Normal or alarm indicator: baby's green stool. Green diarrhea in a child is a symptom that cannot be ignored. Why does a child have green 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 baby in time. Green diarrhea in a child that occurs suddenly and at any age can cause particular concern. Green stools are not always a sign of a serious problem, but sometimes, if additional dangerous symptoms are present, they indicate the development of a specific disease. How can parents understand whether they should sound the alarm or whether the appearance of green feces is not dangerous?

Stool color can indicate serious problems, but it is sometimes observed in healthy children

What factors can cause green diarrhea?

The reasons for the unusual grassy color of stool 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 have caused such changes. Some of them may only indicate a normal reaction of the body to a certain food, but there are some that cannot be ignored - they require a visit to a doctor.

Factors that do not affect the child's health

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 colored stool. Let's look at common factors that influence the appearance of feces in infants:

Meconium. The baby's first stool does not consist only of processed food, so it can be dark olive in color.
Formation of the gastrointestinal tract. The yellow-green tint of stool in the first year of a child’s life is associated with underdevelopment of the digestive system. As a rule, up to 2 years the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract is normalized, and unpleasant manifestations disappear.
Features of breastfeeding and mother's nutrition while breastfeeding. Liquid stool is formed when the baby absorbs foremilk, which is not high in fat content. Green diarrhea in a child is provoked by eating vegetables and fruits of the same color or foods containing a lot of carbohydrates (see also:).

If the nipple is not latched on correctly, the baby receives only foremilk, which leads to gastrointestinal upset.

Artificial feeding. Infant formulas 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 stool.
Not proper nutrition. The appearance of green diarrhea in children 3-5 years old may be associated with eating excessive quantities of foods such as chocolate, apples, pears, lettuce or spinach, baked goods, and dill.

Reasons requiring special attention

Stool with mucus and an unpleasant color looks like an alarming signal 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 may be improper introduction of complementary foods to the infant, an intestinal infection suffered by the child, or somatic diseases requiring treatment with antibiotics.
Various types of intestinal infections: yersiniosis, shigellosis, campylobacteriosis, escherichiasis, rotavirus infection.
Dysentery.
Salmonellosis. The main cause of salmonellosis is eating “dirty” raw eggs and fish.

Salmonellosis - very serious infection, which is provoked by “dirty” food products

As we see, the appearance loose stool may be due to 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 also manifest itself with other symptoms. It is necessary to monitor the general condition of the child in order to make correct conclusions and organize competent assistance in a timely manner. A number of programs are devoted to the problem of diarrhea in children with the participation of the famous pediatrician Dr. Komarovsky, who examines this topic in detail and intelligibly from all sides.

What symptoms should you be wary of?

It is important for mom to understand: if a 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 symptoms. 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 diarrhea is added heat, the cause turns out to be salmonellosis or dysentery.
Stool consistency (see also:). Chest 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 dysbiosis. If the stool contains mucus, but there are no blood clots, then salmonellosis is the provocateur.
Chair shade. Light green stool is a mild intestinal disorder, dark green is salmonellosis, black is dysentery. Note that the black tint of green in diarrhea with mucus is the initial stage of the disease. A little time will pass and it will manifest itself with other characteristic symptoms.

Smell. With dysbacteriosis, the stool is liquid and has a sour, putrid odor; with an intestinal infection, the stool has a fetid odor that hits the nose.
Vomiting and regurgitation. Repeated regurgitation in infants indicates dysbacteriosis; in older children, vomiting occurs. Vomiting is profuse and does not stop, which is characteristic of salmonellosis.
General health. Obvious anxiety of the baby, complaints that his tummy hurts, crying and whims of the newborn, refusal to eat, insomnia are indicative signs of a child’s general malaise. It is easier for parents of 4-7 year olds to understand what is bothering the baby, and at 1 month they need to be especially attentive to his behavior. Your baby can't tell you what's hurting him, so if you notice your baby has unpleasant diarrhea, pay attention to other signs of illness.

If the baby is diarrhea, but his temperature does not rise and nothing else bothers him, he is cheerful and active, there is no need to worry too much. Most likely, after some time, digestion will stabilize, the diarrhea will go away and will not affect the health of the little patient in any way. The situation becomes more serious when fever, vomiting, abdominal pain and other unpleasant symptoms are added to diarrhea.

