Block Feeding Questions

[@llli*mommal]

I hope it does.

I just want to add something which your doc may be unaware of: oversupply and foremilk/hindmilk issues can ALSO cause mucusy and bloody poops. It's the excess of lactose in the baby's diet which is to blame; it can cause intestinal irritation which can result in mucus and bleeding. There are so many moms who are sent on wild goose chases, searching for that one allergen that they are ingesting which must be the cause of their babies' weird poops, eliminating one thing and then another and another and another... Pretty soon they're down to a diet of rice and water. If you eliminate dairy and soy and still don't see a change, it might be time to revisit the oversupply possibility.

Whatever the answer is, please don't let green and bloody poops freak you out too much. They look alarming but if the baby is otherwise happy, healthy, and growing, you can treat them as a normal variation. My own feeling- and I dealt with this issue with my second child- is that it's worth giving a dropper of baby vitamins. I felt that if the baby's losing blood through her intestines, it makes sense to shore up her iron.

[@llli*eddiemart]

Thanks for the info! I'm going to try this non-dairy/non-soy diet for two weeks and then check back in with the doctor if nothing has changed. In the meantime, I'm not sure if I should continue block feeding also. Thoughts?

[@llli*mommal]

Tough to say! I mean, the LC says it's oversupply, so who am I to contradict her? She saw you in person, I didn't. I guess I'd vote to block feed, but to do so with caution. If the baby's diaper output drops or you suddenly feel empty all the time, I'd go back to double-sided feedings. Block feeding is an art, not a science, and you sort of need to go by feel. A lot of moms need to block feed for only part of the day, since supply tends to fluctuate over the course of a 24 hour period.

One thing that sort of complicates the picture is that if you block feed at the same time you go on a dairy/soy elimination diet, and baby's poops go back to normal, then you don't really know what was responsible for the change, YKWIM?

[@llli*eddiemart]

I'm back. I just can't shake the feeling that what is going on with my baby is an imbalance of the fore milk and hind milk and not me eating dairy products. Everything I read says that an imbalance is often misdiagnosed as a lactose intolerance because they have the same symptoms.

I just read this: "Lactose is produced in breast milk independent of what the mother eats or drinks. Whether she drinks milk or eats dairy food or not the amount of lactose in her milk will be the same."

I have a mother's instinct about this, but there's a problem. Because the doctor told me to cut out dairy, my husband is insisting that the doctor knows more than what is on the Internet, even though the information I'm reading is consistently the same. What I hate most is that I know my baby is experiencing discomfort and me cutting out dairy isn't helping anything. Is there any way I can prove that this is an imbalance issue?

[@llli*djs.mom]

It takes WEEKS for dairy to get out of your system. You won't see a change in your child and their reaction to it in a day. And amilk hind milk imbalance does NOT really mimic a dairy issue. They both produce green poo. But the milk imbalance causes frothy poo rather than mucously poo. And it's not a lactose issue that causes the blood and mucous in poo. It's DAIRY specifically. So you cut milk, cheese, chocolate, butter, yogurt ect. Because the blood in the poo is not a good thing. And DO NOT project. Babies cry. They fuss. It's NOT always connected to your breastmilk. And truthfully if your child IS experiencing discomfort, it's MUCH MORE likely that it's dairy than a formilk imbalance. So you have to eliminate for more than two weeks to see if it's going to make a difference.

[@llli*vtmtbkr]

I had dairy intolerance with my first DD and now oversupply and foremilk/hindmilk issues with my second DD. My first daughter I exclusively pumped for so she got mixed bottles of foremillk/hindmilk. She had green explosive poops and was always kicking her legs like she was in discomfort which led me to believe it was an allegy and that was confirmed by the doctor at about 4 weeks. I cut out dairy for 9 months and she was much happier.

My second DD is EBF and I have oversupply so she gets lots of foremilk. Her poops have never changed to green but she has horrible gas related to the oversupply and spits up a lot. She never nurses longer than about 10 minutes on one side. I'm back at work and when I pump I can get about 6 ounces from one side in 4 hours. I'm also lopsided so when she nurses on my weak side she might nurse for 30 minutes, but I can only pump 2 ounces in 4 hours from that side.

