Baby poops green after breastfeeding

For newborn babies, the nutrients in their bodies mainly come from breast milk, and complementary foods can be gradually added as they grow older. In daily life, many parents find that their children are breastfed, but their poop is green. Green poop indicates that there is a health problem, and they must be very concerned about the reason. So, what is going on when babies poop green after drinking breast milk? Let’s take a closer look at it below.

The color of stool is closely related to the chemical changes of bile. Bile in the upper small intestine contains bilirubin and biliverdin, which give stool its yellow-green color. When the stool is pushed into the colon, biliverdin is reduced and converted into bilirubin, and the stool becomes yellow. The stools of breastfed children are acidic. Under the action of intestinal bacteria, part of the bilirubin is converted into biliverdin, making the stool light green. This is a normal phenomenon. If the baby eats well and is in good general condition, parents do not need to worry. This is only a temporary phenomenon and will improve as the baby grows older.

If the milk your baby drinks is a little cold or your baby's abdomen or feet are cold, your stool may turn green. This is because catching a cold can cause the intestines to move too quickly, and biliverdin in the colon does not have time to be reduced to bilirubin, so it appears green. This is one of the common causes of green stool. Green stools caused by this reason may also have symptoms similar to a cold. If your baby only has green stools, he or she will recover within a few days as long as the abdomen is kept warm at night. If you have cold symptoms, you should also receive symptomatic treatment for the cold.

hunger

For some babies, hunger will speed up intestinal motility and cause green stools because they are not full. Because babies cry and become restless when they are hungry, this can be easily distinguished from other situations. In this case, just increase the amount of milk and make sure the baby is full.

The stool of artificially fed children is alkaline, which can further convert some fecal bilirubin into fecal bilirubin, which is colorless, so the stool is mostly light yellow. If the iron in the formula your baby eats is not fully absorbed, it can also cause the stool to turn green.

Therefore, if the baby has green stools, it is not a big problem. As long as the child is in good spirits, has a good appetite, has normal frequency and nature of bowel movements and defecation is not strenuous, there is no need to worry too much or intervene, and the child can be fed normally.