The baby's stool turned green. Breastfeeding with diarrhea. What can be done

The birth of a child brings not only joy and happiness, but also a lot of concern for his health. A reason to worry is changes in the baby's stool, in particular, the appearance of a greenish tint. There may be several reasons for this, many of which are not related to pathology: the mother’s disrupted diet, the introduction of complementary foods, the condition of the baby. However, if your baby has green stool, you should consult your pediatrician to rule out diseases. Let's consider the factors why green stool appears in infants. breastfeeding.

Typically, in a newborn who is exclusively fed breast milk, the stool has a runny consistency. It is characterized by a sour odor, brown tint with a small number of inclusions. There may be a small amount of mucus and blood streaks in the diaper. This happens because a vessel in the intestine bursts. There are cases of changes in the color of a baby's stool green tint. The formation of green stool in a breastfed baby is likely due to the following reasons:

1. Often after a child has had a bowel movement, after some time the stool changes its color to green color- This is an oxidative reaction to air.
2. Most often, the green color of baby feces is given by some vegetables that the nursing mother has eaten. Usually zucchini and cucumbers give this reaction.
3. It happens that such a reaction occurs as a result of taking medicines both mother and child. For example, iron supplements color stool in a greenish tint, and the use of antibiotics often leads to disruption of the intestinal microflora.
4. The appearance of green stools with a foamy consistency, combined with decreased weight gain in a child, occurs due to insufficient intake of both posterior and anterior mother's milk. This usually happens when the mother removes the breast from the baby before the end of sucking or frequently changes breasts.
5. Dysbiosis itself is not considered a disease. It is an imbalance of intestinal microflora, that is, the permissible amount of harmful bacteria is exceeded. Often, breastfed children suffer from dysbiosis even from supplementing with boiled water, which leads to a disruption of the natural balance. Imperfect intestinal microflora is not considered a pathology for the baby, since his intestines continue to form.
6. Greens often produce increased bilirubin.
7. Viral diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract.

Important! If the baby's stool changes simultaneously with the introduction of complementary foods, then it should be temporarily stopped.

In what cases does a greenish tint of stool indicate a disease?

A green tint is not always a sign of disease. Based on this fact, it is impossible to do clear conclusion. It is necessary to focus solely on the baby’s well-being. Of course, he is not able to say that he is in pain somewhere. But babies have their own warning signals. If they have an excellent appetite, sleep, and do not show any anxiety, then everything is fine with them. When even a slight discomfort is noticeable in a child’s behavior, this is a signal to visit a pediatrician. Signs that should cause alarm include the following:

• rash;
• causeless crying;
• regurgitation;
• restless sleep;
• availability in stool mucus;
• temperature increase;
• vomit;
• frequent diarrhea- more than 10 bowel movements per day;
• the appearance of a rotten smell.

The presence of the disease can be indicated not only by the shade of the stool, but also by its thickness:

• dark green color is normal and indicates the body’s response to the introduction of certain foods and the transition to complementary foods;
• a yellow-green tint indicates not only the norm, but also a lack of hindmilk;
• a black-green tint indicates a lack of nutrition, gastrointestinal disease;
• a bright green tint is a sign that the baby is not receiving enough hindmilk or that the mother is consuming foods rich in dyes;
• foamy stool speaks of a lack of hindmilk;
• thick stool is the norm.

The appearance of green feces and the age of the baby

Green stool during breastfeeding at certain times age periods can occur for a variety of reasons. The most common of them are listed in the table:

What to do if greenish stool appears

If a baby who is fed with mother's milk has problems with stool, then before starting treatment you should determine what causes led to them and take the following simple measures:

1. Breastfeeding should continue because the antibodies in milk help build immunity.
2. There is no need to start self-treatment with medications.
3. Before consulting your doctor, you should stop taking all medications, including vitamin complexes.
4. It is necessary to correct the woman’s diet, eliminating the use of products that have a laxative effect.
5. You should not reduce the amount of breast milk you consume. It is important to feed the baby on demand, not to limit feeding time, it is recommended to alternate breasts no earlier than every 2 hours.

Advice: if it is difficult for the baby to accept medicines, then you can use the option of using them by the mother. Penetrating through breast milk, they will bring less side effects. However, when the reason is infectious diseases, antibiotics should be given exclusively to infants.

