My 3 and a half month old baby has green poop?

Since babies cannot speak, parents need to observe them carefully. Under normal circumstances, the color of the baby's stool is yellow or golden yellow. Parents can judge whether the child is healthy by the color of the baby's stool. In fact, the color of the baby's stool is closely related to the feeding method. Different feeding methods will result in different stool colors. What should I do if my 3 and a half month old baby has green stools?

The color of the baby's stool will be different depending on the breastfeeding method. Below we will introduce to you the differences in the color of baby's stools when fed with breast milk, artificial feeding, and complementary feeding.

1. Breastfed babies (soft golden stools)

Since breast milk is rich in oligosaccharides, it can fully stimulate gastrointestinal motility. Therefore, most babies will not have hard stools and no obvious odor. The stools are golden yellow, occasionally slightly green and relatively thin; or they are ointment-like, uniform, sour and without foam.

2. Artificially fed babies (khaki-colored hard stools)

Babies fed with formula have less stool, which is usually drier, rougher, and a little harder like paste, but it is okay as long as it is not difficult to pass and does not look like sheep feces. If there is no problem with digestion, it will usually be earthy yellow or golden yellow with a slightly sour smell, about 1-2 times a day.

Babies who drink formula milk sometimes have yellowish green or turquoise stools. This is because formula milk contains a high iron content. When the baby does not fully absorb the iron in the milk powder, the excess iron will make the stool green. This is normal.

3. Stool after eating complementary food (dark color)

Babies start to eat complementary foods at 4 months old. As the amount and types of complementary foods increase, the baby's stool texture begins to approach that of adults and becomes darker in color.

Babies who eat more vegetables and fruits will have fluffier stools. If a child eats a lot of fish, meat, milk and eggs, his stool will smell smelly due to the protein digestion.

Why is my three-month-old baby's stool green?

1. Babies may spit up milk or have green stools if they catch a cold or have indigestion. If there is a bacterial infection, active treatment is required. If the test results are normal, the baby may have indigestion or a cold abdomen.

2. When the baby is not full, the baby's gastrointestinal motility is too fast due to hunger, so the bilirubin in the intestines has not been converted yet and is excreted from the stool, making the stool green and watery.

3. During the digestion process of fat, less bile is consumed, and the excess bile is excreted in the stool, making the stool green. If you think your baby eats a lot, it means he has indigestion and you can give him some probiotics.

4. If a baby who eats iron-containing milk powder cannot fully absorb the iron in the milk powder, his stool will be yellow-green, the white particles in the stool will be larger, and will be more likely to have a foul odor.

5. When babies first start eating vegetable puree, they often excrete a small amount of green vegetable puree in their stool. Some parents often think that this is indigestion and stop adding vegetable puree. In fact, this phenomenon is common when healthy babies change their food.

What to do if your three-month-old baby has green stools

It is recommended to take your baby to the hospital for stool testing first. If it is normal, it is considered that the green stool is caused by physiological reasons. This is not a disease and no special treatment is required. If green stool is caused by diet, you can treat it symptomatically:

1. If your baby has indigestion, you can give him some spleen-strengthening and digestion-resolving oral liquids.

2. If a breastfed baby has green stools, the mother should avoid spicy and cold foods to avoid affecting the baby's stomach.

3. If the green stool is caused by iron, breastfeeding mothers should pay attention to the intake of vitamins, which can promote iron absorption. They should eat more vegetables and appropriate amounts of fruits. At this time, mothers should try not to consume too much fat, and pay attention to water intake. The daily water intake is 1300ml. At the same time, you can give the baby some water after feeding.