Green feces in a child often occur in the summer and autumn - when the menu is full of juicy vegetables and fruits. But it is necessary to treat such changes with caution, since some infectious or inflammatory diseases have such symptoms. In what cases is color change considered normal, and when is a doctor's help needed?
The color of infant bowel movements is influenced by various reasons:
- Type of feeding;
- The diet of the parent (if the baby is breastfed);
- Composition of the mixture;
- Underdevelopment gastrointestinal tract babies.
The baby's body is not yet fully ready for digestive process– lack of enzymes and beneficial bacteria.
All newborns have a dark green first stool. It is called meconium. This almost black, sticky substance is secreted by the baby the first two to three days after birth. Then the feces become lighter in color. They are usually light brown, . However, it is also normal for a tiny baby to poop green. Especially if mom’s menu contains a significant amount of cucumbers, parsley, spinach, green pears or apples.
Situations when stool turns light yellow or even white are also dangerous. The table below shows photos of feces in a child, which is normal, as well as feces that signal danger, as in the case.
Artificials have yellow- green tint excrement may occur due to the consumption of mixtures with high content gland.
In a bottle-fed baby, greenish-colored feces with mucus are possible when switching to a formula with an unusual composition. If the baby pooped like this once or twice, and then everything got better, then everything is fine. But if problems continue, you should find a suitable mixture.
Several more factors why a small child may have green stool:
- Excess sugar in mom's food;
- Digestive problems (both for the baby and the parent);
- Improper absorption of breast milk;
- Introducing complementary foods to a child 4–5 months and older.
During the period when the first teeth appear (at 7 months - 1 year), the excrement may turn green. If, in addition, a one-year-old child has no pathological signs, then treatment is not required.
Changes in the color and frequency of stool are possible in a 2-month-old baby. If one month old baby Since bowel movements occur after every meal, a two-month-old may experience breaks even for a couple of days. At 2 months, an enzyme crisis occurs in the baby’s body. But at 3 months everything gets better.
Pathologies leading to changes in stool color in babies
Green bowel movements often appear in children aged 1–3 years due to dysbiosis - a disruption of the correct microflora in the gastrointestinal tract.
Risk factors for illness vary. During teething, the child chews on toys and other things. At the same time, bacteria enter the gastrointestinal tract, leading to microflora disturbances. Dysbacteriosis appears after taking antibiotic drugs, with an incorrect diet, or with ailments of the digestive system. This disease is characterized by the following changes:
- Stool disorders;
- Yellow-green or gray-green stool with mucus and foam;
- A specific sour smell.
Dysbacteriosis is accompanied by colic and frequent regurgitation. Bloating and painful sensations in the tummy lead to the baby being capricious, unable to sleep, and losing appetite and weight. But the main sign of dysbiosis is green mucus in the stool.
To make a correct diagnosis, it is necessary to do a stool test for dysbacteriosis, which reveals high-quality composition intestinal microflora. After this, the doctor will recommend the necessary medications to get rid of the disease.
Liquid green stool in children preschool age, including newborns, is possible with dysentery. This is a dangerous infectious disease that threatens to dehydrate the body. Its symptoms:
- Diarrhea (more than four times a day),
- Gray-green color of excrement with bloody inclusions;
- Disgusting putrid “aroma”.
With each bowel movement, the amount of excrement decreases. The toddler is acting restless, he is feeling sick, and his temperature is rising. With moderate severity of the disease, the process of defecation normalizes after seven to eight days.
What to do if the contents of the diaper are green?
If a preschool child over four years old can tell about what hurts, then a baby is not capable of this. Parents should carefully monitor the child’s behavior - whether he is restless, capricious, or crying. Signs such as diarrhea in a child, fever, vomiting, excessive mucus in a child’s stool are reasons to call a pediatrician. Similar clinical picture indicates an infectious disease.
