Question
My baby is about to turn four months old. When she was three months old, she experienced foamy stool due to catching a cold, which later developed into diarrhea. After herbal treatment, the diarrhea stopped, but her stool has remained foamy ever since. We have sought medical attention and taken probiotics, but there has been no significant improvement. The stool test results show no abnormalities. Is this condition related to the mother’s diet, or is the baby’s gastrointestinal system not fully recovered? How should we handle this situation?
Answer
If a baby’s stool is loose and contains a large amount of foam, accompanied by a distinct sour taste, it usually indicates an intake of too much starch or sugary foods. For infants who have not yet started solid foods, yellow foamy stool may be due to an excess of sugar in the milk, and it is recommended to reduce sugar intake and increase milk volume. If the baby has already started on solid foods, brown foamy stool may be caused by an excess of starch in the food, such as rice porridge, leading to incomplete digestion of sugars.