Green Poops, but not always

[kim&savannah]

First, I've had two LO's with MSPI, first not diagnosed until she was over 4 months, second one was earlier than that, but I can't remember when.  Henry is 3 weeks, which I feel like may be too early to figure out if he has MSPI, but I'm starting to see some signs, although nothing as obvious as DD had (she had a terrible rash on her chin, runny nose, black circles under eyes, and was pretty fussy when eating and afterwards, and spit up TONS all the time).

We had about 24 hours of REALLY green poops--not just a little greenish, but dark, dark green.  And he's been really unsettled the last two nights--lots of grunting, yelling out, thrashing around.  But he's not too fussy during the day and took good naps yesterday.  He's really happy right after he's been fed.  And this morning, he pooped a ton and it was really nice yellow poop, so it seemed the green poops were over.  But he was still totally unsettled and fussy and never did settle for his first nap, so he was awake for 2.5 hours, I finally fed him again and put him down for a nap just after that (and I just held him until he was in a deep sleep because I wanted to make sure he actually got to take that nap, and I couldn't handle fighting him anymore.)  

If they don't consistantly have green poops, can it still be a sign of an intollerance?  And if he's only fussy at night (typically)?  I don't want to give up dairy and soy if that's probably not an issue, especially because it is going to be a pain--we have a lot of food related events coming up in the next few weeks or so and me not being able to eat anything, especially since I don't even know if it matters, is going to be ap pain.  But obviously, if its affecting him, I want to make it better.  And want him to be able to sleep again.  I just don't feel like he has that many symptoms yet, and wonder if it usually takes a few weeks for this to develop.

Thanks!

[Buntybear]

Hi, 3 weeks is very young but mucous in the nappy I guess would mean something? I am no expert though as we never had it. Would it possibly co-incide with you having more dairy that day??

[kim&savannah]

I don't feel like my dairy intake changes that much from day to day, but I suppose it could a little. 

So, since he's so young, and is still fairly happy, should I just wait and see if things get worse?  He's been a little fussy today during a couple of his feeds, and he's had more greenish poops over the last two days, but there have also been some nice yellow ones as well.  And he's not always fussy during feeding (and it could be more of an end-of-the-day, low supply type issue.)

[Buntybear]

Cripes - I don't know what to suggest hun. If he seems OK then i wouldn't take out milk yet. Not sure about the green poos though. maybe someone else here has a better idea?

[Buntybear]

Ahh, I have just read that green poos can be too much fore milk. Could this be a possibility?

[kim&savannah]

I've wondered about that--I don't think I tend to make particularly fatty milk anyway (I've never managed to have a chunky baby--they all gain weight on track, but don't get the chubby rolls like a lot of babies).  He eats pretty fast--about 15 minutes, but by the end, he isn't swalowing much, so I assume he's actually drained the breast, and I try to encourage him to keep sucking for a bit so he'll get any hindmilk that's in there.  But maybe I'm not making much hindmilk?  When I pump, I have a hard time getting much out, but they always say that the baby can get another ounce or so of milk after the pump, so I figure he should be getting the fatty milk that the pump can't.

I'll just keep watching it for the next couple weeks.  I'm just guessing that with the history of the other two kids, there's probably a good chance that he's going to have issues with dairy and soy, too, so I've been trying to catch it early.

[~*Nicole*~]

Have you read about foremilk/hindmilk on I think it's kellymom that BFing website. I did as DS had some green poops and it was very interesting. You don't make milk that is different in content, it's just something about fatty deposits sticking to the sides of the ducts and as the nursing sessions go on longer the last milk is able to get all of those last bits of fat deposits out. They explain it using a faucet metaphor....when you first turn on the hot water it isn't always hot....has to run a bit before the hot water comes out. So the longer the nursing session and the more drained your  breast the more fatty content of the milk b/c those fatty deposits eventually loosen and start to come out with the milk. Does that make sense? In any event, it sounds like he drains your breast and therefore should be getting enough "hindmilk".

That said, my DS is MPI and quite possibly MSPI so I am eliminating, but we didn't have symptoms until about 3 weeks of age. Green poops were one of them. The first time we tested his poop for blood at the ped...it was negative. A week later, it was positive. Since eliminating the dairy and soy it is back to being blood free.

We're also struggling with reflux and other things but he IS better than he was and so the diet is worth it for the time being for us.

It might be something to consider doing a trial of....BUT it does take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks for the dairy etc. to get out of your system (as I have only recently learned) and so is hard to gauge improvement until then.

I'd ask your ped. if you can swing by with a dirty diaper and have them check for blood. That would be a sure sign it's an intolerance. If no blood, then could just be normal fluctuations based on your diet and the way he digests things. Maybe certain things make him more gassy/bloated and therefore fussier than other things. My mom swears she couldn't drink apple juice or eat salami when nursing me. My sister didn't tolerate other foods when she nursed her. So you could try keeping a log to see what might be causing him discomfort.

Best of luck.
HTH.

[suzymoreland]

Here are some interesting links...

Green poo explanation? May or may not be your case though.
http://www.baby-medical-questions-and-answers.com/green-diarrhea.html

Very good visual explanation of foremilk/hindmilk!
http://thefunnyshapedwoman.blogspot.com/2011/05/foremilk-and-hindmilk-in-quest-of.html

[kim&savannah]

We have our one month check up on Thursday, so I think I'll bring by a diaper if he's still having this problem by then.  I've figured I will eventually have to try eliminating dairy and soy, but because it can take almost a month to see the changes, I wanted to wait until it would be obvious.  I feel like right now, his symptoms are so few and mild that I won't know for sure if it really is an MSPI thing or not.  And I really hate to have to give up ice cream if I don't have to when its in the 90's every day

thank, ladies for all the links and suggestions!  I really feel like it shouldn't be a hindmilk issue since he is a single-side eater and seems totally satisfied when he finishes eating and my breast does feel drained.  I guess he possibly isn't getting enough in the evening feeds--that's the only time that i sometimes switch sides because he still seems fussy and i know my supply can drop that time of day--maybe I'm switching too soon?  But I don't even have to do that at every evening feed.  I think last night he did fine with just one side at each feed (can't exactly remember--it all blends together into one day).

I'll keep watching it. . .