Green mucus-y poops - oversupply? food intolerance?

[@llli*wintersquash22]

I have a 3 week old daughter and I am almost exclusively pumping. Reasons for pumping: she had some latch issues in the beginning, now sometimes latches well but falls asleep soon after or fusses and pushes breast away, is hungry again within 30 minutes after feeding from the breast, not gaining weight, husband not supportive of me continuing to feed from the breast. I pump 4-5 times a day and get anywhere from 3-6 ounces of pumped milk per session total from both breasts. She does still feed from the breast a few times a day for comfort when she's upset.

My issue is, all her poops are green and mucus-y since she's been about a week old. She also has a lot of gas and poops about 7-8 times a day. She's very fussy in the evenings, I think from the gas and digestive discomfort. Google gave me two potential explanations for the poops, foremilk hindmilk imbalance from oversupply or a food intolerance (likely dairy?). Are there any signs to look for that would indicate one issue over another? Her nose always seems congested, which makes me think dairy intolerance, but I just don't know. She doesn't spit up too much. I feel terrible because I can see how uncomfortable she is and I know it is somehow my fault

[@llli*nivilovely]

i am in the same boat.. except the fussiness. i need some answers too..

[@llli*maddieb]

Hi wintersquash,
I am sorry you are feeling this is somehow your fault.

I am also very sorry you have not gotten support and help in nursing your child at the breast. I hope you can find some support & help for your breastfeeding concerns, this is very early days, baby still nurses some (great!) and if baby was gaining poorly when nursing there is a reason- and that means there are solutions. It is early days, and if you wanted, you could turn that around, because there are many benefits to nursing at the breast that go beyond the milk itself. And many moms find exclusive pumping really hard and exhausting. But please know this. you are a hero. You are giving your child your wonderful lifegiving milk that was designed by nature to be your child's only food, designed especially for her. You are doing an amazing thing.

I pump 4-5 times a day and get anywhere from 3-6 ounces of pumped milk per session total from both breasts. She does still feed from the breast a few times a day for comfort when she's upset.

You do not mention how bottles are given and how much is in the bottle. That is going to be much more to the point when it comes to figuring out if there is some issue with digestion. Newborns typically nurse at least 10-12 times a day, very small amounts at a time. This is what they can handle, as their systems are new and tummies are small. So bottle feeds should be similar. Milk extraction frequency should be similar as well. If there IS A foremilk/hindmilk issue, then that is worsened when milk is removed less frequently. You do not mention how often baby nurse, so that is part of the picture. At this age, you do want to be nursing OR pumping at least about 10 times a 24 hour day total.

Also, how is weight gain now? When she nurses for comfort, does she get upset with the milk flow?

Here is information on the right way to bottle feed a baby. It says for day care, but the cue feeding and technique for holding baby and bottle and taking pauses are the same even for exclusively bottle fed babies. This technique is very important for making sure baby is not overfed with the bottle and to prevent breast refusal due to bottles. http://www.llli.org/docs/00000000000...astfedbaby.pdf and video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH4T70OSzGs

Also, has anyone suggested at the breast supplementation, should supplementation be needed? Again, there is some reason baby is not getting enough at the breast, and the reason must lie with baby. It is clearly not your production, if you are able to pump enough for your child, then clearly you make enough milk.

Please get your information from evidence based resources. Kellymom.com and this site have good info. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding is an excellent book. If you randomly search online, there is just far to much misinformation floating around.

Foremilk/hindmilk "imbalance" is a made up theoretical issue that means little or nothing. It is not harmful to a baby even if it happens. ALL of your milk is good for your baby and has everything your baby needs. Rarely, when a mother has extreme overproduction and/or an extremely fast letdown, THAT-the OP or FFLD- causes some excess discomfort and fussiness, and it is theorized that this has to do with baby getting more foremilk at each feeding than they would otherwise, and it is theorized that this may make digestion more uncomfortable for baby. That is it. It does not mean mom is doing something wrong or there is anything wrong with a mothers milk! If this is the issue that is causing fussiness, it is one that goes away when the overproduction or forceful letdown is dealt with (or just goes away on its own after about age of about 6-8 weeks or so as it usually does.) it is almost always only an issue when a baby is nursing exclusively at the breast. Not bottle fed, except in a very rare circumstance.


Extremely frequent stooling in a newborn is 100% normal. You WANT a newborn to stool a lot!
Gas in a newborn is 100% normal
Frequent nursing in a newborn is 100% normal, yes, even wanting to nurse every 30 minutes.
Fussiness in a newborn is 100% normal, especially fussiness that peaks or occurs at a particular time of day, usually evenings. If baby will nurse, that is a great way to comfort baby during these times or any time.
Congestions in a newborn could be normal or caused by any number of things.
Green poops are a normal variation in poop color. Yes, they can be caused by forceful letdown and/or allergy, or a virus, or again, simply be normal.
Allergies via breastmilk are uncommon, although if there is an issue, dairy is the most common of them. If eliminating dairy from your diet (and ONLY dairy) for a week to see if it helps at all is not too overwhelming to you, you can try it. But again, there is no reason to suspect alergy in particular in my opinion.