Baby Poop Concerns
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Baby Poop Concerns
Nov 2008
My baby strains, struggles, and cries every couple of hours from
gas in her intestines. I thought this was a mild form of colic
and is quite common and normal. Then my nanny noticed that her
poop has bubbles in it and she didn't think it's normal and she
might be sick. My nanny feeds her once a day w my breastmilk in a
bottle, rest of the time I feed her directly. After each feeding
we make an extra effort to burp her and usually gets a couple of
burps. Have other parents experienced similar symptoms and found
solutions? Is there any reason to believe that my baby is sick?
Teresa
My baby was having similar symptoms, and even had some blood in
her stool. She was also getting fussier and fussier in the
evenings. The doctor suspected a milk-protein allergy, and
recommended that I cut out all dairy. I did, and after 3 weeks
the foamy poop stopped, the blood stopped, and fussiness
largely went away. I highly recommend it!
anon
I have heard that this sort of poop is an indication of a
foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. Check out the website Kellymom.com for
advice on how to balance this, and for advice on all things
breastfeeding. My baby had this sort of frothy poop for a while, and
did not seem to be a problem, she grew well, though ''snacked'' a lot,
so got a lot of foremilk, less hindmilk. Good luck figuring things
out!
angela
it may be nothing--especially if your baby seems happy and is gaining
well. But this sounds like one of the symptoms of a foremilk/hindmilk
imbalance. You can google it to learn more--LLL's site has good info
such as at http://www.llli.org/FAQ/foremilk.html. Essentially, if the
baby isn't given a chance to ''finish'' a breast and is instead
switched to the other breast, the baby won't get the high fat/high
protein hindmilk and will be filling up on the sugary foremilk. All
that sugar (lactose) overwhelms the baby's gut and the bubbles form.
It is easy to remedy by limiting the baby to one breast per feeding
and letting him/her feed as long as she/he wants to. It is worth
mentioning to your pediatrician in case there is something that needs
to be corrected.
-
If you are very worried you ought to call your pediatrician. You
don't say how old your baby is, but I've heard that it takes
several months for baby's digestive systems to really get working
so this could be part of that. My daughter did a lot of scwirming
and moaning with gas. I would also consider what YOU are eating,
she may be having a reaction to something that is passed through
the breastmilk. Try cutting out foods that might give gas or that
are considered common allergens and see if that helps.
good luck.
anon
April 2007
My breastfeeding wife and I had a nice lunch of miso soup for
the first time since 6 mo baby was born. About five hours
later, baby had the biggest, stinkiest poo she's ever had, plus
a hint of blood. For the next three days (and still) she's had
some particularly foul-smelling poo with a little blood
sometimes. (blood and mucous, actually.) We think it might be
the miso... is that possible? Anyone out there have similar
experiences with miso poop? Thanks!
k.
It sounds to me as though the miso may just be a coincidence. I
would run, not walk to your pediatrician and include a stool
sample from the baby.
Bronya
hello advice on your problem with the baby it is not from the
food that your wife ate. you need to take the baby to the
hospital and get blood work done and x-rays. especially if the
baby is not eating regular and is sleeping too much. when there
is blood in the poop it could be 4 serious problems. you need
to go right away. if you could prevent getting surgery getting
done. it is best to go to the hosiptal and take care of it. i
seen a child have something similiar to that and they had to
keep the baby over night to do tests and be on antibiotics.
please take your child to the nearst emergency just to prevent
the worst.have them check for EVERYTHING DON'T LEAVE THERE
UNTIL EVERYTHING IS CHECK ARGUE WITH THE DOCTORS IF YOU HAVE TO
JUST MAKE SURE THEY TAKE CARE OF YOUR BABY OR GO TO CHILDRENS
HOSPITAL IN OAKLAND. GOOD LUCK JUST GET IT DONE. PLEASE! TO A
CONCERN PARENT TO ANOTHER.
CONCERN PARENT
your baby has blood and mucous in her stool and you haven't
gotten her to a doctor? call tomorrow. no, call right now.
you didn't mention any other symptoms so hopefully this is
something easily managed.
anon
Bloody stool from eating miso soup?? Take your baby to the doctor!
amy
It could be a soy allergy? Mucus and blood in baby poops are
usually allergy related. i would call advice nurse at your
dr.'s
Liz
Ok. I'm going to go out on a huge limb here and say CALL YOUR
DOCTOR!!!!! Yeesh.
I've never had that happen with miso and I drink/eat it often with my breastfed
baby. Blood in baby poop is a dangerous sign. Go to doctor asap.
Jenny
I'm not a doctor but I nursed my 2 children for a very long time
and ate a whole variety of different foods. Certain foods would
cause gassiness (i.e. indian, or other very spicy). I don't
think that anything your wife ate would cause blood in the stool.
I'd see a doctor asap.
concerned
no! this is not from the miso soup! and i have had it a few times
since breastfeeding. take your child to the doctor. this is very
abnormal. blood in the stool could be a sign of something else wrong.
worried health professional
I hope you are in touch with your child's pediatrician! My 10-month old son was just
diagnosed with food allergies (we are still determining what it might be - milk, wheat,
soy?) and had symptoms like those you are describing (mucousy poop with a tinge of
blood at times). He's fine but, because I am nursing, we are both on a strict diet -no
milk, soy, wheat, eggs, nuts, citrus, etc. for a while. Good luck - hope your little one
is
feeling better soon!
anon
Hi,
this sounds like an allergy to soy. Our kid was allergic to milk
protein with a cross allergy to soy, and the blood is the
indicator. It resolved when we stopped the soy & milk.
hope this helps.
