Slimy Mucousy and Foamy Poop

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Slimy Mucousy and Foamy Poop

by Lidya Hiandinata
(Pagewood, Sydney, Australia)

I have 3.5 weeks fully breastfed baby. He used to have yellow mustard poop with seedy thing inside. He often passed gas with it. He always strain when having bowel movement.

But in the past 5 days, his poo become more watery less seedy, sometimes is little bit slimy and foamy. The color changes between yellow and bright orange. He strains a lot now even though his poop is more watery than before. Sometimes he strains too strong that make him hiccups.

He is little bit fussier that before and seems to have discomfort on his stomach before pooing. He will move his body a lot like there is something on his stomach and this will sometimes wake him from his sleep.

I eat normal food, no dairy product. Just don't know what cause this. I have oversupply breast milk. But as far as I know if there is imbalance on the milk, the color of the poo will be green. It was foamy green one time and the pediatrician advised me to give him Infacol to reduce the gas on his stomach, but it didn't help. Just wondering whether Infacol could cause this.

Could you please help as my son is having less sleep because of this. The pattern of his feeding become random now as he sometimes awake for 6 hours just because he has to spend more time for straining and pooing.

Thank you

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Slimy Mucousy and Foamy Poop

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Feb 07, 2009

Mucous in poop for newborn babies
by: Baby Help Line

At your baby's age, breastfed babies normally have four to eight yellow-greenish, semi-solid to liquid stools a day. This will slow down at around 2 months of age.

Babies often grunt, strain, or turn red or purple when having a bowel movement. This is usually normal, and if the stool is soft, this does not mean the baby is constipated.

Your baby is now getting more fat and nutrients in your milk than he did before. Your milk changes consistency through the first few months. (You can read more about the components of breast milk here.) This is normal and it happens no matter what you eat. Your body produces what the baby needs at different stages of growth.

The change in your milk can cause the poop to be slimy, foamy, and it can also cause your baby to be gassy. Make sure you continue to watch what you eat, so if he gets to gassy you can eliminate certain things from your diet. (Learn more about what foods to eat and avoid while breastfeeding here.

You can give him Mylicon drops for the gas. If he starts to become constipated or continues to have stomach aches then I would take him to your pediatrician.

Since you have over-supply, it is very important that you let your baby eat for a long time on one breast. I had the same issue, and when I switched to only letting the baby have one breast per feeding, things turned to the better. If you have a lot of milk, you might even have to feed him twice or more from each breast before switching.

Hope this helps,

Paula

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May 13, 2009

the same with my baby
by: Livia

Hi there!

my baby is passing by the EXACT same things you mentioned! He even have the hiccups this very moment. I also have oversupply. Do you think there is a connection? My baby is 11 weeks old.

If you have any clue,please let me know!

Cheers,
Livia

ps- my email is mondlicht@gmail.com

May 18, 2009

same for my 10-weeks old baby
by: Lu

My 10 weeks old daughter is having exactly what you guys described. I also have over supply of milk, I had no idea that could be the cause but reading your posts made me wonder. Actually, my baby is sleeping through the night now, so in the morning my breasts are all full and is usually after that first feeding that the poop is all foamy. Maybe I need to pump for that first feeding of the day.

Jun 17, 2009

foamy, mucus bm
by: jsk

I have a 4 week old baby boy and have very similar symptoms and I also have oversupply of milk. My biggest concern is his slow weight gain. He was born big 10 lbs 8.8 oz and did not gain his birth weigh at 2 weeks. I am going back to see our pediatrician again today to see how much weight he put on. I doubt he gain anything though because his anus is always wet with constant poop.
Could this mean he has some problem in his intestine or something?
Help!

Sep 27, 2009

same symptoms
by: Anonymous

My 8 week old daughter is having the exact same symptoms, I was told it was because they swallow too much air. I have oversupply as well, I'm trying to manually express a little bit of milk onto a towel before feeding and try not to let baby get too hungry so that she doesn't gulp. Does anyone else know what to do? Our Dr. told me it was nothing to worry about.

Oct 23, 2009

oversupply...
by: Anonymous

It seems to me, like oversupply issues. My son is five months now, and we used to have similar symptoms, so I treated it as an oversupply issue. I started by feeding on one breast for about twelve hours, and then the other for around the same time, as the supply got less, I went to less hrs, untill I was doing two feeding on one breast, adn then the next two feedings on the other. You have to work with it according to your "oversupply". Some people can fix their oversupply issue with just feeding on one breast/feeding, and other people may need a whole 12hr period on one, and another 12hr. period on the other (extreme cases). Then as you regulate the supply, you also have to take into consideration baby's different changes. I made the mistake of continuing to feed him for two feedings on one breast, when he was going through a period of not eating as much because of teething, and didnt realize that my supply was dwindling fast! Then he could barely get any milk! I had to work ER style to get my supply back up again. Not a fun experience when your baby depends on it. Anyway, god luck, and remember to follow your own gut feeling. Everyone has advise, but only follow that which resonates with you.

