What’s going on if my baby has jam-colored stools?

For many parents, they have no experience with their children as they have just been born, and their children do not have certain communication skills and cannot express their discomfort. Parents can judge whether their children have some physical health problems based on their children's various performances. Feces can best reflect the child's digestion. Some children will have jam-colored stools. Let's learn about this issue today.

The baby must come out of the mother's belly before he will have his first bowel movement. Meconium that has accumulated for 9 months must be cleared out through frequent bowel movements, which usually takes 2 to 3 days, 3 to 5 times a day, for the dark green color to disappear. Meconium is usually odorless, viscous, and nearly dark green in color. It is mainly composed of amniotic fluid swallowed by the baby in the womb, epithelial cells shed by the fetus, vellus hair, sebum, bile, intestinal secretions, etc. These innate things are difficult to wash off, and experienced elders will tell the children's parents that they must use diapers instead of cloth diapers in the first few days.

The stool smells like rotten eggs. This indicates that the baby is consuming too much protein or is having protein indigestion. You should pay attention to whether the milk concentration is too high or whether the baby is eating too much. You can dilute the milk appropriately or limit the amount of milk for 1 to 2 days. If you have already added egg yolks, fish and other complementary foods to your child, you may consider temporarily stopping adding such complementary foods and then gradually adding them after your baby's bowel movements return to normal. You can also give your baby some multivitamin preparations to aid digestion.

Stool after eating complementary food (darker in color). Babies start to add complementary food from 4 months old. As the amount and type of complementary food increases, the baby's stool begins to slowly approach that of adults and starts to become darker in color.

It is recommended that you take your child to the hospital in time for a routine stool test. A detailed examination can carefully determine the condition and carry out targeted treatment with the help of a doctor. Otherwise, the child is likely to suffer from some diseases such as enteritis. Under the doctor's advice, you can also appropriately adjust the child's diet to improve his bowel movements.