If she's truely nursing from one side for 50 minutes I don't see how you could have oversupply. Sounds like an allergy to me, cut out dairy for a couple of weeks and see if it helps. Good Luck mama!

[@llli*mommal]

And amilk hind milk imbalance does NOT really mimic a dairy issue. They both produce green poo. But the milk imbalance causes frothy poo rather than mucously poo.

I would disagree to some extent. I think that the boundary between mucousy and frothy is a flexible thing, depending on the poop, the diaper, and the observer.

And it's not a lactose issue that causes the blood and mucous in poo.

I definitely disagree with this, WRT blood. Oversupply can cause blood in the stool- see http://kellymom.com/health/baby-health/bloodystool/

Because the blood in the poo is not a good thing.

But not necessarily a really bad thing, either. Plenty of perfectly healthy babies have some bloody stool episodes or even extended periods of bloody poops. What matters more than presence/absence of blood in the stool is baby's overall growth and development, and the quantity of blood in the poop. An otherwise healthy and growing baby who has streaks, specks, or flecks of blood in her poop on an occasional basis is nothing to get overly concerned about, in my book. A baby who is not growing well, not developing along normal lines, exhibiting other signs of allergy or illness- that's a baby you should be worried about. And a baby who produces stools that look like currant jelly is a baby who needs to go to the hospital ASAP and be checked for an intussuception.

And DO NOT project. Babies cry. They fuss. It's NOT always connected to your breastmilk.

Absolutely agree. So many moms are driven crazy by the feeling that their baby's every behavior is somehow their fault, or the fault of their breastmilk. If the baby is fussy, or won't nap, or sleeps too long, or has a weird poop, it must be because of something mom ate. But in truth, babies can be fussy, refuse to nap, and poop weird for so many reasons which are totally unconnected to you and to whether or not you had a cup of coffee or ate some broccoli or had a candy bar or not.

IMO, the key to a happy breastfeeding and mothering experience is to remember not to take all the responsibility on yourself.

And truthfully if your child IS experiencing discomfort, it's MUCH MORE likely that it's dairy than a formilk imbalance. So you have to eliminate for more than two weeks to see if it's going to make a difference.

This is another area where I disagree in part. I think oversupply and consequent foremilk/hindmilk issues are a lot more common than intolerance/allergy to dairy proteins. But I do agree that figuring out what, if anything, is to blame can take an extended amount of time and that a mom should not write off either possibility based on just a few days of block feeding or eliminating dairy.

[@llli*djs.mom]

Mommal,
I agree that Hindmilk foremilk imbalance is far more common, but in terms of irritation that people really see a difference in I think it's usually eliminating dairy that does it. Because baby gas and discomfort associated with that is not usually something you CAN eliminate. I mean it's a good idea to try to get a hind/for imbalance under control from the perspective that it's reasonable to want to get more hindmilk if your child is a slow gainer, but doing so doesn't mean your baby will no longer suffer from gas. If your child is having a dairy sensitivity, that discomfort WILL go away if dairy is eliminated. And I disagree about froth and mucousy poop. Mucousy poop looks like there is snot in it. Frothy poop does not.
And yes there are OTHER reasons that a baby can have blood in their poop PERIODICALLY that isn't a huge cause for alarm but USUALLY when coupled with mucousy poop it's more likely to a dairy issue.
YES blood it can be caused by oversupply. But it's not NEARLY as common in terms of the reason for BLOOD . Kelly's mom lists it as OCCASIONALLY. With food allergies as the MOST COMMON reason. I think she should eliminate dairy completely for 2 weeks before assuming it's oversupply when she is block feeding for sure. Better safe than sorry in term of dairy.

[@llli*eddiemart]

Y'all have been so helpful with all your advice and information. I went ahead and called my doctor this morning and feel better about the issue. I will continue the non-dairy/non-soy diet for two weeks and hope for a change in her poopy! I think that the availability of so much information on the Internet is a Catch 22! I can drive myself nuts reading article after article and blog post after blog post! Thanks again everyone!