Oversupply green poos and sleepless nights

[LillyC]

My 5 week old baby has been a fussy eater from the start. Initially because she had lip and tongue tie, also I had to use breast shields. Once I've tried to get her back on the breast, she only wants the nipples. She has reflux (so I have to keep her upright after each feed for at least 30m) and bad colic (I'm using infacol but don't think it's working). I can see that she is suffering and struggle to help her. So she doesn't sleep (and I don't sleep either). When it's not colic, it's the vomiting which disturbs her as soon as I put her in bed (I have a folded muslim below the cot to ensure she has a bit if an angle while sleeping and head higher than feet)
She has been having really good bowel movements, 4 or 5 a day but now, for the past 24h they have been green.
I've read a lot about foremilk and hindmilk, and because I have so much milk I end up doing 3 or 4 feeds from the same breast before I change so I can't really understand why its going green. I suspect because she's using the nipple to calm down as opposed to actually feeding.
Everyone says it will get better, but she has never slept more than 8h in total a day. She can go a good 12h without sleeping, apart from the little naps on my breast or while I'm holding her upright. So zombie mom here.
Any tips?

Hello, I had a similar difficult time with my son; tt can be really tricky not least that it causes a high palate to be formed within the womb which adds to latch issues.

I did have over supply too due to bad advice and too much expressing.

I think the first thing is to get some really good advice on latching; if you can get a really experienced peer supporter or lactation consultant to observe you this will help.

I think block feeding is a tricky one as it's trying to find the balance between calming the supply but not cutting it off as baby needs it.

Read this and see if it helps - I did try block feeding and it did help and we got yellow poos after about 5 days I think but I do wonder if there were other things I missed too.

http://www.nancymohrbacher.com/articles/2014/5/21/green-poop-when-should-you-worry.html

Google dr jack Newman on YouTube and compression feeding too. He also has some things to say about oversupply and green poo too but it can get a bit complicated.

Check your latch is really good - pull baby's bum into your tummy and press gently / support between their shoulder blades so their head is free to move.

I found feeding lying down very helpful as my son struggled with the let down. Make sure their chin is touching your breast if you do this; I'd also recommend compression feeding if baby nods off to make sure the breast is being drained.

There's no magical switch over to hind milk but it is fattier near the end hence Newman's approach. Some don't believe in block feeding for this reason. (Sorry I know it's confusing!)

Infacol is useless but colief might help a bit (expensive but v useful) as it helps them process the lactose. It's just lactase. Bit faffy but you can express onto a spoon and syringe it in.

I really did find a small amount of baby gavisgon helpful; didn't need all the time and I just mixed a small amount in.

I do remember having to keep my son upright all night which was exhausting. a really good firm circular clockwise massage on his tummy while he stretched back over my thighs helped shift tummy wind. But it's trial and error.

Lastly I'd check there isn't a uti going on as actually I found my son did have one which made him sicker.

I was advised to try cutting out milk myself too - you could give it a go; some friends have found it really helps.

And congratulations!

(Sorry that was epic )

It's a lactose issue

I came off dairy for a while but eventually had to give her lactose free formula.

Thanks a lot :) In the meantime had 2 yellow nappies in a row. I normally drink lactose free milk, but now I've cut all dairy. Not even drinking coffee anymore (which I did during pregnancy).
The tricky bit is to handle the reflux and the oversupply, as pretty much baby didn't sleep the whole night. As you've said Violet, it's trial and error and hope better days will come. In the meantime just hope not to collapse with the lack of sleep

Hooray for yellow poos!

If there's a dairy issue in her then you need to be ultra vigilant about cutting all dairy in your diet and some people find they need to cut soya too.

Lactase enzyme helps to digest the lactose in your milk which is a type of sugar; with over supply they're getting more of the sugary foremilk and it's 'sugar' overload, similar to people who have lactose intolerance/ ibs.

You cutting out lactose only treats you iykwim, there will still be lactose in your own milk.

It does get better. In the plus side with over supply my low birth weight boy shot yo the charts very quickly!

No dairy might help the reflux, gavisgon will too. You could try asking for omeprazole or ranitidine but they made my son even more windy. Others found it very useful.

Some people use baby probiotics too.

When he got older I had to prop him right up on a pillow to sleep.

A GP told me reflux that is mechanical gets easier when they start standing up etc as their body elongates, which is what happened here.

Yes good point. Yap she was born with really low weight as well (after due date, but tiny).
I am lactose intolerant and I know my mom had lots of issues with my milk, so wouldn't be surprised if she is as well

Ah well I guess there could be issues. I'm sure I was told though that the lactose issue properly comes later in life. Some gps prescribe colief by the way if you find that helps (it's the same as the lactase tablets you'd take for lactose intolerance).

Congratulations again! You're doing fab!

There is a difference between cows milk protein allergy (which you can deal with by cutting out dairy completely) which babies usually grow out of, and lactose intolerance (breast milk contains lactose) which is usually acquired. CMPA is much more common in babies and it does sound like you've got lots of symptoms there; if that's what it is the baby will continue to react if you have lactose free milk or give them lactose free formula