Most often, the appearance of green color in the stool of infants is normal. You should not take any action on your own if they behave calmly and their sleep and appetite do not suffer. Parents need to monitor the baby’s condition and contact a pediatrician at the first worrying symptom.

In this article:

Nothing worries new mothers more than baby's stool. Green feces in a baby, yellow, sparse or with constipation, lumps or mucus - any appearance can deprive mom of sleep for several nights.

Worries, worries about the baby, going to the pediatrician, getting tested, and all this so that the color of the baby’s stool is normal. In fact, some young mothers simply have no idea what it can be like and what is normal. Knowing this information, most concerns will fade into the background.

What to compare with?

Color normal stool can be determined by knowing what food the baby eats. In a breastfed child with normal bowel function, yellow chair considered the norm. It should have a porridge-like consistency; there may be lumps in it. As the child grows, the stool changes and may become yellow-green, especially in infants.

But it is worth remembering that the feces will always have the same color only if the baby is on artificial feeding provided that the mixture suits him perfectly. When breastfeeding, the composition of mother's milk constantly changes depending on her diet. Over time, the ratio of vitamins in it changes. This may be due to a change in time of day or lactation period. Therefore, greenish stool in a baby may be normal.

What should it be like?

Young mothers observe a dark green color in their infant's stool on the first or second day of life. And the question immediately arises: why does the baby have green stool, why does it have such a strange consistency? In the process of adaptation of the body to breast milk, the baby's dark green stool will begin to gradually lighten. In the first month, the baby defecates at least 4 times a day, and a maximum of 12 times. Actually happens after every feeding.

If a baby at the age of the first week of life does not poop for 24 hours, this indicates that he eats very little. From two weeks, you can evaluate lactation by the amount of urination, the so-called wet diaper test.

As she grows, mom may notice that the green stool she had one month old baby at the age of six months, does not appear again. During this period, bowel movements may occur once a day, sometimes less often. If your baby is 2 months old, he or she may occasionally have green, yellow, or brown stools. The formation of the gastrointestinal tract lasts approximately 4-5 months. This is individual for each child, but there are averages.

When should you sound the alarm?

If you have the following symptoms, you should seek help from your pediatrician:

1. If infant green stools accompanied by a lot of water and an unpleasant odor;
2. When the number of bowel movements doubles;
3. If vomiting and regurgitation occur during diarrhea;
4. At elevated temperatures. The main thing is not to confuse elevated temperature bodies with heat, in which the baby’s body is hot from a large number of clothes;
5. Decreased baby's reactions;
6. With little weight gain or loss;
7. If there are signs of dehydration;
8. If there is a decrease in the amount of urination or a change in the color of urine;
9. When first discovered unpleasant odor from mouth.

The main thing for a young mother is not to panic ahead of time. Because of strong feelings The milk may go missing, but the baby really needs it. Therefore, if symptoms appear, you should contact your pediatrician for advice. If he deems it necessary, he will definitely write out directions for tests and prescribe the necessary treatment.

Useful video about baby stool

So, it's done! You have become the mother of the most wonderful baby in the world! You hold him in your arms and can’t stop admiring him: he has your eyes, a button nose and chubby cheeks. But then the moment comes when your baby needs to change his diaper for the first time, and - oh, horror! - you find some strange discharge there: odorless, viscous, almost black, with a resin-like consistency.

A child's poop is an indicator of the state of his body.

Don't be alarmed: this is original feces, or meconium.

Meconium is formed in the body of a child ready for birth and consists of food debris (obtained in utero from the mother’s body), amniotic fluid(swallowed at birth), contains particles of epithelium and even fragments of marigolds that entered the intestines after the baby sucked his fists.

By the third day of life, if you frequently put your baby to your breast, the meconium will be completely eliminated from the body, and the baby's stool will become dark green in color.

Meconium - absolutely normal phenomenon. Don't be afraid of dark mucus.

This is transitional stool; it is more liquid than meconium. It will remain like this for a couple more days, until real milk replaces the colostrum that you will feed your baby until about the fifth day of his life. During this period, the baby poops green poop.

Remember: green stool in a baby is normal!

Why do babies have green stool?

This is explained for the following reasons(most of them relate to the situation when the baby is breastfed):

• the presence of hormones in breast milk;
• the presence of bilirubin, which is excreted from the baby’s body along with feces;
• insufficient maturity of the intestine (it simply does not have enough beneficial bacteria);

My body is still too weak for the harsh reality.

• the baby’s liver is not yet able to produce all the enzymes necessary for digestion;
• the day before, the mother ate foods high in iron or colored green (for example, greens or broccoli);

A young mother should be careful in choosing food.

• the baby is allergic to foods that the mother ate the day before;
• oxidative processes occur in feces.

On the fifth day of his life, the baby’s stool takes on a more pleasant (yellow) color and the consistency may resemble pea soup or mustard. If you look closely, you can see curdled or granular inclusions in it.

This is what a normal baby's stool should look like.

Stages of stool formation in infants

• Original feces (meconium). It is excreted 48 hours after birth;
• Transitional stool (green). Characteristic for 3 and 4 days of a child’s life;
• Standing chair. Formed by the first week of a baby’s life.

How often should a baby recover?

Many young mothers are concerned about this issue.

Remember: in the first three days of life, a child poops as many times as he has lived in this world: on the first day - once, on the second - twice, on the third - three.

After real milk replaces colostrum, your baby should have bowel movements at least 3-4 times a day, in fairly large portions. Most often, babies aged 3-6 weeks poop after each feeding (up to 10-12 times), and this is also normal.

In the first days of life, you will have to change the diaper very often.

When your baby grows a little and reaches the age of 6 weeks (sometimes a little earlier), he will poop less often: once every 5-7 days. Some children can go more than a week without a bowel movement and still feel great. The stool of infants does not become dry and hard, as with, but still has a puree-like consistency.

Let us emphasize once again: the baby’s rare stool should not worry the mother if the child does not show signs of anxiety, eats well and is in a cheerful mood.

Rare chair in in this case only indicates that mother’s milk is good for him: it is well absorbed and digested without problems.

Some babies continue to poop after each feeding, others - once a day: this is also the norm.

It is important for a child to constantly feel the warmth and care of his parents.

Normal baby stool may look different. It happens:

• pureed;
• liquid;
• his color variations: different shades yellow color, yellow-green, green, brown;
• it may contain mucus (in moderation);
• Yellow and white lumps are acceptable in stool.

Pay attention to the smell of feces: if it is weak, milky-sour, then everything is fine.

The nature of a baby's stool is a very frequently discussed topic on numerous forums on the Internet. Here, for example, is this statement:

“When we lived abroad, the doctor said: if the child’s stool is not white, not black and without blood, everything else can be considered normal. And when my baby’s stool color resembled May greens, I wasn’t particularly worried: everything went away on its own in about two weeks. Although I have heard that a baby’s green stool is called “hungry.” Is it so?"

Most likely here we're talking about about a phenomenon that pediatricians call .

What is “lactase deficiency”?

Green, foamy stool with mucus can be observed if the baby regularly feeds so-called “foremilk.” This happens to those mothers who transfer their baby from one breast to the other without waiting for him to completely empty one breast.

Green stool is the result of acute lactase deficiency.

As a result, the baby does not receive the richest and most nutritious (“hind”) milk. But it is precisely in it that it contains a large number of lactase - an enzyme that breaks down milk sugar - lactose, which is rich in “fore milk”.

Foremilk quickly passes through gastrointestinal tract(since it contains little fat), it is almost not absorbed by the baby’s body. Hind milk, on the contrary, is well absorbed: it is what creates the puree-like consistency of the stool and gives it a pleasant yellow color.

The difference is obvious!

Lactase in the baby’s body is not yet produced enough, therefore, if he regularly feeds only “foremilk”, the small body cannot cope with its digestion. The child begins to suffer from gas, his stool becomes liquid and foamy, and he almost stops gaining weight.

To prevent this from happening to your baby, make sure he sucks the breast completely and only after that apply it to the other breast.

Characteristics of stool in artificial infants

The stool of babies fed dry formula is strikingly different from the stool of infants. It has a denser consistency, yellowish color and smells almost exactly like adult poop. Its appearance and composition are constant, since the baby receives the same formula every day, the components of which do not change (unlike the composition of breast milk).

If your artificial baby's stool changes, immediately change the formula.

