Do food allergies in EBF babies always cause green poop?

[DrBrockBaca]

Just wondering if allergies from the mother's diet always cause green poop in EBF babies? My baby is constipated, but when she poops, it is normal. Is this a food allergy or something else?

[crystleyz42]

Green stools can also be caused by breastmilk oversupply and overactive let down in an EBF babe. When DS was born, I drove myself crazy thinking he had an allergy, but it turns out he was getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. Carefully keeping track of sides and block nursing around the clock helped me

[scsigrl]

I wouldn't jump to allergies being the cause.  Are there any other signs you are seeing?  

[DrBrockBaca]

I wouldn't jump to allergies being the cause.  Are there any other signs you are seeing?  

She has some nasal congestion. But otherwise she is fine. I'm just puzzled because she can't seem to poop, but when she does (after a glycerin suppository), the stool is the normal seedy yellow color. So if food allergies cause green poop, that isn't the problem. But I don't know what else it could be. Any ideas?

[scsigrl]

Originally Posted by DrBrockBaca 

She has some nasal congestion. But otherwise she is fine. I'm just puzzled because she can't seem to poop, but when she does (after a glycerin suppository), the stool is the normal seedy yellow color. So if food allergies cause green poop, that isn't the problem. But I don't know what else it could be. Any ideas?

Some babies don't poop all the time.  I know my niece went for 11 days once and the Dr's weren't worried.  So why?  Who knows.  How old is the baby?

[DrBrockBaca]

Some babies don't poop all the time.  I know my niece went for 11 days once and the Dr's weren't worried.  So why?  Who knows.  How old is the baby?

She is six weeks old. From 1-4 weeks, she pooped almost every time she ate. Then she just stopped pooping. I wouldn't be worried about it except that she often seems to be straining like she is trying to, but then she can't. It doesn't always bother her, though. Overall she seems fine. 

If it was a food allergy or a problem with me eating dairy, would it have not bothered her those first few weeks and then all of the sudden kicked in?

[scsigrl]

Originally Posted by DrBrockBaca 

If it was a food allergy or a problem with me eating dairy, would it have not bothered her those first few weeks and then all of the sudden kicked in?

I guess that is kind of young to stop pooping.  Have you asked you Dr?  I think those first few weeks can be a blur at best.  Were you eating enough, not as much dairy, enough water and on and on so maybe something has changed as you have settled into the new baby thing.  

I would start a food/symptom log.  If your gut is saying diary, try going without for a few weeks and see if it helps.  

[BabySmurf]

IMO this doesn't sound like an allergy.  As the babies get older, their digestive systems start to mature a little bit, and they can poop less often.  If the poop is normal and seedy, then she's not constipated.  Sometimes it takes them a little while to learn how to coordinate the muscles involved with pooping, and that's why it seems like she's straining.  I would be careful about giving her things to help her poop, because then she might need that to do it; rather bicycle her legs and rub her belly to help her relax (a semi squatting position helps her to relax the sphincter, even if she's not actually squatting). 

Also, nasal congestion on it's own probably isn't anything to worry about, unless it persists.  HTH!

[SweetSilver]

Infant allergies don't necessarily lead to green poop.  But I agree with pp's that this doesn't sound like an allergy.  We used suppositories briefly with the caveat that we don't use more than we absolutely needed.  (And at the time she was no longer EBF.)  Breastfed babies sometimes don't need to go very often, especially once their systems get chugging along.  But constipation in a EBF baby?  Maybe others have more experience with this.

[DrBrockBaca]

Ok, thanks for the reassurance. Maybe she just needs to learn how to poop. It's just puzzling because she was pooping so well, and then she stopped. I don't think there have been any changes in my diet - I was eating tons of yogurt and sometimes cheese the first few weeks after she was born and she was pooping fine. I really, really miss the yogurt! It's so hot here, and I just want to eat cold things.

We have been massaging her belly and bicycling her legs when it seems like she is trying to poop, but it doesn't seem to help. We'll keep trying though. 

[BabySmurf]

fwiw, my mom said i pooped every two weeks or something as a baby.  if there are no other symptoms, just be glad that you don't have to worry!!