Obviously, parents should call the doctor and take certain measures before he arrives. Dr. Komarovsky also proposes similar tactics, believing that self-medication in such cases is irresponsible and criminal. An honored pediatrician warns parents that in dubious situations, when there is no clear picture diseases, only contacting a specialist will be the best solution.

If the baby’s condition worsens, you should urgently call a doctor to determine the cause of the illness.

What help can I provide?

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

Feed your child with saline solutions (Regidron, Oralit, Eneterodes), which can be bought at the pharmacy. Medicines will help replenish fluid loss.
You should not give your baby drinking water; it can cause nausea and vomiting.
To neutralize and remove toxins, give the baby some 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 be used. Thoughtless use of medications can worsen the situation.

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

There is no need to frighten the baby with excitement - on the contrary, he should draw calmness from his mother

How dangerous is the condition?

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

How is the problem diagnosed?

Laboratory tests help determine how serious the problem is. Doctors resort to them to accurately determine the extent of the disease. Types of analysis:

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

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

A complete diagnosis allows you to accurately determine the cause of the unusual color of diarrhea and 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 detected, the doctor can recommend proper nutrition and other measures that parents should take to prevent the child from developing diarrhea with a strange tint (we recommend reading:).

What treatment is prescribed?

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

Special therapeutic dietary nutrition.
For dysbacteriosis, probiotics, bacteriophages, Bifilin, Linex, Acipol, Bifiform are prescribed.
Intestinal infection is eliminated with the help of enterosorbents, antibiotics and chemotherapy.
Application of enzyme therapy. The following products are used: Pancreatin, Pankurmen, Festal, Panzinorm forte, Mezim forte, Digestal.
To eliminate side effects, antiallergic medications are taken.
Antidiarrheal drugs are also prescribed: Imodium or Diarol.
Myotropic antispasmodics are used to relieve pain syndromes.

For dysbacteriosis, children's Linex can be prescribed

What preventive measures should be taken?

Preventive measures that every mother can take will help to avoid the problem described. Observe the following regularly:

Eliminate or reduce foods that trigger allergies in newborns from your diet. This diet is especially important until the child is three months old.
Establish a balanced diet for yourself and try not to use antibiotics for your own treatment.
When feeding your baby with formula, consult your pediatrician to choose a product with the right composition for your baby.
Introduce complementary foods gradually, carefully monitoring the baby's reaction. If you see changes in stool, temporarily exclude the product from your child’s menu. Wait until the baby's gastrointestinal tract is fully formed.
After 3 years, keep it balanced baby food, you should not give carbohydrates and vegetables in large quantities.
No adult should lick the baby's spoons and pacifiers. Your saliva can transfer harmful bacteria into your baby's body.

The development and formation of a baby does not end in the womb. After birth, adaptation to external factors, getting used to a new diet. An alarming moment for young mothers is the unusual green color baby's feces. Let’s take a closer look at what factors can influence the appearance of this color of discharge, whether it poses a danger to the life and health of the baby, and we’ll also tell you what parents should do in this situation.

On different stages As the baby develops, the stool changes from a liquid unnatural color to a fraction characteristic of each person. Parents must be sure to monitor the frequency, consistency, color and presence of odor in the child’s discharge.

First three days of life

During this period of a little man’s life, the accumulation of remnants of amniotic fluid that entered the body at birth occurs in his intestines. epithelial cells intestines, bile, mucus, etc. Such feces are called original or meconium.

The discharge has a black, dark red or olive tone, a resinous structure and is odorless. Green stool in a newborn is not due to the bacterial nature of its formation. The appearance of discharge is the first sign of normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

The first two to three days the baby’s body is breastfeeding(GV) completely absorbs the mother's colostrum, so feces are not formed.

Fourth – sixth days

The baby is developing his work intestinal system, associated with changes in the composition of a nursing mother’s milk and the formation of bacteria in the digestive tract.

The process occurs in two stages:

Transitional feces

The baby's stool has the appearance of a paste, thick sour cream, the color is predominantly yellowish, with rare splashes of green (residual effects of meconium). The presence of a white mass and small amounts of stool with mucus in an infant is not a deviation. Change appearance feces occurs under the influence of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.

Mature feces

The discharge takes on a dark green color with a transitional gray tint, and has a porridge-like consistency. Initially, the frequency of bowel movements is about ten times a day, and as you get used to breast milk, the frequency of bowel movements decreases to one or two times over three to seven days.

