Green poop in newborns: what causes this stool color and when to worry
Green poop in newborns is quite common. The green or dark green color of your baby's stool can be related to how he is breastfeeding (whether he is breastfeeding breast milk or formula). Let's take a closer look at what can be the causes of green poop in the newborn and when to go to the pediatrician. Meanwhile, here's a video on how to prevent diaper mycosis:
Green poop in the newborn: what does this stool color depend on?
The green colored poop in your baby's nappy is determined by the biological process put in place by the bile and bacterial flora. Green feces in newborns depend first of all on the presence of bile, a yellow-green liquid that is produced by the liver and mixes with the contents of the intestine. Bile tends to have a green color especially in the first months of life. child, when it contains a greater quantity of "biliverdin" (a substance that has, in fact, the color green).
The green poop of the newborn, in addition to the color of the bile, depends on the action of the bacterial flora in the intestine, that is a set of bacteria present in the intestine itself. When the bile reaches the intestine and the intestinal flora, the color of the stool usually turns from green to brown. However, in the event that the intestine moves very quickly, the bile will have less time to interact with the bacterial flora and consequently it will remain green instead of becoming brown.
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What are the causes of green poop in newborns?
Green poop in newborns and infants of a few months is first of all due to a bacterial flora in the intestine that is still not very mature, as well as to a faster intestinal transit that does not allow prolonged interaction between bile and bacteria (which, in turn, it would allow the color of the stool to change from green to brown). The intestine of the newborn, on the other hand, is faster than that of an adult: it is no coincidence that very young children poop even seven times a day! The newborn's liver is also still immature and less capable of disposing of biliverdin than it will be in the future.
Green poop in your baby, therefore, need not worry you, especially in his first days of life, when the meconium (as his first feces are called) will take on a dark green color. The dark green is due to substances that have accumulated in the baby's intestines during your pregnancy. After the first few days of life, the meconium will tend to change from a dark green color to a lighter or yellowish green color with lumps greens.
If the baby is being breastfed, the color of his stools is more likely to be green and generally lighter than that of a formula-fed baby, because breast milk has more lactose and a lower content of fat. Among the causes of green poop in the newborn there may be the passage from one type of formula to another: in these cases, the color tends to normalize by itself within a few days.
Other possible causes of green poop in children can be the presence of an "intestinal infection (which causes a faster transit of stools in the" intestine), the administration of certain drugs (antibiotics in primis), the consumption of green foods at the time of weaning, from spinach to broccoli to salad.
Green poop in the newborn: when to worry and go to the pediatrician?
The green color of the baby's feces should therefore not worry you, it is completely normal! It will be good to go to the pediatrician only if green poop is associated with diarrhea: if the consistency of the stool is very liquid and the child evacuates frequently, it could be a symptom of ongoing gastroenteritis.
The color of the stool in the newborn should worry and lead parents to immediately contact the pediatrician only if it is blood red, white or black. If the baby's poop is blood red, it could imply blood in the stool, and blood in the stool requires prompt intervention by the pediatrician. Even the black color could indicate the presence of blood in the stool, but digested. Finally, the white color is a symptom of biliary obstruction, also called cholestasis.
