Newborn with Food Intolerance...

[NurseLaurie]

DD has green, mucusy poops and actually has had some strings of blood a few times. Two weeks ago our pediatrician took me off dairy. Two weeks have passed and poops are still green, still slimy and still have an occasional dot of blood. What else could it be? What else should I try eliminating? DD doesn't seem to have any discomfort. Eliminating dairy decreased her "toot"-iness quite a bit, so I know it was at least a partial culprit.

[ndunn]

I feel your pain! We had the same issues. I went on an elimination diet where I took out the following:
-dairy
-soy
-meat except grain fed turkey
-seafood
-wheat
-corn
-nuts
-berries
-garlic
-gassy vegtables
there might be more that I'm forgetting but....

Needless to say I was pretty hungry!
I took out the dairy 2 weeks before I did the rest of that, so that helped with the green thing but the mucous stayed. So the elimination diet after helped with the mucous for the first little bit but then it came back so I was STUMPED. I had no clue what it was. Well, waht I've noticed since then (I've reintroduced all things except dairy...but I try to keep soy,wheat,corn and garlic to small amounts) is that its TOMATOES. Everytime I eat them she gets mucous. So, who knows. Try the elimination diet though, there are some good resources in the dr.sears babybook about elimination diets. Also, on kellymom.com there are a few good ideas.

Good luck!

[kyangel80]

Hi-

Different approach here. Is your baby getting too much foremilk? I had the same problem with my last child in the beginning when my milk was coming out my ears. I just switched to block feeding and the green poo went away and so did the gas. I think you might want to give this a try.

[NurseLaurie]

What is block feeding?? I'm pretty new at this. As it stands right now I may begin taking synthetic digestive enzymes to break down the offending foods that may sneak in there. I'd love to avoid that though.

[Pauli]

It sounds like the symtoms of a food allergy. Dairy is the most common offender in infants but allergies can be absolutely anything. If eliminating dairy didn't solve the problem within two weeks you are likely dealing with multiple allergies (in my experience that's the rule rather than the exception). The good news is that 90% of food allergies are to 7 things: dairy, eggs, soy, wheat, tree nuts, peanuts, and shellfish. So those are a good place to start.
You can eliminate ALL of them for a week (dairy takes the longest to get out of your system, but you've already done that, so a week should give you results), and see if it helps. If it does, you can add them back one at a time (one item a week) and see if the symptoms return (BTW, allergists often recomend that nursing mothers avoid nuts, peanuts and shellfish even if there's no problem, to avoid sensitizing the baby.)

Block feeding is when you feed the baby just on one side for a block of time, say three feedings. Then just feed on the other side for three feedings. That way the baby gets more hindmilk and not so much foremilk. Too much foremilk can cause symptoms like gassiness and green stool, but I haven't heard of it causing blood and blood in the stool is always a big concern, IMO!

If you search for infant food allergies on the net you will find a ton of info (lots of it conflicting!). The bottom line is that if it's a food allergy (or allergies) it's to a food you're eating and finding it might be tough, but it CAN be done. Good luck!