As soon as a woman becomes a mother, she plunges headlong into caring for her baby. She carefully notes every change in the crumbs. The newly minted mother closely monitors the baby's health , skin and even his stool. In turn, the characteristic features of the stool may change: the color or smell may change, blood or mucus may appear. All this is very alarming to mom, and she is trying to find the reasons for such changes.
First you need to say that to assess the state of feces and on the basis of its appearance to draw some conclusions about the health status of the newborn is possible only on the 6th day of life. This is because in the first 3 days the baby releases meconium, and the next two days there is a transition of stool from meconium to regular feces. Meconium is the initial content of the intestines of a newborn. It has a dark olive color, which is considered the norm during this period. During the first two or three days, the newborn poops with this original feces: a thicker viscous mass that is odorless and has a dark green, almost black color. On day 3-4, a transitional green stool begins to appear. Its color is gradually approaching brown. You can sometimes see curdled lumps of milk. And only after 5 days after the birth of the baby, his chair is made out in a permanent, yellow-brown color.
Green stool in a newborn can be quite normal. For example, along with feces, bilirubin is excreted from the baby's body, which can cause a greenish tint.
If the newborn is breastfed, the color and consistency of feces may vary due to hormones in breast milk. The content of these hormones is constantly fluctuating. This process does not depend either on the mother, or, moreover, on the baby, so it can not be controlled.
Also, the baby may appear green stool as a result of stool oxidation. It is also worth considering that the liver of a newborn baby cannot immediately produce all the necessary enzymes. Also, the intestines at the beginning of life are not yet populated by various necessary bacteria.
Even a frothy green stool with small mucous patches can be considered normal, unless it has a pungent smell and the child is not disturbed by pain. This type of stool can occur with improper breastfeeding of the baby, i.e. if the baby receives only top, sweeter, thinner, and less nutritious milk. The lower milk in the chest is more oily and nutritious, it is it that gives the feces a golden brown color.
That is why it is necessary to monitor not only the color of feces, its smell and appearance, but also the general condition of the child. If he sleeps well, is not capricious for no reason, does not suffer from colic in his stomach, does not burp, regularly pooping and normally arrives in weight, then there is no reason for excitement. The only thing that mom should do is to carefully monitor her diet, as everything she eats will go directly to the baby with breast milk.
In principle, the same can be said about babies who are breast-fed. They may have green stools due to the high iron content in the mixture. Parents can simply try changing their baby formula. Often the problem disappears.
However, sometimes green stools in a child become a real cause for concern, as manifested as one of the symptoms of a disease or disorder in the baby’s body. The baby begins to act up and sleep poorly, becomes irritable and restless. In this case, green stools may indicate lactase deficiency or the development of dysbiosis. In order to accurately determine the cause, it is necessary to pay a visit to the doctor.