green poop

[RedOakMomma]

dd (7 weeks) has had green poop the past couple of weeks. It was yellow before that. It's not terribly frequent--just 5 or so a day (which was also the case when it was yellow). I've been giving her a dose of probiotics every day for the last week or so, but no improvement.

So does this mean I need to eliminate dairy and see if that's what's doing it?

[*MamaJen*]

Do you have a pretty heavy milk supply? Green poop that looks kind of like chopped spinach often means a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, and block feeding (where you nurse only from one breast for a few hours) can be a good idea. More mucousy green poop is more likely to be a dairy thing.

[RedOakMomma]

I wish I could be more specific...I'd say it's somewhere in between chopped spinach and mucousy. Sometimes it's one or the other. Twice I have noticed a few flecks of blood (very small...wouldn't have noticed them without looking very, very closely at the poop) in the small mucousy poops.

What are some symptoms of oversupply? I'm not block feeding, but I do tend to have her nurse at one breast for an entire feeding--I almost never switch her to the other breast. At night, though, I guess I'd say she block feeds. I only switch her to my other side (we cosleep) once a night.

She's so happy and gaining/growing wonderfully....I wouldn't be concerned, but I haven't seen a yellow poo in weeks.

[jellybeanmumma]

directly quoting from here http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/lactose.html

something I wish I'd found soo much earlier as DS was textbook case. We still don't eat dairy just in case that was the prob but thinking of doing a few trial intros once this lot of teeth com in. He's 16mo now and we took about 12 mo to really sort the prob as poos would be green sometimes and not others and trawling the net just didn't help....


"Lactose overload in babies

Lactose overload can mimic lactose intolerance and is frequently mistaken for it. An overload is often seen in babies consuming large amounts of breastmilk, that is when their mothers have an oversupply. This may result in an unsettled baby with adequate to large weight gains. The baby usually passes urine more than 10 times a day and has many (often explosive) bowel motions in 24 hours. They may have green, frothy poos that resemble those of a baby with lactose intolerance. This usually occurs in babies under 3 months old. Ironically, a mother may thinkthat she has a low milk supply because her baby always seems to be hungry. The nappies can be the biggest clue to what's happening. What comes out the bottom must have gone in the top!

There is a vicious cycle here. A large-volume, low-fat feed goes through the baby so quickly that not all the lactose is digested (more fat would help slow it down). The lactose reaching the lower bowel draws extra water into the bowel and is fermented by the bacteria there, producing gas and acid stools. The acid stools often cause a nappy rash. Gas and fluid build-up cause tummy pain and the baby 'acts hungry' (wants to suck, is unsettled, draws up his legs, screams). Sucking is the best comfort he knows and also helps move the gas along the bowel. This tends to ease the pain temporarily and may result in wind and stool being passed. Since the baby indicates that he wants to suck at the breast, his mother, logically, feeds him again. Sometimes it is the only way to comfort him. Unfortunately another large feed on top of the earlier one hurries the system further and results in more gas and fluid accumulation. The milk seems almost literally to 'go in one end and out the other'.

Many mothers whose babies have had this problem have found it helpful to change from an 'on-demand' breastfeeding routine. This is usually only necessary for a short time. The aim is to slow the rate at which milk goes through the baby by feeding one breast per feed, or by 'block-feeding'. To block-feed, set a 4-hour time period (this may be adjusted according to the severity of the oversupply) and every time the baby wants to feed during this period, use the same breast. Then use the other breast for the next 4 hours, etc. Each time the baby returns to the already used breast, he gets a lower-volume, higher-fat feed that helps slow the system down. While block-feeding, check that the unused breast does not get overfull. When the baby's symptoms are relieved, the mother is able to go back to a normal breastfeeding routine and feed according to need."


hope that helps...

[LovnMyBoys]

I would try elimintating dairy and soy and go from there. You'll know pretty quickly if that is the issue. With a happy baby weight gaining baby a lot of Drs will say its no concern, but with what we've dealt with here I'd say you want to do whatever you can. Around 6 weeks is often the time a milk protein intolerance wil show up visibly.

[Illiana]

Originally Posted by jellybeanmumma

directly quoting from here http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/lactose.html

something I wish I'd found soo much earlier as DS was textbook case. We still don't eat dairy just in case that was the prob but thinking of doing a few trial intros once this lot of teeth com in. He's 16mo now and we took about 12 mo to really sort the prob as poos would be green sometimes and not others and trawling the net just didn't help....