Sounds like your baby might have a soy allergy, which is not
uncommon. I'd call your pediatrician. Good luck!
Naomi
Sept 2005
My 5 week old baby has been having green and mucousy stools for
a few weeks now (they were yellow and seedy in the beginning).
the dr is not worried because he is growing rapidly. He has no
other problems and we had a normal birth. the only other thing
is that I was taking clyndamiacin (an antibiotic) the week
before he was born and his first day or two. I am
breastfeeding. I tried cutting out caffeine, which seemed to
help with the consistency of the stool-- it made it less watery.
Did anyone else have a baby with green stool? The dr did
recommend trying probiotics. Did you get other advice from the
dr?
Thanks!
worried new mom
I had the same problem w/my now 2 yr. old son when he was about that
age. After much research, I finally found out that he was only getting
the fore or skim milk when I would breastfeed. He would often fall
asleep after only a few minutes on one side so I would switch him to the
other. The solution was to feed him on one side/feeding so that the
breast would empty completely and he would get the fatty-er milk at the
end or make sure he empties both sides as much as possible. I now have a
2 wk. old and am trying to avoid the same problem. I feed him about
15-20 min. on one side and then switch to the other for another 10+ min.
Fortunately he's not as sleepy as his brother. I also massage the breast
while I'm feeding to make sure he gets as much milk as possible. I
recently consulted w/the lactation consultant at Kaiser and she said not
to worry about the green stools, but instead focus on whether the baby's
gaining wt. We bought a Salton digital baby scale ($84 online and well
worth the peace of mind) so I weigh him about once/wk. Hope this helps,
and feel free to contact me.
cv
My 11-week baby has had green stools twice now (lasted a few days each
time). My pediatrician told me that any earth tone was fine, but that I
should call for white, red, or black stools.
anon
Assuming that you're breastfeeding, green stools can indicate a
foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. There can be many reasons for it, including
an overactive milk ejection reflex, overabundant milk supply, or
switching sides too often/soon while nursing.
I have struggled with two of the three above, and am finally getting it
under control at 11 weeks. I nurse only on one side for every four hour
period, take sage extract a few times daily, and express a little before
nursing if I catch my baby gasping, ''clicking,'' or swallowing a lot of
air.
An internet search on ''foremilk/hindmilk imbalance'' might give you
more information. Good luck.
Whole lotta milk
My now 8 month old had this... are you breastfeeding? If so, try
massaging your breast as you feed. One theory with my little one was
that she wasn't getting enough of the fatty hind milk and that massaging
would help her suck the fattier milk out. The doc also limited my foods
by taking out some allergens but I suspect the fat milk was the issue.
happy mom of healthy babe
Do try the probiotics. Lifestart by Natren is a good place to start.
It has gut bacteria that are the predominant beneficial bacteria in the
guts of healthy infants. Whole Foods carries it and if it isn't on the
shelf they will order it for you. Usually infants are colonized at
birth, but if you were taking antibiotics they may not have had a chance
and less beneficial bacteria may have taken their place. My child had a
diarrhea illness and only recovered after we gave her lifestart every
day for more than a week. Otherwise she'd relapse and it'd be back to
the green poop again. The mucus is a sign that your baby is having
diarrhea. The other cause for green stools can be not enough hind milk.
If the baby is getting milk low in fat the bile ends up coming out in
the stools. But since your baby is gaining well I'd try the Lifestart.
Good luck,
susan
My baby had something similar, only it wasn't related to antibiotics.
Instead, I had an overactive letdown and when breastfeeding, my daughter
was getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. I'm not sure if
this is what's happening, but if you're spraying everywhere (like I was)
and your baby seems cranky at the breast, you might consider it. Once I
saw a lactation consultant and learned strategies to slow down my milk,
my baby's stools went back to yellow. Good luck!
Green Poop Veteran
Are you breastfeeding? You may feed your baby more foremilk than
hindmilk. The first milk coming out - the foremilk - is more watery and
has less fat and calories than the hindmilk. This shows in more green
stool. It might help to try have your baby stay longer on one breast to
get the hindmilk. If you feel you don't get enough advice from your doc,
try a lactation consultant.
Our baby also had a green stool for a while. I don't think you need to
worry, unless the baby shows some other signs of distress. I was also
concerned at the time and looked through lots of books for advice. The
only one I found that addressed the subject and calmed me down was Dr.
Spock's!
mother of a healthy baby
Hi,
When our baby (two weeks old at the time) had developed a rash, he was
put on antibiotics. His stool also became green. We gave him a probiotic
supplement (Jarrow Formulas' Baby's Jarro-Dophilus). His stools returned
to normal color in a day or two.
By the way, when we asked his docor (at Kaizer) about the green stools,
her response was to wait and see, and if they continued, to give him
another antibiotic to correct the effects of the first one. She did not
mention probiotics...
Good luck!
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