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The contents of a baby’s diaper can give us a lot of clues about your health. Color, consistency, and the frequency of the appearance of the stool are important. You can find a whole range of colors in pampers. Most of them are completely physiological, but some colors of the baby’s poop should alert the parents. How to tell them apart? What do the different colors of a baby’s poop mean?
What determines the color of the baby’s poop?
The color of a baby’s poop is a frequent topic that constantly returns and is on the mind of parents and other people caring for young children. Changes in stool color are typical, especially in infants, and are normal physiological phenomena. Nevertheless, observation the color and consistency of the child’s poop it is necessary because certain irregularities are information useful in detecting health problems.
Considerably different stool colors are observed in the first days of a newborn’s life. It all starts with baby’s first poopthat is black or black-green meconium. In the following days, the color of the stool changes from greenish to yellow and then mustard-colored. Also, in older children, there may be occasional poops of unusual coloring. Often, changes in color are due to specific food choices and are not uncommon.
If you notice your baby’s stool is a different color than usual, the first thing you should pay attention to is the foods they have eaten recently. If it was not dietary ingredients that affected the color of the poop, then we should focus on other stool characteristics or symptoms. A deviation from the norm does not have to be a reason for a medical consultation, especially if it is one-off, the consistency of the stools remains normal, and the child has no symptoms or behavioral changes.
In order to accurately assess poop abnormalities in children, pay attention to the color, texture, frequency of bowel movements, presence of mucus, and disturbing symptoms. The mere discoloration of the stools is only one of the clues to your baby’s health and possible digestive system malfunctions.
Read more: Newborn poop – what it should look like and when we have cause for concern
The color of the baby’s poop – what does it mean?
Rotten green poop in a child – this is the color of meconium most often. This is what a newborn’s first stools are called. It is produced from what the baby swallows in the womb, namely – amniotic fluid, fetal fluid, bile, exfoliated epithelium. Meconium is excreted by the baby in the first or second day of life. Its absence may be a sign of an illness.
Green-brown, gray poop in a child – usually occurs between the passing of meconium and the appearance of typical stools. This color may appear in the diaper until around the sixth day of the child’s life. These are the so-called transient stools.
Yellow poop in a child – this is the color of the poop of a child who is fed only with mother’s milk, without supplementing it with modified milk.
Pale yellow, gray-green poop in a child – occurs in a child when feeding with formula milk.
Green poop in a child – usually occurs when a breastfeeding mother consumes a product that does not serve the baby. Most often it is the result of hypersensitivity to a given ingredient, e.g. dairy. If it is not accompanied by additional symptoms and occurs sporadically, it should not be alarming. Before eliminating any ingredient from the diet, you should contact a specialist, nutrient deficiencies can be dangerous for the mother and baby. This color may be evoked by formula milk with hydrolyzed protein (type HA) administered to the baby. The eating of intensely green foods such as spinach and kale in older children makes stools green, as does the high iron content of the food.
White and discolored poop in a child – may appear when the child has problems with the liver, gall bladder, bile ducts. When you see a poop like this, see your doctor.
Black poop in a child – will occur when we give the baby iron. After eating dark fruit as well as blueberries may appear. Sometimes a pile with a blood content is similar in color. Blood in the stool may indicate, for example, food allergy, enteritis, birth defects and always requires consultation with a doctor.
Red, dark pink poop in a child – it may be the result of eating colored food, e.g. beetroot.
Poop in a child – what to look for?
Shiny stool in a child – may be a disease of the pancreas.
Mucus in a child’s poop – a scanty amount of mucus may appear during diarrhea, if it occurs sporadically, it is not a serious symptom. Sometimes it also appears when new foods are introduced into the baby’s diet.
Stool with blood in a child – usually clearly visible “threads”. If it is accompanied by constipation, it may be a result of the capillary rupture due to pressure in the anus. Otherwise, a doctor should be consulted.
- See also: Slime in a baby poop – is there anything to worry about?
Not every discoloration of your baby’s poo is a reason to see your doctor. Its other features and other symptoms occurring at the same time should be monitored. Changes in consistency, the number of bowel movements a day, fever, rash, and mood changes can be alarming. In addition, remember what the child has eaten recently and match the color of the food to the shade of the poop in the pampers, this way we can solve the puzzle.
For young children, it is not just a change in the color of the poop that shows signs of digestive problems or other medical conditions. You should also pay attention to the frequency of your bowel movements. Too frequent may suggest diarrhea and occasional constipation. It should be remembered that diarrhea in children is often the result of viral and bacterial infections that do not necessarily involve the digestive system. There are also food poisoning, irritable bowel syndrome, intestinal inflammation, allergies and intolerances, parasitic diseases or adverse drug effects.
In breast-fed infants, changes in stool (e.g., mucus) may indicate a food allergy. They are most often caused by cow’s milk proteins, egg whites, citrus, nuts and mushrooms present in the mother’s diet.
Check also:
- Constipation in infants – causes, symptoms, treatment
- What could be the cause of a lack of appetite?
- The most common parasites in children
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