Is this normal.....really normal???????

[Vixstar]

Okay, Noah is 14 weeks old and for no less than a month (more like 7 weeks) we have had green poo. Sounds normal doesn?t it? Well, his is dark green like seaweed, slimy to touch with most of it being watery enough to be soaked up by the nappy. It also stinks, nothing like what you would expect of a baby his age. We did start out with normal BF baby poo??

(Bit of history if it makes any difference: At 4-6 weeks of age, Noah was cluster feeding and my CHN told me to express to increase my supply to help in the evenings as he was cluster feeding from 5pm until about 9pm. I did that and it worked and then he settled down again.)

I have spoken with the ABA & CHN, was told it?s because I have a ?forceful letdown??I changed the way I fed Noah nothing changed.

I have spoken with my CHN, made more change over the weekend and we still have green poo!

I have thought and thought about my diet?.nothing has changed since the day he was born.

He has put on heaps of weight. Was 4kg at birth and is now over 7kg. 99% of the time he is a happy chappy Thankfully he is sleeping through the night.

I am at a loss now and the next step will most likely be my GP.

Can anyone tell me if the have had something similar or the same with their bubs? Is it really normal for it to go on this long??????

xxxx

[~clover~]

Jesse had green poo for a while, but he was having the odd ff then.
I wouldn't worry too much, his sounds like its exactly the same.

[Marlene]

I have the same with my baby, but I thought it was because he is on antibiotics. Hmmm..now I am stumped!!

[Janie]

It could well be because of your forceful letdown. Have you tried expressing a bit before attaching him? Does the poo look frothy as well?

Is he generally a settled baby? If it were me I would be investigating further, as there can be a number of things causing green poo in a baby, but maybe I'm a panic merchant! Not that I think there's anything terribly wrong with your baby, far from it, but if a mum feels that she wants something checked, then she's probably onto something. Do you have a paed?

[MantaRay]

Green poo can be a sign of oversuppy. Which would make sense if you have increased your supply. Cluster feeding in the evenings is actually very normal BTW. Are you still expressing?

Also, with the forceful letdown, posture feeding can help (feeding lying on your back with baby across your chest), or leaning back while feeding (make the milk work against gravity).

If your baby isn't showing signs of distress from wind etc, then I wouldn't be too worried about the colour though. In itself it's not a problem.

[Vixstar]

Janie - Yep, I did express some of the letdown / or pulled him off as it 'hit'. Made no diff. Does not look frothy but does has bits of milk curd through it 50% of the time. He is always settled and satisfied with each feed.
LOL I am a panic mercahnt too...hence my post!

Marlene - WOOPS!!! Sorry mate........hope he gets better soon though.

BJRose - I have never given Noah a FF (tempted sometimes though)......

Thanks guys for your quick replies.

[Vixstar]

Green poo can be a sign of oversuppy. Which would make sense if you have increased your supply. Cluster feeding in the evenings is actually very normal BTW. Are you still expressing?

Also, with the forceful letdown, posture feeding can help (feeding lying on your back with baby across your chest), or leaning back while feeding (make the milk work against gravity).

If your baby isn't showing signs of distress from wind etc, then I wouldn't be too worried about the colour though. In itself it's not a problem.

Nope not really. Had to though on Tuesday arvo as I could feel Mastitis sneaking in...probably from all my worrying about green poo! I found it hard to do those position feeds so I actually sat him up...or is that not the same?

Thanks for your reply...I was thinking about coming onto the BF Chatter thread again and harassing you! I harassed you when I thought we(ahem...I though...) had a low supply....

[MantaRay]

LOL Vixstar, this bfing thing can take a while to get used to. The good news is that it gets much easier as you gain experience and confidence. When I think back to how unsure I was of everything with DS1 for so long I can't believe how far I've come.

If those positions aren't working for you, don't worry too much about it. Just keep going and see what happens. Oversupply and forceful letdown both usually ease by about 6 - 8 months.

[~clover~]

Well that might've been my problem.
I was always engorged til he cut back on feeds recently, & my supply dropped off a bit. He was feeding every 2 hours & sometimes every hour. Then settled down a bit.
I didn't know if the odd ff would make a difference though.

