Hi mamas. I'm desperately trying to find out what's causing my 12 wk olds colic. I know she has some food sensitivities that I've already eliminated. I also have an overactive let down which I've been working to correct for the last week. She seemed to be doing alot better and then began to get real colicky the last couple days. This morning when she pooped it was on the darker green side and a bit stringy like canned spinach. I read somewhere that light green foamy stools are from overactive let down and that dark green means food sensitivity. Is this true? I'm trying to figure out if we're still having trouble with my let down or if this was from aonther food sensitivity. I'm so glad to have this forum of wise women to ask.

any other symptoms? Skin, sleeping habits, vomiting? When is the crying, or when does the crying not happen? Why do you think overactive letdown? Are you tandem nursing?

My DD had dark green stringy stools when I was still consuming dairy. Her sensitivity was so severe that I had to hunt down all hidden dairy (casein, sodium caseinate, whey, milk solids, etc) in processed foods and eliminate them.
She also had colicky symptoms (pulling legs up to chest, unconsolable crying, etc) while I was still consuming dairy.
I was told it was too much foremilk, but that wasn't it at all since all symptoms disappeared when the dairy disappeared.
--Kari

She's sleeping well at night most of the time with usually one 6 hour stretch. She had some dry skin on her ears before I took out goat yogurt (the only dairy I was doing) and eggs which cleared up after that. She spits up just about every time I burp her. She was spitting up a great deal when she was younger which also became less after I cut out the yogurt and eggs. Her crying is very inconsistent. Sometimes in the day, sometimes in the evening. She was extremely fussy at the breast since about 2-3 weeks of age. Popping on and off and fussing afterwards. She does plenty of fussing when she's not nursing as well but it's better than it was. Last week I began nursing her for 6 hour blocks on each breast and expressing each time she'd pop off. This helped greatly with her nursing which became much calmer and longer. She even feel asleep at the breast a few times which she had never done before. She also began having much calmer days with less crying except then we would have a day or two sporadically with bad crying again. Thursday we had a couple of bad days along with the worse sleep nights we've ever had with her. A friend had suggested she may be going through her 12 week growth spurt. She also started popping on and off the breast again really bad and fussing allot. My friend who is also an LLL leader suggested nursing her for 3 hour blocks instead of the 6 I was doing as she may need a bit more milk if it's a growth spurt. But then we had the poop today which was on the dark green side which made me think another possible food sensitivity. So basically I'm just trying to figure out if this last bout of colic was due to a food sensitivity or if she may still be reacting to an overactive let down. I had read once before that light green stools mean overactive let down and dark green means food sensitivity and I was wondering if anyone can back that up or had any other thoughts?

This sounds very familiar. My DD#2 is now 2 1/2, and I don't forget all the crying! I thought that part of the problem was overactive letdown, as my DS#1 had weaned right when she was born. I don't think I'll ever know the exact answer. I eliminated alot of foods, played around with my diet extensively. I do know that the crying got better around 4 months, and nursing got much better around 6 months. And everything continued to improve and I am proud to say she is still nursing at 2 1/2, and I am still dairy free! We have had testing, and know that her allergic culprits are eggs, peanuts and sesame seeds. However, I do know that part of the crying was just her personality. My DD is a wise, perceptive and sensitive little girl, and I think she was really mad about being a helpless infant, as she gained mobility, she got happier and happier. She notices everything and is very smart. I think alot of babies experience this stuff, they just aren't phased by it. My heart goes out to you, and I can promise that it will get better! Do whatever you think is helping, and remember "this too shall pass" while you try to enjoy babyhood.