This is due to the complete absorption of the beneficial substances of breast milk in the infant’s gastrointestinal tract. It is necessary to strictly monitor meconium in the stool: if its presence in the stool is observed on the fifth day, you should consult a doctor. Artificial feeding can affect the structure of stool.

Second week of life – 28 days

The baby's stool takes on a light brown, mustard color. The consistency of the mass is mushy. Green, liquid stool in a baby or constipation indicate the occurrence of abnormalities.

First months

At the stage of feeding the baby with breast milk, the stool is normally mature. The waste products of a baby can be light brown, grayish and even green. Feces one month old baby on GV should be of medium density: not liquid and not solid.

At 3 years of age, the presence of food inclusions in the stool is allowed, and the color directly depends on the food the child eats.

Causes of green stool in infants

Green stool in a baby is not always a cause for concern. Let us highlight the main factors that can cause “herbal” feces to appear in an infant in the first months of his life.

Causes of green stool

Sources of unnatural stool color in a baby:

composition of mother's breast milk;
use of complementary foods;
deviation of the baby’s immunity;
age-related changes.

When breastfeeding

The reasons for the appearance of greenish stool in a child during breastfeeding can be:

mother’s food range: if the diet is rich in green vegetables and herbs;
intoxication of the nurse's body due to poisoning;
exposure to medications: for example, taking antibacterial agents;
lack of nutrition: limited amount of breast milk, early refusal of breastfeeding. The feces become liquid and foamy, and the baby’s weight drops.

With artificial and mixed feeding

Green tint to baby's stool mixed feeding occurs depending on the composition of complementary foods:

artificial mixture is enriched with iron;
food causes an imbalance in the child’s body, manifesting itself;
incorrectly selected or incorrectly prepared food;
dysbacteriosis, failure immune system: complex components of complementary foods complicate the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

General sources

The basic factors for the manifestation of green stool in infants are:

chemical oxidation processes under the influence of oxygen;
inflammatory foci in the infant’s gastrointestinal tract due to difficult childbirth;
natural removal of bilirubin (bile pigment) from the body;
additional nutrition with a mixture with a high concentration of sugars and iron;
lactose intolerance, bacterial imbalance;
exposure to disease, poor functioning endocrine system, malfunction of the gastrointestinal tract.

Dysbacteriosis

When the balance of vital bacteria is disturbed, the natural functioning of the intestines is disrupted in the baby’s body. The condition is characterized by an increase in body temperature, disruption of the process of excretion of feces, and psycho-emotional disorders.

If the course of the disease is favorable, the baby’s immunity copes with it on its own. If the disorder lasts, you will need to take foods enriched with bacteria.

Lactase deficiency

The condition is expressed by difficulty in processing milk sugar due to a small amount of lactase and, as a consequence, the development of dysbacteriosis. The stool is liquid, greenish-yellow with a pungent odor and foamy consistency.

The deviation goes away on its own after nine months of the baby’s life, less often up to a year. Sometimes there is a hereditary disorder. To restore the baby’s stool, it is recommended to adjust the diet of the mother producing breastfeeding, as well as the use of therapy to replenish lactase in a child at 2 years old.

By month

The stages of development of the baby’s body directly affect the appearance of green color in the stool:

1 month: green chair in a newborn it is the norm, a consequence of the gastrointestinal tract adapting to nutrition, if the process is not accompanied by third-party symptoms;
2 month: dysbacteriosis is possible due to the unstable state of the intestines of a two-month-old baby;
3 month: due to slow development, green stool in a 3 month old baby may be an indicator of normality;
4 months: a common cause of green stool is untimely complementary feeding;
5th month: the color of the stool in a five-month-old baby depends on the administration of additional nutrition;
6-7 months: baby relieves discomfort from emerging teeth by biting foreign objects, therefore, green stool in a child will become an indicator of a disorder or infection;
8-10 months: bilirubin no longer affects the color of stool, discharge depends on the composition of complementary foods;
11-12 months: Green stool in a 1 year old baby is an indicator of food intake or an allergic reaction.

Green stool as one of the symptoms of the disease

Parents should take immediate action if their child's green stool is accompanied by the following symptoms:

decreased mobility, drowsiness, moodiness;
loss of appetite;
foamy consistency of stool in infants,
a sharp putrid odor of feces in a one-year-old child, green foam bowel movements;
Green, liquid stool is passed out very often in infants;
entry of blood as a cause of gastrointestinal damage;
incessant diarrhea in a one and a half year old child;
vomiting, frequent;
the child has green, loose stools with large quantities of mucus;
flatulence, colic;
skin rashes.

