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Green feces and temperature 38. Norm or alarm indicator: green baby stool

Many mothers intuitively determine the state of the child's digestive system by the type and color of the stool. Such home diagnostics work quite well, it allows parents to worry about the health of the crumbs in time. Of particular concern can cause green diarrhea in a child that occurs suddenly and at any age. Green stools are not always a sign of a serious problem, but sometimes, with additional dangerous symptoms, they indicate the development of a certain disease. How can parents understand whether they should sound the alarm or whether the appearance of green feces is not dangerous?

The color of the stool can signal serious problems, but sometimes it is observed in healthy children.

What factors can cause green diarrhea?

The reasons for the unusual grassy color of feces depend on the child's diet, age and health.

Having noticed the appearance of an unpleasant shade, analyze the situation and try to find out what could be the reasons for such changes. Some of them may only indicate a normal reaction of the body to certain foods, but there are those that cannot be passed by - they require a visit to a doctor.

Factors that do not affect the health of the child

The digestion of a newborn is imperfect, it is full of surprises, often not associated with serious dangers for the child. Parents should be prepared for them and know exactly what is the reason for the appearance of green, black or other color of the stool. Consider the most common factors that affect the type of feces in infants:

Meconium. The first feces of a baby are not only processed food, so they can be painted in a dark olive color.
Formation of the gastrointestinal tract. The yellow-green hue of feces in the first year of a child's life is associated with the underdevelopment of the digestive system. As a rule, up to 2 years, the work of the gastrointestinal tract normalizes, and unpleasant manifestations disappear.
Features of breastfeeding and nutrition of the mother during breastfeeding. Loose stools are formed when the baby sucks foremilk, which is not very fat. Green diarrhea in a child is provoked by eating vegetables and fruits of the same color or foods that contain a lot of carbohydrates (see also:).

If the nipple is not properly grasped, the baby receives only foremilk, which leads to gastrointestinal upset.

Artificial feeding. Milk formula containing a large number of iron, change the color of the stool.
Lure. The introduction of new foods into complementary foods can lead to the appearance of different shades of feces.
Not proper nutrition. The appearance of green diarrhea in children 3-5 years old may be associated with eating excessive amounts of foods such as chocolate, apples, pears, lettuce or spinach, pastries, dill.

Causes requiring special attention

An alarm signal looks like a stool with mucus and an unpleasant color in the case when there is a suspicion of the presence of an infection or other disease. Here is a list of reasons that parents should pay special attention to:

Dysbacteriosis. The cause of the disease can be improper introduction of complementary foods to the baby, an intestinal infection transferred by the child, somatic diseases that require antibiotic treatment.
Various types of intestinal infections: yersiniosis, shigellosis, campylobacteriosis, escherichiosis, rotavirus infection.
Dysentery.
Salmonellosis. The main cause of salmonellosis is the consumption of "dirty" raw eggs and fish.

Salmonellosis is a very serious infectious disease that is provoked by “dirty” food.

As you can see, the appearance of loose stools can be associated with various factors. It is important for parents to compare them in order to correctly determine why this is happening. Obviously, if there is a disease, it can manifest itself with other symptoms. It is necessary to monitor the general condition of the child in order to draw the right conclusions and organize competent assistance in time. The problem of diarrhea in children is devoted to a number of programs with the participation of the famous pediatrician Dr. Komarovsky, who examines this topic in detail and intelligibly from all sides.

What symptoms should alert?

It is important for mom to understand: if a one-month-old or one-year-old baby poops green, you should closely monitor his condition and pay attention to possible signs of illness. Any disease that gives a similar reaction is accompanied by other signs. Often in the clinical picture of the disease there are a number of symptoms that make it possible to establish the correct diagnosis:

Temperature increase. If a high temperature is added to the diarrhea, the cause is salmonellosis or dysentery.
Stool consistency (see also:). Breast or 3 summer child poops grass-colored diarrhea filled with mucus and blood clots - these are clear signs of severe dysentery. Feces come out with foam - a sign of intestinal infection or dysbacteriosis. If the stool is with mucus, but there are no blood clots, then salmonellosis serves as a provocateur.
Chair shade. Light green feces - a mild intestinal disorder, dark - salmonellosis, black - dysentery. Note that the black shade of green in diarrhea with mucus is the initial stage of the disease. It will take a little time and it will manifest itself with other characteristic symptoms.

Smell. With dysbacteriosis, the feces are liquid, have a sour putrid odor, with an intestinal infection - a stool with a fetid odor that hits the nose.
Vomiting and regurgitation. Repeated regurgitation in infants indicates dysbacteriosis, and older children vomit. Vomiting is profuse, non-stop, inherent in salmonellosis.
General well-being. Explicit anxiety of the baby, complaints that his tummy hurts, crying and whims of the newborn, refusal of food, insomnia are indicative signs of the general malaise of the child. It is easier for parents of 4-7 year olds to understand what worries the baby, and at 1 month you need to be especially attentive to his behavior. The baby cannot tell you what it hurts, therefore, if you find an unpleasant shade of diarrhea in the baby, pay attention to other signs of the disease.

If the baby vilifies, but his temperature does not rise and nothing else bothers him, he is cheerful and mobile, you should not worry much. Most likely, after a while, digestion will stabilize, diarrhea will go away and will not affect the health of the little patient in any way. The situation looks more serious when fever, vomiting, pain in the abdomen and other unpleasant symptoms are added to diarrhea.

Obviously, parents should call the doctor, and take certain measures before he arrives. A similar tactic is offered by Dr. Komarovsky, who believes that self-treatment in such cases is irresponsible and criminal. The honored pediatrician warns parents that in doubtful situations, when there is no clear picture of the disease, only an appeal to a specialist will become best solution.

If the condition of the baby worsens, you need to urgently call a doctor to determine the cause of the disease.

What help can be provided?

No mother can calmly watch how a child suffers. What can be done if, against the background of diarrhea, the child has a rise in temperature and the general condition worsens (more in the article:)? While waiting for the doctor, do the following:

Give your child saline solutions (Rehydron, Oralit, Eneterodez), which can be bought at a pharmacy. Medications will help replace fluid loss.
It is not necessary to solder the baby with drinking water, it can provoke nausea and vomiting.
To neutralize and remove toxins, give the crumbs some kind of sorbent (Enterosgel or Smecta).
Continue breastfeeding.
Please note that the child should not fast for more than 6 hours.
No other drugs, especially antibiotics, can not be used. The thoughtless use of drugs can aggravate the situation.

All your competent actions will help alleviate the condition of the baby, but will not solve the problem globally. Only a doctor can eliminate suspicions of a serious illness or pathology of digestion. Keep outward calm, try not to scare the baby with your excitement, so that nervous tension does not add to your poor health.

No need to scare the baby with excitement - on the contrary, he should draw calmness from his mother

What is the dangerous condition?