But artificial people also have green poop. Typically, the color of stool is affected by iron, which is a component of the mixture. If you are concerned about the color of your baby's stool, try changing the formula and see if this affects the character of the stool. Normalization of coloring will mean that fears were in vain.

Watch carefully the baby's reaction to the introduced complementary foods!

Complementary feeding can also significantly affect the character and color of stool.

Alarming symptoms

You don't have time to change diapers, your baby soils up to 16 diapers a day, his poop is watery and smells very bad? Your child has acute diarrhea.

If your child has diarrhea and colic, call your pediatrician.

Possible causes of diarrhea:

• an infection has entered the baby’s body;
• antibiotic treatment;
• baby's reaction to complementary feeding;
• The baby is given a lot of fruit juices.

Breast milk restores the baby's intestinal microflora.

Most often, diarrhea in infants passes quickly and has no consequences. Never stop breastfeeding your baby: breast milk will protect against dehydration, restore intestinal microflora and help fight infection.

Start off fruit feeding Pediatricians recommend from 6 months. First of all, kids should be introduced to. This dish is eaten with pleasure by crumbs, it does not cause allergic reactions and very easy to prepare.

Many mothers notice that their babies' heads sweat during feeding. Normal or pathological? Let's figure it out together.

In order for the baby to grow physically healthy and strong, he must do exercises regularly. Best helper in this case - . This sport equipment will be in demand from the first days of a child’s life.

When to see a doctor

When should mom be concerned? If:

• blood appeared in the baby's stool;
• the child has loose, foamy stools with a pungent putrid odor;
• The baby behaves restlessly: he wags his legs, cries often, eats poorly, sleeps little, burps often and a lot.

Mucus, blood, unpleasant odor - this alarms, you can’t do without a doctor here.

All these symptoms are reason to immediately consult a doctor. Consultation pediatric gastroenterologist, stool coprogram will help make a diagnosis and find out the cause of the baby’s illness.

Now let's summarize some results. The character of a baby's stool is very great importance to assess the condition of his digestive tract.

Be attentive to your child!

The well-known doctor in our country, Dr. Komarovsky, claims that the stool of an infant can be: thick, mucous, watery - whatever. If the baby feels well, gains height and weight, he has healthy sleep and appetite - mom has no reason to worry, even if his bowel movements don’t look very attractive.

In the first days and months, and sometimes years after the birth of a child, a lot of questions arise in the area of ​​caring for him, establishing breastfeeding and his health. And if this is your first-born, then when you see the first “children’s surprise,” you just want to exclaim in amazement: “What are these green poops, is my baby sick?” How can you tell if this kind of stool is normal for breastfed babies? In what cases can you observe green stool in a baby?

The first days after childbirth

We hasten to reassure you - green stool in a newborn in the first 2-3 days after birth is a common occurrence. This is the so-called original feces with the mysterious name meconium. It looks like a viscous, odorless, resin-like substance from dark green to almost black.

It is formed in the child’s intestines starting from 4-5 months of intrauterine existence. Consists of intestinal epithelial cells and everything that enters the fetal mouth from this time. This includes amniotic fluid, marigolds, and vellus hair. In frightening dark color stool stains bile. In rare cases, meconium may pass in utero or during childbirth, which can be life-threatening for the baby.

You need to start worrying when the newborn has no meconium in the first days. This situation may be associated with a number of intestinal pathologies that require immediate medical intervention, in some cases even surgical.

3-7 days after birth

2-3 days after birth the meconium passed. And again the insidious green stool awaits you, only now it’s also liquid. This is also normal when breastfeeding. By this time, milk replaces colostrum, and the newborn’s intestines are actively populated by bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, feeding on the milk sugar of breast milk.

Ekaterina Rakitina

Dr. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Klinikum, Germany

Reading time: 5 minutes

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Article last updated: 02/05/2019

When changing a baby's diaper, parents always need to pay attention to its contents. After all, this important indicator, which can tell you a lot about the state of your baby’s health, especially if the child is bottle-fed. In this case, the child’s intestinal functioning changes, and, consequently, noticeable changes occur in the feces.

You need to pay attention to the following parameters:

• stool consistency;
• regularity of bowel movements;
• chair color.

If the color of the stool is unnaturally yellow or orange, this may indicate liver problems. Green stool is an indicator various types dysbacteriosis. Therefore, if you notice any changes in your baby’s stool, you should immediately contact a specialist.

