baby seems to be rejecting my milk

[BumblBeee]

I even cracked and gave her formula milk last night I was so stressed.

She has been BF for 4 months now but is not gaining weight and seems to always have digestive problems.

Thinking of quitting BF..

Just tried feeding her lying down but she hated that also.

I wish I was better at pumping milk so I could give it to her from a bottle.

Haven't heard before that greenish poo can be due to underfeeding. I have always thought it was due to food I ate or a touch of wind. If baby wasn't being given enough, it wouldn't poo that regularly, green or not I would have thought. All the suggestions here sound very sensible to me BumbleBee. All babies grow at their own pace and while charts can give some guide, they are often very unhelpful. If lo is well in herself I would follow the advise here and try not to worry .

A baby from my rl bf support group was not gaining much weight, however he was growing in length and his head had grown. Mw & Hv said some babies tend to increase in size rather than weight. Not sure if this info is helpful to you

Think you really need to be observed feeding to see what alternative positions or tips you can be given. The more stressed you become about it the harder it will be to find a solution alone. Can you call your local NCT or LLL branch and ask if they have a drop in coffee session where a counsellor may be present or if there are any babycafes in the area. Has she been checked for thrush, tongue tie, sore throat , ear infection etc recently or is she teething ?

No she hasn't been checked for any of these. I have thought often that she may be teething but no teeth ever appear.

Maybe a drop in session would be good as she is worst in the afternoon.

Is it generally bad to give formula top ups?

It could compromise your supply as you can't tell if she has a good breastfeed beforehand. Also you could confuse things as you won't know if it is the formula causing her to be unsettled or something else .

Well I will try my best to avoid it.

Gosh things never seem to get any easier with these babies do they?

I hope this is helpful although it's as contradictory asall advice seems to be - Green poo Says Vicky Pigott: 'If your baby's stools are green and frothy she may be taking in too much lactose (the natural sugar found in milk), which happens if she feeds often, but doesn't get the rich milk at the end of the feed to fill her up. It may also be caused by overfeeding or underfeeding, or is a sign that your baby has a stomach bug.'

Green stools in a baby who is receiving nothing but breastmilk are a warning sign that all is not well. If your baby's stools are nearly always green and if he is not gaining weight well even though your milk supply seems fine, then it could be that he is getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. As the foremilk is more dilute, with more lactose and less calories, it stimulates your baby's digestive tract to move the milk along too fast producing green, often explosive, nappies!

If you are taking him off the first breast before he comes off spontaneously, try waiting until your baby finishes the first breast to get enough hindmilk before offering the second breast; it may even be that he will only need one breast per feed. Ask a breastfeeding counsellor or infant feeding specialist to check that your baby is properly latched on and that he is managing to extract all the calorie-rich hindmilk.

Consistently green stools could also be a warning that your baby is sensitive to something. Is he on any medication? If not, could he be sensitive to any medicines that you are taking, like iron supplements or antibiotics? Very occasionally, a baby can become sensitive to something in his mother's diet which is passed to him through her breastmilk. In this case other symptoms, such as eczema or a rash, may be present. It can be hard to pinpoint the trigger. If you suspect your baby has a food allergy or intolerance, you should talk it through with a dietitian or breastfeeding counsellor. Your baby may also have diarrhoea if he has a viral or bacterial infection, in which case, make an appointment to see your GP.

ive just read on babycentre.co.uk that green poo can be as a result of a baby not getting the hind milk[rich milk] as in feeding frequently but only getting the fore milk which could result in a baby having too much lactose[milk sugar] it could be a sign of underfeeding or overfeeding and its possible due to food sensitivity.. try googling it and seeing what coes up as you may recognise your babys symptoms . hope it helps

I guess we're reading the same stuff Bambi

Bumblbeee - check out kellymom.com - it has the most up to date advice and info regarding b/feeding.

Just a thought, as our babies are the same age, but I gave up BF 6 weeks on the advice of my Gp/Hv as my baby wasn't gaining weight and was rejecting my milk, pushing me away, arching her back, screaming and very windy with green poo.

Turned out to be reflux (finally properly diagnosed at a&e this weekend after weekly visits to useless baby clinic and GP) and that continuing with BF and getting meds for the reflux would have been the best thing to do rather than go for FF top ups out of desperation leading to full time FF which I did and regret badly. I too thought my supply wasn't good enough as she was always hungry but this wasn't the case, she was in pain and couldn't feed!

She had green poo because she was only taking the fore milk before the reflux kicked in causing her pain and she couldn't stay on long enough for the hind milk which contains the calories.

Your difficulties certainly sound familiar and I feel for you and your LO. Whatever it is, I hope you manage to sort it soon. x

Thanks for all of this very good advice.

It seems that any of these problems are possible. I tried to get my GP to refer her for an intolerance test but he wouldn't as he wanted me to feed her baby rice instead.

I stopped milk for 5 days but it didn't help her and it gave me a stomach ache.

Reflux is possible too as she prefers being upright a lot of the time.

I wish I knew who to go to sort this out- it all being down to the individual practitioner you have the luck to see.

A bfc might be a place to start - if the problem is with supply , let down , latch or position it may be easily corrected. If no joy there you can then go back to gp with whatever information they give you.

When was your dd born ? The mums with August and September babies have ongoing support threads here , whcih you could join if not already, and some also seem to have Sleep issues here .

Good luck

Thanks LIZS