Green stool in a baby is a reason to show it to a doctorPhoto: Getty
Why does a baby have green stool?
Most often, a baby who is exclusively breastfedmilk, feces have a pleasant yellowish color, sometimes light brown, so a green tint can in no way be called an acceptable norm. An exception is the release of the newborn's body from the original feces (meconium), which occurs in the first week of the baby's life. Green stool in a child of the first year of life, receiving only mother's milk, can have the following causes:
- inaccuracies of the breastfeeding woman in the diet;
- taking certain drugs - most often this effect gives iron-containing drugs;
- dysbiosis;
- excretion of bilirubin.
If green stool appears in a baby receiving formula, the pediatrician may recommend reviewing the baby's diet. The reason may be:
- replacement of the usual mixture with a new type of food;
- introduction of complementary foods.
Quite often the feces become green due to increasedthe content in the body of the child iron. If the child has a green chair, then you need to carefully watch for his well-being. The kid began to be capricious without a reason, there were problems with sleep, he badly eats and gaining weight? Then this is an obvious reason to seek help from a pediatrician.
Green feces as a sign of serious pathology
The reasons why a child's stool color has changed may be more serious. You should seek medical help as soon as possible in the following cases:
- the stool is frequent and watery. Perhaps, an infectious disease develops, a poisoning or an allergic reaction has occurred;
- small in volume chair - a sign of constipation. Especially in combination with strained abdominal muscles and difficulties with the release of the intestine;
- feces of greenish color, containing foam, - a clear sign of lactose insufficiency;
- a green stool containing mucus, and characterized by an unpleasant odor, can form with a gastrointestinal dysbacteriosis or during a viral infection.
If the baby had one green liquid stool- twice, then there is no particular reason to worry. The mother of a baby should worry if the intestinal disorder continues for more than two days, and the child has become very restless. Read on:
