green stools in breastfed baby?

Question

Hi my baby is now 10 weeks old. up to last week she used to have 3 to 4 bowel movements a day, yellow very loose stools, which is ok so far. now last friday her stools turned green so i took her to my paediatrican and he told me that she had mild gastroenteritis. he told me the only thing to do is to continue breastfeeding. she has no fever and no throwing up either. just green stools about 5 times a day. i also called my breadfeeding consultant and she told me that as long as she is not throwing up or has fever, not to worry about it much. she is still have green stools and tomorrow will be a week since she has been having them. on the whole is seems fine, feeding normally, sleeping well and quite alert and smiling. could it be she is teething and did anyone every had this experience with breastfeeding?

Answer 1

I could be teething, it could be a minor bug, or it could be that your baby had a growth spurt which caused your supply to increase, then the growth spurt stopped and you temporarily had an oversupply. This would upset her little belly and make the stool green, this can take quite some time to get better. Technically it can even cause TEMPORARY lactose intolerance. However if your baby is happy the cons of temporarily stopping breastfeeding to allow it to heal faster greatly outweigh the benefits of having it heal faster.

You may want to go to a lactation consultant, teething can mess up the latch which can make it harder to get enough fatty hindmilk. You can try breast massage and compression which will help get the fat out. But all in all I think that this will resolve on it's own. And your baby is happy so no big deal.

Here is some information on lactose intolerance and why it isn't permanent, and if it were it would have caused failure to thrive at birth:
http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/lactose.html
http://users.bigpond.net.au/allergydietitian/fa/inflact.html
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/lactose-intolerance.html
http://www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz/Food/LactoseIntolerancevsMilkProteinAllergy.htm

Answer 2

Yes, my first baby had some green stools and was fully breastfed. His were green and frothy though which is a sign of oversupply of milk. Breastfed babies' stools range in colour and consistency because the milk supply adjusts according to their needs and the baby's needs change over time.

If this is your first, it can be quite worrying when things like this happen. If you are still concerned, go back to you doc. But if your baby is generally happy, feeding well, sleeping ok, content, does not have a fever, does not have a rash, is putting on weight, has good skin tone, nice colour, bright sparkly eyes, fontanelle not sunken then she is probably ok.

You may be right with teething. When babies teethe, the acid in their mouth changes which can affect their saliva production (they start to drool), it can make your nipples sore, it could change the colour and consistency of their stools.

Congratulations on breastfeeding for 10wks!! :D

Answer 3

***What about YOUR DIET?
I breastfed both of my babies (the first until 16 months and the second is still nursing at 15 months). I did not notice the problem that you are describing, but I would encourage you to take note of the things YOU are eating. Have you changed your diet recently and added a lot of green leafy vegetables or green foods? What about dietary supplements? It is just a thought.

I don't think you have anything to worry about. I would usually question doctors (because I am all about treating myself and my family) but in this case, I think they would notice anything wrong.

You said it yourself, on the whole she seems fine. A sick baby acts sick. If your baby doesn't ACT sick, then I think it is probably just one of those "things."

Just monitor your diet, maybe change a thing or two, and see if things don't get back to normal.

****When she does start teething, here is an all-natural method that I use.
CLOVES:Natural Pain Killer

Make a tea out of cloves (the ones you keep in your kitchen to make apple pie). Then dip the corner of a wash cloth in the tea and let her suck on it. Cloves have pain-relieving qualities and it is 100% all natural (if you use purified or distilled water:) This really works.

Tea
Boil 1 cup of water. Pour over 2 tsp. of whole cloves. (You can use the powdered cloves, but they are harder to strain completely.)

Let steep for 10-15 minutes. Strain out the cloves and keep the tea. Let cool.

You can give the cloth to baby while it is a little warm, but make sure it isn't too hot. It doesn't take much to keep her happy.

Take the leftover tea and pour it into ice cube trays. Freeze and store in the freezer in a zip-lock bag. Pop one out and defrost any time you need it. (You may not need a whole cube every time, so you could pour the tray compartments half full and make smaller cubes. That would cut down on waste.)

Answer 4

My daughter is six months old, solely breastfed, and has been having green (and yellow) stools since about six weeks of age. She's doing wonderfully. Her doctor assured me she's fine and that yellow stool may be normal for some babies, but for her green or yellow is normal. Good luck to you and congratulations on your little bundle of joy!

Answer 5

Green Poop Breastfed

Answer 6

my baby is 12 weeks and breastfed. she had green stools for several weeks and no other problems. i noticed that i had been eating a lot of green veggies -- green beans, asparagus, etc. as soon as i stopped eating that stuff, her stool went back to yellow. maybe look at what you eat and see if that's the issue?

Answer 7

Breastfed Green Poop

Answer 8

i breast feed all my eight children and there stools were green its normal in a breast fed baby.it starts off yellow then green and smells sweet not poo.my friend use to love the smell of the pooh.hope this helps if still unsure go back to your hospital and get a pooh sample to send off best of luck

Answer 9

I bottle feed, but my baby Also had Army color green poop. I took him to the docs and the doc said that is perfecty normal!

Answer 10

Yes, I had same experience, and as you've been advised - everything is o.k.. Just relax.