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Green and mucousy



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 30th 03, 02:04 AM
Alphawave
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Default Green and mucousy

Another poop question! Hooray! ;-)

I've had this on my mind for quite awhile now, and because of the advice
in the "5 MORE new bf'er questions" thread, I finally just have to ask.
Larry and Barbara both said things to the effect that green and mucousy
poops shouldn't be standard for baby. When Quinn was a newborn, all of
his poops were bright yellow and full of curds, but now green and mucousy
is standard for him. He's ~5.5 mos., exclusively bf, no solids or
formula; I feed on demand and sometimes offer when he's not demanding; I
pump off about 4 oz. of foremilk in the morning. Sometimes there are a
few curds in his poop, and sometimes the green approaches yellow, but
mostly it's green, with varying degrees of "mucousiness". I've been
wondering for awhile now whether I should be concerned about this.

Thoughts?

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net
  #2  
Old September 30th 03, 02:43 AM
Phoebe & Allyson
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Default Green and mucousy

Alphawave wrote:

When Quinn was a newborn, all of
his poops were bright yellow and full of curds, but now green and mucousy
is standard for him.



Caterpillar started off like Quinn, then started having more
and more regular bouts of green mucousy-ness. When I cut
out dairy, she went back to yellow. If I have milk, the
green returns.

Phoebe
--
yahoo address is unread - substitute mailbolt

  #3  
Old September 30th 03, 02:48 AM
Beth Kevles
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Default Green and mucousy


Hi -

Green, mucousy stools can have quite a variety of causes, most of which
are benign. Some include:

Post-nasal drip or head cold. Babies swallow their mucous, since they
don't know how to blow their noses. What goes in, goes out, so some of
the mucous will show up in their stool. If your baby seems to have a
slightly stuffy nose, a slight cough, or anything that says "headcold"
or "seasonal allergy" to you, this might be the problem. It's no big
deal, but stay alert for signs of ear infection. (The constant nasal
drip can set the stage, and then a virus or bacteria, when it shows up,
may find a very friendly environment...) If the head cold lasts for a
long time, consult with your ped.

Teething can also cause a baby to secrete way too much mucous. You may
get a fussy baby (because of the tooth pain, not tummy pain) and mucousy
stools that last for a week or two.

Too much foremilk, not enough hindmilk. Foremilk is lactose-rich.
Human infants are meant to consume a great deal of lactose (breastmilk
is higher in lactose than cow's milk is!) but you can get too much of
even a good thing. If your baby is consuming more lactose than he can
handle, as compared to not enough fatty hindmilk, then you can get green
stools from mal-digested milk. This is usually accompanied by excessive
gassiness. Solve by nursing on only one side per nursing session, and
possibly by expressing some foremilk prior to nursing.

Stomach bug. This tends to be accompanied by gastric distress,
sometimes vomiting or the runs (very watery stool). If it doesn't pass
in a couple of days, or if your infant shows any signs of dehydration
(stay alert!) then call your pediatrician ASAP. In the meantime, nurse
often! If your baby is throwing up as well, nurse often BUT unlatch
your baby after just a sip. Nurse every 10 minutes this way. (It's the
nursing equivalent of drinking just one sip of Gatorade every 10
minutes, which is what we older people do when attacked by stomach
bugs.)

Food allergy. If you are eating something that your baby can't handle
(often cow's milk protein or, somewhat less often, one of the other
common allergens) then it may be reflected in your baby's stool. In
this case the stool may also contain flecks of blood, or the baby may
show other signs of allergy: gastric distress, "colic", eczema,
unusually poor ability to sleep for more than an hour at a time, etc.
For more information on food allergies, pick up Dr. Doris Rapp's book
"Is This Your Child?" at your local library.

I think I've hit all the most common causes. Mucousy, green stool, on
it's own, shouldn't be a cause for concern. And yes, there is some
variation in the natural color of infant stool. In the absence of other
symptoms, and as long as your baby is developing normally, it's probably
just standard variation. But if it lasts for a long time, you might
wish to consult with your ped. Lab analysis of a stool sample may be in
order, or your ped. may ask other questions and observe other things in
your infant that lead him/her to either a particular intervention, or to
copious reassurances that nothing is, in fact, wrong.

My two cents, not to be confused with medical advice!
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.
  #4  
Old September 30th 03, 03:56 AM
Amy M.
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Default Green and mucousy

From: Alphawave

I've had this on my mind for quite awhile now, and because of the advice
in the "5 MORE new bf'er questions" thread, I finally just have to ask.
Larry and Barbara both said things to the effect that green and mucousy
poops shouldn't be standard for baby. When Quinn was a newborn, all of
his poops were bright yellow and full of curds, but now green and mucousy
is standard for him. He's ~5.5 mos., exclusively bf, no solids or
formula; I feed on demand and sometimes offer when he's not demanding; I
pump off about 4 oz. of foremilk in the morning. Sometimes there are a
few curds in his poop, and sometimes the green approaches yellow, but
mostly it's green, with varying degrees of "mucousiness". I've been
wondering for awhile now whether I should be concerned about this.

Thoughts?

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net



Our ped told me that green is fine ( usually a fore/hind milk imbalance) but
green AND mucousy means intestinal upset.