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by DrBrockBaca 

She has some nasal congestion. But otherwise she is fine. I'm just puzzled because she can't seem to poop, but when she does (after a glycerin suppository), the stool is the normal seedy yellow color. So if food allergies cause green poop, that isn't the problem. But I don't know what else it could be. Any ideas?

Allergies don't cause green poop, poop moving through your digestive system too quickly causes green poops. That said, allergies often cause food to move through faster. But sometimes they can have the opposite effect, and cause constipation.

But like other posters mentioned, I wouldn't jump to the allergy conclusion unless you're seeing other signs. I also wouldn't be forcing her to poop with a suppository unless she is in obvious pain and can't poop, which would be pretty unlikely (and probably serious) for a baby that young.

[mytwomonkies]

How long is she going without pooping? Food issues have caused constipation in both my girls, and myself, but it's usually accompanied by some mucous. Constipation was never the only sign though. If it was a food allergy she would most likely be fussy, spit up a lot, be gassy, etc. Also, diaper rash and eczema are really common in babies with food allergies. Is she experiencing anything other than the infrequent poops?

[SweetSilver]

I also had the thought about the weather.  Is it hot?  She might be using some of her liquids to stay cool, resulting in difficult but otherwise normal stools.

?????  Just a thought.

[Brandybutter]

My son has an intolerance to cow milk protein that we discovered when I introduced dairy ~ 8mo.  He developed eczema at that point and had off & on constipation and restless sleep for a few months prior.  It took us forever to diagnose because I was reluctant to remove dairy from my diet.  Even when he was not eating it, he would still have the constipation and restless sleep from a reaction to dairy from my breast milk.  So, I would not discount an intolerance to dairy.  It would not hurt to try eliminating it from your diet for a good month and see if there are any changes with your baby's poop or behavior.  Once I eliminated all dairy from my diet, my son's skin cleared, he has at least one soft poop a day, and sleeps longer stretches at night. 

[DrBrockBaca]

The only other issue my baby is having is nasal congestion. We are going to try the humidifier and see if that helps the congestion. She did poop without a suppository two days ago, and it wasn't hard, so maybe she wasn't really constipated. I know it's normal for babies her age to go several days without pooping - it was just that she was straining. But maybe she is just still learning to coordinate her muscles. But her poop two days ago was the normal yellow, except that it had two chunks of white pasty stuff in it. Anybody seen this before? I know if the entire stool is white, it is a sign that the baby doesn't have enough bile to digest the food. But this was just two chunks in an otherwise normal yellow poop. Thoughts?

[Zenmama1]

For what it's worth my DD didnt poop for over a week when she was 11 weeks. She seemed really uncomfortable. A naturopath told me to give her probiotics and for me to drink 1 oz of Sambazon acai juice a day. I saw an immediate difference. She hasn't been constipated since.

[heatherdeg]

My son sounded like he was straining for easily 2-3 months as an infant--with the worst being when he was laying down.  But he pooped on his own and it wasn't hard. It drove me nuts (because he slept in our room and it kept me awake sometimes).

You'll know to be RUNNING to the doctor if she hasn't pooped in a lot of days and 1) she's upset if you rub her lower abdomen; 2) if she starts passing very foul-smelling gas (like sulphur/rotten eggs).  That may NOT be a problem--but they are good "red flags" for if you think you might have a problem (they're early warning signs of impaction--which is backed up stool).

Yeah... because mine went on to eating solids at 8mo and spent the next 5mo with ACTUAL constipation--so bad the ped thought he'd suffer permanent nerve damage in his little anus.  You cannot even imagine what it took to get him to poop.  That's a post for another day.  :/

[NewBeginnings1]

Originally Posted by crystleyz42 

Green stools can also be caused by breastmilk oversupply and overactive let down in an EBF babe. 

This is bc if too much of the fore milk isn't balanced out by the fatty hind milk, it will upset the baby's tummy and produce green poo. IME My son had this when I started pumping irregularly, causing my supply to be too high and provide and excess or foremilk. It went away once I tamed my pumping habits.