Diarrhea, no matter what color it may be, always carries a loss of fluid from the body. The danger of dehydration is especially great for infants. A large loss of fluid leads to a rise in temperature, complicating the problem. Green diarrhea may be accompanied by bloating, pain. The child reacts to the development of the problem with cold limbs, his eyes may sink. Newborns become restless, act up a lot. The smart decision is to call a doctor immediately. The threat increases if the baby is not even 6 months old: dehydration can be fatal. Crumbs of this age do not perceive saline solutions well, refuse to drink them, there is a strong loss of fluid, the body cannot cope with the problem.

How is the problem diagnosed?

Find out how serious the problem is laboratory research. Doctors resort to them in order to accurately determine the degree of the disease. Types of analyzes:

feces for dysbacteriosis;
bacterial culture of vomit and feces;
visual examination by a doctor of the rectum or retroromanoscopy;
urine;
blood on general analysis;
coprogram;
RNGA of blood is an analysis that detects antibodies to salmonella.

A complete blood count may be needed to determine the cause of the disease.

A complete diagnosis allows you to accurately find out the cause of the unusual color of diarrhea, to determine whether the child has a pathology or not. The test results give the doctor a complete clinical picture and facilitate the choice of treatment. If no serious illness is identified, the doctor may recommend proper nutrition and other measures that parents should take to prevent the child from developing diarrhea with a strange shade (we recommend reading:).

What treatment is given?

Treatment is prescribed only after a comprehensive diagnosis, based on the results that the tests showed. If doctors have discovered any disease, they can treat it like this:

Special therapeutic diet food.
With dysbacteriosis, probiotics, bacteriophages, Bifilin, Linex, Acipol, Bifiform are prescribed.
Intestinal infection is eliminated with the help of enterosorbents, antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs.
The use of enzyme therapy. Means such as Pancreatin, Pankurmen, Festal, Panzinorm forte, Mezim forte, Digestal are used.
For elimination side effects antiallergic drugs are being taken.
Antidiarrheals are also prescribed: Imodium or Diarol.
Myotropic antispasmodics are used to relieve pain syndromes.

With dysbacteriosis, children's Linex can be prescribed

What preventive measures should be taken?

Preventive measures that every mother can carry out will help to avoid the described problem. Do the following regularly:

Eliminate or reduce foods that trigger allergies in newborns in your diet. This diet is especially important three months old child.
Eat a balanced diet for yourself and try not to use antibiotics for your own treatment.
When formula feeding your baby, check with your pediatrician to find the right formula for your baby.
Introduce complementary foods gradually, carefully monitoring the reaction of the baby. We saw changes in the feces - exclude the product from the child's menu for a while. Wait until the GI tract of the crumbs is fully formed.
After 3 years, keep a balanced baby food, do not give carbohydrates and vegetables in large quantities.
Spoons and pacifiers of the baby should not be licked by any of the adults. Your saliva can carry harmful bacteria into your baby's body.

If parents notice that a small child has green feces, do not immediately panic. Such a phenomenon is not necessarily considered a pathology, but it is worth considering the fact that this is a signal of a disease.

It is necessary to pay attention not only to color, because the consistency, smell, color, frequency also matter. Let's consider for what reasons a green stool may appear in a child

In half of the cases, this phenomenon occurs as a result of natural processes in the baby's body, which are not reflected in a negative way on his health.

Green feces in a recently born baby is a natural phenomenon. This is due to the fact that on the first day the body begins to get rid of meconium - this is the name of the epithelium and amniotic fluid (the child swallows them while in the womb).

After 3-5 days, changes can already be noted. It is normal if small pieces of curdled milk that have not been digested are found in the feces. Over time, the color of the feces changes, and becomes green-yellow. Closer to one month of life, the feces become mustard in color. But in some cases there are deviations.

For example, a green stool in a newborn with an admixture of mucus indicates that the gastrointestinal tract has not yet fully coped with the production of enzymes involved in the digestion process. In addition, bilirubin, a substance that gives the excrement a dark green color, is excreted along with the stool.

The nutrition of the child has a great influence on the color of feces. Breast milk contains hormones that can also affect the color of feces. In addition, it is important to take into account the nature of the nutrition of the woman herself - after all, everything that enters the mother's body is also excreted with milk.

Important: A formula-fed infant may experience a reaction to formula, especially if the diet contains a large amount of iron. From 5 months, this phenomenon may be the result of complementary foods. Also, every parent should be aware that a child's green poop may appear as a result of the eruption of the first teeth.

When is green stool pathological?

When should parents be concerned? The most important thing is to monitor how the child feels. If he cries a lot, becomes capricious, refuses to eat, these are already the first signs that his condition is not satisfactory. If the mother notes that the baby has a fever, you need to contact the pediatrician as soon as possible.

We list which feces should alert parents:

The green poop in the baby is liquid, while he often poops. This factor indicates that the child lacks nutrients. An infection can also be the cause, especially if this condition is accompanied by fever. Colostrum, for example, stimulates frequent bowel movements, but at the same time, nutrients and fats are practically absent in its composition.
The stool has a pronounced green color, foams and smells unpleasant. The stench may indicate the birth inflammatory process.
Black-green feces with a putrid odor. You need to consult a doctor, because such feces may indicate suppuration.
There is mucus in the feces of the child, while his general condition has deteriorated sharply. Most likely, there are digestive problems, or the intestinal lining has been damaged.
Blood is found in the feces. Basically, such a signal indicates a violation of digestion, often found in infants with constipation. You also need to see a doctor.

It is imperative to take into account the following alarming symptoms:

drowsiness, the child is lethargic and weak;
feces with mucus appeared, while the baby had a fever;
the baby is tucking his legs all the time - this indicates that his stomach hurts;
frequent crying;
lack of appetite, weight loss;
colic, bloating;
nausea or vomiting;
diarrhea or constipation;
the appearance of a rash on the skin;
bad smell from mouth.

It is important to consider here that in a baby who is 3 months old, all these phenomena may indicate problems with the digestive system. In a one-year-old child, such symptoms may be the result of an infectious disease.

Why does stool turn green?

The first and most common reason is nutrition. The fact is that the body of a small child is not able to work in full strength as he needs to adapt. Green poop with an admixture of mucus indicates that there are problems with the digestion of food. Another reason is an incorrectly selected mixture. Mom should be careful - if such a condition is accompanied by irritation or a rash on the skin - the problem is not only in food, a doctor's consultation is needed.

Young children are also prone to such an ailment as dysbacteriosis. The baby's body has not fully formed the microflora, in connection with this, pathogenic microorganisms can settle in the intestines. The green stool in a bottle-fed baby will return to normal after the balance is restored.

It is important to know! Dysbacteriosis is not only a problem for newborns. The disease can appear in a child at 2 years old, and at 5 years old. The disease also occurs in adults. It poses a threat - dehydration. Therefore, with symptoms of dysbacteriosis, it is necessary to consult a doctor.

How does nutrition affect?

