Is Baby Pottying the Missing Piece in Breastfeeding Support?
When we talk about breastfeeding support, we immediately think about supporting latch, positioning, or milk supply.
But there’s another piece of the puzzle that’s rarely talked about:
Your baby’s toileting needs and the role they can play in feeding.
It’s something many parents ask me about—especially when their baby seems to always poo right in the middle of a feed.
When your baby just doesn’t seem satisfied at the breast
If you’ve experienced a phase where your baby seems unsettled at the breast, it can feel really disheartening.
Your baby might:
pop on and off the breast
fuss or cry mid-feed
seem uncomfortable, despite a “good latch”
feed frequently, but never quite settles
And don’t get me wrong, often there is a feeding issue to work through. Lactation consultants and specialisist will explore a range issues like positioning, milk supply or reflux—and in many cases, that’s enough to resolve things.
But not always.
Because babies don’t just communicate hunger. They’re signalling a range of needs—comfort, connection, and also their need to wee or poo.
Why feeding and toileting overlap
Physiologically, there’s a close link between feeding and the need to wee and poo.
Newborns and young babies have a strong gastrocolic reflex—a natural response where feeding stimulates movement in the digestive system, often triggering the need to poo (and sometimes wee).
So when a baby comes off the breast, wriggles, or becomes restless mid-feed, it’s not always because of the feed itself.
Sometimes, their body is simply saying: “I need to go.”
This is where baby pottying comes in
Baby pottying (also known as elimination communication, EC or early potty learning) is the practice of responding to a baby’s natural cues for when they need to wee or poo.
If you want to learn more, I’ve put together a guide, covering why parents choose it, when and how to start, and how to know when your baby needs to go.
If you’re already practising baby pottying, you may have already seen how predictable your babies toileting rhythm can be:
After waking
After feeds
When coming out of a carrier, pram or car seat
And those patterns don’t disappear during a feed.
What to do when this happens during a feed
If your baby becomes unsettled during a feed and you suspect they may need to wee or poo, you can offer them an opportunity to go.
In practice, this can be very simple.
You might briefly take them off the breast and offer the potty—or just continue feeding and hold a small receptacle underneath them (a “tophat” potty works well for this).
Often, once they’ve gone, babies go back to feeding much more comfortably—and what felt like a difficult feed suddenly makes more sense.
A small shift that can support feeding
Many mums find that once they begin responding to this need during or around feeds, things start to feel easier.
Feeds can become calmer.
Babies may seem more comfortable.
And what once looked like a feeding issue can sometimes turn out to be something much simpler. For many mums, this is one of those things that only becomes obvious in hindsight.
It’s not about adding more to your plate—just seeing what’s already happening in a slightly different way.
