Green Poop Causes in Babies - Prevention & Treatment

It’s a universal fact that a healthy stool is brown in color. The shades of brown may vary; mustard yellow if breast fed or tan-brown if formula fed. Hence, it is only normal that you may wonder about green baby poop in the diaper. Don’t worry. Often times, it is normal and will resolve itself without any medical intervention.  

What Causes Green Poop In Babies

In fact, newborn baby’s first few poops will be a greenish-black color and have a consistency similar to that of tar. This is due to the fact that your baby ingests a lot of bile, amniotic fluid, and skin cells when inside the womb. These get expelled in the form of green stool baby.
 

Even after a few months, if you see green stool in infants, it is not a cause of concern as long as it is occasional in nature. Green stool in infants is caused when stool is rushed through the digestive tract.

However, consistently green poop means that there could be something wrong. Here are a few causes of green poop in babies.

1. Green foods – This is the most obvious answer when it comes to green poop. You might just be eating too many leafy greens! This will turn your breastfeeding baby’s stool green in color. Alternatively, if your baby has started solids, it is common that pureed peas or spinach could tint their stool green.
   
   
2. Iron supplements – If you, or your baby are taking iron supplements, it might just turn your baby’s poop into a shade of dark green.
   
   
3. Cow milk intolerance – The number one ingredient that babies react to is cow’s milk. Make sure you are not consuming any cow’s milk yourself, and are not mixing it in with baby formula.
   
   
4. Imbalance of foremilk and hindmilk – If your baby prefers short feeding sessions, they may be getting more foremilk (low-fat, high-sugar) than hindmilk (high-fat, high-calorie). This can also happen if you switch breasts too quickly. Too much foremilk can lead to gassiness in the baby, as well as green stools
   
   
5. Insufficient nursing – If a baby isn’t nursing enough, it could turn their stool green. If baby isn’t pooping at least 3-4 times a day, and acting fussy, it might be time to see a lactation consultant.
   
   
6.  Illness – If the green poop has a diarrhea or mucus like consistency, it might indicate a stomach bug in your little one. Maintain your feeding schedule as breast milk contains antibodies needed to fight off the infection.

How To Prevent Green Stool In Babies?

They say prevention is better than cure. They aren’t wrong. Here are some steps you can take to prevent green stool from happening at all.

1. Avoid eating leafy green vegetables – Spinach, peas, kale, broccoli are a few common examples, but any green vegetable could be causing it. Simply consuming less greens could prevent green baby stool. 
   
   
2.  Avoid iron supplements – Excess iron in the body can be transferred to your baby via breast milk, which turns stool green or black.
   
   
3. Absolutely no cow milk - Babies don’t react very well to excess lactose in their system, so avoid consuming cow milk, even if you enjoy your morning tea with some milk. Cow milk can often cause babies to poop green, in addition to causing an upset tummy.
   
   
4. Empty out your breast one by one– Don’t switch breasts too soon when you are feeding your baby. Instead, make sure one breast is completely drained out of both foremilk and hindmilk, for a healthy balance in your baby’s digestive system. Excess foremilk may be causing the green poop.
   
   
5. Elimination chart – If you suspect that baby is allergic to something, try an elimination chart. This means that you and baby eat the exact same foods for a few days, and you note it down on a chart. If baby has an adverse reaction, you can simply eliminate one of the food items, and see how baby reacts to that. This way, you can eliminate and rule out any possible allergies, if at all.
   
   
6. Nurse more often – A healthy baby should be pooping three to four times a day. If your baby is being fussy, and not feeding as much as they should, it is better to see a lactation consultant to make sure baby starts feeding normally as soon as possible. In fact, breast milk contains antibodies that fight off infections and other bugs in baby. So you should increase feeding however you can so baby can derive all the benefits of breast milk.