Poop Color

[DebbieF]

My baby will be 4 months old on the 15th and the past few days his poop has been a greenish yellowish color. I know it should be yellow and seedy normally. Should I be concerned about the greenish tint to it?

 

[MKHewson]

My baby will be 4 months old on the 15th and the past few days his poop has been a greenish yellowish color. I know it should be yellow and seedy normally. Should I be concerned about the greenish tint to it?

Apparently if your baby it's getting more for milk it's higher in sugar lactose thus green poo. Is your little one wanting to change sides.

 

[noon_child]

Occasional green poo is nothing to worry about. It is often a sign of a virus but not always accompanied by any other symptoms. Green poo is only a worry if it has never been consistently yellow/orange or is accompanied by bloody streaks.

 

[shinona]

Could be the start of teething too. My lo's poo always changes when a tooth is on the way xx

 

[_Meep_]

I second the teething comment! My LO has eight teeth and is working on teeth 9-12 at the moment. She's on solids now, so we don't see any green poop, but several times when she was fully breastfed and cutting a tooth, it was green.

 

[hlynne]

So, I exclusively breastfeed, and we have had green poop for about a week now. It started to turn yellow again for one changing today. I have an oversupply so I guess there is an abundance of fore milk that is maybe enough for a meal? I have started pumping a little before i feed but its still not making the green poop go away all the time. Baby is perfectly happy otherwise.

Any suggestions?
He is 2 months old.
He has been on a non dairy infant probiotic, for gas, for about 2 weeks.

 

[_Meep_]

Don't worry for one minute about it. As long as he is gaining weight, is not in discomfort and the poop isn't slimy or mucousy, it will likely sort itself out and will have no ill effect.

 

[hlynne]

Thank you! It was frothy at first but that has since stopped. What does frothy mean? I have read that it could mean too much fore milk. Glad that it isn't something to worry about. When it was frothy I went to the doctor about it and there was nothing wrong with him, but they aren't very "up" on breast feeding techniques and just said to watch him and if he seems ill to let them know.

 

[hlynne]

I thought I was supposed to pump daily and it caused an oversupply

 

[_Meep_]

Oh dear! It's so hard to start with isn't it? I had oversupply for about six months before it calmed down, and my poor baby just couldn't cope with my flow at all. She wasn't very good at indicating hunger and was reluctant to feed because of my firehose boobs, so I used to encourage her to feed far too much I think, and I ended up making things worse!

Feeding on demand, as much as you can fathom anyway (some babies are really hard to read!) is key - if you haven't had low supply issues in the past, there is no need to pump. It might help to just let him start and then let the letdown spray into a towel instead. As long as you feed on demand, you will regulate in the end to what your baby needs. It might also be an idea to read up on breast compressions to do towards the end of a feed to make sure he gets as much of the fattier milk as possible to fill him up, rather than instantly switching to the other side - I don't know if you are doing this? I never had to, but at 13 months, she usually takes both sides now.

Green and frothy is a classic sign of an abundance of lactose - not a problem unless it is causing pain, illness or weight problems, etc. but as the thinner foremilk contains lots of lactose, if your baby is getting a lot of this, it might be irritating his system a bit. They do find it hard to process lactose at first in large quantities. It can make them very gassy too. All breastmilk contains some fat though, so there is no need to worry as long as his weight remains good. In fact, lots of babies consuming mainly thinner milk put on HUGE amounts of weight to start with, as lactose is essentially a sugar, albeit a human and perfectly healthy one. Mine was one of those babies. I was so confused and worried when I finally regulated and she suddenly dropped two centiles! She has stayed there though, and is fine.

You sound like a standard case of mama-oversupply, I'm afraid! It will get better eventually, though. I hope this helps.

 

[hlynne]

Meep,

Thank you so much for your response! You have given me piece of mind.

My boy has definitely been one of the babies that gained weight quick probably because of my oversupply. He will be two months tomorrow and weighed 14lbs6oz last week. I'm just glad he's gaining well and happy and healthy even though he has green poop, ha ha.

Thanks again for taking your time and explaining everything!

 

[_Meep_]

No problem. I struggled so much to begin with that I've done about a billion hours of research and seen a lactation consultant, so I know a little bit. His weight sounds fantastic - keep it up!

 

[hlynne]

Don't worry for one minute about it. As long as he is gaining weight, is not in discomfort and the poop isn't slimy or mucousy, it will likely sort itself out and will have no ill effect.

