Breastfed, mucus in poo - cut out dairy?

[FortunateHamster]

Me again.

So I've had green poo issues for weeks but as each day starts with mostly yellowy-brown poos I haven't been too concerned. In the mornings I usually offer one side at each feed as I am full enough to satisfy him that way, but in the afternoons usually offer two (he was not putting on as much weight as I would've liked when I was solely doing one side).

Anyway, am getting frustrated as he is still getting fussy due to tummy pains and having green poo and today there was a fair amount of mucus, too. I doubt it's a virus as he seems otherwise okay and the green poo has been going on for ages. I have, once or twice, seen a teeny tiny speck of blood too.

I don't think I have a particularly strong let-down. I've already tried only doing one side.

What else can I do? Breastfeeding is going really well except for this and it's getting me down.

The only other thing I can think of is maybe it's a diet problem. There are allergies in my family and my dad is allergic to dairy. Has anyone else found giving it up improved things? Apparently you need to do at least two weeks to see an improvement. Of course I'll do whatever it takes but as a massive chocoholic/cheese-lover, it will be difficult. Did you cut out just milk/cheese/yoghurt and everything with obvious dairy ingredients, or also scrupulously check everything for milk powders etc?

Thanks in advance.

i am not still suggesting it! I am trying to explain myself. and i am certianly not trying to prove myself right

i came on this thread with soem advice for you, which including a suggestion of block feeding in the mornig when you are only offering one breast anyway. other people mentioned it too.

you said you hadn't tried it and thought it wouldn't work cos of weight gain

i explained it further, and how it may help with the weight gain and supply too

you go off on one accusing me of keeping suggesting something you've tried and won't work

all i have done since then is explain WHY I suggested it.

re-read the thread.

will bow out now as tired of offering advice to people who clearly don't want to take it

Poor you fortunatehamster, I know how you feel. I've been worn thin with worry since becoming a mum a 4 wks ago. I've run te gambit of every bf problem from latch to maststis to thrush and had worries with baby and loose stools lots of mucus, gas and now a weight plateau, which drew me to your thread. I just want to do the best thing like you do, but i'm new at this and clueless!

I've had lots of questions and lots of advice much of it conflictig even amongst Health Professionals not to mention mum/friends! I've found BF so difficult and I've cried more this last month than in my whole life.

I took much comfort in a conversation with a counsellor on the NCT advice line who along with sugestions and answers to my questions encouraged me to go with my instincts.

Why don't you try to do that, take on board the suggestions and do what sounds right to you, for example if you are suspicious about diary why not try giving it up it will be hard at first but then you will get used to what to do/eat instead. The thread I posted is referring to the biological nurturing position, it is hard to get the hang of it but there are other advantages (more comfortable and less wind I found) why not have a go if you think you feel it's worth it.

My heart goes out to you, you are not on your own and all the best with things, I'm sure it will all be fine :)

sorry one hand typing as feeding baby!

TIY - thank you, I do not want to take that particular piece of advice, you are quite correct. Hope you were able to read my reasons for not block feeding and that I have seen people in RL about bfeeding. I genuinely did not want to argue but please understand I am feeling v.emotional about this at the moment and I thought you might get the hint about block feeding earlier. I do know why you suggested it but there are reasons against too (like all the ones I've already mentioned and it affecting supply) and I simply don't feel it's for me. :)

Sedgiebaby - thank you for the info. I did read your link and tried the position lying down with him on top of me (normally if I bf lying down it's with him to the side). It was pretty weird but he's got much better at tummy time in the last week and he was able to feed without smushing his face into my boob :). He also burped and farted while lying there so maybe you're right about the wind too!

You are so right about conflicting advice (as you can tell from this thread). I may well give up dairy - I want to persevere for a few more days with what I'm doing now (which isn't much but does include feeding from both sides but ensuring he empties them and waiting a bit longer between feeds) as today's been not so bad on the poop front.

You don't sound new and clueless at all - but remember if you feel like that you've only been doing it for four weeks! I've been at it four months and some days I feel so confident and happy with it all and some days I just want to cry. The whole feeding thing is so emotive and complicated all round. What I try to do is take one day or one week at a time. Eg now I'm at four months. In only two months I can try offering food and the long road to weaning will have become.

Both my DSs had green, frothy, explosive, runny and mucousy poos as newborns and specks of blood occasionally.

I cut out dairy, tried block feeding etc and nothing seemed to help. Both gained weight fine, otherwise thriving (although DS1 diagnosed with reflux and both had colic for first three months and both were windy enough to rival that of a grown man!!).

I still don't know what caused these initial 'problems' (although in hindsight, they don't seem as bad now as they felt at the time).

All I can say is that since weaning, both of their poos got better. DS2 is coming up to 8 months now and his poos are fine, quite soft still but fine. DS1 always had quite runny poos and I think I actually gave him too much fruit when he got to toddlerdom. I cut down on amount of fruit and his poos became even more 'normal'.

Not sure if this helps, but to reassure you that weaning seemed to help with both of mine. The green, mucousy poos seemed to be just one of those things they grew out of.

Highly exciting poo update.

So Saturday and Sunday ended up being entirely yellowy normal poos - awesome!

Today started off well with normal yellowy/brown poos but ended up having a small green one in the afternoon and then a greeny-yellow one later. Nothing that distressed him though and no mucous.

It's hard to pinpoint what I'm doing differently on the good days vs. bad. Weird as it may sound, I think it's actually been better on the days when I've stretched feeds out a bit (ie mostly 2.5 hours apart at least). Today I fed him at 9am and 11am which is the closest they've been together at that time of day for a while. Also he only took one side, which seemed very full, at both feeds - it may seem counter-intuitive, but maybe he actually gets a worse fore/hindmilk mix that way, because the breast is so full he gets hardly any hindmilk, whereas if he empties (or apparently empties) two, he'll get hindmilk from at least one.

Or for all I know it's to do with diet.

I might start being reallllly boring and do a his poo/my diet diary and see if there's anything that correlates in it.

(whispering - thisisyesterday, block feeding would never normally be recommended when there is a concern about weight gain. It reduces the volume of milk available to the baby, which is why it is sometimes useful in clear cases of over-supply, which this situation definitely is not. I'm sure you intended only to help, but I think you have misunderstood things here)

FortunateHamster - one option would be to stop worrying! Sometimes he has mucusy poo, some days he hasn't. He's clearly basically ok. So does it matter? :)

You are right.

I know you're right.

I just have to convince the over-worried part of my brain that you're right :D