What does the shade and consistency of green stool tell us?

Based on the degree of color saturation and density of green feces, one can judge the reasons for the changes:

deep green: normal; depends on the food range; dark green, loose stools in infants may be a consequence of lactase deficiency;
light green, yellow-green: normal indicator; impaired lactation or lack of breast milk with hind fat milk;
black-green: typical only for newborns, in other cases it is a malfunction of the gastrointestinal tract, a nutritional error;
deep green: lack of hindmilk, food pigmentation;
green foam: lactase deficiency, low fat content of milk during breastfeeding;
mushy: normal indicator;
green stool with mucus, watery, liquid, too hard stool: deviation of the gastrointestinal tract, development of the disease.

The reason for panic among parents should be the general deterioration of the baby’s condition.

What to do if you have green stools?

If your stool appears green, the following actions are recommended:

Provide the right thing, let him get enough and complete the GW on his own.
Make breastfeeding regular, depending on the body's needs.
Control your diet during breastfeeding, avoid artificial additives and exotic foods.
Treat the baby's intestinal dysfunction under the supervision of a doctor.
Don't worry if your stools turn green after taking Smecta.
Study the composition thoroughly artificial feeding, ensure optimal selection for the baby’s body (for example, use NAN mixtures).
Green stools without accompanying warning signs are normal and do not require intervention.
Use of additional nutrition in due time.
Dr. Komarovsky can give an online consultation on his website.
The frequency of green stools in combination with alarming symptoms is a necessity for seeking medical help.

Green stool in a newborn during breastfeeding is not always a deviation. If your child is developing normally, cheerful and active, there is no need to worry once again about why the child has green stool and tirelessly torment the child with visits to the doctor.

Control your diet during breastfeeding, provide your children with proper care, monitor their behavior, and then there will be much less cause for alarm.

A condition such as green diarrhea in a child causes anxiety among parents. Unfortunately, not everyone knows about what causes this pathology and how to cope with it. There are several reasons that lead to diarrhea, and each of them requires attention from a doctor.

Most often, the disease is caused by pathogenic bacteria and viruses. If your child has a fever, a stomach ache, and a green color, you should consult a doctor.

Causes of green diarrhea:

liver diseases;
intestinal bleeding (rare).

Green-colored diarrhea appears in many newborns in the first days after birth. There is nothing dangerous in this, since meconium, the original feces, will be excreted from the child’s body over the course of several days.

In older children, green diarrhea is often a consequence of intestinal infections. In this case, the temperature may rise, weakness and abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting may occur. This characteristic symptoms intoxication of the body by pathogenic microflora - protozoa, viruses, bacteria and fungi.

Similar symptoms of green diarrhea occur in a child against the background of liver disease, only discomfort in the epigastric area and right hypochondrium may be added to them.

Dysbacteriosis is characterized by loose, greenish stools, with the presence of mucus and streaks of blood in advanced cases. In this case, diarrhea may change periodically.

Signs of dehydration in a child

You can determine that a child has lost a large amount of moisture using the following criteria:

pronounced lethargy and calmness;
reduction in the number of urinations, dark color urine;
dry to the touch skin, cracks on the lips;
the appearance of circles under the eyes;
retraction of the fontanel in young children.

Any of these signs requires urgent medical attention. Otherwise, dehydration can cause even more serious complications for the child.

How dangerous is green diarrhea in a child?

The following conditions can cause complications of green diarrhea:

dehydration - what younger child, the more susceptible he is to this condition;
loss of minerals and salts, which may cause seizures;
hypovitaminosis and exhaustion;
fissures and hemorrhoids, rectal prolapse.

Diarrhea in a child cannot be ignored. Disturbances in water, electrolyte and salt balance in the body cannot be compensated for by regular drinking; treatment must be carried out by a doctor using appropriate medications (for example, Glucose solution, Regidron, etc.).

How to help your baby?

Green diarrhea in a child and fever are two frequent companions of pathology, which can intensify with dehydration. This condition is most dangerous for children under one year of age. Due to severe fluid loss, the need to drink increases, so first aid will be to provide the child with clean drinking water.