Dec 14, 2009

Same problem
by: BABA

Is the oversupply milk really causing our baby's tummy system? If it's really true, I'll feel bad for my baby coz I was happy that i have so much milk for her and I even pump and save it for when I'm going back to school....

I've tried many ways to help her but they all didn't work well. I'll try to reduce my supply and let see if that was the cause..

thanks

Dec 25, 2009

hmmm
by: Anonymous

this sounds like cdiff. cdiff is short for clostridium difficile. it is a bug that is very contagious and causes diarrhea. i'm an RN and i see cdiff infections often, usually in older adults but babies are susceptible also. this is often described as a seedy yellow mucousy diarrhea with a particular odor. i see that this has been a while since you made this post so you have probably figured this out byt now but i hope this helps

Jan 22, 2010

this is not C.Diff
by: Anonymous

i recently had the same problem and I DONT have oversupply. My friend who is a midwife said this is perfectly normal, therefore there is nothing to worry about. hope that helps.

Feb 11, 2010

Fore/hind milk
by: Anonymous

It sounds like your baby is getting too much fore milk and not enough hind milk. I had this same issue around 3 months, and I am pumping daily. I wouldn't pump long enough or wait too long between feedings/pumping and she would get very gassy and fussy. Then she would poop this horrible vinegary green poop. I called them atomic poop bombs...lol. So instead of feeding on both breasts at one feeding (like the lactation consultants recommended), I feed her on one breast then switch to the other on the next feeding. When I pump, I go about 20-25 min vs the 10-15 I was doing before, especially if I am busy at work and have to wait to pump.

Mar 07, 2010

reply
by: kirsten

I also had an over supply, foamy watery or green poo, fussy baby, everything that was listed before. So my conclusion is that my baby was getting to much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. I did research and asked La Leche League members and found that if I nursed her on one breast for multiple feedings so that she was finishing one side completely before switching sides worked well. After about a week of this I saw a difference. Sometimes my breasts would be full on the side that I was not nursing on, but this only was so for a short time. My body regulated I stopped over producing milk and the baby wasn't having inconsistent bowels. But I found the most help through the le leche league. I hope this helps.

Jul 07, 2010

oversupply
by: Anonymous

Hi Everyone;
you are bound to have an oversupply for up to the first five months of a baby's life. It won't cause the baby to have different poo. The fore milk just makes them hungerier earlier than the hind milk will.
My baby also has the runny poo that is yellow. the colour is normal; the runniness is not. it is due to diet. It should be the consistency of toothpaste. I now have to be on a strict diet due to my babies intolerance to some foods. A common one is Dairy - there is a protein in cows milk that alot of humans cannot tolerate. Another one for me is sausages...
hope this helps

Sep 11, 2010

Oversupply
by: Anonymous

I read up on oversupply. Go to www.llli.org/FAQ/oversupply.html It was VERY helpful to me and between me and my baby - we nailed almost every single symptom they listed. Having too much formilk IS a problem if your baby has a sensitive stomach. It contains more lactose and if they get to much lactose, it can cause their little tummies to hurt. Once I started nursing on one side until my son completely drained me, then next feeding on the other side as many feedings until he drained that one - the cramping got better. The poop got a little better but I ended up having to stop due to a possible MRSA infection and he is now on formula.

Oct 23, 2010

Mucous Poo
by: Anonymous

This is normal and it is because you have an over supply of milk. Your baby is probably getting too mych foremilk which will cause green to yellow poo with mucous, gass, and fussy baby. When the baby gets mostly foremilk, they are still hungry because the hunger is satisfied with hindmilk. You can do "block feeding" which is nurse on one breast for about 4-6 hours and pump the other breast if it becomes too painful. This will ensure that your baby gets hindmilk. It will take up to a week if not longer for the symptoms to get better and if you see no improvement then I would think about other causes. You can also pump a couple of ounces and discard it; it will be only foremilk. My 8 week old boy had the same thing and the lactation consultant said it was a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. Sometimes it takes a month to correct but your body will correct it eventually. Use mylicone drops with every feeding and use the "block feeding" technique. It will help!!

Jul 31, 2011

foamy poop isn't cdiff
by: Tana

To the RN, i am an RN also. please don't scare moms by making them think their babies have cdiff. yellow sweet poop is normal for breastfed infants and you should know that. My baby is 6 weeks old and had same problem. Is not cdiff.

Sep 04, 2011

breastfed baby poop should be runny
by: Anonymous

Just wanted to correct a previous poster bf baby poop should ne liquid. Formula fed babies have poop the consistency of toothpaste.

Sep 24, 2011

Yup. Too Much Foremilk
by: tara

Fore contains lots o protein, hind = lots o fat :) Give same boob for feedings til at least 30 minutes has been accomplished.

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