Comments on: Color of the Day: Solving Bowel Movement Mysteries

By: Cheryl Taylor

Cheryl Taylor — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 22:56:33 +0000

With an exclusively breastfed baby you may see variations in consistency or color, but it is still perfectly normal. Any range of yellow to brown is still normal. Oversupply can change the balance of hindmilk and foremilk, but there isn't need for concern unless the BM is green consistently.

By: Cheryl Taylor

Cheryl Taylor — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 22:49:44 +0000

Typical growth spurt behavior has more frequent nursings for 24-48 hrs and then more sleeping for 24-48 hrs. http://drjaygordon.com/breastfeeding/growthspurts... No babies are not allergic to their own mother's breastmilk. He is merely reacting to a protein that is traveling through your breastmilk. You can continue to breastfeed. You just need to identify which food is bothering him and eliminate it. Instead of just cutting back on dairy I would suggest eliminating all dairy sources for at least one month. It's the most common food allergy and elimination of dairy from your diet is likely to see symptoms resolve. If the green BMs persist after that month of elimination there are 6 other most common allergens that I would recommend considering eliminating next. GI problems, green BMs, reflux, eczema and nasal congestion are commonly seen symptoms when there is a food allergy to dairy. http://drjaygordon.com/pediatricks/dairy.html

By: Rachael

Rachael — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 23:52:13 +0000

my 7 week old is exclusively breastfed and recently went 2 days without napping during the day tho slept about 3-4 hour stretches at night, then, yesterday and today, he barely woke up long enough to eat, and in fact, didn't seem to really finish any of his "meals" because he was just so so tired. tho he would wake when we changed his diaper and was responsive and happy.

I was assuming he slept so much because he didn't sleep for 2 days, and then was just exhuasted.

but then I noticed that the majority of his diapers (every 3 out of 4) have been ranging from sticky green poo to now being sorta mucousy and seedy green poo. then tonight it looked as tho he had a tiny bit of bright red mixed in with the mucousy green poo.

he has seemed to have alot of gas issues since birth, and tho we have been using the store brand mylacon, he still seems to wake up with bad gas bubbles and cries alot because of the discomfort it seems.

my mother in law mentioned that maybe he is lactose intolerant and will not be able to be breast fed? i have never heard of a baby being allergic to his own mother's milk but she said that maybe that is what is wrong with him because he has been a fussy baby since birth.

I have limited my dairy since he was born, but yesterday my husband made me a sandwich with 3 pieces of cheese on it and then brought me icecream…

i didn't realize this could affect the baby so drastically…

i feel terrible.

(i am definitely puzzled how/why a 7 week old baby didn't nap for two days and seemed so restless and startled easily, and then just crashed for 2 days! i've never seen such a young infant awake for such a long time…)

should i be freaking out over the green mucousy poo???

By: Ann

Ann — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 06:40:18 +0000

My son just turned 8 weeks today. I've noticed since the beginning of 7 weeks that his poops in addition to being less frequent (I realize that's normal) is often times much thicker and a dark yellow almost a brownish yellow. Is that normal? He is exclusively breastfed and the only change we've experienced is I'm currently dealing with oversupply issues.

Thanks!

By: Cheryl Taylor

Cheryl Taylor — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 23:55:52 +0000

Very likely.

By: Cheryl Taylor

Cheryl Taylor — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 16:46:52 +0000

Possible. There's always the possibility of influence from what is in mother's diet. I usually tell moms to keep an eye on it for a week and see if it continues, because a virus in a breastfed baby may be seen only in a change in BM that resolves within 7 days.

By: Cheryl Taylor

Cheryl Taylor — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 16:44:19 +0000

What were the levels in his bloodwork? Often medical professionals say that an infant has "low" iron if they are at the bottom of what is "average" when the baby actually doesn't have low iron at all. Be sure you know exactly what the level. Take as an example a 2 month old. Normal levels range from 10 to 18 for hemoglobin. If a baby has a level of 10 that doesn't make them low in iron. They are merely on the lower side of normal. It is not something that needs to be higher to be "good" when it's in normal range.
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.h…

Had he been sick within the month prior to the levels being checked? When an infant is sick it is a normal biological process for iron levels to lower, because iron can feed bacteria and the body naturally helps in the process of recovery by lowering those levels and then raising them after the illness has past. This process can take up to a month.

There are a lot of things to think about when you bloodwork!

