How to Stop Green Poop in Babies? | Baby Poop Dark Green Causes & Remedy
Congrats! For your bundle of joy. That’s of course, your little one. I won’t deny that all this happiness comes with a never-ending bath, diaper changing, feeding, sleeping or naps, and reiterating everything all over again.
Don’t worry, you will never find yourself alone in this, trust me.
Why I’m saying this?
Simply because you will get non-stop advice from the family members and your friends. It could be, how to feed the baby? How to put the baby to sleep? Especially, how to deal with what comes out of your little one?
While in starting, you definitely are not going to like the texture, smell, and peek of your baby’s poop. However, eventually, you get used to all these.
When you change the diaper of the baby, you would certainly end up scrutinizing the poop of the baby, am I right? After a few weeks, you would be knowledgeable about the texture, color, smell, and thickness of your baby’s poop.
Sometimes, you might notice that the poop of your little one is green, not yellow or ochre.
No need to freak out, trust me.
Green poop is not an indication to pay a visit to the doctor. What you have to do is to enlighten yourself about the green poop. This would be enough to relieve and curtail this out.
I’m going to give you all the information regarding baby green poop causes, what does baby poop color indicates, home remedy, etc.
If you want to know directly that how to stop green poop in babies, then you can check the table of content below and jump to that section directly.
How the Poop of the Newborn Should be Like?
Let’s have a look-
- After birth, the first few days your baby is going to pass meconium, that is greenish-black in color
- Has a sticky or tar-like texture
- Resembles motor oil
- Made of amniotic fluid, skin cells, mucus, and the rest of ingested things in the utero
- Basically, it includes everything that has been injected into the baby when he is in the womb
You might face issues in cleaning up the meconium but the appearance of the meconium is a signal that your baby’s bowels are working ideally. To add, meconium is odorless and occurs in a number of shades, it could be green, brown, and yellow.
As days pass, you would notice that the baby’s poop is less green and tacky, which is “transitional stool”.
However, if the baby’s poop does not get watery and light with time, that means your baby is not getting enough nutrients. In that case, visit the doctor.
What does the Color of Baby Poop Indicates?
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics,
1. Poop of Breastfed Baby
The poop of the breastfeeding the baby is natural when it appears mustard yellow, green, and brown in color. Well, the texture would be seedy and pasty.
However, if you find that the poop of the baby is runny. Then, you should contact the doctor.
To be noted, the healthy breastfed poop of the baby would smell sweet, not like the normal bowel movement odor.
Green poop could also be the reason for gulping the breast milk instantly as it hit the stomach of the baby. As a result, it makes bubbles in the baby’s stomach and green poop.
To prevent this, feed the baby in a laid back position that allows the baby to drink milk with all the support from your body.
2. Poop of a Formula-fed Baby
If you feed your baby with healthy formula then the poop of the baby would be yellow or brown. Also, it would have a pasty thickness that looks like peanut butter.
A baby which is being fed on formula would result in few but big poop that has more odor than breastfed babies. Additionally, the poop of the baby feeding with formula milk would be darker and firm than baby feeding with breast milk.
3. Mucus in the Baby’s Stool
As the babies are fed on the fluid in the early months of life. To add, the baby’s poop does not resemble the poop of the older kids or grown-ups. That makes it hard to distinguish between ordinary and abnormal poop. As a result, when to call the doctor becomes difficult.
For instance, occasionally mucus in the baby’s poop could be normal. On the other hand, it might be a cue of infection or it’s time to run to the doctor.
You can take a sigh of relief!
The presence of mucus in the poop is not often a reason to worry. Why? That’s because the intestine of the baby typically secrete the mucus as it allows the poop to pass through the intestine, effectively.
Occasionally, the mucus seems like sticky streaks or threads. Although, sometimes it has a jelly-like appearance.
Therefore, a small quantity of mucus in the baby’s poop is ordinary unless there are no other symptoms. But if you notice a large quantity of mucus in a row, in your baby’s poop, or if you might notice any cue of diarrhea all these reflect gestational infections, allergies, and more.
Consequently, other reasons for mucus in the stool are infections, teething, food allergies, cystic fibrosis, and more.
Therefore, breastfeed baby green poop with mucus is safe unless you have noticed other issues.
Before discussing, how to stop the green poop in babies? I would discuss the reasons why babies, children, or toddlers have green poop.
What are the Reasons for Green Poop in Babies?
Baby’s diet and diarrhea are two major reasons for your baby having green poop. Let’s get into detail,
1. Monster the Diet
Mostly, if your baby has eaten green food, this could result in green poop. Logically, as the green plants contain chlorophyll that is the reason why plants are green. Likewise, because of chlorophyll, your baby’s poop is green. Similarly, goes for synthetic color.