Green feces in infants may appear as a result of improper feeding. Let's consider this issue in detail.

breastfeeding

If only foremilk enters the baby's body, then the feces may become greenish in color. There is an explanation for this - such milk is low-fat, it is quickly absorbed and just as quickly leaves the body of a newborn. Often milk is called hungry - due to the fact that there are practically no nutrients in foremilk that could saturate the baby, providing him with all the necessary elements and fats.
Green blotches in a dark green stool indicate that there is an increased content of bilirubin in the feces - in infants, this phenomenon is considered to be the norm. The hormones in breast milk can also make stool green. If mom eats a large amount of plant matter, the color of the bowel movements may also change.

artificial feeding

If the baby eats artificial mixtures, then the color of the feces should be yellow. Why can a child have green poop? The mixture contains a large amount of iron. You should not often change the mixture - sometimes they can provoke an allergic reaction. It is best to consult a doctor.

Lure

From 6 months, parents begin to give the baby complementary foods. This is the period when the child's body learns to adapt to the digestion and assimilation of ordinary food. In such situations, malfunctions of the gastrointestinal tract are a frequent occurrence, and they are manifested by regurgitation, diarrhea, and the child also has green stools with mucus.

Possible diseases

If the mother notes diarrhea in the baby for several days, deterioration in general well-being, the baby is naughty and refuses to eat - this is a signal that there is a problem.

Why does a child poop green, what reasons can there be? Consider them:

Infection. The causative agents of intestinal infections can be microbes, bacteria, all kinds of viruses. As a rule, in an acute form, the baby's temperature rises, vomiting opens, he becomes nervous, capricious and lethargic.
Dysbacteriosis. In this case, the baby poops often, while there is swelling, colic, rash, irritation around the anus. All this is due to the fact that the microflora in the intestine is disturbed, as a result of which it is attacked by pathogens. You need to consult a doctor, he will prescribe probiotics - these are special preparations containing beneficial bacteria, as well as yeast.
Viruses. Due to the fact that in young children the immune system is poorly developed, their body is susceptible to viral attacks. In breastfed babies, such problems are extremely rare - due to the fact that mother's milk contains special antibodies. Artificial mixtures do not provide such protection, so it is quite possible that the baby will develop diarrhea.
Allergy. The baby's body can react to nutrition, changing the mixture, to the mother's diet, and even to pharmacological agents. When treated with antibiotics, children often react with diarrhea, and this is not new, since even adults often have a similar reaction when undergoing treatment with antibiotics.

The following factors affect the feces in a child:

insufficient amount of enzymes - the digestive system is not yet formed, and cannot produce enough of them;
the reason may be an incorrectly chosen diet of the mother - in this case, you need to reconsider your diet;
with the introduction of complementary foods, or when the mother's diet changes, the child has a greenish stool;
the color of the feces and their consistency change if the child lacks nutrients - he feeds on foremilk alone;
the baby began to cut teeth;
in some cases, the cause may be an allergic reaction - the body does not perceive the mixture, that is, its composition is not suitable for the child.

What should parents do?

If the feces have changed after antibiotic treatment, everything will be restored after cancellation.
When a mother does not follow a diet, the baby may have problems with the gastrointestinal tract, you need to exclude foods that cause discoloration of feces.
If the baby is on IV, you need to carefully consider the choice of the mixture. Doctors recommend choosing a mixture with a low iron content.

If the color of the feces of a newborn worries parents, the best option is to consult an experienced pediatrician.

One of the most unpleasant and dangerous signs of the disease in children are symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting. Today we will pay attention to diarrhea, although it is not uncommon for these symptoms to appear simultaneously. There are several reasons for the development of diarrhea symptoms, but each requires a detailed analysis, which will help parents understand the health of the baby.

Causes of diarrhea

Often, diarrhea in children occurs due to exposure to the intestines of pathogenic bacteria and viruses. With the development of symptoms such as green diarrhea, high fever and pain in the abdomen, you should immediately consult a doctor.

The main causes of green diarrhea in a child include the following factors:

dysbacteriosis or violation of the intestinal microflora;
penetration into the intestinal cavity of infections;
liver diseases, which also entail the development of diarrhea;
development of intestinal bleeding.

Green diarrhea appears mainly in newborn babies in the first days after birth. Such diarrhea does not pose a danger to the health of the baby at all, since this is an absolutely normal phenomenon, indicating the removal of original feces from the body.

Green feces in older children indicates the penetration of intestinal infections into the body. Often the symptoms of diarrhea occur together with fever, nausea and vomiting, as well as a complete decrease in strength in the child. All these symptoms are the main sign of intoxication of the body, provoked by pathogenic microorganisms.

Green diarrhea in a child, together with fever and general malaise, is observed in liver diseases. In addition, with liver ailments, additional symptoms appear, such as pain or discomfort in the right hypochondrium. It is quite difficult to determine liver disease in a small child, so you can not do without a study in a hospital.

Green stools are also observed during the development of the disease dysbacteriosis. At the same time, feces, in addition to being green, also have impurities of mucus and blood. Diarrhea with dysbacteriosis can be periodically replaced by constipation.

It is important to know! Despite the fact that only 4 causes of green diarrhea in a child are known, it is strictly forbidden for parents to make a diagnosis on their own, and even more so, prescribe treatment for a baby. The child should be taken to the hospital or an ambulance called.

Green diarrhea and its dangers

At first glance, harmless diarrhea can provoke the development of serious complications. If the symptoms of diarrhea are not treated in a timely manner, the consequences can be irreversible. Complications of green diarrhea include the following conditions:

Dehydration. Many people forget what dehydration is and how close a child comes to this condition with symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting, and high temperature.
Lack of minerals and salts. With an insufficient amount of these components, the risk of developing seizures increases.
Exhaustion of the body and the development of hypovitaminosis.
The formation of rectal fissures and the development of hemorrhoids.

It is impossible to ignore such a sign as diarrhea. Parents at the first sign of detection of green diarrhea in a child should definitely resort to the help of a doctor. Many believe that it is possible to restore the lack of water, salts and minerals in the body with the help of drinking plenty of water. In fact, it is impossible to perform this procedure on your own, because this will require an intravenous infusion of a solution of glucose, Regidron and other drugs. If the causes of diarrhea are directly related to the age and nutrition of the baby, then there is no reason to worry. If parents suspect problems with the health of the child, then the help of a medical specialist is indispensable.

Associated symptoms

If a child, in addition to green diarrhea, is diagnosed with other negative symptoms, then this indicates the presence of a disease that needs to be treated. Additional symptoms of diarrhea include the following:

Temperature. Green diarrhea and fever may indicate the presence of dysentery and salmonellosis. Salmonellosis is caused by eating raw chicken eggs and fish. In this case, these products can be consumed by a nursing mother, and salmonellosis will manifest itself in a child.
Consistency. If green diarrhea has signs of foam, then this indicates the development of dysbacteriosis or intestinal infections. The presence of mucus and blood clots in the stool indicates dysentery, and the absence of blood indicates salmonellosis.
Hue of feces. If the color of the feces is predominantly dark green, then this is the main sign of salmonellosis. If the color of the feces is bright green, then this is the main sign of intestinal disorders.
Smell. The sour smell of feces indicates dysbacteriosis. Signs of malodor indicate the development of intestinal infections.