"Lactose overload in babies

Lactose overload can mimic lactose intolerance and is frequently mistaken for it. An overload is often seen in babies consuming large amounts of breastmilk, that is when their mothers have an oversupply. This may result in an unsettled baby with adequate to large weight gains. The baby usually passes urine more than 10 times a day and has many (often explosive) bowel motions in 24 hours. They may have green, frothy poos that resemble those of a baby with lactose intolerance. This usually occurs in babies under 3 months old. Ironically, a mother may thinkthat she has a low milk supply because her baby always seems to be hungry. The nappies can be the biggest clue to what's happening. What comes out the bottom must have gone in the top!

There is a vicious cycle here. A large-volume, low-fat feed goes through the baby so quickly that not all the lactose is digested (more fat would help slow it down). The lactose reaching the lower bowel draws extra water into the bowel and is fermented by the bacteria there, producing gas and acid stools. The acid stools often cause a nappy rash. Gas and fluid build-up cause tummy pain and the baby 'acts hungry' (wants to suck, is unsettled, draws up his legs, screams). Sucking is the best comfort he knows and also helps move the gas along the bowel. This tends to ease the pain temporarily and may result in wind and stool being passed. Since the baby indicates that he wants to suck at the breast, his mother, logically, feeds him again. Sometimes it is the only way to comfort him. Unfortunately another large feed on top of the earlier one hurries the system further and results in more gas and fluid accumulation. The milk seems almost literally to 'go in one end and out the other'.

Many mothers whose babies have had this problem have found it helpful to change from an 'on-demand' breastfeeding routine. This is usually only necessary for a short time. The aim is to slow the rate at which milk goes through the baby by feeding one breast per feed, or by 'block-feeding'. To block-feed, set a 4-hour time period (this may be adjusted according to the severity of the oversupply) and every time the baby wants to feed during this period, use the same breast. Then use the other breast for the next 4 hours, etc. Each time the baby returns to the already used breast, he gets a lower-volume, higher-fat feed that helps slow the system down. While block-feeding, check that the unused breast does not get overfull. When the baby's symptoms are relieved, the mother is able to go back to a normal breastfeeding routine and feed according to need."


hope that helps...

This is DS completely. He's had maybe 3 green poos total so far and will be 6 weeks on Tuesday. I have tons of milk this time as ds is often choking on it from coming out too fast. Sometimes I pump first to prevent this but when i do it seems like he nurses constantly for the next few hours. He's also an EXTREMELY gassy baby with all the signs mentioned here.

[happydaymomma]

Originally Posted by jellybeanmumma

directly quoting from here http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/lactose.html

...
"Many mothers whose babies have had this problem have found it helpful to change from an 'on-demand' breastfeeding routine. This is usually only necessary for a short time. The aim is to slow the rate at which milk goes through the baby by feeding one breast per feed, or by 'block-feeding'. To block-feed, set a 4-hour time period (this may be adjusted according to the severity of the oversupply) and every time the baby wants to feed during this period, use the same breast. Then use the other breast for the next 4 hours, etc. Each time the baby returns to the already used breast, he gets a lower-volume, higher-fat feed that helps slow the system down. While block-feeding, check that the unused breast does not get overfull. When the baby's symptoms are relieved, the mother is able to go back to a normal breastfeeding routine and feed according to need."


hope that helps...

I seem to be having the opposite problem - my little one only poops every 3-4 days. And in between she gets soooo cranky and gassy.. she seems to be so uncomfortable.

I wonder if doing the opposite - switching breasts each nursing and even doing both each time would help move things through her a little better.

With DD1 we had problems with green poo from over supply issues, so I started block nursing and it worked beautifully. I just kind of automatically started that way with DD2... maybe I need to change things up for her. I wonder...?

[RedOakMomma]

It sounds more like a possible allergy than over-supply, I think. She's not gassy or fussy, and she's not eating incredibly frequently (I often get several hours between feedings...up to 6 hours at night).

I'm going to start by eliminating dairy for a couple of weeks. If that doesn't work, I'll eliminate soy. Ack! No cheese, no cream in my coffee, no butter in my baked goods! I am not going to be a happy camper (though I might be a thinner one....)

[LovnMyBoys]

It can be done easily at home, not so easily when eating out. Get yourself some almond milk, coconut milk, earth balance soy free margarine, and Daiya vegan cheese and you'll be set. Maybe not on the cream cheese side, but almond butter is good on bagels.
Feel free to PM me for substitution ideas.

[RedOakMomma]

Thanks! That's really nice of you to offer some guidance...we're a big dairy family in this house, so it's going to be interesting.

....I'm confused now, though. Yesterday and today she's had large, normalish poops that are still green, but lighter green mixed with yellow bits. Not slimy/mucousy, and definitely getting more yellow. Then, later in the day, she'll have a couple smaller slimy/mucousy ones....very dark green.

It couldn't be the dairy avoidance already, because the day before she had her first normal poop I had a huge amount of cheese on () too much pizza.

Confusion.