Someone remind me what causes the green spinach-like pooh in breastfed babies and is it a sign of something wrong?

[beatie]

My baby is four weeks old and we've had some green explosions last couple of nappy changes.

isn't it something like lots of foremilk?

Or are you bottle feeding?

I thought most baby poo was green actually

Supposedly through getting more/too much foremilk compared to hindmilk. Think it can be a sign of a stomach upset also. Can also be for no reason at all!

Nope. It comes and goes and I wouldn't worry about it.

I thought it was too much foremilk too.

Because sometimes it's green.

You will convince yourself that:

(a) your hind/fore milk balance is wrong so feed for hours from the same boob just to make sure

(b) or that they are coming down with some hideous virus thing

then everyone will tell you that their breasfed babies were exactly the same at some point between 4 weeks and 12 weeks and then it stops!

If everything else if fine I wouldn't worry.

PS Both DD1 and DD2 had this, at around 6 weeks for about a week, both were fine, never knew why.

I understood it to be too much foremilk so I used to put dd on the same breast for ages and ages.
Made no difference. I gave up worrying about it, dd was fine

too much foremilk...which can also lead to colic!

So if ur baby is a bit harder to settle also this could be it.

We always get a green poo on really restless days when ds2 will not sleep or breakwind no matter how much he needs too!

No not necessarily too much foremilk (although it can be this). My GP advised that due to babies immature gut poo comes out myriad shades initially

I read somewhere that it can be a sign they're fighting infection. More likely it's just one of those things. There's another thread today about green poo, and as I said on there my lovely HV's advice was don't worry about it unless it's foul-smelling. Ds did loads of green poos and was otherwise fine.

I'd say totally normal in the early weeks. Ds started off with the textbook wholegrain mustard yellow and then they changed to green on and off for a few weeks.

Thanks for the reassurances

Ds3 (my fourth baby) nearl always had green poo when he was little. I haveno idea why but he put on weight and was fine otherwise (apart from continual colds - maybe that was why?) Anyway, I don't think you need worry unduly.

Finally I have found something on green poo! I have a little boy only 14 weeks old. He was born breached, arse first and is bottle fed. He has very bad colic. Other parents have said that his colic is the worst they have ever seen in a baby. He has geen poo with flecks of green like spinach stuff, which he has had for about 4-5 days now. When he has his colicie attack he cries out loud and kicks his legs and arms out violently and sounds as if he is in great pain. Sometimes this goes on for 30 mins at a time which is very dispairing and mentally exhausting. Naturally we are both, or all three very tired and irritable and mentally fried, which is causing great stress on me and my partners relationship as well. We have tried gripe water, infacol, homeopathy (the 3 C's), reiki, sacral therapy, acidophilus, but still no change. His biggest problem it seems is when he needs to 'fart'. This really stresses him out and causes immense pain. What is causing this excess o wind? The health visitor came over yesterday and luckily witnessed J having an attack of colic and said that he is very very bad and she wants him to see the pediatrician on Tuesday next. If anyone can help or give me some advice about this problem please help!

Finally I have found something on green poo! I have a little boy only 14 weeks old. He was born breached, arse first and is bottle fed. He has very bad colic. Other parents have said that his colic is the worst they have ever seen in a baby. He has geen poo with flecks of green like spinach stuff, which he has had for about 4-5 days now. When he has his colicie attack he cries out loud and kicks his legs and arms out violently and sounds as if he is in great pain. Sometimes this goes on for 30 mins at a time which is very dispairing and mentally exhausting. Naturally we are both, or all three very tired and irritable and mentally fried, which is causing great stress on me and my partners relationship as well. We have tried gripe water, infacol, homeopathy (the 3 C's), reiki, sacral therapy, acidophilus, but still no change. His biggest problem it seems is when he needs to 'fart'. This really stresses him out and causes immense pain. What is causing this excess o wind? The health visitor came over yesterday and luckily witnessed J having an attack of colic and said that he is very very bad and she wants him to see the pediatrician on Tuesday next. If anyone can help or give me some advice about this problem please help!

To Jacknjill:
poor you, you sond like having very hard time DS is 14 weeks and he had bad colic until about 4 weeks ago.He was screaming and farting every night for 2 hours and would go to sleep only when he was very tired. When he was 4 weeks my midwife recommended "Colief" infant drops which contains active enzyme lactase, responsible for the digestion of the lactose. Often babies cannot digest the lactase fully, which is one of the reasons for colic. I read all this in the leaflet that came with the drops (Boots, £9.99 per bottle), but I found out that no doctor or a health visitor had heard about it. Anyway, I gave it to my DS with every feed for 5-6 weeks and spend a fortune (one bottle lasts for a week), but he never had a colic again. Hope this was a help. Good luck!

jackngill - i'd second the Colief drops - was a godsend for my ds2 from 2-6 months - v. bad colic otherwise and extremely farty - transient lacotse intolerance - undigested lactose in milk can ferment in colon and cause a lot of painful gas - the lactase enzyme in Colief breaks it down. You can get it on prescription from doctors - buy first bottle, see if it works (give it 24 hours or so) and if so go to docs and convince them it makes a difference. HTH

my son had that it's fine it's all to do with their systems. i'm sure all babies bowel movements are similar. as they get older their poo's will go all sorts of odd colours. please don't worry yourself over it though. x

Sorry haven't time to read thread but ...

The poo should be bright yellow. If it's green this indicates baby is getting all the foremilk (the thinner drinky stuff which comes out first) and not getting to the hind milk (creamier, more nourishing). It's almost like snacking without properly nourishing yourself.

You need to make sure you're not too tired so that your milk supply is good (have a daytime lie down if poss) and also keep baby on the same breast for longer. If she stops before draining the breast, put her back on the same one next time she feeds to get her the hind milk.