Parents should not panic if a child has green diarrhea without accompanying symptoms. At the same time, parents should monitor the child's health, and if it worsens, you need to see a doctor.

What to do with green diarrhea in children

If the signs of green diarrhea in a child are supplemented by symptoms such as high fever, vomiting, diarrhea and general malaise, then the following activities can be carried out by parents before the ambulance arrives.

Give the baby drugs such as Regidron and Enterodez in small quantities. You can buy these saline solutions at any pharmacy.
If the child has symptoms of vomiting, then normal water should not be given to him. This will only increase the development of symptoms of vomiting and lead to even greater complications.
Apply one of the following sorbents: Smecta, Enterosgel or Polypefan. Their principle of action is based on the absorption of toxins and their subsequent removal.
The use of antibiotics and other drugs, except for antipyretics, is strictly prohibited. An antipyretic should be given to a child at a temperature above 38 degrees. If the baby is diagnosed with signs of both vomiting and diarrhea, then it is necessary to check with the doctor which form of antipyretic is better to use. In this case, preference is given to intramuscular administration of antipyretic drugs.
Reduce the amount of food you eat, as overeating will only increase the symptoms of vomiting.

Compliance with these recommendations will greatly alleviate the condition of the crumbs before the arrival of an ambulance. Upon the arrival of the ambulance, the child will need to be taken to the hospital for a more detailed examination, so you should immediately pack your things.

Features of treatment

Temperature and green stools in a child are the main signs of need drug treatment. The treatment regimen is prescribed by the attending physician after examination and diagnosis. The course of treatment is based on the following actions:

Mandatory adherence to a therapeutic diet, which the doctor will tell you in more detail.
If a child has dysbacteriosis, then drugs such as Bifilin, Enterol and Acipol are prescribed for treatment.
With the development of intestinal infections, the use of antibiotics and chemical preparations is required.
To avoid dehydration, it is required to solder the baby with Regidron, Gastrolit or Oralit.
For diarrhea, antidiarrheal drugs such as Diarol and Imodium should be used.
To relieve pain, antispasmodics are prescribed: Papaverine, Drotaverine or No-shpa.

If a child shows signs of green diarrhea and fever, then parents should try to understand what could provoke such symptoms. This will allow the doctor to quickly diagnose and prescribe the necessary treatment.

The color of the baby's feces is an informative indicator of the state of his health and the functioning of the digestive system, so he has become the subject of increased attention of parents. In studying the contents of the diaper, it is important not to overdo it, sometimes an uncharacteristic shade is the norm.

Why does my baby have green stools?

In order not to be mistaken with the diagnosis, it is important to study all the factors associated with the pathology in question. There are several indirect circumstances that matter if a child has green stools - the reasons depend on the following conditions:

stool consistency;
the presence of inclusions and impurities;
additional symptoms;
baby's age.

The child has a green stool with mucus

When, with the indicated type of bowel movements, the baby feels great, cheerful, cheerful and not naughty, there is no reason to worry. In an infant, green stools with mucus are a normal variant. The digestive system of infants is just beginning to adapt to external environment and a new way of eating. The intestine is not yet inhabited by a permanent microflora and its composition is adjusted daily by the body. Sometimes this causes green stools in the baby with some impurities, including a meager amount of mucus.

If there are a lot of viscous inclusions and the baby is crying, the causes of the described problem may be:

indigestion;
Mom has food poisoning.

Green liquid stool in a child

The consistency of the feces of children also changes regularly, it depends on several factors:

nutrition of a nursing woman;
composition of microflora;
the presence of complementary foods and supplements;
mother's hormonal background.

dark green liquid stool in a child indicates a high concentration of iron in his diet. This is due big amount a given item in the mix or mom's menu. Other reasons:

stool quickly oxidizes when exposed to air;
teething;
the introduction of leafy vegetables as;
another change in the intestinal microflora;
a lot of coloring foods (zucchini, broccoli and cucumbers) in a woman's diet.

When a child has a liquid green stool with mucus, but there is no high temperature, the symptom in question indicates the development of dysbacteriosis. This condition is not considered a disease or pathology, especially in infancy. Biocenosis on the intestinal mucosa is gradually normalized. While the baby gets used to external conditions, the microflora is often in an imbalance.

Constipation is rare in babies breastfeeding, this problem is more characteristic of children who eat industrial mixtures. If parents notice a green stool in a child at the same time as a change in its consistency, probable cause- inappropriate food. It is necessary to carefully study the composition of the mixture, consult a pediatrician and change it.

Hard green stools are often observed after antibiotics - the child's intestinal microflora changes in response to the action of antimicrobials, even if they were taken not by the baby himself, but by the mother who feeds him. A similar reaction occurs when using other medicines:

antifungal;
hormonal;
anti-inflammatory;
binders.

Black and green stool in a child

This variant of color and consistency of feces is typical for newborn babies. The thick, dark green stools in a newborn baby are called meconium. It consists of the digested remains of the vital activity of the crumbs in the mother's womb - epithelial cells, hair, amniotic fluid, bile and other biological waste. Meconium will quickly be replaced by the usual unformed feces.

Baby has yellow-green stool

This shade of feces also refers to the variants of the norm, doctors sometimes call it transitional feces. When all the meconium passes, the child's stools are green with yellow patches. It has an unpleasant sourish odor and gruel consistency. This indicates the beginning of the stabilization of the intestinal microflora and the adaptation of the baby to breast milk.

Other reasons why a newborn baby has green stools with a yellowish tint:

malnutrition;
the predominance of fresh fruits and vegetables in the diet of a nursing mother;
change in the hormonal background of a woman;
increased production by the liver.

The appearance of bubbles in the contents of the diaper is alarming, but this is not a reason to panic. A slightly foamy green stool in a baby is a sign of incorrect breastfeeding. The milk that accumulates in the front of the breast is watery and thin. It is intended primarily to quench thirst and causes a feeling of satiety. Hindmilk is more fatty and viscous, rich in nutrients.

If the mother weaned the baby from the breast before he himself stopped sucking, or often changes sides, the baby receives only watery biological fluid. This provokes a green stool in a child, the normal brown-yellow coloring of the feces is given by hindfat milk. When it is not enough, children not only have frothy stools, but also slowly gain weight.

Another cause of this pathology may be a rare diagnosis - lactase deficiency. It exists in an acquired and innate form. This violation is associated with a deficiency or absence of an enzyme that is involved in the breakdown of milk sugar. Sometimes it indicates serious problems in the functioning of the pancreas.

Green stool with blood in a child

Red and pink blotches in the baby's stool are also considered a variation of normal feces. The intestinal mucosa is permeated with thin and still fragile capillaries that easily burst when straining or passing gases, especially if the baby suffers from flatulence. This explains why a baby has green stools with sparse and small blood streaks.