Hi Meep. I'm sorry, I'm getting upset that this green poop is not going away. When you said that it will "sort itself out", what did you mean? Does it go away on its own? Do you know what it is? Lastly, how long did it last for you?

My mom watched my son for a couple of hours today and I pumped some milk for her to bottle feed. When I came home, the green frothy was back! Is it because of the bottle? Is the probiotic I am giving him doing this? It's a non dairy infant probiotic.

I'm sorry for all the questions

 

[_Meep_]

I meant that your son is still very young and his digestive system is still maturing. Has he started dribbling lately? I think I said earlier that when mine teethed while she was still exclusively breastfed, the dribbling would often turn her poop green.

I know it's disconcerting to keep seeing green poops but it's genuinely not usually a problem as long as the baby is well and gaining.

Since it started after you began a probiotic, maybe that could be causing it. While it is lactose free, it will still be changing the balance/composition of his gut flora. Could you try not giving it, and use something like Infacol instead before a feed if gas is a problem? Has the probiotic helped his gas at all?

When we saw green poop, it usually lasted around a couple of weeks before it went away again on its own, but it did come back a few times. I don't think a bottle could be causing it, as he is still taking the same milk.

Had you been seeing yellow poop again prior to this green one? Maybe your pump isn't efficient enough to remove the hindmilk for him?

I don't really have any other advice or information. I'm sorry you are so worried about this! I do know how it feels. I remember WhatsApping my partner a jubilant photo of a yellow poop when we finally got one back. If you are still really concerned, I guess you could ask your doctor, but in my experience they just weigh the baby, say he/she is fine and then ask you if you have PND. Sorry if that sounds cynical - hopefully you have a better doctor than I do.

Don't suffer alone. If you have any more questions or concerns, I will try my best to help.

 

[hlynne]

Ha Ha, texting a photo of yellow poop is hilarious, but I understand the excitement. I would be just as excited!!!

I am going to stop the probiotic. I'm not sure if it has been helping or if he's just not as gassy because his system is growing up a bit.

I know what you mean about the doctors not doing anything. I have his 2 month check on Monday, so I will see what doc says. If nothing gets better by then and doc has nothing helpful to say then I will call the lactation specialist.

Thanks again for all of your knowledge! It is much appreciated

 

[_Meep_]

Haha, I still have it! Here it is!

This was 1st September 2014, so my daughter was almost 2 months old at the time, and we'd definitely been having green poops for a while. Same sort of age range as your son, and as I said, I had oversupply too. They definitely stayed yellow, for the most part, in the end.

Do keep us updated on how you and your little man get on.

 

[noon_child]

Oversupply can cause green poo but it isn't anything to worry about unless it has never been at all yellow or is accompanied by poor weight gain. Pumping before feeding may temporarily allow baby to do more yellow poo but in the long run it will increase oversupply. Feeding little and often so your boobs don't get a chance to become engorged might be a better solution (if LO can be encouraged to eat that way).

 

[hlynne]

Meep, that is a great picture, lol! I will definitely keep you updated.

The green poop started before this, but my son is now sleeping 6 1/2 - 7 1/2 hours at night. I want him to sleep but I guess since my breasts are so full by the time he eats, this is probably making this problem worse? Did your daughter sleep that long at the age she had green poop?

I do pump for about 30 seconds when I wake at night while he is still sleeping just for some relief.

 

[_Meep_]

She didn't at that age - she'd generally sleep at the most 4 hours. BUT my oversupply was so bad that my boobs would get literally enormous within about two hours of a feed - so big the sides towards my armpits would noticeably bulge outwards and I would randomly have letdowns throughout the day if I so much as thought about breastfeeding, and often for no reason at all. I had to use breast pads for about six months. I'm surprised I didn't get mastitis as her latch absolutely sucked (every pun intended) - I think the force of my firehose letdowns was enough to easily allow her to empty the breast within five minutes. She never really learnt to work for her milk I don't think, but she does ok. She's still alive after all.

I'd probably have died if she'd slept 7.5 hours. I used to beg her to feed just to give my poor boobs a break! They never get engorged like that now but I don't think they'll ever go back to how they were before.

The fuller your boob, the worse the problem I would imagine, yeah. The fat content of the milk increases as more is removed from the breast so if his stomach isn't big enough yet to take any more before he's got much fat in him, then it figures.

 

[_Meep_]

Just wanted to add - I wondered if you have considered block feeding with the intention of reducing your supply a bit? I was always too scared to try it as if you get it wrong, you can end up reducing your supply TOO much, but since you are finding the green poops very upsetting, it might be worth a gentle trial?