Mucus in breastmilk stool can be caused by a variety of things, some of
concern and others of not much concern at all.

Think of mucus as a possible symptom of irritation to the intestinal wall
(the mucosa of the intestinal wall produces mucus due to irritation). What
can irritate the intestinal wall? Something in the baby's diet, and if the
baby is receiving nothing other than breastmilk, it would be something in
the mother's diet, passing into the milk. The most common irritant is
probably dairy (cow's milk protein - NOT lactose) that the mother consumes;
other possibilities may include soy protein, eggs, corn, wheat.  It's
possible (but less likely) that a medication that the mother is taking could
also cause GI irritation in the infant.

Another common way to irritate the intestinal wall is to rush milk/stool
through it explosively. How could this happen? Perhaps from a lactose
overload - a mom with a very large milk supply and/or a baby who drinks more
of the high-lactose milk and less of the hindmilk who's rising fat content
helps slow the passage by taking longer to digest. Typically this kind of
mucousy stool is greenish, slimy, frothy and explosive.

Whenever there is mucus due to intestinal irritation, sometimes there is
blood. If the blood is visible to the naked eye and a small streak of mucus
tinged with blood occurs more than once or twice, the pediatrician will need
to be involved. I'm very open with what I tell mothers about if there is a
little mucus, no visible blood, and a happy, comfortable, thriving baby.
Sadly, I see pediatricians who frequently and randomly "guiac" or check
stool for hidden ("occult") blood, and perhaps 20% of the time it comes out
positive, and even when there are no other issues, the pediatrician either
has the mom undertake an extremely restrictive diet and repeatedly check
stool for hidden blood or switches the baby temporarily or permanently to a
hypoallergenic formula if they can't get rid of every trace of blood.
Sometimes they refer the mom to a pediatric gastroenterologist for an
intensive workup. Breastfeeding is bound to be negatively effected in some
way, and therefore if the baby is happy, healthy and thriving and there
mucus but no visible blood, I explain this scenario to the mother and let
her decide what course she chooses to take. Mucus in and of itself is not
problematic. Adults have a little mucus in stool as well - it is what
provides lubrication for defecation (and why the intestinal wall is called
"mucosa" - meaning, produces mucus).

Lastly, if the baby has a cold and is swallowing mucus, the mucus will pass
right through the stomach and intestine into the stool. 

So that is my 2 cents on stool with mucus. It's a question I hear a LOT, but
probably because I see about 100 moms and babies each week ranging in age
from 2 weeks - 20 weeks. I get a lot of poop questions!

Nancy

Nancy Holtzman RN BSN IBCLC
Director of Early Parenting Programs
Isis Maternity - Brookline, Arlington, Needham
781.429.1500
www.isismaternity.com  
 
 

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html