Please help.  I read Lactnet regularly and search it periodically.  This

is the first time in a long time that I am posting, so I'm a little
nervous (bear with me please).

I've been working with a mother with a 3 month old with green watery
stools that began 2 weeks ago.  At the worst he had 10-12 stools/day,
lately about 4-6 that are now watery and brown in color.

The mother says the onset was sudden, so first suspect was virus.
I reminded her it may take some time for the baby to go back to normal
after a virus.  However I also went over the following with her:
    Foremilk/Hindmilk (nurses one breast/feeding)
    Maternal diet (increasing fat and calories)
    Increasing sleep/rest (works as a nurse on night shift)
    Reducing caffeine
    Eliminating Nutrasweet
    Eliminating Milk/Soy (possible family history of allergies)

In the one week from first to second doctor appt, baby's weight stayed
the same.  In the three days from second to third doctor appt, baby lost

2 oz. (in addition to nursing, she had been giving pedialyte upon
suggestion of ped nurse).

One pediatrician suggested she stop breastfeeding and use Alimentum /
Nutramigen for one week.  Mother was reluctant, so asked if it would be
okay to wait a few more days.  Pediatrician said yes.  I asked mother to

come in for weight check, however she cancelled the appt (Sat) and said
she'd come in on Mon.

Meanwhile the other pediatrician received some results from the stool
sample, in which it tested positive for the presence of fats (>100).
Therefore he also suggested using the formula to see if the baby would
get better on it.  My question is:
    What does the presence of fat in the stool mean (beyond
malabsorption)?
    Also, how is the specialized formula going to help this situation?

Thanks in advance for your time and assistance,
Heather Carpenter BS, IBCLC

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