# EBF baby's green poop and tummy issues



## newclementine (Jan 23, 2008)

I've searched around this forum for posts about green poop, and now I think it's time to make my own post asking for advice or experiences.

My 10 wk old baby has had green poop for a week now. It doesn't look like poop at all actually, it looks like pesto and is watery. His poop has also started to be a bit smelly, like I can tell it's time to change his diaper because it's stinky. Baby is EBF and had those yellowy mustard-like poops for the first 9 wks of his life, I was wondering if I should worry and then today he was VERY crabby and crying like he was in pain (his crying was soothed I nursed him, so it wasn't acute). So my thought is that he's having stomach issues. But it's so hard to tell! And then I'm not sure where to go from there.
Incidentally the start of his green poops all coincided with a visit to his grandpa's for Thanksgiving, and while we were there Grandpa go a flu shot. Not sure if this has anything to do with it, I initially thought maybe baby had a touch of the flu but his green poops have gone on for a week
+ now. Finally, don't know if this is related to the poop but he recieved his first vaccination three days ago (HIB) and did not develop a fever although he was VERY cranky yesterday.
Any thoughts or expereicens would be greatly appreciated.


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## *MamaJen* (Apr 24, 2007)

Green poop that looks like spinach is usually a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. Block feeding usually works really well to sort that out.
ETA: Here's on thread on it: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...=block+feeding
And here's another good link explaining block-feeding: http://breastfeeding.hypermart.net/toomuchmilk.html


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## Mom_enjoying_life (Dec 5, 2007)

My DS had very green and stinky poop when he was about 2-3 months old. It was like he had eaten grass and none of it had digested. I went to the doctor, who also had EBF her children, and she said not to worry about it. He was not extremely cranky, but had been somewhat fussy. The lactation consultant had said he might not be getting enough hind milk, but I did not think that was the issue. He always nursed for a long time and drained each side. She also said it could have been something I was eating. I decided to just keep an eye on it, not change what I was eating and see what would happen. After about 2 weeks, the poop went back to normal and we never had the green poop again. I am not a doctor, but I honestly think he had some form of bug that just needed time to work itself out. I don't know if this helps you, but I hope it all gets better soon.


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## NaturallyPeachey (Jan 23, 2008)

I agree with the PP. My guy went through something similar and I did the block feeding for a few days and he went back to "normal" however for some reason my supply dipped when we went back to regular nursings so it took a few days to bring it back up. Not sure why that happened but just be aware. Kellymom is where I got my info. from. Are you feeding on one side or both at each session? You might want to try nursing until babe pulls off then offer the second side to see if babe is still hungry. Then at the next session start with the other side that he didn't nurse at all on/nurse shortly on.


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## hatfieldsarah (Jan 13, 2008)

try probiotics! My pedi recommended these: www.childrensprobiotics.com

Get the infant drops.

Worked great, cleared up green poo within a week!


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## SequoiasMom (Feb 27, 2007)

I second, or third, whatever the hind milk imbalance theory. It happened to us, and I remember it was hard to correct for me. i was a major milk producer! So, I ended up expressing before I fed her, then she got more hind milk instead of foremilk.
Good luck!
Oh, it did seem to make dd fussy, too.


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## latinalonestar (Jan 26, 2008)

My son had it from a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, then from yeast in his gut. Stop pumping and start block nursing. Also get some probiotics for infants from your pedi. If it does not get better cut the sugars and starches out of your diet, follow the candida diet. If it improves then you know that it is a flora imbalance in his gut (yeast). We didn't figure out the yeast thing for months. I wish I had tried this earlier.


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## newclementine (Jan 23, 2008)

When I bf I feed from one side only, and then the other side the next time. I've been having oversupply issues that built up to engorgement yesterday, so yesterday afternoon I pumped both breasts until they were "empty" while daddy fed him a bottle of my milk (for the first time!). His poop was still green last night, but it was thick (possible TMI) again and not so much like pesto.


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## Close2Me (Dec 9, 2008)

I just went thru one week of block feeding to correct the exact problem with me 11week old and it was very successful!!!!


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## EzzysMom (Mar 24, 2008)

It could be a little stomach virus too, which probiotics (you or the baby can take them) and time will clear up. It sounds less likely to be a milk imbalance given that it just suddenly arrived.


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## mamazee (Jan 5, 2003)

I agree with the foremilk/hindmilk imbalance thing. I had a huge oversupply problem, and that's just what the poops looked like. When I figured it out things improved for us greatly in a number of ways. But I'd read the link a PP posted about block feeding and try that.


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## asoulunbound (May 16, 2006)

wow had no idea what was the reason behind the sudden green poop, and didn't realise that might be correlated to her sudden fussiness.








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## newclementine (Jan 23, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by **MamaJen** 
Green poop that looks like spinach is usually a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. Block feeding usually works really well to sort that out.
ETA: Here's on thread on it: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...=block+feeding
And here's another good link explaining block-feeding: http://breastfeeding.hypermart.net/toomuchmilk.html

WOW that hypermart link sure does describe our nursing experience! Thank you so much!

I had heard of the hindmilk/foremilk situation but have never had it explained so thoroughly. I have had engorgement issues twice in the past wo weeks (in part because of Thanksgiving travel) AND the baby clamps down, my left nipple is often blanched (white) AND the poor boy chokes and/or pulls off frequently because of rapid milk flow. I had all of these issues but I didn't put it together that they were all from an overabundant supply. As of today we are block nursing, hopefully that will allow everything t normalize and he will get enough milk and poop will start coming out yellow again.

Question: if you block nursed, how long did you do it for?


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## *MamaJen* (Apr 24, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *newclementine* 
WOW that hypermart link sure does describe our nursing experience! Thank you so much!

I had heard of the hindmilk/foremilk situation but have never had it explained so thoroughly. I have had engorgement issues twice in the past wo weeks (in part because of Thanksgiving travel) AND the baby clamps down, my left nipple is often blanched (white) AND the poor boy chokes and/or pulls off frequently because of rapid milk flow. I had all of these issues but I didn't put it together that they were all from an overabundant supply. As of today we are block nursing, hopefully that will allow everything t normalize and he will get enough milk and poop will start coming out yellow again.

Question: if you block nursed, how long did you do it for?

No problem. I had crazy oversupply the first two or three months (this is pretty much what I looked like).
Using a pump to empty your breasts is a good first step. With the block feeding, three or four hours tends to be a good interval. If you get uncomfortably engorged, hand express just enough to relieve the pressure.
Keep a feel for how your supply is doing. I think after a week or so, I went back to doing one breast per feeding.
Good luck!


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## NaturallyPeachey (Jan 23, 2008)

_"No problem. I had crazy oversupply the first two or three months (this is pretty much what I looked like). "_

great photo! this AM DS's poor nose was all stuffed up and I delatched him to get the saline drops and was like that fountain all the way to his room and back!


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## pixiepunk (Mar 11, 2003)

I haven't read all the other responses, but it sounds very much like a yeast issue to me. my dd1 had yeast in her belly at around that age, which caused a lot of gas and discomfort and green poo.

my pediatrician recommended giving her acidophilus orally (either let baby suck it off your finger, or dissolve it in a small amount of water and give it in a syringe or dropper) 3x a day. she was noticably better in a couple of days, but we did the acidophilus for 2 weeks to be sure her gut was better before we stopped. i also took probiotics so she got some through my breastmilk as well.

while we were fighting the yeast, Hyland's colic tablets helped a lot to relieve the discomfort from the gas.


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