If the baby is breastfed, before feeding you can give him 50 mg of an absorbent drug prescribed by the pediatrician. Absorbents destroy toxins and remove pathogenic microflora from the body, qualitatively softening the mucous membrane of the digestive tract and facilitating the absorption of food. absorbents are added to the mixture (for example, Enterosgel).

In addition to the absorbent drug, older children can be given rice broth, which also enhances the removal of toxins from the body and restores intestinal functions.

You can try to bring down the temperature during diarrhea, which does not exceed 38.5°, on your own. To do this, you need to give the child water often and not put warm clothes on him. Antipyretics are allowed to be used only as prescribed by a doctor.

What is absolutely forbidden to do?

If your baby has green diarrhea and his condition worsens, you should not self-medicate by offering him:

painkillers (Nurofen, Ibuprofen), which can blur the picture of the disease, the symptom of which is diarrhea;
tetracycline antibiotics, which are often used for diarrhea in adults, but are highly toxic in children;
medications intended for adolescents and adults (Imodium, Loperamide);
force the child to eat;
limit fluid intake for fear of new attacks of diarrhea or vomiting;
offer raw vegetables and fruits, as well as heavy foods that irritate digestive tract;
put ice or a heating pad on your stomach.

Self-medication for childhood diarrhea may make the situation worse. It is necessary to seek help from a doctor.

In what cases is it necessary to urgently call a doctor?

Green diarrhea in a child is already a suspicious sign that you need to pay attention to, but not cause panic. Before calling a doctor, it is important to assess the baby’s well-being. Fever and abdominal pain are an urgent reason to call an ambulance, especially if we are talking about a child under 3 years old.

The doctor will not only determine the cause of the pathology, but will also prescribe a comprehensive course of treatment. As a rule, it consists of drugs that normalize the water-salt balance in the body (Regidron), sorbents (Smecta) and agents that restore intestinal microflora (Linex, Bifidumbacterin, etc.).

Medicines will also be prescribed to eliminate the root cause of green diarrhea in the child. For example, if the pathology arose against the background of an intestinal infection, it will be antibiotics (Sumamed, Levomycetin, etc.). The specialist will also determine a diet for the child, which will have to be followed for several days.

You can limit yourself to calling a local pediatrician at home if the child’s health is normal, but the green diarrhea does not stop - most likely, it is a symptom of dysbiosis. After the doctor confirms the diagnosis, the baby will be prescribed medications for outpatient treatment aimed at strengthening the body’s defenses and combating dysbiosis (Maxilak Baby, Hilak Forte, etc.).

Complications

The list of complications is:

dehydration of the body;
convulsive syndrome at high temperature;
dysbacteriosis, which, in turn, can lead to gastroduodenitis and other chronic diseases;
neurotoxicosis, cerebral edema, toxic shock, coma as consequences of an untreated intestinal infection.

Prevention

Prevention of diarrhea with green tint for a child consists of the following activities:

A woman should strictly follow and, if possible, not take medications, especially antibiotics.
Baby on artificial feeding, with frequent recurrences of diarrhea should be examined by a pediatrician or pediatric gastroenterologist to diagnose the pathology and select the appropriate mixture.
The first should be introduced gradually and carefully. The green color of diarrhea may be an individual reaction of the baby to any food product. In this case, you should refuse the food that provokes the pathology and wait until the digestive tract gets stronger.
It is important to feed children over 3 years of age fully and correctly, avoiding excess amounts of high-carbohydrate foods and greens in the daily diet.
Do not put a baby's pacifier or spoon in your mouth. Causative agents of intestinal infection may be present in the saliva of an adult.

If your baby has green diarrhea, you first need to find out the cause of the pathology, and then begin to act. It is best to consult a doctor immediately, which will reduce the likelihood of complications. To prevent green diarrhea from recurring in a child, it is important to devote time to prevention.

If parents notice that small child green stool appears - don’t panic right away. This phenomenon is not necessarily considered a pathology, but it is worth considering the fact that it is a signal of a disease.

It is necessary to pay attention not only to color, because consistency, smell, color, frequency also matter. Let's look at the reasons why 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 that are not displayed in a negative way on his health.

Green feces in a newly born baby are 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 you can already notice changes. It is normal to have small pieces of curdled milk in your stool that has not been digested. Over time, the color of the stool changes and becomes green-yellow. Closer to one month of life, feces acquire a mustard color. But in some cases there are deviations.