If there are many inclusions described and they are voluminous, the baby may have more severe illnesses. Bleeding is caused by:

infections;
internal damage to the intestines;
genetic anomalies of the digestive system;
acute inflammation.

Vomiting and green stools in a child

It is important for young parents to distinguish between typical regurgitation in infants and pathological ejection of stomach contents. The first option is the norm, especially up to six months. Green stools and vomiting are clear symptoms of an intestinal infection that can be provoked by:

Fever and fever are extremely dangerous signs that accompany inflammatory processes in the body. If the baby has green stools and fever, the cause is often severe poisoning. Toxins come not only with food, the poison can enter the baby's bloodstream with air, mother's milk, through poor-quality cosmetical tools applied to the skin.

If the baby feels good, he does not have vomiting, and the body temperature remains within the normal range, you can not worry about his health. Until the composition of the microflora in the intestines stabilizes, the shades of the baby's feces and its consistency will often change. If there are concomitant negative symptoms and the child's restless behavior, you should find out why the green stool appeared - what to do in such cases, the pediatrician will tell you. It is especially important to show the baby to the doctor when vomiting and diarrhea are observed. These conditions are very dangerous because they provoke severe dehydration in children.

Newborn green stool

In the diaper of a baby of 1-4 weeks of age, there should be liquid contents of the color in question. At month old baby green stool or meconium is a cleansing of the digestive system from the remnants of intrauterine waste products. It is almost sterile and is not a sign of pathologies. Such feces precede the process of normalization and correction of the intestinal microflora, the adaptation of the crumbs to receive food from the outside.

The accompanying symptoms can serve as a cause for concern and an immediate appointment with a pediatrician:

sleep disorders;
vomit;
increased body temperature;
refusal to feed.

Baby has green stool

When the baby is not naughty and feels good, parents should not panic. Green loose stools in infants are a variant of the norm. It even sometimes contains inclusions, which also do not pose any threat to health:

slime;
blood;
yellow or white grains.

If the child shows anxiety, there are obvious signs of the disease (fever, diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration), you should immediately consult a doctor. Before seeing a doctor, it is important to provide the crumbs with proper care:

Apply more often to the chest.
Do a light massage, spread on the stomach.
At high temperatures, wipe with a cloth soaked in water.
Use children's antipyretic in the form of rectal suppositories (if necessary).

Green stools in a one-year-old child can be caused by several physiological factors:

the presence of coloring products in complementary foods (cucumbers, broccoli);
mother's diet.

In these situations, you do not need to do anything. When the baby's digestive system gets used to the updates in nutrition, the intestinal microflora normalizes and the shade of feces becomes familiar (brown). If there are negative clinical manifestations, especially, it is necessary to immediately visit a pediatrician and make sure that the crumbs do not become dehydrated. one year old babies can be additional soldered boiled water from a teaspoon in parallel with applying to my mother's breast.

Green stool in a bottle-fed baby

The main reason for the described phenomenon is considered to be the high content of iron in the mixture. The purchase of a suitable composition will help to cope with the problem, it is advisable to first consult with a pediatrician or a specialist in the development of baby food. If, even after changing the mixture, the child has a green stool, it is necessary to find the exact cause of this symptom. With normal health of the crumbs, no action can be taken, such a shade of feces is quite normal. The presence of high fever, vomiting or other negative signs is a reason to see a doctor and prevent dehydration.

Mothers of babies are often very worried and worried about the fact that it is not always clear what the child wants to tell them right now with his crying or behavior change. To understand what problem worries the child, you need to carefully perceive all the signals of the baby's body. Such a signal is also a change in the color and consistency of children's feces. The green stool in the baby is especially frightening for parents.

In the first year of life in children, the color of the stool normally changes several times. How not to miss the disturbing moments in the work of the baby's digestive tract? What is considered normal and what is not? What are the causes of green stools in infants? various types feeding? You will learn all this by reading this article.

During the neonatal period, babies pass the original feces (meconium). It has a dark olive color and a very viscous consistency. Approximately 3-4 days after birth, the baby has a transitional stool, which has a yellow-green color and a more liquid consistency than meconium. And this is absolutely normal.

With prolonged physiological jaundice, the baby may have green stools, since the body removes excess bilirubin with feces, which gets this color due to an excess of this pigment.

Breastfeeding mothers should also take care of their own diet. If a woman eats green vegetables and greens (zucchini, broccoli, asparagus, dill), the color of the baby's stool will also be green.

When a breastfeeding mother drinks certain medicines (iron preparations), this also changes the color of the baby's stool towards green shades.

During the introduction of complementary foods, the color of the stool will directly depend on the foods that your baby ate. And after eating green vegetables, the stool will also be with a touch of green.

In infants, there is also such a situation when fresh stools are of the usual yellow-brown color, but after a while it oxidizes in the air and becomes green. Parents who once belatedly, and not immediately after the "dirty deeds", decided to change the diaper, this color of the baby chair can scare. But there is no point in panicking. You just need to look into the diaper next time right after the baby poops. If the fresh stool is of the usual color, then in this case there is no reason for concern.

Another reason for the appearance of green stools in infants is the situation when the baby predominantly drinks only foremilk from the breast. The fact is that the composition of the foremilk, which is released immediately when the baby is attached to the breast, differs from the composition of the so-called hindmilk.

Foremilk is less fat and contains easily digestible carbohydrates, so it is easy to digest. And back milk, that is, from the deeper parts of the mammary gland, is more fatty and nutritious. As a rule, children quench their thirst with foremilk, and hindmilk can satisfy the baby's hunger.

Features of the digestion of foremilk cause a greenish color of the stool when feeding predominantly with foremilk.

Most often, this situation occurs in weakened or premature babies who have enough strength to suck only the front, more liquid, milk. And when the time comes to work hard and suck on thicker and fatter milk, they become naughty or even refuse to continue the meal.

A compassionate mother can offer the baby another breast, where he will again eat only foremilk. Soon this behavior becomes habitual for the child. These babies have more scanty and green stools, as well as poor weight gain.

The normal yellow-mustard color of the stool is due to the bile pigments that enter the intestines with bile to digest the fats in food. Since the foremilk contains practically no fat, the color of the stool becomes not yellow, but greenish.

When using some breast milk substitutes, such as hypoallergenic formulas, the baby will normally have gray-green stools. Since these mixtures come with partial (hypoallergenic - GA) or complete (for example, Alfare) hydrolysis (splitting) of cow's milk protein, in the process of digesting such a product, the child's feces become dirty green.

The technology of partial hydrolysis of cow's milk protein is used in the manufacture of mixtures for the prevention of allergic diseases in children of the first year of life. Therapeutic mixtures for children with cow protein allergy are produced on the basis of complete hydrolysis of milk protein.

Also, when introducing complementary foods to a child for artificial feeding the digestive tract may react in such a way that the child's stool will become a completely different color than it was before. Including the color may change to green.