By: Megan S

Megan S — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 08:14:13 +0000

He is taking in breastmilk and being supplemented by a hypoallergenic formula as well. He had his blood taken to check his iron and it was low thats why he is on the iron supplement. He was having and and just started to again have blood streaked mucous in his bowel movements so I am assuming his iron was low due to that, but not sure.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 06:48:06 +0000

Hi,

My daughter is 3 months old and is breastfed only. This past weekend her stool was not mustard/seedy like usual but more a deep orange to brown with pudding texture. And it smelled awful. I did notice in one of the bm's that there was a speck of blood. Could this all be related to dairy in my diet??

Thanks!

By: Valentina

Valentina — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 16:28:40 +0000

Hi.my 3 week year old baby is exclusively breastfed and Her BM always regular yellow/ seedy and now for all most a week is green/mucous i don't drink milk products but i had milk basis cookies for the past week can it be the case of this?

By: Cheryl Taylor

Cheryl Taylor — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 15:01:05 +0000

Are you sure it is acne or could it be eczema? I would be suspect that it's a reaction to dairy with the green/loose stools. Eliminating dairy from your diet would tell you within a couple of weeks.

By: Cheryl Taylor

Cheryl Taylor — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 14:14:58 +0000

I would first suspect a reaction to dairy and eliminate all dairy in your diet. Secondly, have you experimented with nursing positions that helps to slow the flow of milk? If not, try nursing in football/clutch hold in a recliner or propped up leaning backward so that baby's head is ABOVE the level of the breast instead of below it. That is a position that often helps with oversupply or a fast letdown.

By: Cheryl Taylor

Cheryl Taylor — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 14:06:24 +0000

Take a good look at what solids you are beginning with. Fresh, ripe fruit and steamed vegetables are the best place to start. Any protein other than breastmilk, particularly any meat or egg, can cause a very foul smelling bowel movement and cause a considerable amount of gas while baby's body is trying to break it down.

By: Cheryl Taylor

Cheryl Taylor — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 14:04:27 +0000

Iron supplement's can cause the bowel movement to be black in color and/or harder in consistency than normal. If your baby is breastfed there is no reason to be giving iron supplements. The iron that is in breastmilk is by far the most bioavailable iron there is.

By: Megan S

Megan S — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 11:36:29 +0000

My almost 8 week old son has had a bowel movement that is very dark brown, almost black in colour and VERY watery and frothy. He is on an iron supplement could this be causing the consistancy to change and colour. I always thought iron would make you constipated not the other way around. Should I be concerned and see his Doctor?

By: ritu

ritu — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 21:22:10 +0000

hi my son is 12 months old usually he have wind problem but today when he poo it is of usual mustard coloured first half is really hard but last is like greasy loose is it normal or sign of diarrhea he is introduced to solids few days ago?

By: Allyson Philip

Allyson Philip — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:29:06 +0000

Hi. I have a 3 1/2 month old little girl who has had loose watery/seedy stools since first born. She usually had up to 6 per day. Over the past month we have found red blood flecks in her stools. Her stools consist in color from yellow to green. Over the past few days they seem to be mucousy as well. When she was around one month we thought we saw a small fissure but when we saw our doctor recently he did not see or feel anything.

I am strictly breastfeeding my daughter and I do not wish to supplement formula. I have read many different opinions on the internet as to what may cause this (fast let down, high milk supply, too much fore/hind milk, drooling, etc). I am one who has fast let down and an extremely high milk supply. My daughter is constantly drooling as well.

She is an extremely active baby and is healthy, happy and gaining weight.

Does anyone have any ideas or thoughts??

By: Laura

Laura — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 08:35:45 +0000

My daughter is eight months old and is exclusively breastfed. Her BM is typically yellow/green and loose, with at times some mucus. In the last month or so she seems to have developed some light acne on her chin. It does not seem to bother her. She is lively and reaching her regular milestones. I am concerned about too much yeast in her and whether she has some food intolerances that I am prone to.

By: Cheryl Taylor

Cheryl Taylor — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:02:00 +0000

Do you have dairy in your diet? Your diet may not have changed but her reactions to a food may have increased. This is pretty common to see reactions increasing after six weeks of age. My first recommendation for a child with blood in stools is to eliminate ALL dairy from your diet.

By: Elysia

Elysia — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:11:46 +0000

My daughter, age 3 months suffers from reflux disease and is being treated with zantac. Today she had streaky blood in her stools which she has never had before. I understand this can be a food allergy but my diet has not changed (absolutely nothing new)so could it be something else? The GI specialist does not think that she has a food allergy. Also, I had my flu shot yesterday, could this have any affect? She is otherwise very happy and alert.

Thanks