, you should check with a healthcare provider. Thanks for commenting!
Kelly says
Hi Ash/Emily, my Lo has the exact same thing you wrote! I know your post was from a few weeks ago, but how long did it take before your Lo went back to normal and the frequency changed back to normal? Please help.
normal says
thanks for the information.. appreciate it
EmilyDeJeu says
@ normal – sure thing! Glad you found it helpful 🙂