# My cousins one month old son's poop smells really bad is that normal?



## KayCSmommy (Jan 9, 2007)

My cousin has her one month old nephew here and when she changed his diaper it smelled like ammonia. It seriously smelled like a cat box that hadnt been cleaned in a month. I breast feed my son so I am not sure how formula new borns are suposed to smell.


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

I don't think cat pee is normal. Maybe he was on some sort of medication?

I'd think, judging by the smell of formula in a can, that formula baby poop would smell like old milk.

ETA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argininosuccinic_aciduria
There's a rather nasty disease that causes ammonia to get into the urine and blood.

You should suggest that your cousin get her baby checked out.

http://www.newbornscreening.info/Par...rs/HMGCoA.html
this indicates that treatment may involve a special formula that doesn't contain the substance that isn't metabolized correctly.

If it's determined that this is the problem, but I'm not seeing anything else online about infants with urine that smells of ammonia.


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## anudi01 (Aug 11, 2004)

Sorry no offense, but after exclusively nursing my two babies, and then smelling poop of a formula baby, OMG it was disgusting. Maybe she could try a probiotic for the baby to try to assist the digestion.


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *anudi01* 
Sorry no offense, but after exclusively nursing my two babies, and then smelling poop of a formula baby, OMG it was disgusting. Maybe she could try a probiotic for the baby to try to assist the digestion.

I've never smelled the diaper of a formula-fed baby, do they really smell like litter boxes that need cleaning?


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

Another source of ammonia smell--dehydration.


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## KayCSmommy (Jan 9, 2007)

He is not on any medications. He was on a special lactose free, formula but recently taken off it. The parents also have been giving him apple juice. Other than that there is nothing different


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## Mama Poot (Jun 12, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *KayCSmommy* 
He is not on any medications. He was on a special lactose free, formula but recently taken off it. The parents also have been giving him apple juice. Other than that there is nothing different

Apple juice???? Ummm no he should only be given breast milk or formula at his age. Why isn't the mom breastfeeding? It isn't too late for her to attempt relactation and nurse him again you know.


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## STJinNoVa (Dec 25, 2007)

I know what a dirty cat box smells like, and formula poo isn't really like that - a dirty cat box smells sharp to me where formula poo has a more blunt (but no less harsh) smell. In my opinion, formula poo smells like a lunch container that got left in the trunk of the car for a few days in the summertime. But we all have our own associations, so my lunch-container association might be someone else's cat-box association. It's a pretty vicious smell, really, regardless of what you associate it with, and you kind of taste it in the back of your throat. It's icky. A foul smell, especially compared to a breastmilk poo (which to me doesn't smell bad at all - mild).

On the one hand, I would find the ammonia scent a little off-putting and would probably bring it up at a well-baby visit. On the other hand, if baby seems normal and healthy otherwise, growing well, eating well, peeing and pooing appropriately (and formula-fed babies do poo less often than breastfed babies), it would be absurdly premature to think that it's some kind of dread disease.

The apple juice, I assume, is to encourage baby to poo. I've seen it recommended widely on other boards for both breastfed and formula-fed infants who haven't pooped in a couple of days. Lots of folks are saying their pediatricians recommend it. (Of course, lots of folks are saying their pediatricians recommend cereal in baby's bottle at only a few weeks old, too, to better satiate baby, so while it's medical advice it's still medical advice I'd take with a huge grain of salt.)

ETA: IMO, the reduced-lactose formula makes for even smellier poops than the standard milk-based. I don't know about the lactose-free, soy, or hypoallergenic formulas, but I hear tell that the formula itself smells horrible and doesn't taste very good either - I bet it's legendary coming out the other end.


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## KayCSmommy (Jan 9, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mama Poot* 
Apple juice???? Ummm no he should only be given breast milk or formula at his age. Why isn't the mom breastfeeding? It isn't too late for her to attempt relactation and nurse him again you know.

The mother isn't even really raising the kids. Her 6 mo pregnant little sister has been the one raising the baby and his 23 mo old sister. The mother did breast feed the first one for two weeks and didn't like it and stopped. The parents gave him some lactive free milk, because they thought he was constipated and that is also why they gave him a 6 oz bottle of apple juice. They think he is constipated because he cries when he poops.


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## KayCSmommy (Jan 9, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *STJinNoVa* 
I know what a dirty cat box smells like, and formula poo isn't really like that - a dirty cat box smells sharp to me where formula poo has a more blunt (but no less harsh) smell. In my opinion, formula poo smells like a lunch container that got left in the trunk of the car for a few days in the summertime. But we all have our own associations, so my lunch-container association might be someone else's cat-box association. It's a pretty vicious smell, really, regardless of what you associate it with, and you kind of taste it in the back of your throat. It's icky. A foul smell, especially compared to a breastmilk poo (which to me doesn't smell bad at all - mild).

On the one hand, I would find the ammonia scent a little off-putting and would probably bring it up at a well-baby visit. On the other hand, if baby seems normal and healthy otherwise, growing well, eating well, peeing and pooing appropriately (and formula-fed babies do poo less often than breastfed babies), it would be absurdly premature to think that it's some kind of dread disease.

The apple juice, I assume, is to encourage baby to poo. I've seen it recommended widely on other boards for both breastfed and formula-fed infants who haven't pooped in a couple of days. Lots of folks are saying their pediatricians recommend it. (Of course, lots of folks are saying their pediatricians recommend cereal in baby's bottle at only a few weeks old, too, to better satiate baby, so while it's medical advice it's still medical advice I'd take with a huge grain of salt.)

ETA: IMO, the reduced-lactose formula makes for even smellier poops than the standard milk-based. I don't know about the lactose-free, soy, or hypoallergenic formulas, but I hear tell that the formula itself smells horrible and doesn't taste very good either - I bet it's legendary coming out the other end.

My son started on formula when he was 10mo and full time when he was 11 mo, and his never stunk that bad, but he was older when I started him on formula. I was all the way across the room when my grandma changed his diaper and it almost knocked me on my butt. It was bright green and smelled just like my mothers cat box when it hadnt been cleaned in a month. I know the smell well. My cousin says that the babies dad is a big druggy and she has even pulled pot off the babies clothes a few times. (WHich he does meth, pot and other drugs but those are the two main ones) Could drugs be the cause?


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## MilkTrance (Jul 21, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sapphire_chan* 
I've never smelled the diaper of a formula-fed baby, do they really smell like litter boxes that need cleaning?

Not in my experience.

In my experience, it's the addition of solids which makes for SUPER STINKY diapers.


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## Devibhagwati (Dec 19, 2007)

I don't know anything about cat litter diapers but it sounds like the LO could use a trip to the doc. It wouldn't hurt to hear that every thing is a-okay.


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