Please help me try to figure this out...

[poorlittlefish]

Hi everyone,
I was hoping to get your thoughts on something.
I have a 10 week old that is getting only breast milk and has since birth. She has always been a huge spitter so at about 3 weeks I decided to give up obvious dairy. In about a week we noticed a huge difference in the amount that she spit up. So I kept it up. I am now back at work and she is getting bottles. She started spitting up huge again so I thought, screw it, it isn't dairy so last weekend I ate ice cream, cheese etc. Well, starting on Saturday she has green mucousy poops--one of them was almost like green jello. She was also gassy and fussy. Anyways, I quickly went back off dairy but her poops are still bright green even after more than a week.

She is a super happy baby, does really even cry, is gassy but it doesn't seem to bother her and even with the green poops she doesn't seem bothered by them. Overall, it doesn't seem like the spitting or green poops bother her but they bother me!

Any ideas for me on what I could do or what might be wrong?

Thanks!

[momto4plus4]

2 thoughts: 1, give the time off dairy longer. It can take up to 3 weeks to get out of her system. 2, I wonder if pumping is changing what kind of milk she's getting. I know there are differing thoughts on foremilk, hindmilk and whether there is one or the other, etc. But, I've found when I pump right after ds feeds on only one side, the milk from that side is creamier and the other side is thinner. I wonder, is the bottled milk more the thinner instead of thicker milk. I could be way off, just the thoughts that came to mind.

[spughy]

It does sound like she's getting less end-of-feed milk. There's not really any such thing as foremilk and hindmilk, but when milk sits around in the breast between feeds the fat tends to separate out and stick to the sides of the ducts. A lengthy feed removes all of the thinner milk and "washes" out the separated fat with multiple let-downs, where milk is essentially forced through the ducts. However, much of the sheer volume of a given feed is milk that is stored in the breast between feeds. So, if you're pumping only for a short time or if your LO has a tendency to nurse by "snacking" a lot and not draining a breast, OR if you have a bit of an oversupply and you're not block feeding and quitting pumping before you're "done", then the balance could be off.

The symptoms you describe exactly match classic "foremilk" overdose, so I'd look at how you're nursing/pumping and maybe adjust a bit.

[poorlittlefish]

Thanks for the thoughts! my schedule is that I pump 4 times at work and get between 13-15oz. I pump for 15-20 minutes in each session.
What can I do to increase the hindmilk or fatty milk in each session?

I dont have oversupply that I am aware of. I am a second time BFAR mom and have a full supply this time with the help of Shatavari, without it, i didn't have enough milk.

Thanks again for your help!

[spughy]

Is she spitting up after the bottles, or breast? How much are you giving her in a bottle, and how often? How often do you nurse her when you're home, and how long does she nurse for on each side?

The other thing it could be is a mild virus of some sort. If it's dairy, it might just take a little longer to resolve this time... maybe things you eat at work have dairy in them that you don't realize?

[momto4plus4]

Originally Posted by poorlittlefish

Thanks for the thoughts! my schedule is that I pump 4 times at work and get between 13-15oz. I pump for 15-20 minutes in each session.
What can I do to increase the hindmilk or fatty milk in each session?

I wish I had an answer for you. I hope some other moms can help you with that!