To clarify the diagnosis, you will need to conduct certain studies:
- General blood analysis. Check: the level of hemoglobin, red blood cells, platelets;
- Scatological analysis of stool. Check: the severity of damage to the gastrointestinal mucosa.
- Bacteriological analysis of stool. They check: the presence of infectious pathogens and susceptibility to antibiotic drugs.
You can give your child enterosorbents (“Enterosgel”, “”). Those made on the basis activated carbon, are also capable of changing the color of bowel movements. It will become closer to black and green.
Liquid green stool in a baby with normal general health indicates a slight digestive disorder, which is not dangerous. The main thing is to avoid dehydration. Saline solutions, made independently or purchased at a pharmacy, will help with this.
Prevention measures include establishing the correct diet for the nursing mother, precise selection of formulas for artificial infants, careful introduction of complementary foods, and regular medical examinations.
Why do children from three to five years old have green stool?
A child’s stool will reach an “adult” dark brown color at about 2 years of age. At this time, the baby completely switches to a general diet.
In a child 3–6 years old, the color of excrement can change as a result of infatuation with certain foods, indigestion or excess sugar in food. Bright green feces will be found in a baby who loves cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce, and other vegetables and fruits of this color. Red beans, licorice, sea fish, drinks and sweets with dyes can give stool a light green tint.
Other reasons for the occurrence of green excrement in preschool children and junior schoolchildren can be:
- Intestinal infections;
- Lactase deficiency;
- Allergies;
- Enteritis and colitis;
- Congenital diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Taking vitamin-mineral complexes, iodized products, chlorophyll, and other dietary supplements.
If the baby really has problems not only with the color of excrement, he will become apathetic and sleepy. Appetite will worsen. There may be an increase in temperature and pain in the abdomen. The smell of excrement will be especially fetid, and an unpleasant “aroma” will be added from the mouth. A rash, vomiting, sudden weight loss, the presence of blood and mucus in the stool are reasons for an urgent medical examination.
Thus, salmonellosis can cause problems with feces in children. It is usually contracted through improperly cooked chicken eggs and meat.
With this serious infectious disease with severe dehydration and intoxication, the excrement becomes liquid, swamp-colored, and smells sour. The desire to go big often occurs and is accompanied by pain, gagging, and fever. If these signs are detected, you should immediately call a doctor.
If your baby has greenish stool, there is no need to panic. It usually does not require treatment. Only if serious symptoms of an infectious disease or inflammation occur will medical attention be required.
Remember that only a doctor can make a correct diagnosis; do not self-medicate without consultation and diagnosis by a qualified doctor. Be healthy!
When a child appears in the family nest, everyone immediately begins to carefully monitor what happens to him: whether he ate, drank, how much he slept, when he pooped, what he pooped with, and so on. Sometimes the contents of diapers frighten new parents and make them nervous even before they know why the baby is pooping green.
But there is no need to be nervous ahead of time. Any situation must first be analyzed. The color and density of a child's stool often depends on what he eats. And if your baby poops green, it's okay. This, of course, is not the norm, but a fairly common occurrence.
A baby is born completely unadapted to life in a normal environment for adults. Everything around him is unusual for him. The small organism begins to adapt to new living conditions. At the same time, all functions of the body are launched. And it will take some time before all this returns to normal.
It may take a whole week, or even more, until the baby’s stomach and intestines develop bacteria that help digestion. Because of this, the cub has rather strange bowel movements, which need to be assessed only after a week or even two.
In the first three days of a baby's life, meconium comes out of its body. It is a thick and fairly viscous dark green mass that does not have a distinct odor. Somewhere on the fifth day (or maybe later), the baby’s stool becomes transitional, but still retains a greenish color. And only after a week the baby’s stool returns to normal.
A lot depends on what the baby eats. If he drinks only mother's milk, then the cause of the problem with normal stool should be sought in the mother's diet. And if a child eats formula, then most likely it is not suitable for him.