Can green stool of a baby be normal during artificial feeding?

Eat certain period when the green stool of a formula-fed baby should not cause any concern. This period is a natural process and lasts about five days after birth.

The initial bowel movements of a newborn are always characterized by green. This is due to the fact that in the first days after birth the body tends to free itself from swallowed epithelial tissue, amniotic fluid, etc. This way the intestines are cleansed.

Gradually, around the fifth day, the baby’s stool should undergo noticeable changes:

• white curd pieces of undigested milk mixture may be found in the stool;
• The color of the stool changes to yellow-green, which should gradually become completely yellow or mustard.

However, there are exceptions to all rules. There are cases when a baby has green stool with mucus, indicating that the digestive system is not yet fully formed and for proper processing food lacks enzymes.

Sometimes dark green stool may cause the removal of bilirubin from the body. This is also a fairly ordinary process that can be characterized by these changes.

A newborn sitting on artificial nutrition, green bowel movements may be a common reaction to the formula consumed. This is especially facilitated by a diet with a high iron content in its composition.

In a five-month-old baby, a greenish tint to the stool may be a consequence of the introduction of the first complementary foods or the beginning of the eruption of the first teeth.

Symptoms of an unhealthy baby with green stools

Having noticed green stool in your baby, you need to constantly monitor his condition. If the newborn’s behavior has changed dramatically, he has become more whiny, capricious, and has begun to refuse to eat, then you should immediately consult a doctor.

Green stool alarming and concerns should look like this:

• green stool foams and has a strong unpleasant odor;
• frequent green stools with a liquid consistency;
• green stool with black speckles that has a rotten odor;
• slimy green stool combined with sharp deterioration baby's well-being;
• green chair with bloody discharge or interspersed (usually observed with constipation).

When the chair has foamy consistency green, this may indicate a deficiency nutrients or vitamins for a newborn. Breastfed children often experience a lack of so-called colostrum. This may cause a shortage necessary for the body elements. If such stool is present, testing is necessary; with its help, you can identify various infections that have a bad effect on the baby’s well-being.

The unpleasant smell of green feces can be a sign of the beginning inflammatory process. And stool with blood specks indicates either a serious problem with the digestive system or a violation of the integrity of the intestinal lining. If these symptoms occur, contact qualified specialist considered necessary.

You should be attentive to other signs unhealthy condition baby:

• increased weakness and drowsiness;
• tearfulness;
• refusal to eat;
• constant pressing of the legs towards the abdominal area;
• sudden weight loss;
• nausea and gag reflex;
• colic and pain;
• temperature;
• diarrhea;
• difficulty with bowel movements;
• rash;
• allergic reactions on the skin;
• flatulence.

Reasons for the presence of green stool in breastfeeding infants

The reasons for a child's green stool may be completely natural, not causing concern, but can pose a huge threat to the health of the newborn.

The most common cause is nutrition. The digestive system of an infant is not yet able to work at one hundred percent. Therefore, problems with digesting food often arise. In this case, green stool may be accompanied by mucus. To normalize a newborn's bowel movements, simply changing the formula is often sufficient.

Also, every baby at the beginning of his life is faced with a problem such as dysbiosis. It occurs when the intestines form the necessary microflora. This period is characterized by an increase in the development of pathogenic bacteria, which can change the color and consistency of the baby's stool. The bowel movements will return to normal when the microflora is fully formed.

Serious causes of green stools when a baby is bottle-fed can be:

• rotavirus or fungal infections;
• congenital disorders associated with the gastrointestinal tract;
• weak immunity;
• lactose deficiency;
• allergic reactions;
• enterocolitis;
• diarrhea, etc.

Necessary measures to combat green stool in an infant

In order to make your child feel better, you need to take certain measures if you have green stool.

Secondly, bacterial culture is required. This analysis characterizes the state of the intestinal microflora.

Thanks to diagnosis, the doctor prescribes the right treatment method that is necessary for your child. Often, infants are prescribed nutritional supplements that contain probiotics and prebiotics. They help the proliferation of beneficial bacteria in the body. Such drugs include:

• Linux
• acipol
• lactobacterin, etc.

The most important thing in such a situation is not to self-medicate. Otherwise, you can worsen your child's health. You should also monitor the newborn's nutrition and his reaction after each meal.