To be specific, I’m mentioning some of the foods,
- Leafy green vegetables, such as spinach, lettuce, and kale
- Cakes, confection, or frosting as these includes synthetic color
- Iron supplements are also the cause of changing the color of the baby’s poop into yellow or black
2. Does your Baby has Diarrhea
Frequently, diarrhea is the reason for having green poop. Most of you, for sure, know that diarrhea is the cause of not consuming enough water by the small intestine. That is because of the virus.
Wondering, how diarrhea affects the color of the poop?
Due to diarrhea the quantity of water and electrolyte changes. With that, the substance moves through the digestive system at a faster rate than usual. So, there your baby’s poop color is changing.
Reasons for diarrhea are,
- Norovirus
- Rotavirus, mostly doctors vaccinate the babies against it
- Infections and bacteria, like salmonella
- Medications, like antibiotics
- Caffeine
- Food poisoning
While symptoms of chronic diarrhea are,
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Irritable bowel disease
- Crohn’s disease
- Food allergies or intolerance, like gluten
- Hyperthyroidism
- Rarely, cancer
Furthermore, diarrhea with green poop is a matter of concern as it is severe for the baby.
The fundamental threat associated with diarrhea is dehydration. Therefore, you need to notice the cue of dehydration too. Some of these are,
- Not peeing of the baby for 3 or more hours
- Crying of the baby without tears
- Dry lips or mouth
- In advance cases, hollow cheeks and eyes
- In advance cases, hollow plus a soft spot on the top of the baby’s head
Your baby does not possibly suffer from diarrhea if,
- Loose poop is ordinary for babies below 10 days
- If the baby does not indicate another cue of illness but green and loses poop
Some of the causes of diarrhea are a virus, infection, parasite, changes in bowel movements because of changing the baby’s diet, traveling, teething, and more.
For babies below 2 months, who are suffering from diarrhea, in that case, you should instantly visit a doctor.
To be noted, do not make any changes in the baby’s diet unless the doctor asks you to. The breast milk is perfect to recover the baby and to keep the baby hydrated. Feed the baby as he demands even if it means feeding often.
Because diarrhea is infectious and you have to maintain cleanliness so that any other family member does not catch it.
What are the Causes of Green Poop in Toddlers & Children?
When you change the diet of the baby as he grows, that is from breastmilk or formula to solid food. Food that contains leafy green veggies and synthetic colors is the reason for green poop.
If your baby is healthy but is having a green poop, it is not a matter of concern.
As I mentioned earlier, diarrhea is hazardous for the kid, as it comes with dehydration. Hence, examines the hints of dehydration,
- Infrequent urination and no urination
- Cracked or dry lips
- Dry or itchy skin
- Less energy
- No sweating
- Crying without tears
- Very dark urine
- Grumpiness
- Less active baby
- Poop of the baby includes blood, mucus, etc
- Low eating
- Fever or acting sick
- Awful smell in the 3-4 baby’s poop
- Abdominal pain and cramps
To keep your kid hydrated, ensure that your child is drinking enough water and electrolyte drink, which is prescribed by the doctor.
Mostly, diarrhea could be very serious in newborns you should visit the doctor instantly. Check out the symptoms and talk to your kid to tell you how they are feeling.
What are the Other Reasons for Green Poop in Babies?
Ready to know more?
1. Is my Baby Getting Balanced Foremilk or Hindmilk?
Most of us must be wondering, what are these?
The first milk that comes from your breast is termed as foremilk, in contrast, hindmilk is milk which comes after foremilk.
Foremilk contains fewer fats, is thick, and creamy also includes lactose but hindmilk contains fats and is of creamy white color.
So, the blend of both types of milk is ideal for the newborn baby’s diet. But there comes an issue when the quantity of foremilk is more, that fills the baby. As a result, the baby can not drink the hindmilk.
Again, foremilk hindmilk imbalance results in digestive issues, such as lack of presence of enough lactase, which is a digestive enzyme that breaks down the lactose. All of this results in green poop.
Usually, foremilk might fill the baby but does not fulfill the baby for a long time. Drinking too much foremilk may result in stomach and gestational issues.
To allow your baby to drink more hindmilk, you can pump milk before feeding the baby. Hindmilk is rich in calories and fat as I mentioned earlier.
However, do not pump foremilk in order to feed the baby hindmilk, if your supply of milk is less.
2. Is it a Teething Phase?
During the teething phase, the baby swallows excessive saliva, as a result, your baby faces digestive irritation. So, because of this, your baby has green poop and mucus in the poop.
During teething, your baby is irritating and clumsy, because of swelling gums. You can use baby pacifiers and teethers to provide relief to your baby.
Also Check: Best Baby Teether in India.
