Green poop ?

[Erica92]

DS is 11 weeks old and has been having the classic yellow mustary BFing poops. He only has a bowel movement every couple of days but when he goes WATCH OUT!

Anyway today he had two green poops, not foamy or mucousy kind of thick--

In the beginning I had oversupply and forceful let down issues that seems to have resolved itself for the most part. I think my let down is still pretty forceful but he seems to handle it just fine now.... I was block feeding early on to help with oversupply but have stopped b/c i didn't want to have a lack of supply problem...

Anyway, should i worry about hindmilk/foremilk imbalance? go back to block feeding? If so how do you know when each breast is empty? He often stops gulping and just suckles but sometimes don't know if it's b/c he's done or b/c the boob is empty kwim?

[veedeepee]

I had the exact same thing happen...but it happened a little before 2 months with my LO. He started having green poos, and then they turned to brownish for a while. I was also doing block feeding to manage the over supply issue. The green and brown poops continued after I stopped block feeding. I think sometimes their poo just goes through transitions for a while. I got worried when we had a couple of days with brown poos that were kind of mucous-y, so I took my LO to the doctor. She said it was nothing to worry about at all, that his poo was just going through some sort of transition. Eventually his poo did return to yellow, without me really doing/changing anything. He had brown and green ones for a couple of weeks, then they gradually just became yellow again.

As for the foremilk/hindmilk thing, I've just stuck with feeding on one side for each feeding and that seems to work well. I've never really been able to tell that the breast is empty, either. I think it just gets to a point where very little comes out, or where they have to suck harder to make it come out (so light comfort sucking won't pull milk out). I have trouble telling if he's done or if the boob is empty, so when that happens sometimes I'll just burp him and offer the other side. If he's full and just wants to suck for comfort, he'll get annoyed at the fact that he's getting milk once he's switched to the other side. If he's still hungry he'll go to town on the other side. That's the easiest way I've figured out how to tell what's going on...

[Erica92]

Thanks! that's REALLY helpful to hear I appreciate your post! I'll just keep my eye on it and unless it gets foamy or mucusy or he seems fussy etc.... I'll just chalk it up to normal infant poo changes-

[aricha]

I've always assumed the temporary color changes were because of something I'd eaten.

[BirthKathy]

My son is 13 weeks and he has different colors all day - green, yellow, orange, brown. I feed one side per feeding for the most part. He poops about 6 times / day.

[Asiago]

I have no idea if this applies to this situation but I know that when motility of the GI tract is moving very fast (faster than normal motility), the bile that is secreted from the gall bladder has no time to change color.

Bile is green when first secreted then changes color to yellow or brown as it goes through the digestive procress and normal bacteria/flora in the GI tract.

[twins+1]

Erica, I could've written the exact same question. We're not having the green poop, but i do question whether or not to switch to offering the other side now. The let down is still strong, but he can keep up with it now and he seems to drain the breast pretty quick and then keep sucking like he's still hungry - but i don't hear much swallowing then. I did offer the other breast tonight and he acted eager, but stopped soon after. I guess he was full from the first side???

[Beauchamp]

Originally Posted by veedeepee

I've just stuck with feeding on one side for each feeding and that seems to work well. I've never really been able to tell that the breast is empty, either...I have trouble telling if he's done or if the boob is empty,

This is me, too. Exactly. I have been wondering about this for five weeks now, and still can't figure it out. It changes every day for us. Sometimes I think she will be hungry and then she pops off and cries because there is milk coming out. My right side is usually my go-to side for comfort sucking, since it is always less full for some reason and it's easier for her to comfort nurse on the right. Lately I've been wondering about offering the other side, but she usually falls asleep, or is at least so comfy that I don't want to disturb her. We still feed about every two hours during the day, so I don't know if giving her the other side (and therefore more milk) would lengthen this time or not?

[Homebirth_Mom216]

Not sure if this applies to your situation at all, but I noticed that the longer DS's poop is outside of him (i.e. in his diaper or in the diaper pail) the greener it turns. Not sure if it is because of exposure to air or what. It still does this if he goes in a diaper and I see the diaper a little later on in the day. It doesn't take long. Even if he goes in the diaper and I didn't notice, it is often green by the time I change him. Normally we EC, though, and I've never once seen it be green right when it comes out and we rarely miss a poo.

Also as far as mucous and color changes between yellow, brown, orange, etc. from what I've seen from ECing, this is completely normal. Some poops are very mucousy, some are very liquidy, some are very thick, some are very thin, some are brown, some are yellow (even differences from the beginning of the poop to the end!). I think it might just have something to do with the digestive cycle and isn't anything to be too worried about. Just my experience, though!

[twins+1]

Originally Posted by Homebirth_Mom216

Not sure if this applies to your situation at all, but I noticed that the longer DS's poop is outside of him (i.e. in his diaper or in the diaper pail) the greener it turns. Not sure if it is because of exposure to air or what. It still does this if he goes in a diaper and I see the diaper a little later on in the day. It doesn't take long. Even if he goes in the diaper and I didn't notice, it is often green by the time I change him. Normally we EC, though, and I've never once seen it be green right when it comes out and we rarely miss a poo.

Also as far as mucous and color changes between yellow, brown, orange, etc. from what I've seen from ECing, this is completely normal. Some poops are very mucousy, some are very liquidy, some are very thick, some are very thin, some are brown, some are yellow (even differences from the beginning of the poop to the end!). I think it might just have something to do with the digestive cycle and isn't anything to be too worried about. Just my experience, though!

I notice this too! When i go to put the cloth diapers in the wash the poop is dark green and i know it was dark yellow when it first escaped his tushy. lol Wonder why that is?