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

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

Important: The baby has artificial feeding A reaction to the mixture may occur, especially if the diet contains large amounts of iron. From 5 months, this phenomenon can be a consequence of complementary feeding. Also, every parent should be aware that green poop may appear in a child as a result of the eruption of his first teeth.

When is green stool a pathology?

When should parents be concerned? The most important thing is to monitor how the child feels. If he cries a lot, has become capricious, and 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 a pediatrician as soon as possible.

Let's list which feces should alert parents:

The baby's green poop is runny and he poops frequently. This factor indicates that the child does not have enough nutrients. An infection may also be the cause, especially if this condition is accompanied by elevated temperature. Colostrum, for example, stimulates frequent bowel movements, but at the same time it contains practically no nutrients and fats.
The stool has a pronounced green color, foams and smells unpleasant. The stench may indicate the onset of an inflammatory process.
Black-green feces that have a putrid odor. You need to see a doctor, because such feces may indicate suppuration.
There is mucus in the child's stool, and his general condition has deteriorated sharply. Most likely, there are digestive problems, or the intestinal lining has been damaged.
Blood is found in the stool. Basically, such a signal indicates a digestive disorder, 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, and the baby’s temperature rose;
the baby tucks his legs in 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 breath.

It is important to take into account 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 force as he needs to adapt. Green poop mixed with mucus indicates that there are problems with digesting food. Another reason is an incorrectly selected mixture. Mom should be attentive - if this 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 susceptible to diseases such as dysbiosis. The baby’s body has not fully formed the microflora, and therefore pathogenic microorganisms can settle in the intestines. 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 both 2 and 5 years of age. The disease also occurs in adults. It poses a threat - dehydration. Therefore, if you have symptoms of dysbiosis, you should consult a doctor.

How does nutrition affect?

Green-colored stool in a baby may appear as a result of improper feeding. Let's consider this issue in detail.

Breastfeeding

If only foremilk enters the baby's body, the feces may take on a greenish color. There is an explanation for this - such milk is low-fat, it is quickly absorbed and leaves the newborn’s body just as quickly. Milk is often called hungry - due to the fact that fore milk contains practically no nutrients that could satiate the baby, providing him with all the necessary elements and fats.
Green specks in dark green stool indicate that there is an increased content of bilirubin in the stool - this phenomenon is considered normal in infants. Hormones contained in breast milk, can also produce green stool. If mommy eats a large amount of plant substances, the color of the stool may also change.

Artificial feeding

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

Lure

From 6 months, parents begin to give their baby complementary foods. This is the period when the child’s body learns to adapt to the digestion and assimilation of regular food. In such situations, malfunctions of the gastrointestinal tract are a common occurrence, and they manifest themselves as belching, diarrhea, and the child also develops green stools with mucus.

Possible diseases

If the mother notices diarrhea in the baby for several days, a deterioration in general health, the baby is capricious and refuses to eat - this is a signal that there is a problem.

Why does a child poop green, what could be the reasons? Let's look at them:

Infection. The causative agents of intestinal infections can be microbes, bacteria, and all kinds of viruses. As a rule, in acute form The baby's temperature rises, vomits, he becomes nervous, capricious and lethargic.
Dysbacteriosis. In this case, the baby poops frequently, with bloating, colic, rash, and irritation around the anus. All this is due to the fact that the microflora in the intestines is disrupted, as a result of which it is attacked by pathogens. You need to see a doctor, he will prescribe probiotics - these are special preparations containing beneficial bacteria, as well as yeast.
Viruses. Due to the fact that young children have poorly developed immunity, their body is susceptible to viral attacks. In infants who are on breastfeeding, such problems arise extremely rarely - due to the fact that breast milk contains special antibodies. Artificial formulas 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, a change in formula, the mother’s diet, and even pharmacological agents. When treated with antibiotics, children's bodies often react with diarrhea, and this is not new, since even adults often experience a similar reaction when undergoing treatment with antibiotics.

The following factors influence a child’s feces:

insufficient amount of enzymes – digestive system not yet formed and cannot produce them in sufficient quantities;
the cause may be an incorrectly selected mother’s diet - in this case, you need to reconsider your diet;
when complementary foods are introduced, or when the mother’s diet changes, the child develops greenish stool;
the color of feces and their consistency change if the baby does not have enough nutrients - he feeds on foremilk alone;
The baby started teething;
in some cases, the cause may be an allergic reaction - the body does not accept the mixture, that is, its composition is not suitable for the child.