3. Mother’s Diet
Eating green food and synthetic color in your food could be the reason why your baby has green poop.
Don’t worry, it is normal.
As your baby is drinking your milk, therefore whatever you are eating is affecting the baby.
Hence, you can cut down synthetic food, if possible. And follow a healthy diet.
4. It might be your Medications
Here, the reason for green poop is iron supplements. That’s ordinary, as it shows that iron supplements are working. However, if the poop of the baby is not green or black, then that’s the cue that supplements are not doing their job.
Iron supplements also result in a baby’s poop dark green. As in some babies, the baby’s intestine bacteria react with the iron sulfate of the iron supplement. This reaction of the intestine bacteria with iron sulfate makes the baby poop dark green or occasionally, greenish-black.
No doubt, an iron supplement might change the baby’s poop color. However, internal bleeding also makes the baby’s poop dark. I would advise you to contact the doctor if you notice any change in the baby poop.
5. Are you Allergic?
As whatever you are eating is going to affect the baby. Therefore if you eat something, to which your baby is allergic then it results in the green stool. To add, the result is the same when the baby eats something allergic too. It might be medicine or supplements or food.
To add, other symptoms are rashes, mild breathing issues, you should contact your doctor in such situations.
6. Jaundice
The Baby’s liver is not completely developed, hence it can not process the production of bilirubin.
Don’t worry, that’s normal and would vanish in a or two weeks. Though, always visit the doctor.
However, if the condition remains the same, it could be a clue that something is wrong with the liver of the baby. Therefore, immediately run to the doctor.
To cure jaundice, phototherapy is used, that makes the poop of your baby green.
Finally, you have known everything about the green poop of the baby, let’s discuss in detail, how to stop the green poop in babies?
How to Stop the Green Poop in Babies?
Here, I’ll discuss all the probable ways that would help you to stop the green poop of the baby.
However, it is nothing to worry about, green poop in babies is normal, mostly.
- Viral infections could result in diarrhea and green poop in babies. That further result in dehydration but don’t worry you can keep your baby hydrated by oral rehydration solution, which is given to the baby on the basis of his weight
- For children, it can get severe like jaundice or phototherapy which helps in eliminating the bilirubin from the baby’s body. Sometimes, doctors would suggest glycerine suppository
Although, it can be prevented by a regulating oversupply of the milk. As it has been done with a number of techniques, here we go with some,
1. Exclusive Feeding
Basically, it arises when the mother instantly changes her breast. Exclusive feeding from a breast ensures that the baby gets both types of milk that is foremilk and hindmilk.
However, in case you feel that the breast is full, you can use the breast pump for your relief.
Furthermore, this is how your baby can drink all essential milk without compromising one. As I have mentioned, earlier hindmilk and foremilk both are important for a baby’s development.
2. Take Medication
Oversupply of milk? Not an issue anymore, for this you can try the intake of medicines, like cold medicines. These as a side-effect regulate the supply of milk.
Hold on a second, I would strictly advise you to consult with the doctor before actually trying any of the medicine.
Why?
That’s because of the other side effects that you could face.
3. Consumption of Cabbage
To reduce the excess milk supply, you can use cabbage which is known to curtail the supply of milk.
Simply apply cabbage on your nipples for 30 minutes, only 3 times a day not more than this.
How to Stop Green Poop in Infants?
- To prevent green poop, avoid eating green leafy veggies
- Avert giving cow milk to the baby because it contains lactose, which results in green poop.
- Make an elimination chart, after checking the medical history of yours and your partner to check if you are allergic to any food, as it affects eating such items result in green poop.
- If your baby is allergic to anything, you can include it in the elimination chart. To be specific, elimination methods, record the food of your baby and yours, regularly. If your baby is allergic to any food, record it, then feed your baby with the same food after some days. If you notice that again, certainly, your infant is allergic to that food.
Let’s Call the Doctor
As I have mentioned, mostly, green poop is not a serious condition. However, you need to watch the baby, whether he is having an encounter with other symptoms or not. It is time to call the doctor if your baby is vomiting or dehydrated for more than 24 hours.
To add, high fever and fussy eating are some of the symptoms that indicate to call the doctor shortly.
Not only this but also check if you notice your baby’s poop has blood or mucus coming in a row. As it is a serious condition, if you are not sure, pack the diaper of the baby with you and let the doctor do his job.
Conclusion
Therefore, it is normal to have green poop unless your little one is healthy. However, if you notice other signs or symptoms that I have mentioned, you should shortly call the doctor.
During changing the diaper, be a little attentive and check the color of the baby’s poop. Whether your breastfed baby green poop with mucus or has dark green poop.
I’m sure, after reading this, you know what and when you should take action in case you notice anything unusual regarding baby green poop.
Happy Parenthood!
