Baby dropping centiles and green poos

[Sherley]

I had LO weighed the other day for the first time in 6 weeks. At birth she was 75th centile, 8 weeks 50th, and is now 25th, she's 16 weeks. She currently has a cold and has just got over chickenpox, but if anything she's fed more during these periods of illness.
She's had a green poo today and come to think of it they are often greeny yellow and sometimes just yellow. Could it be she's not getting enough hind milk? How would I know? She's always been a quick feeder but can easily go 2-3 hours between feeds and much longer at night. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Popples1]

My LO is combi fed and he's going through a green poo stage and tracking his percentile perfectly so I don't think it's necessarily an indicator that something is wrong. When I've been worried that he's not getting enough hind milk I've expressed for a couple of feeds - you can tell by the colour/consistency of the milk that it's a mixture of both. This obviously depends on whether you want to give your LO a bottle though.

 

[Sherley]

Thanks for your reply. We do express and do the odd bottle, but I haven't recently as feeding has been so unpredictable. There's always a creamy layer when I have expressed though. X

 

[sheldonsmommy]

My lo dropped centiles too. I believe as long as they don't drop 2 centiles between weighings it's not necessarily a cause for concern.

Poops can range in colour too. I know formula will make poop greenish. But if you think she's not getting enough hindmilk you can try alternating sides more than once. So feed one side until she's done, then feed the other side, then back to the first breast and see if she will eat more? If she's pooping a lot then I would be inclined to think she is getting enough though

I believe she would also be very gassy with pain and have frothy bright green poops if there is a foremilk-hindmilk imbalance.

 

[Sherley]

That's really helpful, thanks. She can go every day or a few days in between. I think she's just going to be petite, the opposite of my ds who was always on 91st centile!

 

[Flake-y]

If you let LO come off the boob themselves after every feed, then they'll be getting the hind milk. They generally don't come off mid feed. There isn't a point where the milk suddenly changes, it's very gradual. The initial milk is watery & quenches their thirst, although there is still fat in it. Gradually the wateryness decreases & the milk becomes thicker & fattier. When the milk becomes very thick the flow will slow down. When the flow becomes very slow, generally most babies will come off the boob & appear fairly satisfied.

Although you should always burp then offer the other side. They might not take it, but no reason not to offer.

 

[meli1981]

It def could be shes getting more foremilk...yellow is normal color, but green def isnt! Id pump untik you have a letdown then nurse so she gets more hindmilk...see if that makes a difference

 

[annio84]

I was actually advised to swap sides less often to avoid missing out on hind milk. Another thing I heard was to feed in a reclined position so the milk is mixing.

The other thing I thought of though from reading your post was a cows milk allergy, which can also cause green poo. If it's a one off or occaisional then it could just be the fact that baby has been poorly. There's some info on kelly mom which is a great site for breastfeeding worries.
https://kellymom.com/health/baby-health/m2m-green-stools/

 

[Shandelion]

According to LLL, the green poo is a sign of oversupply (overenthusiastic boobs), which is why there's excess foremilk and the babies don't get enough hind milk. Hind milk has all the fat. Foremilk has all the nutrients and is released first. If you switch sides frequently, your baby gets all the foremilk without fat and it creates a situation in your baby resembling lactose intolerance. I had this problem very badly, even though I rarely switched sides while feeding. Now I only switch sides once or twice per day. Letting your breasts stay overfull is also a good way to slow production and end oversupply.

Different women have different "mixes" of milk...some have little difference in fore/hind milk, some it differs greatly.

I'm just guessing, but if your baby isn't getting the fatty milk at the end of the feed, that could be the weight issue.