Green, runny, smelly poo.... 7 week old baby

[caitlinsmummy]

I'm wondering what you all think about this.

My daughter is breastfed and topped up due to reduction surgery many years ago.

She struggled to use her bowels at all from week 1 to week 4 (once a week or so) and the last couple of weeks she has starting spilling a lot of formula after a feed and also her poo is a foul smelling green, runny poo.

I'm wondering if it might be lactose intolerance? The paed recently said she has some "free reflux" but I'm not thrilled giving her the nexium she was prescribed and I don't think it's helping anyway.

What do you guys think?

[hanabi]

Well, the supplementary formula is outside my experience, but even breastfed babies can have a lot of wind pain and 'struggle' before eliminating. The smell could be from the formula as breastmilk poos are 'cheesy' smelling more than anything. Green can just mean sugar overload - as in foremilk, or from the formula. It can also be a sign of gas in the belly. All very common in breastfed babies also.

What do you mean by 'spilling' formula? Do mean possets/spit up?

I found baby massage, especially to the stomach, was very helpful when bub was struggling to eliminate or having pains. Here's a link: http://www.parenthood.com/article-to...rticle_ID=6241
The I Love You method on the stomach is very effective.

[caitlinsmummy]

What do you mean by 'spilling' formula? Do mean possets/spit up?

Yes. I guess vomitting would be too strong a description, it's more like straight after a burp, she brings back about 3 mouthfuls of milk. It doesn't seem to bother her when this happens, but if I'm not ready with a cloth it can make a real mess.

Green can just mean sugar overload - as in foremilk, or from the formula. It can also be a sign of gas in the belly. All very common in breastfed babies also.

My concern is that I had breast reduction surgery and so can only provide half or so of her milk needs so I'm wondering if I'm doing more harm than good in persisting with breast feeding as maybe I'm not giving her any hindmilk at all.

I wish she could just tell me! Ha.

[hanabi]

You are doing the best possible thing for your baby giving her any breastmilk at all. It is not possible to harm your baby by breastfeeding.

Do you feed at the breast, or pump the milk off and then bottle feed? It may be possible to persist with longer feeds, or pumping sessions to ensure you're getting the nutritious hindmilk to balance the foremilk. A little bit of green smelly poo never stopped a baby from growing!


The spitting up is normal too. The oesophegal sphincter at the top of the stomach is often weak in small babies and it would be an unusual baby that never spat up some of their milk.

Relax, it sounds like you're doing perfectly well and reading your baby as only a mother can. Trust your instincts, and remember that we have all learned this art from trial and error. Soon you'll be reading her cries and gurgles very efficiently and your confidence will arrive in full force. Keep going!

[Bronnie]

if bub is bringing up milk after a feed, perhaps you could offer less formula? or even better, could it be you are making enough milk for her yourself? even if you have to feed her a little more often than now? babies fed via the bottle are often overfed, because they have an autoreflex to suck if something is in their mouth, so then milk is there and has to be swallowed which causes more milk to flow into the mouth and on it goes till the bottle is empty. you also need to give more formula than breastmilk as bm changes feed to feed to suit bub's requirements but formula doesn't.

the more often a breast is drained, the higher the fat content, so if she feeds more often rather than say every 3-4 hours, there's lots of fat there. but even if she feeds every 3 hours, if she drains the breast, she gets a balanced meal

if she was fully breastfed, i would be thinking food intolerance, but as she has formula, it is more likely the reason for the green, smelly poops. still could be a dairy milk intolerance but formula is a constipator and can cause yucky poops. lactose intolerance is quite rare in babies (will be picked up in hospital if you birthed there), but a dairy milk protein intolerance is much more common.