Whoa! Why does my baby stink so bad??

Funny story here - but kinda disturbing too. Let me know in the comments if you can relate. 

When my youngest was a baby, he had a problem. It wasn’t that serious, mind you, but it was a problem. That boy was the stinkiest baby I’d ever encountered. How stinky was he, you ask. He was so stinky that one time, when we were in Home Depot, he passed gas, he cleared the aisle!! That’s how stinky he was! So embarrassing, but at least everyone knew it wasn’t me! 

It does sound funny and minor, something you might chalk up to a baby’s digestion system just being wonky. But it was constant and I was breast feeding. I knew that something I was eating was causing all that stink and if he was that gassy how could he not be in pain? While he didn’t seem to be in pain, he was a pretty happy baby, he certainly smelled unhappy. 

An important part of this story is the fact that this was not the first time I breastfed. My husband and I have three children, with 11 years between the first and second and only 28 months between the two youngest. (Yes, I know, 11 years?? But when the biological clock went off it wasn’t just an alarm - it was a time bomb!) I did not breast feed the oldest. We were stationed in the Philippines, and I was young, and on active duty, and worked on the flight line, and pumping wasn’t really a thing, and, and, and end of excuses… 

So, when I decided to breastfeed our second daughter I read all the books I could and recalled seeing that mom’s diet affects her milk. With this in mind, my main concern was dairy. My oldest had to be on non-dairy formula and I’d hoped that I could avoid that by breastfeeding - and save money on all that formula! At our first well-baby check I asked the pediatrician that if I had milk would it pass through to my baby. He chuckled and said no, that my body would process that out and there shouldn't be any issue. I was elated! Mission accomplished - no formula and no milk issues!! Yeah me! 

Even though it was over twenty years ago, I remember that conversation and the following day clearly. The next morning my oldest had a soccer game and on our way I confidently stopped for my first latte in weeks. I remember how much I savored that real-milk foam latte. It was a cool October morning just perfect for soccer and coffee. It was warm in my hands as I was standing on the sidelines with all the other mommies and their lattes, just cheering on our players. And then, before the game was even over my little idyllic scene was shattered when my baby girl let me know she did NOT enjoy that latte. 

She had nursed during the second half of the game and within 15 minutes she spit up multiple times and was inconsolable for what seemed like hours. I knew it was the milk, her cries were just like her sister’s were so many years ago on milk formula. It’s so painful when you realize you made your baby cry. Needless to say, I switched to soy lattes, watched any other dairy intake and that issue was resolved (yes, soy, remember this was 2000 and soy was the only non-dairy option).

Now, back to my stinky boy story. Despite everyone saying it was normal for babies to stink, this level of stink was just unnatural. Based on my experience with breastfeeding and dairy, I just knew there was something I was eating that was causing this.

Things had changed drastically between the birth of my two youngest. I no longer had a regular 9-5 office job as I’d opened a little store selling children’s second hand clothing and equipment. As a new business owner, wife, and mom of three with one under six months, life was quite hectic. I admit my diet suffered. I still made full meals at home for the family, but my lunch was often diet coke and whatever I remembered to bring from home, or fast food. 

Since I was already avoiding dairy, I knew that wasn’t the cause. I began looking at the changes in my diet from one baby to the next and researching the ingredients in those foods. I went down many rabbit holes on the internet before I discovered the culprit was my new diet coke habit. I was never much of a soda drinker growing up - we had sweet tea or water in the house (it was Oklahoma, after all). 

The data wasn’t as plentiful then but I learned that the sweetener in diet coke, aspartame, metabolizes as methane in the body. This was clearly the cause - if you’ve ever smelled methane, you know what I’m talking about. While it didn’t bother me, somehow it passed from me and gave my son the super power to clear paths wherever we went. I immediately stopped my diet coke habit and just like that I no longer had a stinky baby. Well, he would still get stinky, just not super power clear the aisle stinky. 

It is funny in retrospect and I honestly wish I could say this started me and my family on the path to real food. It did not. While I avoided aspartame, I regret that I did not look more closely at our food and the many unnecessary additives. Instead, I figured it was just the odd one this affected. I trusted that if the FDA approved it then it must be safe, and maybe even healthy. 

As the saying goes, I’m older and wiser now. I’m much more aware and far less trusting. I know I cannot rely on any food producer, manufacturer, or government agency to watch out for me, my family, or our health. That is up to us. 

I believe it is past time to return to clean, whole, real food. I’m proud to say that as a new cattle rancher and beef producer, we’re starting with meat. Raising cattle as God designed; grass-fed with no hormones or unnecessary antibiotics, and finished on pasture, is how we’re feeding our family, friends and community real food.

I know I can do better in cleaning up my pantry and shopping list, too. Just reducing the number of pre-packaged, processed goods will be a great first step for us.

Tell me what real food changes you have planned.