If at the same time nothing bothers the child (there is no temperature, there are no impurities in the stool - mucus, blood, there is no change in the baby's well-being), then there is no reason to worry. Some time after the introduction of new products, the baby's digestion will improve.

Iron-fortified milk formulas also change the color of the stool to greenish. The reason for this is the interaction of iron with oxygen contained in the air, that is, its oxidation.

Toddlers on mixed feeding they eat both mother's milk and milk formula. For this reason, they may have green stools even more often, since all of the above problems may be relevant for them.

Parents, when a green stool is found in their baby, should carefully observe the general condition of the crumbs.

If they find any of the following symptoms in the baby, then this is an occasion to consult a doctor and conduct the necessary examination and treatment.

Alarm symptoms:

green watery, frothy stools;
stools with a frequency of more than 12-15 times a day;
with an admixture of mucus, streaks of blood;
with a fetid sour or putrid odor;
you notice severe irritation on the skin of the baby's priests after contact with such a chair;
the baby is worried about bloating and intestinal colic;
there is moody behavior or lethargy;
Do you notice a decrease in your baby's appetite?
there is insufficient weight gain or even weight loss.

Let us dwell in more detail on when a green stool is a consequence of a baby's illness.

Dysbacteriosis

Despite the fact that dysbacteriosis is not considered a disease in our country and around the world, it brings a lot of anxiety to kids and their parents.

Dysbacteriosis is a violation of the quantitative ratio (balance) of normal and pathogenic intestinal microflora. This condition is considered not as a disease, but as a complex of symptoms that are the result of any pathology.

Intestinal dysbacteriosis is often diagnosed in infants, since the child's intestines are colonized with microflora only after birth, and before that it was absolutely sterile.

Thus, it is very important at this postpartum stage to provide all the conditions for colonizing the intestines of the crumbs with beneficial microflora. This is facilitated, for example, by early breastfeeding, breastfeeding breast milk, exclusion of antibiotics.

And if at this stage, according to certain indications, it is impossible to comply with the necessary conditions, then the process of colonizing the intestines with normal microflora is disrupted. Even already populated beneficial microflora can die, and the growth of more resistant pathogenic flora increases. For example, if a nursing mother is forced to treat a bacterial process with antibiotics, then they will have a detrimental effect on the beneficial intestinal microflora of both the child and the mother.

The disturbed balance of the intestinal microflora leads to a violation of digestion, peristalsis (motor function) of the intestine, to a violation of the synthesis of vitamins and amino acids. The immunity of the child also decreases, since the normal microflora is involved in the synthesis of immune cells.

Disturbed digestion leads to changes in the qualitative and quantitative composition of feces. With dysbacteriosis, the color of the stool changes (more often the color becomes green), the consistency, mucus impurities appear, the frequency of defecation changes (constipation or diarrhea).

Intestinal infection

Intestinal infection in the acute period is manifested by weakness, lethargy of the child, decreased appetite, fever, vomiting, bloating, stools with impurities of greens, mucus, possibly blood (with salmonellosis) and with a pungent odor. The causative agents of intestinal infection can be viruses, bacteria, and fungal infection, as well as a combination of them.

Viral infection

Infants, due to the immaturity of their immune system, are susceptible to various infectious diseases. Common childhood infections such as rotavirus and enterovirus can affect both the upper respiratory tract and the intestines.

All intestinal infections for infants are dangerous, first of all, by rapid dehydration of the body. Therefore, if you notice a child's temperature, profuse regurgitation or vomiting, frequent loose stools, loss of appetite, rumbling in the abdomen, it is important to immediately seek medical advice. medical care and do not stop feeding the baby with plenty of fluids.

lactase deficiency

Lactase deficiency is manifested by frothy, profuse green stools with a sour smell, which irritates the skin around the anus. The reason for such changes in the baby's stool is the lack of an enzyme (lactase) that breaks down milk sugar (lactose). It can be either a genetically determined pathology or acquired with age.

There is also such a thing as secondary lactase deficiency. Its manifestations do not differ from those described above. Secondary lactase deficiency occurs more often after an intestinal infection, when there is a violation of the formation of enzymes after an inflammatory process in the intestine. The restoration of the enzyme-forming function occurs gradually and for a long time - over several months.

celiac disease

Celiac disease is a chronic disease characterized by intolerance to the gluten protein in cereals. With this disease, the cells of the intestinal wall are affected, the absorption process in the intestine is disrupted.

A distinct symptomatology of this disease can be seen only with the introduction of grain complementary foods. to an infant(cereal porridge, bread, flour products). Celiac disease is manifested by dull pain in the abdomen, fetid, abundant yellow-gray or gray-green feces with a sheen, which is due to the high content of fat in the stool. Fecal masses are poorly washed from clothes and washed off the walls of the pot.

Also, these children are characterized by growth retardation, underweight, a sharp increase in the size of the abdomen, capricious behavior and irritability. There is also a delay in teething and various manifestations of vitamin and microelement deficiency due to impaired absorption (rickets, stomatitis, seizures in the corners of the mouth, anemia).

If the stool changes are not one-time, but the child's condition does not suffer, just the parents are concerned about these changes, the doctor may prescribe a scatological study - a qualitative analysis of feces. This method allows you to evaluate the work of the baby's digestive tract.

If the baby has indications for fecal examination for dysbacteriosis, it can also be done in a clinic. Identified violations in the balance of microflora are quite easy to correct with probiotics, which are selected by the doctor, taking into account the results of the analysis and the age of the patient.

More serious studies (bacteriological analysis of feces, sowing feces on flora) are prescribed by a doctor according to indications, that is, if a bacterial inflammation process in the intestine is suspected.

Thus, babies can have stools of different consistency and color, poop with different frequencies. And if the baby's stool changes, and its general condition does not raise questions and complaints, then there is no reason to worry.

When found in a child anxiety symptoms parents need to see a doctor to examine the baby and find out the reasons for the change in his stool. Early seeking medical help makes it possible to stop the disease in the bud, to prevent it from progressing. And this means that it will be easier and faster for the baby to transfer all the necessary therapy.

Health to you and your children!

In a newborn baby, the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is far from perfect. Proteins and fats are digested well in the child's stomach: there are enzymes for this: pepsin, rennet, which curdles milk, and lipase, which breaks down fats.

More problems arise with the digestion of carbohydrates, which are found in breast milk. An enzyme that breaks down carbohydrates in the mouth (ptyalin) is found in saliva. The newborn produces little saliva, its amount increases by 12-16 weeks. Therefore, babies have problems digesting milk sugar - lactose. Lactose is also broken down by intestinal enzymes (maltose, lactose, sucrase), but they are not too active at this time. A feature of newborns is that their stomach has a poorly developed bottom.

As a result, the baby often burps, in the first months of life he has problems with the tummy in the form of bloating, green stools and intestinal spasms, accompanied by severe pain - intestinal colic.