Is it appropriate to be nervous about “green stuff” in diapers?
Before you fight in hysterics and suspect some kind of illness, you need to think about and analyze everything. Like an adult, a baby's stool depends on what he eats. If he is breastfeeding, then you should pay attention to the food of the nursing mother. When a mother eats green foods, this also affects the color of her child’s stool.
Then it is worth analyzing the behavior of the cub. If he is not capricious, does not whine, and continues to play actively, then most likely everything is fine with him. When he starts to whine, becomes lethargic and exhausted, it’s worth thinking about. Parents should be even more alarmed by the fact that in addition to the green tint, the baby’s stool has become liquid and unpleasant in smell. This often indicates dysbacteriosis and requires contacting a doctor.
With such symptoms, it is better not to delay going to the hospital. Even if everything turns out to be normal in the end, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Causes of green stool
Green color in baby poop can be caused by more than just food. Therefore, pay attention to the following reasons, maybe they will help you understand why your child has green stool:
- If the diapers turn green on the fifth day after the baby is born, it’s okay. Doctors explain this by saying that the newborn body adapts to new living conditions in the environment. This was mentioned above.
- If a baby’s diapers “turn green” at the age of a month, there is also no reason to worry. This phenomenon is caused by the fact that the small organism has not yet produced enough beneficial bacteria necessary for the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. As soon as digestion improves, the stool will return to normal.
- When green poop appears due to viral diseases, all tests must be taken. This is also a fairly common phenomenon, but it already requires treatment.
- With dysbacteriosis, the color of the stool will also change, and a sharp putrid odor will be added. All this may be accompanied by a rash, regurgitation and colic.
- Green stool also appears when teeth are being cut. At this time, the child chews everything that comes to hand.
- The color of the stool also changes with indigestion.
What food makes poop green?
As already mentioned, the color depends on what the baby eats. Green stool may appear due to:
- The child consumed a lot of sugar. Green feces can appear even in older children, this also indicates large quantities sugar in the child's body;
- Mom ate incorrectly: she ate little milk and dairy products, consumed carcinogens, ate green foods such as broccoli or regular greens (parsley, dill, lettuce);
- Mom food poisoning: toxins are transferred to the baby along with mother's milk and affect the color of the stool;
- the mixture contains a lot of iron (relevant for newborns who do not feed on mother’s milk);
- They started feeding the baby with other foods. In this case, the baby’s stomach and intestines must adapt to the new type of food. This also takes time;
- feeds only on liquid milk, but cannot reach fatty milk.
What to do if you have green stool?
When it’s green, and there are no other symptoms or abnormalities, you can try changing your diet:
- A nursing mother (especially in the first months of life) needs to pay attention to her diet. Avoid foods that cause fermentation or have a laxative effect. The mother needs to remember that her incorrect diet or non-compliance with the diet can not only change the color of the children's stool, but also cause a lot of problems for the baby. discomfort(bloating, colic). However, the child’s malaise will also affect the child’s behavior.
- If your baby eats exclusively formula, you need to change it. It looks like she's not right for him. New food It is worth checking with your doctor and introducing it into the diet not immediately, but gradually.
If, when the baby’s bowel movements are disrupted, a rash appears, the baby becomes capricious and exhausted, you should consult a doctor. It is also worth increasing the amount of liquid your baby consumes (either give him water, or put him to the breast more often).
With such symptoms, doctors most often prescribe bacteria that bring the stool back to normal. But self-medication, according to the advice of “experienced” mothers with many children, is not recommended, especially in the case of a baby. Prescribing medications is still a matter for a specialist.
More often than not, green poop is not a big deal, but sometimes it indicates the presence of some kind of disease. So, a trip to the pediatrician is never superfluous. It's always better to play it safe and make sure everything is fine.
