green poo in bf baby, does this mean he isn't getting enough

[sparklygothkat]

???

sparkly - dd2 had this and I was told that it was that she was getting more of the watery sugary foremilk rather than more hindmilk iyswim. She was not unwell with it - just lovely green poo. IF he seems fine in every other way I would just keep an eye on him.

not sure, but paediatrician saw our DS's green poos and asked if it was normal for him (which it was), and then said it was fine.

I have read the following - who knows which, if any, are correct!

-too much foremilk
-too much milk
-too little milk
-food intolerance

DS had green poos for 2 or 3 months - have only recently changed to yellow, and that was only since he had a fever for a few days

May also be a sign of teething....

thing is the scbu nurse removed his feeding tube yesterday, because he had gained weight, and had lovely yellow poos. He has to gain by friday to keep the tube gone..

yes i think it does usually mean not enough
i asked with dc5 and was told that so upped the feedi g for a couple of days and it yellowed up hth

but he feeds every 2-3 hours anyway.. but he didn't gain weight, until the scbu nurse put a feeding tube back down and we had to topped up each feed with ebm, now its gone and we are not topping up, his stools are green..

My dd had green poo for about a month, was told it was a stomach upset. It didn't seem to bother her though and she was gaining weight.

Could try feeding from the same breast for a couple of feeds in a row to make sure he's getting to the hindmilk. You do get green frothy poo when baby is just getting foremilk.

has spoken to the SCBU nurse and she suggested 3 things.

1. express the first 20-30mls then put Callum to the breast

2. express the full amount off and bottlefeed him

3. go to the hospital and have the tube put back down

DH said to do the first one, because he thinks that bottle feeding will make Callum tired. I just don't know what to do.

It's green because sometimes it's green.

My personal belief is that it's something to do with air/wind because lovely mustardy yellow poos turn green in the air (only noticed this having used washable nappies with BabyDragon). This would kind of make sense because I assume he couldn't gulp down air with a feeding tube but can when bf-ing??

My gut feeling would be just to feed him.

lol its bright pea green!! I believe him isn't getting the hindmilk, as his stools were yellow when we were doing top ups with the tube, and that means he will not gain weight again, he is 4 weeks old and has only just got back to his birth weight, as he didn't gain for 10 days after leaving SCBU, which is when the tube was put back in.

also he is feeding every 1-2 hours overnight.

How long is he feeding for?
Can you hear him gulping/swallowing?
When feeding BabyDragon I noticed that she'd start off with lots of suck and no swallow, switch to frantic gulping and swallowing when the milk let down and then progressively slow down with more sucks-per-swallow as, I assumed, she got to the thicker hindmilk.

You need Tiktok to wander in...

SGC,

I am wary of posting advice to you as I know that Callum is a prem baby and guess now he is home with you? Congrats!

Usually green poo is not a problem - there have been several threads deabating it on MN. Again the weight gain is not usually an issue but in a prem baby it can be more of an issue. What weight is he now and when did he last gain? Id he having plenty of wet/pooey nappies (of whatever hue!)?

My feeling would be to stick with feeding him directly but very frequently. My first was very small (tho full term) and she fed very often. I would try to increase to every 1.5 hours during the day maybe and also make sure he is getting plenty through the night for the time being. Personally I would steer clear of expressing and bottle feeding now you have him home. Lots of booby, lots of cuddles and lots of love is what he needs.

he feeds for about 30 minutes, can hear him gulping, but he slows down after the first 10 minutes

Have you spoken to a specifically trained breastfeeding counsellor at all?

You answered all my queries whilst I was typing there!

How about expressing after a feed into a cup and giving him a top up that way if he'll take it?

Are you co-sleeping at night?

he was born at 4lb 8oz, dropped to 4lb 2oz, left SCBU after 10 days weight 4lb 5oz. Didn't gain for 10 days (which is when the tube was put back in) was weighed last friday and he was 4lb 6oz and then on tuesday he was 4lb 10oz (and tube removed) We were BF and then topping up.

I try not to co-sleep lol but often fall asleep feeding him

So when is he next weighed and would you be willing to try a couple of days of straightforward bfing to see how it goes? I think that it will help establish your supply too as it's such early days for the pair of you considering him being in SCBU and all.

oh I have plenty of milk. He is being weighed tomorrow.

No wonder with him feeding so much -but he does need it for now being so teeny. You have other LOs don't you? You must be knackered so sending sympathy and hot tea.

Maybe deciding to co sleep might be the way forward to a bit more sleep?

he is 4 weeks old now, and have been expressing/feeding since he was a day old.