The situation is complicated by the fact that in the first weeks of life there is a settlement of the intestines with microflora. The baby is born with a sterile intestine. Immediately after birth, the microflora that lives on the surface of the body and the mucous membranes of the people around him, primarily the mother, enters his intestines. This is not always a useful microflora, mainly it is opportunistic in nature.

If the baby is breastfed, then with mother's milk it receives the necessary enzymes and antibodies that allow it to cope with the growth of opportunistic microflora and form a normal beneficial flora that helps digest food and synthesize some vitamins. Finally normal flora is formed by 3-6 months.

Normal feces in children during the first year of life look different. The very first stool after birth (meconium) looks like a black, sometimes green, viscous mass. Meconium has no odor. This feces was formed when the fetus swallowed amniotic fluid and contains desquamated cells of the intestinal mucosa. Meconium is excreted from the newborn within three days.

Then, in breastfed babies, stools appear bright yellow (like egg yolk) with a mushy consistency and a sour smell. There may be mucus in the stool, this is normal. The baby may have a stool after each feeding.

Worth remembering! If the child does not have a stool for several days, and at the same time he does not worry at all, calmly sucks his breast and sleeps, then parents should not worry. This means that the mother's milk is completely digested.

After the baby's gastrointestinal tract adapts to 3-4 months, the frequency of bowel movements decreases, and after six months of life, he poops 1-2 times a day. The number of bowel movements per day is very individual. How normal this is, pediatricians judge by the general condition of children and weight gain.

Sometimes a breastfed baby has green stool. If its consistency does not change and the baby does not worry, sucks normally, then this is also the norm. Usually a change in the color of feces in such cases is associated with the nature of the mother's diet. Is it worth changing it? Only if it bothers the little one. If the baby feels well, then nothing needs to be changed.

Since little lactase is produced during the first time after birth, which breaks down lactose, the feces are often frothy, sometimes green. For the same reason, intestinal colic appears. But by 2 - 3 months it passes. Many parents who are aware of such a diagnosis as lactase deficiency begin to sound the alarm and look for it in their baby.

Such parents should know: physiological lactase deficiency occurs in all children, without preventing them from growing and developing physically. If the baby is gaining weight normally, then he does not have true lactase deficiency.

Should know! Green feces can also be the result of natural dysbacteriosis of the first three months of life of children who are breastfed: normal microflora is being formed. Such dysbacteriosis is accompanied by a violation of the digestion of food, bloating, the appearance of green stools and intestinal colic.

Pediatricians, first of all, pay attention to the general condition of the baby, an increase in body temperature, behavior, and appetite. If the baby is breastfed, then how actively he suckles at the breast. These data are the main ones, since the feces in children of the first three months, even green, with mucus and frothy, do not always indicate some kind of disease.

What should mom pay attention to:

baby has frequent green stools bad smell; the baby does not eat well, is restless;
the stool is not frequent, but the feces are green, with mucus; the baby is capricious, he has a fever;
feces of a liquid consistency with mucus and streaks of blood appeared (the color may be different); the baby is restless, refuses to breastfeed;
feces are liquid, frothy, stools are frequent, the child's condition is changing for the worse.

In all these cases, you need to urgently contact a pediatrician. On her own, a mother will not be able to treat a baby with such symptoms, since he may have an intestinal infection. The cause of the disease can be both infection from the outside, and activation of one's own opportunistic intestinal flora against the background of some kind of malnutrition. For example, when introducing another complementary food.

At home, it is difficult to cope with such a disease. Why? A feature of children up to a year is the rapid loss of fluid, the appearance of dehydration, the increase in intoxication. Therefore, if the pediatrician believes that hospitalization is necessary, you should not refuse.

In a hospital, a baby with an intestinal infection will be prescribed a complex treatment: restoration of the water-salt balance (drinking with special saline solutions or their intravenous drip), antibacterial agents, enzymes, and agents to maintain cardiovascular activity.

It is important to know! As a rule, even very severe intestinal infections end up safely in infants, especially if the child is breastfed and not artificially fed.

Green feces in babies do not always mean something bad. First of all, you should pay attention to how the baby's condition, his behavior and appetite have changed.

Every baby requires careful care and attention from their parents. Green stools in babies are a common cause for concern for many mothers, since such a change in the nature of feces in most cases indicates the development of the disease. However, you should not sound the alarm in advance, but you should definitely contact a pediatrician who, if necessary, will prescribe the necessary examination and treatment.

The nature of the stool in both the newborn and the infant depends on the type of feeding, the mother's diet, the state of the intestinal biocenosis and the presence of concomitant pathology.

The very first bowel movements of a newborn are called meconium (which means original feces). It consists mainly of digested cells of desquamated epithelium, prenatal hair, amniotic fluid, bile secretion, mucus and a small amount of water. Also recently, scientists have proven that meconium contains a small concentration of lactobacilli and E. coli.

The original stool has a thick and sticky texture, a slight non-specific odor, dark brown or greenish-black color. With its increased viscosity, a condition such as meconium ileus (obstruction) can develop, which often indicates that the baby has a serious congenital pathology - cystic fibrosis. Normally, after three to four days, meconium is completely excreted from the body, and the feces of the newborn acquire a normal consistency and color.

Babies who are exclusively breastfed have mushy, yellow or yellowish-brown stools with fine-grained stools. It usually has a slight sour smell and happens at least two or three times a day. If the baby is bottle-fed, then the feces acquire a sharper characteristic odor, become thicker and have a rich yellow color.

After the introduction of complementary foods, the baby defecates less often, and as it moves away from milk and milk formulas, the feces lose yellow, becoming more brown in color. Also, it often contains pieces of undigested coarse dietary fiber.

There are natural reasons for the appearance of green poop in a small child.

Exclusively artificial nutrition, especially unadapted mixtures. Despite the fact that most non-breastfed babies have yellow-brown stools, in some cases greenish stools are also found. This is not considered a pathology if the child is not restless, he is not tormented by constant colic, he is gaining the right weight and has a good appetite.
Special diet for a mother who is breastfeeding. If a woman ate a lot of plant foods and greens for one or more days, then it is likely that the color of the baby's feces will acquire a greenish tint.
The beginning of the introduction of vegetable complementary foods. As soon as the baby reaches 6 months of age, his body needs to expand the diet. At the first stages, juice, cereals and vegetables are introduced. Thus, if zucchini, broccoli or cauliflower, then his "poop" becomes greenish. The consistency and multiplicity of the stool does not change.
Taking certain medications. For example, often the use of medicinal product, like "Plantex", can change the color of the feces of a one-month-old baby to greenish. This is due to the fact that the drug is made on the basis of fennel.

There are also pathological reasons that explain why a baby has green-colored feces.

