Mucus isn’t always bad.

Did you ever think you’d see this on a blog? No but for real, I’m not sure who needs to see this, but it is true. Mucus in diapers is not always bad, and can in fact, be normal. Let me explain.

A study was done that characterized infant stool, and found that quite a few “normal” babies had mucus in their stool. Click here for the study.

Teething and sinus issues can cause mucus in stool and be total normal, having nothing to do with food. If you notice more mucus when your child is drooling a lot or very congested, this could be the cause.

GI specialists in general are not worried about smaller amounts of mucus and will look overall at the general symptoms that your baby is exhibiting.

It is really important to look at your baby overall and focus more on other symptoms. If mucus is the ONLY issue, and it’s in a small amount, you do not need to keep chasing the perfect diaper and cutting out more foods.
However, if mucus is accompanied by a fussy baby, eczema, tummy issues, gas, reflux, blood in stool, weight loss, etc. then we definitely want to pay attention to the mucus in a diaper.

Hopefully this gives you some reassurance if you have been focusing exclusively on getting a certain color of poop, seediness in diaper, and mucus free stool. Not all babies will have this as their normal!

If you have to look super close to find the mucus or pull a diaper apart to see mucus, that is not a cause for concern. We’re looking instead for large globs of mucus that are very visible and often accompanied by other symptoms.