Why does my child’s poop smell so bad?

Feces are waste and garbage discharged by our human body. That is why feces smell very bad. This is very normal, because people eat different foods every day, and various smells are mixed together, which naturally creates an unbearable smell. However, for some children, their poop smells even worse than that of adults. What's going on?

Why does my child's poop stink?

The baby's foul-smelling stool is directly related to improper feeding (irregular diet), which can easily lead to symptoms of indigestion and cause changes in the stool properties, color, and smell.

If the baby is breastfeeding, when the mother (or the baby) eats too much protein-containing food or too much fat-containing food, it can easily cause the baby's stool to have a bad smell.

Other reasons, such as autumn diarrhea caused by rotavirus infection, or enteritis and constipation caused by other pathogens, can also easily cause foul-smelling stools.

What to do if your child's poop smells bad

Breastfeeding: Mothers should eat light and easy-to-digest food, avoid spicy, irritating and greasy food, and drink soup, making sure to skim off the oil.

Feeding with milk powder: feed small amounts and frequently, and never make the milk powder too thick.

Add complementary foods: easily digestible foods such as rice noodles and rice soup can be added, and difficult-to-digest meat dishes such as meat paste can be stopped.

Assist with abdominal massage to promote digestion: At least half an hour after the baby has eaten, massage the belly in a clockwise direction around the belly button to aid digestion. This can be done for 10-15 minutes at a time, about 2-3 times a day.

You can also use probiotics under the guidance of a doctor to help with conditioning.