Green poo, healthy baby otherwise. Could it be due to the hot weather?

[SESthebrave]

DD is 10 weeks old, feeding well, sleeping very well and putting on weight well. The last 4-5 days her poo has varied from very green on a couple of occasions to a slight greeny yellow.

She seems healthy in every other way so I'm wondering if it could be anything to do with the hot weather. She doesn't seem to be dehydrated if I check her fontanelle.

The only other thing I can think of is whether she is fighting off chicken pox as her brother is just getting over it.

Any thoughts?

Both of mine had this, generally when they had a slight tummy upset, nothing to worry about in my experience!

I wouldn't worry too much.

ds had all shapes/sizes/colours of poo in his nappy at that age. Never any problem.

Thanks for the reassurance. I just remember someone saying it was a sign of ill health. I won't worry with no other problems.

My dd had green poo for weeks around that age. My doctor said that just happens with some babies - if nothing else is wrong, don't worry.

Apparently green poo in breastfed babies means they're getting too much lactose from the fore milk, so might not be on each boob for long enough to be getting the hind milk.

Green poo almost always means nothing in an otherwise healthy baby - nothing to do with too much/not enough of anything, nothing to do with ill health....all it is, is a sign that 'gut transit' time has shortened for some reason, and there has been less time to turn the waste matter yellow, so it remains green/greenish.

If the milk the baby has been taking is more watery - this is fine, by the way, and happens with the sort of frequent feeding a baby asks for in hot weather - it will tend to shoot through the gut more quickly (not having as much fat in it, which would slow things down).

You don't need to do anything about this. No reason to keep the baby on one breast; no need to be concerned with what she is getting.

:)

tiktok when you say it means almost nothing - what are the circumstances where it could mean something? I only ask as my older baby is having green poos and is passing a ridiculous amount of wind which is upsetting her. I'm guessing it's diet (she's on solids) but not sure.

tiktok - thank you, that does make me think it is hot weather connected.

As she seems so happy in other ways, my "mothers instinct" is agreeing with all the replies of reassurance. Thank you.

Iggly - sorry not sure of the answer to your question but if your LO is under a year and BF, it could be a similar answer?

Is your baby bf or having some formula? Dd2 had green (and foul smelling) poos which were caused by a certain brand of formula. Even from 1 bottle a day. When I switched to another brand the poos went back to a more normal Colour and they stopped smelling so vile!

That was the doctors suggestion by the way, dd1 had quite happily had that brand of formula so switching hadn't even crossed my mind (dur) and the change was instant....

Ds2 had this - I was BF and had been eating chocolate.

iggly, speeded-up gut transit time can be one way a baby deals with a possible potential infection, or a very minor virus.

In a baby who's just started solids, then it would make sense to see if something in the diet is causing it, but if it is not causing pain or ill-health or poor nourishment, then it would still not be anything to worry about.

Green poo is only really worth concern if it happens and the baby is showing other signs of things not being right.

sittinginthesun, my bet is that your chocolate and the baby's green poo are just coincidence :) But who knows?

Hi SES

My LO was exactly the same: I knew it wasn't any big deal (she was gaining weight and seemed happy in herself). My LO's poo was also foamy which you won't see unless he/she does it in front of you. As another poster has said (fwiu) green poo is usually related to too much fore milk, not enough hind milk. I started a feeding/sleeping routine with my LO (I was demand led before) and since then no more green poos.

If a routine of feeding/sleeping isn't for you, I suspect that your LO will grow out of the green poo phase as his/her digestive system matures in due course.

FWIW I believe that we produce more foremilk in the heat to keep LO hydrated, there might be a link there too.

Hello Bodeccia :)

DD is BF and sleeping well through the night and not feeding nearly as much as DS did at this age. She's putting on weight better than he ever did though and she's bright, smily and alert when she's awake so I'm not worried as such, just keeping an eye on it. She's not been weighed for 3 weeks so will try and get her weighed tomorrow just to make sure she is gaining as well as she looks like she is!

Ok, quick update:
DD stopped sleeping through about 3 days ago - waking about 3am for a feed each night. This also coincided with the weather cooling down but I'm not sure I see a link there. Nappies have reverted to the usual yellow as well.
I'm guessing she could just be on the verge of dropping that feed but maybe just needs it for a bit longer.
When I had her weighed, she was 12lb 9oz at 11wks+5 which is a good size at just below 75th centile although she had dropped from just above the 75th centile and only put on 1lb in 3 weeks.

I'm not worried, just thought I'd update the thread with what the latest is and my musings on it!