Acute intestinal infection is a disease of infectious genesis, characterized by damage to the digestive tract. In young children, it often begins suddenly with fever and frequent loose stools. As the disease progresses and bacteria multiply, exsicosis (dehydration) develops in the intestinal lumen, and the stools acquire a dark greenish color with an admixture of mucus and often a streak of blood. For the most part, pathology requires hospitalization in the infectious diseases department and timely antibiotic therapy, sorbents.
Dysbiosis. This diagnosis causes a lot of controversy among doctors, even about its existence. At the same time, an imbalance between conditionally pathogenic flora and bifidobacteria is often found, especially in young children due to the immaturity of their body. Dysbacteriosis can be the result of an intestinal infection, long-term use of antibiotics and changes in the composition of the microflora in the mother. This imbalance leads to a violation of the motor function of the intestine (in the form of diarrhea or constipation), absorption and digestion, and also provokes the growth of pathogenic bacteria. As a result, the baby poops green feces, which may have a fetid odor and pathological impurities.
Lactase deficiency is a heterogeneous hereditary disease that leads to intestinal damage due to a deficiency of a special enzyme - lactase. All clinical manifestations of the disease develop in response to the use of milk or milk formula. The child's stomach swells, colic and abdominal pain begin to disturb, foamy green feces appear. The treatment consists in a special diet, the use of only low- or lactose-free mixtures, the use of enzyme-containing preparations (Mamalak, Lactozar).

In rare cases, green stool is a manifestation of a food allergy. However, in addition, a small spotted rash usually appears on the skin of the child, which is accompanied by itching. An increase in temperature and the appearance of mucus in the stool, blood is not observed.

High temperature, frequent loose stools, especially with an admixture of greenery and blood in it - sure sign intestinal infection, which can be caused by salmonella or other dangerous bacteria. A neglected disease often leads to severe dehydration and intoxication.

When all physiological causes changes in the nature of the baby's bowel movements are excluded, special examinations are prescribed that can help the doctor establish a diagnosis.

An intestinal infection is easy to suspect by its characteristic manifestations, however, the child must be prescribed a clinical blood test, a general urinalysis, bacteriological culture of feces for the intestinal group of bacteria and sensitivity to antibiotics.

Lactase deficiency is confirmed by genetic testing, coprocytogram and special provoking tests. There is also a specific analysis of feces for dysbacteriosis.

In any case, the child needs the dynamic supervision of a pediatrician, and, if necessary, the advice of related specialists, the appointment of a diet and medicines.

Do not refuse the examinations offered by the doctor, which is extremely important if lactase deficiency is suspected. Otherwise, the child will suffer from abdominal pain, and if left untreated, intestinal absorption will be disturbed, which will negatively affect physical and mental development.

Thus, there is a variety of natural and pathological causes that can cause green stools in an infant. If alarming symptoms are detected, parents should seek medical help as soon as possible to prevent the development of complications.

Any mother, even a balanced and sane one herself, must observe the contents of her baby's diaper, notice changes in feces and draw conclusions about his health. Green feces in a baby can be completely normal, and talk about problems or the onset of a disease. It is important to be able to distinguish between these situations.

In the first week of life, the green color of feces in newborns is the norm. For the first few days, meconium comes out of it - a dark green original feces, consisting of the fact that the baby swallowed his mother in the stomach. Then, until the colostrum has been replaced by permanent milk, the first restructuring and adaptation of the stomach and intestines to nutrition occurs, as a result of which you can also see greens in the stool. And only by the end of the first week, most newborns begin to defecate such yellow homogeneous masses that are pleasant to the mother's eye.

Before the age of six months, until the baby begins to introduce complementary foods, his feces can acquire a green tint for a number of reasons. In children with breast and artificial feeding, they may differ.

The color, texture and frequency of bowel movements in breastfed babies can change constantly, as the composition of mother's milk is constantly changing. The green color can be provoked by female hormones, as well as vegetables, cow's milk, medicines, any foods and drinks unfamiliar to the child that the woman ate or drank. If green feces are sometimes observed during breastfeeding, these are most likely changes in the mother's diet. In this case, in addition to color, neither the mood nor the well-being of the baby changes, and the color of the stool is restored in a day or two.

The additional presence of foamy secretions in the diaper (mucus is also possible) may indicate that the child receives a lot of foremilk (watery and poor in nutrients) and little hindmilk (thick and containing lactose, which helps to cope with milk proteins).

In addition, it is the back milk that gives the stool a mustard tint. You can solve this problem if you keep the baby at one breast longer, and do not alternate breasts in one feeding. In difficult cases, if a child is diagnosed with lactase deficiency, the doctor will prescribe enzymes that will need to be added to breast milk and given to the baby at the beginning of feeding.

Abundant foamy discharge may indicate a food allergy. Green frothy stools and fever are dangerous signs of the presence of various cocci in the body.

Green feces with mucus in infants, provided that there is little mucus, should also not cause great concern. Changes can occur even due to the addition of water to the child. The gastrointestinal tract continues to improve, and even a slight dysbacteriosis does not cause any concern around the world (they simply do not know about such a diagnosis). If there is a lot of mucus, the feces have a sharp unpleasant odor, it is noticeable that the child has a stomachache, you need to see a doctor.

Sometimes green stool happens when the baby is malnourished. You can understand whether this is so by observing the weight of the baby.

Doctor speaks! Dr. Komarovsky believes that in a child who is breastfed, feces can be practically anything - yellow, green, with grains, with mucus, with foam, frequent and even very rare, all this is the norm. If at the same time the baby feels good and does not lose weight, you can not worry.

When feeding with a mixture that has a constant composition, the stool also changes less frequently. Greenish stools may be a reaction to the content in baby food gland. And dark green stools most often indicate that this mixture is not suitable for the baby. If you suspect dysbacteriosis (diarrhea or constipation, colic), it is useful to switch to infant formulas with prebiotics and probiotics.

Dangerous signs that stool can be combined with Green colour, are the same for babies and for babies on artificial nutrition:

restless behavior, frequent crying, poor sleep, refusal to eat;
frequent regurgitation, colic;
the presence of blood or brown spots in the stool;
frequent and loose stools;
unusual or putrid odor;
vomit;
elevated temperature;
weight loss.

Those nasty companions green stool they talk about infection, poisoning, allergies, SARS, or even intestinal pathologies that require surgical intervention. If you notice them, you should immediately contact your doctor.

Important! If the child has diarrhea (frequent liquid bowel movements and pain in the tummy), the mother needs to prevent dehydration of the child's body, even if she has already called the "ambulance". This will help sorbents - atoxil and smecta, plenty of drink - rehydron, children's teas from chamomile, sage, anise, fennel, water, as well as frequent attachment to the chest.

Understanding why a child has a green stool is sometimes difficult even for specialists. It is also considered normal for both groups of children when:

switching to food
the introduction of juices into nutrition,
antibiotic treatment,
teething, the amount of mucus may also increase,
when exposed to the air for a long time, the feces gradually turn green due to normal chemical reactions.

Having studied the features of the work of the children's intestines in the first year of life, one can understand that the green stool in a child still does not mean anything and should not cause concern if the baby feels well. In combination with other symptoms, greenish stool gives a signal of problems. To deal with them, it is better to entrust a specialist.