HTH
--
Amy~
Tre' (6/92)
Keelyn (6/95)
Peyton (10/00)
Halli (8/15/03)

  #5  
Old October 1st 03, 01:53 AM
Alphawave
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Default Green and mucousy

Beth says:

Mucousy, green stool, on
it's own, shouldn't be a cause for concern. And yes, there is some
variation in the natural color of infant stool. In the absence of other
symptoms, and as long as your baby is developing normally, it's probably
just standard variation. But if it lasts for a long time, you might
wish to consult with your ped.


Thanks for posting all that information. Reading through it, I'm tending
to believe that it *may* just be the way he is, or perhaps it's related to
dairy. There are no other symptoms, but it has lasted a long, long time.
He has his 6 mo. wbv in a couple of weeks, and it's definitely on the
agenda.

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net
  #6  
Old October 1st 03, 01:54 AM
Alphawave
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Default Green and mucousy

Phoebe says:

Caterpillar started off like Quinn, then started having more
and more regular bouts of green mucousy-ness. When I cut
out dairy, she went back to yellow. If I have milk, the
green returns.


Hmm, sounds like I need to try a dairy-free week and see what happens.

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net
  #7  
Old October 1st 03, 02:07 AM
zeldabee
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Default Green and mucousy

Alphawave wrote:
Phoebe says:

Caterpillar started off like Quinn, then started having more
and more regular bouts of green mucousy-ness. When I cut
out dairy, she went back to yellow. If I have milk, the
green returns.


Hmm, sounds like I need to try a dairy-free week and see what happens.


I'm thinking the same thing, not because of green stools, but because my
baby's just so gassy. I don't know whether it'll help, and I'm getting
conflicting advice from various people (LC, doula, other experienced
bf'ers), but maybe it's worth a go.

--
z e l d a b e e @ p a n i x . c o m http://NewsReader.Com/
  #8  
Old October 1st 03, 03:01 AM
Beth Kevles
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Default Green and mucousy


Hi -

If you elect to do a non-dairy week, here's how to do it so that you
know if it's actually helping:

First, spend three days writing down how your baby is feeling.
Fussiness, gassiness, when it happens, rashes, sniffles, etc. Be as
thorough as possible. Also write down when you consume dairy products.
(If you have the energy, write down EVERYTHING you consume, including
vitamins and medications.)

Now, go completely dairy-free for 5 days. Read labels, follow the menu
advice on my web site, don't eat processed foods or restaurant foods
since they can compromise the experiment. Keep writing down what you
eat and all about your baby's health during the elimination period.

Finally, look over the diary. Is there any change? Have someone else
look at JUST the baby-health section and have that person tell you if
there's any change in baby behavior. If there is, does it fall before
or after you eliminated dairy?

Remember that a dairy elimination works as follows:

First, you stop consuming dairy. Then the dairy protein leaves your
system and your breastmilk. (This can take from a few hours to a few
days, depending on a large number of factors. In most mothers, I think
a full day will do it.) Then the baby stops consuming dairy via
breastmilk. Then the dairy protein gradually leaves the baby's system.
(This can, again, take from a few hours to a few days. Longer times
usually do not bode well for your long term ability to give the baby
milk protein.) Finally, if your baby's gut was injured by the dairy
protein (ie, your baby was colicky) or if your baby had a classic
allergic reaction, then your baby's body will need some time to heal.
This can take up to two weeks.

In other words, most babies will show signs of improvement within a day
or two of mom ceasing dairy consumption. SOme will take longer, and in
the worst case the baby won't be significantly better for up to 2 or 3
weeks.

Keeping the diary is very important. WIthout it, you're relying on
memory (of the baby's symptoms) and the placebo effect kicks in. If
your baby doesn't react to dairy protein, you certainly don't want to
remove it from your diary permanently!

I hope this helps,
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.
  #9  
Old October 1st 03, 04:23 AM
Beth
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Default Green and mucousy


"Alphawave" wrote in message
...
Hmm, sounds like I need to try a dairy-free week and see what happens.


Better to give it 10 days to two weeks.

My DS has yellow mucous stools right now, at almost 10 months. Cutting out
dairy got rid of the green and the colic when he was 2 months old.

Beth



  #10  
Old October 2nd 03, 04:04 AM
Laurie
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Default Green and mucousy


Alphawave wrote in message ...
Another poop question! Hooray! ;-)

I've had this on my mind for quite awhile now, and because of the advice
in the "5 MORE new bf'er questions" thread, I finally just have to ask.
Larry and Barbara both said things to the effect that green and mucousy
poops shouldn't be standard for baby. When Quinn was a newborn, all of
his poops were bright yellow and full of curds, but now green and mucousy
is standard for him. He's ~5.5 mos., exclusively bf, no solids or
formula; I feed on demand and sometimes offer when he's not demanding; I
pump off about 4 oz. of foremilk in the morning. Sometimes there are a
few curds in his poop, and sometimes the green approaches yellow, but
mostly it's green, with varying degrees of "mucousiness". I've been
wondering for awhile now whether I should be concerned about this.

Thoughts?


Have you tried an elimination diet at all? It *does* sound bit like an
intolerance, specifically dairy.

laurie
mommy to Jessica, 2.5 years
and Christopher, 5 months

*This email address is now valid*

-- Alpha
alphawave at earthlink dot net



 




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