Green poo in breast fed 5 week old

[Mouserama]

Hi, my little one is 5 weeks old and is breast fed (mainly via the breast, but with one bottle of ebm per day). Due to the weather, she's been feeding loads over last couple of days, but tends to feed for ten mins here, 15 minutes there etc when her normal feed takes a good 45 minutes. So I think she's feeding for thirst as opposed to hunger.

I changed her nappy tonight, and her poo was green (has always been yellow up to now) and I'm a little concerned. She seems well in every other way, although as been a bit fussier than usual in the last couple of days, and hasn't slept much (20 mins sleep today between 8am and 11pm). Any ideas why?

[AlisonL1981]

My ds gets this very so often. I was told that its because he's was only getting first watery breast milk and not the hind milky milk that comes after that's got all the good stuff in it. He was also feeding frequently but only 5 or so minutes at a time do it made sense. I think it's something to go with too much iron.

This is only what someone told me, nothing from hv or gp. X

[bangersmashandbeans]

Agree that green poo means lots of fore milk so not a problem.

[AlisonL1981]

Just re-read my post, sorry for all the typos! Stupid iPhone at stupid o'clock! X

[Tortoiseonthehalfshell]

In this weather, feeding little and often is precisely because she wants the more watery foremilk - so the green poo means that your breasts are doing exactly what they ought to be.

[FirstTimeMa]

I was told by an osteopath that green poo can mean they haven't digested feed properly (it's passed through system too quickly). My DS does the odd green one but as it's only been every now and then I haven't worried too much.

[Mouserama]

Thanks. She has been feeding little and often recently, as it's hot and she's probably thirsty - so having a lotbof foremilk makes sense. I have been switching breasts more regularly too, so she gets more 'liquid', so that might be contributing too. I'll stick to one breast and make sure she drains it before switching from now kn. the green poo gave me quite a fright at 4am in the morning! (Examining the contents of the nappy under the light whilst dealing with a screaming baby and an so tired I can barely open my eyes...)

[StuckOnARollercoaster]

Hi - I seem to be obsessed with green poo!
In the early days when my 4 week old lost a little too much weight and wasn't regaining it fast enough, the midwives were concerned about the green poo, and I was encouraged to keep offering same breast and do breast compressions, and had the threat of formula top ups hanging over me.
Now I get a combination of mustard and green poos - the midwives are no longer concerned because she is gaining weight and is ok otherwise with plenty of dirty and wet nappies. At the first reoccurance of green poo I panicked, but now know that on its own it doesn't mean much - its if there's green poo along with other concerning factors.
Some advice given to me here, and reading around I understand it as green poo suggests that the milk hasn't been well digested. A typical reason is that there's a majority of foremilk which is high in lactose, which is normally ok if there's also enough hind milk with plenty of fat. In this heat its not surprising that our boobs are producing more of the watery foremilk to quench thirst.

(Isn't it a strange world how obsessed mums become about poo - a year ago I would never have imagined I would be so bothered about poo!)

[tiktok]

Green poo is common and not a sign of anything worrying unless there are other symptoms.

at an osteopath suddenly being an expert on babies and bf......what rubbish, to say 'it hasn't been digested properly'. People who don't know about it should shut up about it - way to worry mothers :( :(

[Twit]

I had this with ds, so I stopped changing sides as often so he would get more of the hind milk and it cleared up after a while.

[Twit]

Oh and no hv's had a clue about it. Go figure.

[butternutforbreakfast]

My DS started doing green poos also when he was about 5wo. Nappies like marrofat in evenings and overnight - but normal yellow rest of the time. Sometimes mucosy marrofat. Yum. He'd also get screamy wind sometimes, also at night.

I obsessed over it, consulted Dr Google extensively, tried changing bf feeding pattern, watched what I ate. I don't think any of it made much difference and it went away by the time he was 10wo.

My hv also said something about him not digesting something properly, but I think his digestive system was just maturing. Not sure I believe the fore/hind milk thingy. Or rather, sounds fine in theory but you never know when the hind milk appears. In retrospect I think my boobs knew what they were doing so all my swapping sides/block feeding malarky was pointless mucking about.

As PP said green poo on its own isn't serious problem. Altho the nappies can be, erm, disconcerting.

[Mouserama]

Thanks everyone. Glad to say that we have not had a repeat of the green poo - although went for two days before a rather large yellow poo was produced. Thankfully, pampers were up to the job and contained it all!

You're right, it's amazing how fixated new mums become with poo. I never dreamt I'd be discussing poo colour amd consistency with my DH. How times have changed...:-)