help poo and pain in newborn

[Ladypug]

Our newborn (one week old) is in lots of pain trying to go to the toilet and is passing green stools, she is crying uncontrollably and clearly in serious discomfort. I've tried researching it but everything is coming up from GED or colic to not getting enough hind milk or potentially the iron supplements I'm taking crossing the breast milk. Can anyone advise based on experience? I can't stand seeing her in pain and discomfort like this!

Dd was formula fed so I guess it was probably more extreme and alot easier to figure it out.

but I would assume the symptoms would be the same if your baby is reacting to the proteins in your breast milk.

that's not to say it couldn't be a reaction to your iron tablets or other foods you may he eating. but dairy is one of the most allergenic foods so it's a good place to start with in regards to the prime suspect. Dd was intolerant not allergic.

as you have been off the iron fir a bit I'd give it the 24 hours to see if that's what it could be but it does also sound possible it could be. unfortunately it will take a while (the milk ) to leave your system so it's not necessarily going to be instant relief.

it might be worth you having a bit of a Google on CMPI or maybe even lactose intolerence (which is rarer than cmpi) and seeing how much of it applies.

I'm so sorry your dd is so unhappy it's horrible isn't it

Have you read this thing about purple crying? Sure it's not just normal inconsolable baby? Most babies I know have had green poop at some time or another

kellymom.com/health/baby-health/food-sensitivity/

Thanks Giles I will look into it!

Thanks flap, it's definitely poo related as we can see her straining and watch it follow through so we know it's related to digestion in some way.

Green poo is definitely in the spectrum of normal. Have you been on antibiotics? These can change poo too, as can a virus or cold.

CMPA is also a possibility. DS has it and his poo was dark, forest green. He's also reacted to soy and eggs through breastmilk but not until he was a few weeks old.

No antibiotics just the iron. I can see the iron is still in my system so giving it time to flush through

Update: we just had a yellow poo without any crying! Hoping it's not a one off!

Nope: more agonising crying and green poo :-(

We've just had a week of endless crying and explosive poop - lots of well meaning people have suggested cpmi and lactose intolerance.

We also had a week of green poo early on as the meconium went and very gradually turned to yellow poo.

The crying/arching/seeming in intense pain can be a symptom of colic , and colic manifests as digestive issues but may be down to two things: gut immaturity plus overstimulation. We had a lovely but tiring two weeks with family coming to visit. I think ds just had too much stimulus.

This week we've toned it right down in the evenings. Low lights, constant cuddling and carrying, feeding on demand etc. It's been like magic! Ds has largely stopped the hideous crying/arching/awful pain followed by massive wind and poop etc.

Lactose intolerance is much rarer than the Internet would have you believe.

I'd get your little one checked out at the doc to rule out anything physical (take some poop pics!)

Then try the techniques in this article before you start dietary restrictions-

www.babydoc.com.au/faq/colic-bore-your-baby-to-sleep/

It worked very well for us.

All three of mine had CMPI. With the younger two it was so bad that if I even ate bread with milk or soya then the symptoms would start. Had to totally eliminate milk and soya from my diet. It's not the obvious milk. For us it was checking ingredients level. They went on to be intolerant to cereals too. Had a very restrictive 3yrs. Now all at school, all can have anything - although one still a little reluctant on dairy front.

With the youngest I knew for sure after a lovely cream tea at about 7-8 days and the symptoms which he already had to an extent got a lot worse - if you don't want to eliminate at this stage (and you need to eliminate all milk and soya for a week), then you could try something with lots of milk and see if it gets worse. We had been warned to expect it by that stage (dc3). The youngest two were on the extreme end even the usual prescription formula would set them off. Hope it's not that but if it is then you will get through it.

Sorry - not just the obvious milk

Once iron is out of your system and if no improvement then you could try eliminating dairy and soya. But for anyone truly wishing to do that you need to be thorough and eliminate all milk from diet, including anything made with butter. Check all ingredients it should state wether contains milk as an allergen.

Cows milk protein intolerance is not the same as a baby being allergic to lactose. CMP is only found in cows milk and lactose would be in your own milk and allergy to this is rare.

Don't substitute with soya or goats milk.

If you see improvement and you should see it within a day or so but can take up to 2 weeks, then make sure you tell your GP because you will need calcium supplements. Also when it comes to weaning you'll need to discuss with HV about what foods to introduce when as things like egg allergies need to be looked out for.

Thanks everyone, I can't believe how useful this thread is and I hope it will help inform other people too, I've learnt so much! Wow Skipton, the low lighting and chilled atmosphere sounds blissful and perfect for baby. I will re read all of the suggestions and start implementing if it's not the iron. In the meantime, we just had a relatively pain free and perfect coloured plentiful poop! Apart from some crying with trapped wind we had another good one :-) never thought my life would revolve around poo watching like this! Eagerly awaiting each nappy with trepidation!

My DS had similar symptoms. Fighty on the breast, crying immediately after feeding, bloating, severe discomfort, and green, frothy explosive poos that could shoot across the room. He also developed rough reddish skin on his cheeks. I had/ have a LOT of milk. I spoke to a lactaction consultant who pretty much told me that I didn't have a problem. My breast-feeding books suggested everything from elimination diets to nipple shields. Nothing helped much.
We battled away from 1 week to about 5 weeks at which point I visited another paediatrician who suggested lactose overload from endless short feeds of foremilk, leading to excess fermentation and gas production in the intestine - this gas obviously cannot be burped up. (I already reckoned something like this to be the case from hours of midnight googling). She suggested simply spacing out the feeds to intervals of 3-4 hours and introducing a soother to satisfy his need for comfort suckling.
It worked extraordinarily quickly and everything had normalised within 24 hours. I didn't really adhere rigidly to the schedule but DS seems to naturally want to be fed every 3 hours anyway and now that my supply has settled down, it's a relaxed pleasure.
I hope everything works out for you soon.
(Obviously this is only my own experience and you may be dealing with a different issue.)