A baby in the house is always a hassle, sometimes pleasant, sometimes not so much. Whatever happens, the main thing is not to panic. By maintaining a sober mind, you will be able to help your baby much sooner than when you start to get nervous and lost. Have you noticed green stool in the diapers? Calm down and think about everything to the smallest detail:
- what did you eat;
- what the child ate;
- how he behaves;
- are there any other symptoms;
- whether he is suffering from some kind of viral infection;
- What other signs of unhealthy feces, besides color.
Based on the analysis of such details, take further actions.
There is an opinion that a person is born not fully developed, even if he was born on time, as nature intended. When a baby is born, his body is still developing. You can determine how correctly the development of the baby’s organs and systems is proceeding by behavior, the timely appearance of certain skills, and even by various secretions.
Sometimes it may seem funny that parents carefully study the contents of their child’s diaper, but in fact, the waste products of a baby are a good determinant of his health in general. this moment. This is indicated by the color, smell and consistency of the baby's poop.
Various baby chair options
A baby's stool may be different; there is no standard to follow. Therefore, if you are confused by the baby’s poop, and there are no other signs of the disease, then there is no need to worry.
Viscous and thick, dark green poop in a baby that has just been born. Before the introduction of additional nutrition in addition to mother's milk, the baby's stool is liquid and unformed. The feces of formula-fed babies are often thicker and more homogeneous. Parents are concerned about the appearance of greenery, but usually there is no need to worry.
With any type of feeding, green poop appears in the baby due to a change in the balance of intestinal microflora or simply due to a reaction to some substances.
Let's take a closer look at this problem for kids at in different forms feeding.
Green poop on a baby at guard
A baby who feeds only on mother's milk poops light brown, liquid poop with small white inclusions and grains with a sour odor. There may also be mucus or streaks of blood in the baby's stool (due to a burst vessel in the intestine). Foamy, greenish stools are also common. Why does my baby have green poop?
- if you haven't changed your diaper for a while, the poop may have turned green due to an oxidation reaction in the air;
- the baby poops green poop if the mother had foods such as cucumbers or zucchini in her diet;
- Green poop also appears in infants as a result of taking certain medications. Iron gives stool a green tint; antibacterial agents disrupt the balance of intestinal flora, which also provokes the appearance of green in the stool;
- dysbiosis. This is not a disease, but a disturbed intestinal microflora. This means that the bacteria exceed the required amount. Children who only eat breast milk, can suffer from this disease even if they are sung boiled water, since it already disrupts the natural balance in the intestines;
- Green, foamy stool is often considered a definitive sign of lactase deficiency. However, this is rarely the case. This is usually due to an uneven ratio of foremilk to hindmilk. As you know, foremilk is rarer and less nutritious and serves more to quench thirst, while fatty and rich hindmilk is the baby’s main source of energy. If the mother regularly alternates breasts or does not allow the baby to finish eating, the baby may not receive hindmilk in the required amount, but consume foremilk in excess. Insufficient weight gain will also be added to green, foamy stool;
- due to the release of bile pigment.
Green poop on a baby on the willow
A baby who takes artificial nutrition may also have green stools. Unnatural nutrition is adapted and does not change its composition compared to mother's milk. An increased amount of iron in the mixture leads to the appearance of green poop in infants.
When should you start worrying?
So such green stool is not a problem and is considered the norm. Of course, this may be a symptom of some disease, but it is impossible to determine the problem by looking at green stool alone. You need to monitor the baby's behavior. Of course, the baby himself will not tell you where he hurts and how, but if he is sick, then you will understand this by the lack of appetite, poor sleep and manifestations of some anxiety. If any of these ailments appear along with green poop, then you should call a specialist for help.
Start sounding the alarm if:
- rash;
- regular unexplained crying;
- frequent regurgitation;
- disturbing sleep;
- when the amount of mucus in the baby’s stool increases and a putrid odor occurs.
What to do if you appear green poop on baby?
Sometimes green baby poop is easy to eliminate. Let's consider the possible options.