Green poo for 10 days - ebf 20 weeks - help!

[anotherbitofcake]

My 20 wk old has developed green poo issues. Sometimes foamy sometimes less so. He's had it consistently for about 10 days now.
Not been feeding any differently to before or eating diff foods so I don't know why it's happening!
I have noticed he's become more fussy again however. We've had our bf battles with thrush and tt but both resolved a good 6 weeks ago. He's now feeding for 5 mins and then coming off and shouting. He refuses to go back on sane side but will go on other side for couple mins.
Usually he is a v fast feeder but he's def even more so now.
He's been gaining weight fine though this may impact I guess. Never been though I did wonder sometimes about silent reflux given the shouting end of feed.
After feeding he is fine and never seems hungry. I generally feed every 3 hours. He still feeds 2x at night too.
Any ideas? I am going to call hv too. I've read about fore/hind imbalance which might be issue due to never feeding for long but I don't know how to resolve. I can't force him to eat more than he wants. Maybe I should try one side for 2 feeds then swap?

[ouryve]

Try expressing a little before he starts a feed. And starting on the boob you last finished on is always a good plan.

[ShineSmile]

Sounds like cows milk allergy. Look into it.

The advice would be that you completely cut out dairy (any form of it) from your diet for at least two weeks and see if it makes a difference.

[ShineSmile]

It could also be that the cows milk allergy is causing the silent reflux, or he may have silent reflux too.

[anotherbitofcake]

I've been drinking soya milk since he was born but not changed anything else. To cut out all dairy - so that would be yogurt, cheese, anything with milk in?

I'm confused why its suddenly developed?

[FruitBasedDrinkForALady]

It could be an over supply issue - too much fore milk can cause green and / or frothy poo. It happened with both of mine when they had a growth spurt. Block feeding could help until your supply catches up with demand, as your little one will be getting more hind milk which will settle the stomach.

[ShineSmile]

It can come up after a while, not necessarily at the first contact.

The proteins in soya are similar to dairy, so both should be avoided. Can you have koko or oat milk?

Dairy would mean everything that contains cows milk. So that's from yoghurt to most chocolates. Anything that contains whey, milk powder etc.

It's only for two weeks as a trial so it shouldn't be too bad.

There are some breads that are soya and dairy free, like American bagels etc. you can look at the free from range too at supermarkets.

[minipie]

Could he have a cold or other sort of virus? DD got green poo whenever she had a virus - I worried about allergies and foremilk but a virus is apparently much more common reason for green poo.

[allisgood1]

My DD2 had this and I tried cutting dairy. About a week later green poos disappeared and only reappeared when I consumed dairy.

[tiktok]

I agree with minipie - green poo is very common, and it is caused by intestinal hurry (when the gut processes waste more quickly than usual). Yes, it can be allergy or intolerance, but these are much less likely than the baby's system working more quickly to deal with a virus.

'Foremilk imbalance' is a red herring. It's just not an issue in an otherwise healthy, thriving baby - as yours is :)

Shouting is normal - I don't see the link between shouting and silent reflux. Some babies when they are active and bouncy just shout. It's part of being active and bouncy!

Yes, do check with the HV, but don't go down the reflux/allergies/elimination diet for you before considering that there is really nothing wrong :)

[anotherbitofcake]

He has just had a cold and is still a bit snuffly in the night. Perhaps this has caused a bit of an issue?

I just don't feel v strong to deal with another feeding problem

I guess I shouldn't worry too much if he seems happy otherwise.

I think ill cut dairy as a trial anyway (prob be good for me to cut out choc biscuits anyway!)

Then maybe try block feeding? I don't want to change everything at once.

I am so close to giving up bf. however LO must know this too as he is now refusing bottle of expressed milk. (Incidentally this bottle refusal tallies in with increased fussiness and green poo too)

[tiktok]

Aw, cake, don't cut out dairy :(

Cut out the choc biscs if you want to, for your own sake, but not all dairy :(

It's just not necessary.