What should parents do?

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

If the color of a newborn's stool worries parents, the most the best option is a consultation with an experienced pediatrician.

Some 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 detailed analysis, which will help parents understand the baby’s health condition.

Causes of diarrhea

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

The main reasons for the appearance of green diarrhea in a child include the following factors:

dysbacteriosis or disturbance of intestinal microflora;
penetration of infections into the intestinal cavity;
liver diseases, which also lead to 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 baby’s health at all, since this is an absolutely normal phenomenon, indicating the removal of original feces from the body.

Green feces in older children indicate the penetration of intestinal infections into the body. Often, symptoms of diarrhea occur together with fever, nausea and vomiting, as well as a complete loss of 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 an increase in temperature and a general state of malaise, is observed in liver diseases. In addition, with liver ailments, additional symptoms such as pain or discomfort in the right hypochondrium appear. It is quite difficult to determine liver disease in a small child, so it is impossible to do without conducting a study in a hospital.

Green stool is also observed with the development of dysbacteriosis. In addition to being green, the stool also contains mucus and blood. Diarrhea due to dysbacteriosis can periodically be replaced by constipation.

It is important to know! Despite the fact that only 4 reasons for the appearance of green diarrhea in a child are known, parents are strictly prohibited from making a diagnosis on their own, much less prescribing treatment for their baby. The child should be taken to the hospital or an ambulance should be 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 addressed in a timely manner, the consequences may 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 fever.
Lack of minerals and salts. If the amount of these components is insufficient, the risk of developing seizures increases.
Exhaustion of the body and the development of hypovitaminosis.
Formation of rectal fissures and development of hemorrhoids.

A symptom such as diarrhea cannot be ignored. At the first sign of green diarrhea in a child, parents should definitely seek the help of a doctor. Many people believe that the lack of water, salts and minerals in the body can be restored by drinking plenty of fluids. In fact, it is impossible to perform this procedure on your own, because this will require intravenous infusion of glucose solution, 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 child’s health, then they cannot do without the help of a medical specialist.

Associated symptoms

If a child, in addition to green diarrhea, is diagnosed with other negative symptoms, 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. At the same time, these products can be consumed by a nursing mother, and salmonellosis will manifest itself in the child.
Consistency. If green diarrhea has signs of foam, then this indicates the development of dysbiosis or intestinal infections. The presence of mucus and blood clots in the stool indicates dysentery, and without blood - salmonellosis.
Shade of feces. If the color of the stool is predominantly dark green, then this is the main sign of salmonellosis. If the color of stool is bright green, then this is the main sign of intestinal disorders.
Smell. The sour smell of stool indicates dysbacteriosis. Signs of stench indicate the development of intestinal infections.

Parents should not panic if their child develops green diarrhea without accompanying symptoms. In this case, parents should monitor the child’s health condition, and if it worsens, they should consult 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 parents can take the following measures before the ambulance arrives.

Give your baby medications such as Regidron and Enterodes in small quantities. You can purchase these saline solutions at any pharmacy.
If your child has symptoms of vomiting, you should not give him plain water. This will only intensify the development of vomiting symptoms and lead to even greater complications.
Use one of the following sorbents: Smecta, Enterosgel or Polypefan. Their principle of action is based on the absorption of toxins and their subsequent elimination.
The use of antibiotics and other medications, except antipyretics, is strictly prohibited. An antipyretic should be given to a child at a temperature above 38 degrees. If your baby is diagnosed with signs of both vomiting and diarrhea, then you need to check with your doctor which form of antipyretic drug is best 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 worsen the symptoms of vomiting.

Compliance with these recommendations will significantly alleviate the baby’s condition until the ambulance arrives. Upon 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 stool 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 steps:

Mandatory adherence to a therapeutic diet, which the doctor will tell you in more detail.
If a child has dysbiosis, then drugs such as Bifilin, Enterol and Acipol are prescribed for treatment.
When intestinal infections develop, the use of antibiotics and chemical drugs is required.
To prevent dehydration, you need to give your baby a dose of Regidron, Gastrolit or Oralit.
For diarrhea, antidiarrheal drugs such as Diarol and Imodium should be used.
For cupping 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 have caused such symptoms. This will allow the doctor to quickly make a diagnosis and prescribe the necessary treatment.

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