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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Diarrhoea and green poo

14 replies

olimpia · 27/07/2012 17:47

I'd be grateful for any advice.
DS is almost 6 months old, ebf. We went away to another European country for a week and he's been having green poo as frequebtly as 7 to 8 times a day for 6 days now (started shortly after we got there). Normally he only goes once a week and has never done a green one before.
He's still being ebf but my DH did offer him some fruit smoothie made with whole milk which he was having. I know this was silly and he's beating himself up about it now. However the green watery poo had started a day before when he was only on breastmilk. So I'm rather worried now! Can it be that he's got a stomach bug of some sort or is he reacting very badly to cow milk?
He seems otherwise ok.
Thankful for any help!

OP posts:
Scatterplot · 27/07/2012 18:00

My DD had something similar at 5 months. After seven days or so I took her to health clinic then GP, who sent off a stool sample. It turned out to be a common virus, which she got over after about nine days, ie before the test results came back. The advice was just to keep her hydrated and wait for it to run its course. It might be the same kind of thing.

Original poster
olimpia · 27/07/2012 19:26

I've rang the out of hours GP and they advised that he should get seen tonight. Really worried now Sad

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BlackOutTheSun · 27/07/2012 19:29

its better to get checked out because of his age, my dd had green runny poo and was told its a sign of an upset belly

narmada · 27/07/2012 20:46

If he seems otherwise OK, I would bet my bottom dollar he will be just fine. Babies are usually quite transparent in that sense - if they seem fine they usually are, if they seem properly poorly, they usually are, it seems to me :). I am basing this solely on my experience with my own two and my friend's children, not on any medical knowledge I should stress.

I think it's good to get him checked out - the hospital or doctor or whoever you see will know what's endemic around where you are at the very least. Diarrhoea in babies needs checking out because if it goes on too long unchecked it can bad for them.

Depending on where you are, it may be worth asking the hospital to do a screen for parasites like giardia as well as viruses and bacterial infections.

Some tummy bugs can knock out your body's ability to produce lactase temporarily and that can cause green poo (lactose overload/ temp. lactose intolerance).

If it started before you gave him the fruit smoothie, then it's probably not that.

narmada · 27/07/2012 20:49

Sorry, lots of 'seems' in that last post. Getting slack with my composition these days ....;)

Original poster
olimpia · 27/07/2012 21:52

Thank you for your replies. They said that of diarrhoea continues over the weekend they'll do a stool test on Monday. He does seem otherwise alright. Thanks again. Smile

OP posts:
Original poster
olimpia · 30/07/2012 20:57

Hi all. Just an update. He's not better with diarrhoea and did it 7 to 8 times today. I'm really worried Sad
Had anyone got any experience of what it can be? I'm told viral infections usually last 5 to 7 days max. Can it be an extreme reaction to cows milk?

OP posts:
Scatterplot · 30/07/2012 21:08

For my DD the stool sample test report said it was an adenovirus, and the diarrhoea lasted nine days or so, with a bit of vomiting on one or two days and probably a small amount of abdominal pain. She seemed reasonably happy during it, and got over it without any treatment. She was EBF as well. When the GP phoned me to give me the results, she was quite matter of fact about it - just one of the bugs that babies can get.

It sounds like it started before your son had the smoothie drink, so unlikely to be a reaction to anything in that. From our experience it's still possible it could be a virus that is persisting a bit longer than usual.

Hopefully it will clear up soon!

ClaireRacing · 30/07/2012 21:14

Is he under the weather?

Green poos can be very normal. They are often caused by lots of short, frequent breastfeeds, rather than spaced-out long ones. This is because the baby gets more of the watery foremilk, rather than the fat-rich hindmilk.

Mine have all gone through green poo phases, but have been well and thrived.

In my one experience, diarrhoea is an almost pale cream colour rather than bright yellow of a typical bf poo.

Original poster
olimpia · 30/07/2012 21:22

Clare it's definitely diarrhoea. He's almost 6 months so I don't think the foremilk/hind milk imbalance can possibly be an issue here. My boobs are quite soft and I don't get engorged anymore so the milk he gets is definitely of the fatty type. He used to go once every 5 to 10 days whereas it's up to 10 times a day so clearly something is wrong. His bum is like a monkey's and he cried for 2 hours yesterday after a nappy change. SadSad
scarlet I hope it is a viral infection as that would be not as bad as other things. Thanks for your reply.

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narmada · 31/07/2012 11:40

Honestly I wouldn't worry too much. The cause could be viral, bacterial or parasitical. For example, my family all had giardiasis recently - caused by the giardia parasite. this caused diarrhea which went on for weeks and weeks. A course of drugs cleared it up; the doctor kept an eye on DS as he was only about a year old at the time, but in itself it's not particularly serious.

Where are you on holiday?

Some stomach bugs can knock out the gut's ability (or reduce its ability) to make lactase and so you can get temporary lactose intolerance. This can cause diarrhea and burned-looking bum. This isn't serious and rights itself usually.

I don't think it'll be a cow's milk issue as presumably you aren't giving him cow's milk cotaining products directly at the moment, are you? Babies can react to cow's milk in the mother's diet but I think you would have had a problem with this before now, presuming you usually consume cow's milk products and don't only do it on holiday :)

Best thing to do is wait for the results of the test and not worry too much. If he is still seeming well, that is good.

narmada · 31/07/2012 11:42

For the red bum, I recommend metanium ointment, applied generously after every nappy change. Sudocrem did nothing when DS had a red, bleeding bum but metanium is a thing of wonder.

narmada · 31/07/2012 11:44

Just to clarify - re me saying things like lactose inoterance aren't serious....obviously you should ensure that your baby is being regularly seen by medical professionals until the diarrhea clears up but I just didn't want you to worry too much IYSWIM :)

Original poster
olimpia · 31/07/2012 13:22

narmada thank you so much for your posts. He's only had two episodes of diarrhoea so far today but I'm not fooling myself it's all gone because he had improved mid week also but then got worse again.
Yes I've always had milk products and he's never had a reaction. I'm giving him just breastmilk for now to let him heal,
We're hopefully off toCalifornia next week Smile

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