Why bother with block feeding? It's only necessary in cases of mega -over supply.

There is nothing wrong with green poo.

It's a normal variation, seen in healthy, thriving babies.

Makes me cross when people are encouraged in the belief that a) there is something wrong and b) that you need to do something about it

If you think there is something wrong (reflux, cows milk allergy, over supply) get him checked out by someone who can see him and assess him.

But honestly, I don;t see the point of doing anything :)

[anotherbitofcake]

Thanks tiktok I just feel so overwhelmed by it all sometimes. I get back on track then something else comes along that isn't straightforward. But you are right!! He is smiley and seems happy, other than increased fussiness at boob but he's always been difficult there!
I will try to stop stressing.

[tiktok]

It is straightforward, you know :)

Your baby has green poo - straightforward variation, often associated with a healthy immune system taking action against a minor virus

Your baby is shouting - straightforward behavioral development of a healthy bouncing baby who shows his personality and action with this loud demo :)

I don't see a single thing in your post that indicates allergy, or reflux, or foremilk imbalance, or any reason for doing the fiddly lifestyle hassles suggested by people here, honestly :)

But check in real life, if you are still worried.

[minipie]

Increased fussiness at boob could also be caused by having a cold! (or teething, or distraction - in fact both these are very likely at 20 weeks)

If he's just had a cold that does seem by far the most likely cause of the green poo.

Cutting out dairy is a PITA (I have done it) and not great for you in terms of nutrition and energy levels, and dairy allergy is actually pretty rare. Block feeding can harm supply/lead to blockages.

[Cannotbelieveit]

Sorry for hijack but glad I've read this til tok. We've had green poo mixed with yellow since Friday and had an emergency GP appt then had to go to a&e and first thing paeds said was cut out dairy! But my son is otherwise fine and feeding fine and putting on weight well!! We have to go back to the hospital on Thursday so will go armed with this info! As he has just had a cold/snotty nose!! Which we told them at the time!

[Cannotbelieveit]

Tik tok!

[tiktok]

I am astonished your GP sent you to A&E, and flabbergasted the paed said to cut out dairy.....going on what you say here (ie no other mystery symptoms).

Quite a good overview here:

www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2010/11/green-nappies-what-do-they-mean-when.html

The point is, that in a baby where there is no other sign of anything wrong, green poo is nothing to worry about.

Doctors should know this.

[PostmanPatAlwaysRingsTwice]

tiktok what about if there has been one occasion of a trickle of red blood from inside the anus while pooing, along with the frothy frequent green poo? It happened three days ago while she had bad nappy rash (it did come from inside - I saw it happen during a nappy change) but not since. Still frequent frothy greeny yellow poo though.

She is almost 5 weeks old and has had poo like this since the beginning I think.

Sorry for asking on your thread OP, it just seems a good time to ask tiktok when she's giving advice on the same problem.

[PostmanPatAlwaysRingsTwice]

Just to add her weight is fine, she's put on 300g in the last two weeks and is up at 4.4 kilos from a birthweight of 3.9.

[tiktok]

Almost certainly nothing, Postman, but ask HV to check it out.

[anotherbitofcake]

No prob for hijack! These babies! Thanks tik tok

[PostmanPatAlwaysRingsTwice]

Thanks tiktok I will. I hadn't yet because I thought they would just give me the foremilk imbalance or cmp explanation as others up thread experienced and I wanted to see how things went for a bit. But maybe it is cmp as her poo is mucousy as well.

[PostmanPatAlwaysRingsTwice]

There always seems to be something to worry about doesn't there cake. I thought it would be different with DC2!

Hope your DS's poo clears up

[tiktok]

If you google blood in baby's poo and stick to trusted sources of info, you'll see there is some evidence for a maternal dietary link, esp dairy....but this is for persistent bloody stools, not a one off.

[josephine1986]

Blood in stools indicates an irritated inrestine and should be checked. Along with mucous i would suspectallergy. Weight gain not necessarily relevant .