thread: frothy poo, hind/fore milk imbalance or lactose issue???

  1. #1
    Registered User

    Jan 2008
    Brisbane
    5,039

    frothy poo, hind/fore milk imbalance or lactose issue???

    as the title says DD3 is getting more and more unsettled leading up to a poo, i can feel the wind bubble in her tummy, then when she does a poo its normal in colour but super frothy.

    I still have a truck load of milk for her so will start with just feeding her for longer on the one side, but wanted you thoughts/experience.

    Oh and her bum shows no sign of nappy rash

    Thanks in advance,

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Add Feijoa Mum on Facebook

    Jul 2008
    Forest Lake - Brisbane
    919

    I always thought that frothy poo was a sign of too much foremilk???

    Maybe try feeding her completely from one side at a time just to see if that helps a little.

    I always made Peppar drain the one side for her feeds and after nappy change just before it was back to bed I offered her the otherside as a bit of a topup. Then vice versa for the next feed.

    HTH

  3. #3
    Registered User

    Dec 2008
    1,431

    Can I just say 'forget about hindmilk / foremilk". Honestly, it really doesn't matter. What bubs doesn't get in one feed, they'll get in another, it all balances out in the end.

    And super frothy poo is just another of the hundreds of variations (oh, you'll see them all!) of normal baby poo!

    You're doing great!!!! Don't worry!!!!!

    ETA: Just noticed that you've got older kids so I imagine you've seen every variation of POO there is!!!

  4. #4
    BellyBelly Life Subscriber

    Jan 2006
    11,633

    Have you been on antibiotics at all? Has she had diarrhoea at all? Sometimes very frothy poos can indicate a lactose overload. It can also happen with a very strong letdown/oversupply.
    Did you call the ABA at all?

  5. #5
    Registered User

    Jun 2006
    Sydney
    1,746

    Tegam, I've never had this problem sorry! My advice would be to call the ABA as a PP suggested. 1800 626 2686 is their 24 hour line.

    Hope you get it sorted soon - poor Miss Molly

  6. #6
    Registered User

    Jan 2008
    Brisbane
    5,039

    Have you been on antibiotics at all? Has she had diarrhoea at all? Sometimes very frothy poos can indicate a lactose overload. It can also happen with a very strong letdown/oversupply.
    Did you call the ABA at all?
    No antibiotics and no diarrhoea. She is doing two huge poos a day about 12 hrs apart.

    Facebooked a LC and ABA councellor and a ABA community educator hehe, oh to have friends in high places .

    The more im reading the more i think block feeding her will help her.

  7. #7
    Registered User

    Dec 2009
    605

    I think it's too much foremilk; happened with us when I stupidly listened to a health nurse who said she was underweight, I kept trying to feed her more often..
    Anyway, just feed her when she's hungry and do your best to keep her on that same boob till it's empty. If they are always really full, use the same boob for 2 or 3 feeds in a row, and then switch to the other for the next 3. Express the other sides if you need to.
    Good luck!

  8. #8
    BellyBelly Life Subscriber

    Jan 2006
    11,633

    Yeah, it could just be that you've a bit too much milk for her right now.

  9. #9
    Registered User

    Aug 2008
    Adelaide
    1,488

    It does sound as though she is getting too much foremilk. DD had green frothy poos as well as a lot of wind issues when she was tiny. It settled down once I started feeding her from the same side for 2 feeds in a row. I had heaps of milk until she was about 14 weeks old.

  10. #10
    Registered User

    Oct 2008
    SA
    1,078

    We had frothy poos with DD when she came home from hospital and in the end I concluded that it was too much foremilk. At that point I was restricting breastfeeds to 10min each side then offering a bottle top-up of EBM (crazy I know but I was meeting the paeds in the middle at that point). So essentially she was only getting the watery stuff from the start of each breast hence frothy poos and also not great weight gain at that point (potentially due to getting less fatty hindmilk). Paeds & her surgeon thought it might be a lactose intolerance but I wasn't convinced and after reading the literature from the ABA on true lactose issues it affirmed my instincts. At that point I started to feed her from one breast only and let her finish on her own. She still has the occasional frothy poo....but that's just her.

    MantaRay pointed me to the ABA info sheet if you want me to try & track down the thread let me know hun.

  11. #11
    Registered User

    May 2007
    Warrnambool Vic
    1,476

    On balance I tend to agree with Winter. it is normal for babies to be a bit unsettled leading up to a poo. Also, if you see the poo *fresh* it can look frothy - if it sits in the nappy a while it just soaks in and you don't even know. If a baby was *very* unsettled you might want to tweak the system a bit, but if your baby is mostly happy and content and it's *just* the poo - don't worry to much about it.

  12. #12
    BellyBelly Life Subscriber
    Add Jellybean29 on Facebook

    Sep 2010
    Sydney
    1,090

    Same happened to me! It's all good
    Last edited by Jellybean29; October 30th, 2011 at 07:15 AM.