[Lulu]

Ray, can you tell me how an oversupply can turn poo green? I can't get my head around it!

[MantaRay]

TBH Lulu, I have no idea LOL!! But it is true - I had an oversupply and it was only later that I found out at an ABA meeting that was what had been causing the green poos. Now I've heard it lots of places wouldn't you know!

[Janie]

It's something to do with an imbalance of foremilk/hindmilk, and the sugars.......I think! I should be able to explain this better, but I'm too tired! With an oversupply a baby will often get a lot of foremilk, but not much hindmilk. I shouldn't talk about these things, because really, the whole fore/hindmilk thing shouldn't be paid much attention But that's my understanding of it anyway.

And hopefully now Barb will come in here and correct me, and we'll all really know why oversupply has that effect on poo

[Roquen]

I had the same problem with Jordan around that time. I had/have a forceful let down and I think I had an oversupply too at that stage. Best advice I can give from what worked for me was to ensure he had fully drained that side - often this meant he only fed (and still does) from one side per feed.

I would let him feed till he came off, burp him, offer that side again and when he came off again shortly I'd know it was empty.

He is now a very efficient feeder and one whole feed is about 3 minutes ( he is nearly 6 months) on one side. He weighs about 9kg already too, so I have never felt the need to feed off both sides as he gains weight and our poos are the right colour now heheheh

[alioops]

Janie, you are spot on with the compostion of the foremilk and hindmilk!

Foremilk is very high in lactose and the more watery part of the milk. the more foremilk he is getting the more his intestines need to work, and he made not be making quite enough of the enzyme that breaks it down - Lactase. In truly lactose intolerant bubs even the smallest bit of foremilk can send their poo to the state that Vixstar is dealing with.

Hindmilk has more fat and less sugars (lactose is a sugar) and is the part that returns the poo to yellow.

Vixstar, try expressing until a few minutes after your letdown as this will take more foremilk than hindmilk, and make sure he stays on until you are empty. you will feel very soft and floppy when you are empty.

Keep an eye on his weight though because if he is struggling with the lactose it can give diahorreah, and mucousy poo. mucousy poo is always a cause for concern, just as much as diahorreah.

[mgm]

vixstar, your baby sounds much like mine. dd has had green poo for months. mch nurses told me about the foremilk/hindmilk thing, so i started making absolutely sure she drained a breast at each feed. had no impact. i did notice, though, that at night, when she pooed less frequently, her poo was normal (or closer to normal) colour. when i saw the paed for 6 week checkup she said it had to do with bile and rapid excretion after feeding, which explained why it was green in the day and brown at night (when it had remained in her stomach longer). she said not to worry about it - that all shades of green were normal. still, i can't help being concerned since she's 4 months and still has some green poos; they are a bit mucousy sometimes too. she's otherwise happy and healthy though...

one thing that might help you (and me): dd had blood in her nappy a couple of times and i'm fairly sure this is to do with the amount of milk/milk products in my diet. i've gone off dairy (as of a few days ago) and time will tell whether the irritation caused by the milk proteins is what's made dd's poo so green and stinky.

i look forward to hearing what your GP says - but be warned, green poo is one of those things everyone seems to have a different explanation for!!

[Vixstar]

LOL have noticed that about it being a 'hot' topic but have found I have learn't so much. I feel more relaxed now about his green-age. he is still a happy chappy, sleeping through etc Might see CHN next week though.....

Thanks all for your help. I am on a BIG learning curve!

xxxx

[onthefly]

Hi
My DS had a lot of explosive green poo at around 6-8 weeks of age, it was quite watery and mucosy too. The Paed suggested expressing off the foremilk before feeds for a few days and that cleared it right up. In our case, i'd been on antibiotics a week before and that had given him diahorreah. This can strip the lactase from the gut, making them temporarily 'lactose intolerent', which can cause this sort of green poo 'squirts' (as opposed to regular green poo). Basically, expressing the foremilk gives the gut a chance to recover as it's not having to process so much of the high-sugar stuff.
Have fun with the poos everyone