Baby has black poop: what does it mean? Are you wondering why your baby has black poop? The color of babies’ poop can be an indicator if they are healthy or experiencing certain health conditions. It is important to know what is considered a normal color of babies’ poop and when to call a doctor.
Why does my baby have black poop?
A baby that has black stool during the first days of its life is completely normal. The first stool of an infant is called meconium. It is typically black, thick, with tart-like consistency, and it usually does not have a foul odor. Meconium consists of the following:
- mucus
- skin cells
- amniotic fluid
- bile
During the first 24 hours of your baby’s life, it will pass meconium and will continue to have a black stool for a week. If your baby is younger than one week, having black poop indicates that they are healthy.
However, after the first week of their life and the stool color remains black, it can be a sign of health problems. Immediately seek help from your baby’s pediatrician. A baby older than one week that has black poop might be experiencing some bleeding in their digestive system.
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The normal color of baby stool
If your baby has a black stool, there is nothing to worry about! Black is the normal color of baby stool during the first week of its life. The color of the baby’s poop should eventually change from black to dark green, to yellow.
Here are different colors of babies’ poop and what they mean if your baby has them:
Yellow
For breastfed babies, yellow poop is also a normal color of baby stool. During the first week of their life, they tend to pass mustard-yellow, seedy, loose stools every 24 hours.
If you are breastfeeding your baby, they may poop after feeding. This is normal for infants and there is nothing to worry about it. After a week, they may continue to pass a yellow stool after breastfeeding or only poop once a week. These are both normal.
Dark brown
This poop color is common for formula-fed babies. If you are feeding your baby with formula milk, they may have a thick, dark brown poop once a day. The consistency is like that of peanut butter. It can also be yellow or greenish.
Greenish-brown
When you start to introduce solid food to your baby, a greenish-brown poop is normal. You may also notice colors of poop like orange and yellow during this time.
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Brownish
When your child becomes a toddler, a bulky brownish poop is normal. It usually has a playdough-like consistency and smells like regular grown-up poop.
Dark green
If your baby is taking an iron supplement or you are feeding them an iron-fortified formula, a dark green poop is normal. You have nothing to worry about it. That has nothing to do with their health condition.
Bright green
A bright green stool is normal if you are nursing your baby through breastfeeding, and they often switch breasts. It means they consumed more low-fat milk than full-fat milk.
You can avoid this by feeding until your baby drains the first breast before switching to another. However, if your baby has bright green poop and is not acting normally, you should contact your doctor. It is because viruses can also make your baby’s poop dark green.
Orange
It usually occurs from the pigments of food picked up from your baby’s digestive tract. Both breastfed, and formula-fed babies can have an orange stool.
According to Cleveland Clinic, green, yellow, or brown poop in children is normal. There is nothing to worry about if your baby has those poop colors.
Usually, babies pass stool every five to seven days. However, there are also babies that poop every after breastfeeding. Both are normal and should not be a reason to be worried.
Baby has black poop: When to worry?
There are colors of poop that is not normal and can be a sign of an underlying health condition. If you notice the following color of your baby’s poop, immediately seek your doctor’s help.
Black
If your baby continues to have black poop at the age of more than three years old, you should let your pediatrician check your child. If a baby has black poop during this stage, it may indicate that blood has entered your baby’s gastrointestinal tract.
This type of thick, black stool is called melena. Medical attention is needed to determine the cause of blood that entered the gastrointestinal tract of your child.
Red
It is not normal for a baby to have a red stool. Even though eating beets, food colorings, o certain medications can make your baby’s poop red, streaks of red in their diaper could be a sign of blood in the stool.
Constipation can cause a small amount of blood in the stool. If your baby has a large amount of red poop, consult your doctor immediately.
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Chalk white
A stool that looks colorless, white, or chalky can be a symptom of a serious liver or gallbladder illness. This poop color is cause for greater concern. Immediately bring your baby to your pediatrician to determine the underlying cause of your baby’s stool color. You can also check
their urine colors. If the urine color is dark yellow or brown and the poop is chalk white, there’s a higher possibility that the baby is suffering from liver or gallbladder problems.
Gray
Baby poop that is gray in color can be a sign that your baby is not digesting the food properly. You should consult your doctor if your baby has a gray stool, especially if the consistency is chalky.
Yellow
Baby yellow stool is usually normal, but if it becomes more frequent than usual, it could be a sign of diarrhea. The consistency of poop if the baby has diarrhea is extremely runny. You should not ignore a runny yellow poop because diarrhea can dehydrate your child.
Signs of diarrhea and constipation
If your baby’s poop is too watery and extremely loose, they may be experiencing diarrhea. Consult your doctor on what to do if your baby passes watery stool more frequently. Diarrhea can lead to dehydration and put your baby at greater risk.
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The causes of diarrhea in babies and toddlers:
- allergies
- food sensitivities
- side effects of antibiotics
- drinking too much juice
- inflammatory bowel or celiac disease
Hard stools, straining before bowel movements, and dark-colored poop are signs of constipation. Consult your doctor if your baby is showing symptoms of constipation. There may be some simple solutions to avoid this condition.
Possible causes of constipation:
- dehydration
- food sensitivities
- digestive tract absorbs too much water
- anatomical problems
- thyroid disease
- metabolic disorders
- Hirschsprung’s disease
Usually, the normal consistency of babies’ poop should be an apple sauce-type. As they get older, it will eventually change to a peanut butter type of consistency. You should talk to your baby’s pediatrician if the baby’s poop is too watery or too hard.
Here at theAsianparent Philippines, it’s important for us to give information that is correct, significant, and timely. But this doesn’t serve as an alternative for medical advise or medical treatment. theAsianparent Philippines is not responsible to those that would choose to drink medicines based on information from our website. If you have any doubts, we recommend to consult your doctor for clearer information.
