Breastfeeding 9 week old suddenly doesn't seem hungry - greenish poos

[HandMini]

Hi all - I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on this. My 9 wo DD is exclusively BF.

In the last two days she seems to have hardly fed at all - popping on and off the breast really quickly. I have tried "switch feeding" - putting her from breast to breast, but over the last 24 hours her poos have gone from bright yellow to greenish, which I understand is a sign of not getting enough milk. Before her poos have been very bright yellow.

She is sleeping well at night (wakes for only one night feed, usually any time between 3am and 5am). She is bad at napping in the day - never seems to go longer than 35-35 minutes.

Any thoughts as to what I should do (if anything) and if I need to see the doctor if greenish poo persists? I was wondering if I should express after her feeds and offer her a top up bottle of EBM?

thank you

I think green poos can be when they're getting a lot of the thirst quenching milk and not so much of the creamier hind milk at the end of a feed. This can happen even more in warm weather as your body will naturally make your milk more watery for hydration purposes, for the baby.

If she is happy otherwise and creating lots of wet and soiled nappies then I think you're ok. I would actually recommend feeding from one breast at a time vs switching for a while as she will potentially get more hind milk that way. Obviously if you're worried it wouldn't hurt to get her checked out but I'm sure she will be fine.

Thanks RITA - the point you make about more watery milk in hot weather is a good one that I hadn't thought of. Yes, there are still plenty of wet/soiled nappies. I know that perhaps she is just getting more efficient at feeding, hence the shorter feeding durations. I am going to wait until tomorrow morning (ie 48 hours) to see if poos are still green...in fact, a nappy needs changing now...let's see!

Hello - hope all is going well today! I do remember noticing that feeds suddenly got shorter as she got more efficient and was surprised (and didn't trust that was the reason why to start with) because I expected it to be a gradual thing. I think they also go through stages as well and she might just go back to long feeds again. Those green poos are kind of shocking looking aren't they, even though there's usually a harmless reason for them.

Hi HandMini, I have the same thing at the moment with DS (also 9 weeks!) He is EBF & is also producing some very weird green looking poos!

We have put it down to the after-effects of his 8 weeks immunisations & also the hot weather meaning he is taking more of the foremilk. I've also read it can be the effects of any sort of cold / virus.

As long as your DD is having plenty of wet / soiled nappies (iirc, 6-8 wet per day) & is putting on weight well don't worry. Can you get her weighed to reassure yourself? We took DS to the baby clinic yesterday & we're feeling a lot better now!

green poo in of it's self is nothing to worry about. If a baby were unwell and had green poo you might want to mention it in the list of symptoms, but otherwise don't worry.

Generally as rita say's it's advisable to keep on one side for a bit...till it feels a bit "empty" as this helps manage supply.

This happened with DS2 and my BF advisor recommended feeding twice in a row from one side rather than alternating at each feed. It's supposed to allow baby to get more hindmilk. I think that is what has already been suggested, but anyway it seemed to work for us.