Help me, my 6wo is pooping green!

[CeraMae]

I've done the searches on this forum, EC, & BF with the Green Poo question, but I still just don't get it. DS started pooping green 3 days ago, and for the life of me I can't figure it out. His poop is green, like olive green, not like the flourescent green I've been hearing about. If that makes a difference . . .

Since birth, I've nursed him on one side per feeding, unless I feel like the breast is empty and he's still hungry then I'll switch. So I don't think it is the hind/fore milk imbalance.

Dh and I are both sensitive to dairy and I don't eat much of it, and haven't for over a week. In fact, I've racked my brain and cannot think of any new food I've introduced lately. I know the common allergens like soy, shellfish, eggs, etc. Some of these are in my diet but none of them has increased since giving birth. I consume a lot of soy, but peanuts, eggs, shellfish, and dairy are all sparse and like I said I don't know why green poo would start all of the sudden if they never bothered him before.

And no signs of colic either. He's still the same mellow babe he's always been. I've noticed that the past few days he hasn't been sleeping as well. He's fidgety and vocal and nightwakes more often than normal, but he is not gassy or fussier than normal. I have no idea how to piece it all together so I am hoping for suggestions. I keep hearing that if he's not acting up then the green poos might be nothing to worry about, but he's definitely not himself. The difference is so subtle that I wonder if maybe it's just some phase?????????? Anyone been through this or can offer some suggestions???

[galadriel]

I wouldn't worry. My baby is 4 months and has green mucousy poops all the time; she's never had the "curdy" poops that are common for breastfed babies. You know what? She's happy and healthy, 95th % for weight, and she just has green poo sometimes. She's been teething since 8 weeks, which I think is a lot of it (major droolage making her poops weird)

Just trust your gut and pay attention to the general well-being of your baby. If the baby is happy and healthy, with no rash or pain, then don't worry about it! There's a wide spectrum of normal. That's my opinion.

[SpiralWoman]

hi~
the bottom line: is DC healthy & growing? If so you are fine! If child wasn't gaining, getting fussier, etc, then you have to figure it out, right? In my case I also fed just one side per feeding bcz I was wanting to empty the breast, get to the hindmilk, etc, but guess what... it probably impacted my milk supply & we came up with poor weight gain @ 4wks, he just wasn't growing! In your case it sounds like you are past that hurdle & doing what works for your babe. So what works for one may not work for another, you always have to look to the baby to see if anything needs correcting~ that my 2cents anyway!
blessings, Maria

[Bethkm]

I had exactly the same thing with my ds and spent weeks trying to figure it out. Finally, my lactation consultant friend helped me sort it out. Turns out I was a huge overproducer. I had only been feeding Tyson from one side as well since birth because that is all he seemed to want. My LC suggested I take it a step further and nurse him on one side only inside 3 hours. So like if he nurses at 7am on the left, then asks to nurse again at 8:30, I put him on the left again. When he asks to nurse after 10am I'll go to the right. (This is purely as example, this child nurses at different times every day, don't interpret as a schedule!!) Since I had SO MUCH milk, this assured that he was getting hindmilk. The other thing I had to do was increase the fat in my diet as this can affect the fat content of your milk and cause a reaction in the gut which leads to the green, mucousy poops. About a month after I made both these changes Tyson's poops were back to normal and he was less fussy.

This info is from my LC friend, she researched it for me. She is very pro baby and pro AP. I can't say where she got it other than she would read me stuff over the phone from LLL and the like. SHe always said Tyson was not in danger with this type of poopy or my milk, just that he could probably use some hindmilk. Interesting side note, the foremilk has more sugar and less fat so babies who get more foremilk actually get chubbier in some cases than those who get normal amounts of foremilk/hindmilk.

Sorry so long, I hope you can take some good info from this.

[smittenmom]

When my dd was about three months, she had the same thing for a few days. I called her doctor and he said it could be a sign of a virus working its way out of her body. She didn't have any other symptoms, either, and it went away a couple of days later. So it might be something like that, but unless he has other symptoms I wouldn't worry about it. Viruses go away all by themselves when they're ready.

[Mona]

I had similar issues that Beth did. DD was getting too much foremilk, so I also nursed her on the same side for two or more feedings in a row. That changed her poo color quickly.

[DaryLLL]

Here is a link on baby poop:

http://www.drjaygordon.com/pediatricks/poop.html

Yeah, he probably has a little stomach virus.