Green poos - 4 1/2 weeks old, excl bf baby who is thriving

[waitinggirl]

hello - have received so much conflicting advice, thought i would get some more off MN (although trust the delphic oracles of MN more than some HV/MW).

dd is 4weeks, 4 days old and has been bf all this time - all gone well. suddenly, nearly a week ago her poos have turned almost exclusively green (have been a few yellowy/brown ones, but mainly green). she is thriving - putting on weight, sleeping well, is hydrated and weeing lots - no probs that i can see, but these sodding green poos when i know they should (and have been) mustardy yellow. i took her to the doctor on tuesday who checked her out, said she was absolutely fine and not to worry.

have been told by various people:

1. i am overfeeding and she can't digest so much milk
2. i am underfeeding and she needs more hindmilk
3. i have eaten something unusual or too many vegetables
4. she has a small infection and it is sorting itself out
5. i should feed off one boob only at a time(generally what i am doing) to make sure she gets this hindmilk
6. that i should feed off both boobs at each feed, as the hindmilk will be present in both, regardless of how much she has already drained the boob.

you may understand my dilemma. any experts/anyone with experience of this, please let me know - thanks. and if you think green poos aren't a problem, let me know that, too. thanks

Green poo is within the normal range of poo colours for breastfed babies.

You don't need to do anything to change his poo's colour or really know why it is green. It will go back to yellow sooner or later.

If you don't like to see it green then wear sunglasses at nappy change.

But if you still want to know, it is because the feed has raced through his system without much time for bilirubin, the by product of the break down of red blood cells, to be absorbed into the poo which colours it yellow.

Some talk about foremilk hindmilk which is a part of the story too but as said already, your breasts and baby will sort it out in a few days so don't stress about it.

Mine all did this.

If your baby is thriving, then there is really nothing to worry about.

It sounds like your baby is taking a disproportionate amount of foremilk, but is also clearly getting plenty of hindmilk.

Is she 'snacking'? That means having a very quick feed fairly often (eg less than a minute), in addition to proper long feeds?

thankyou thankyou. no, she's not snacking like that, scienceteacher - she tends to eat for longer than that and has anything between 1-4 hours between feeds.

foxytocin - how interesting. thanks for the sunglasses tip - however, i might refrain, especially as you said green is ok.

i just thought it was a bad sign, but obviously not. thanks for putting me straight. will now stop worrying and get on with enjoying her.

many thanks