The texture, smell, and color of stool can indicate a person's health. Therefore, when the stool suddenly turns black, this is a reason to think about the reasons for this phenomenon. Perhaps this is due to ordinary and harmless things. For example, by eating certain foods.
But it happens that black stool in a child indicates serious illnesses that require emergency medical intervention. There are also a number of chronic diseases and conditions where blackened stool is a dangerous and very suspicious symptom.
The normal color of stool ranges from yellow-brown to dark brown, and varies slightly. It depends on eating habits and personal characteristics of the body. The final color is formed due to the presence in the stool structure of products processed by intestinal bile and undigested food particles that made up the diet of a particular person in the last few days.
Normal baby stool
A breastfed baby's stool is yellow or slightly green and has a soft texture. It can be quite liquid, with a consistency similar to porridge. There are many normal shades of baby stool. One of them is a greener tint, which means that mom ate something not entirely typical of her diet. When your baby has no other symptoms, there is no reason to worry.
As a rule, every parent knows what stool color is normal for their child. Therefore, when the stool becomes unusual, it is impossible not to notice.
Black stool in a newborn
The very first thick, black, sticky deposits in a baby's diaper are far from the feces that will come later.
Your baby's first stool is called meconium. Meconium fills the intestines of all newborns. It gets its distinct color from bile, a fluid produced in the liver that aids digestion. In addition to bile, meconium contains amniotic fluid, lanugo (the fine hair that covers your baby's body while inside the uterus), dead skin cells, mucus and bilirubin. Most of these ingredients are harmless, but too much bilirubin in the blood can lead to jaundice.
Meconium stool is quickly replaced by transitional stool 3 to 5 days after birth. This stool is a little weaker and more greenish-brown in color. It is a “transition” to regular milk stool, which can be seen around the sixth day.
If your baby's stool is still black even after three days, or after transitional stool after five days, it may be a sign that the baby is not getting enough food and you should talk to your pediatrician right away.
A one-year-old's stool that looks black, tarry, or bloody can be quite scary for parents, but does not always indicate a serious illness.
Food
You don't have to worry about the occasional black stool. Black stool does not always mean there is blood in it. The color change can only be associated with the diet of a small child. Red beets, prunes, pomegranates, red grapes, black currants, blueberries and other fruits, berries, and vegetables can change the color of the stool. It is enough to stop eating these foods, and after a couple of days the feces will acquire a normal, familiar color.
Don't worry if you have normal-colored black inclusions in your stool—these are simply undigested food particles that have changed color in the digestive tract.
A common cause of intense concern is the presence of inclusions in the stool that look like small black worms. They are usually confused with worms and go to doctors to get tested and begin deworming. It is more likely that this is fiber from a banana eaten earlier. Real parasites have a completely different color - white or yellowish.
Medicines
Black stool may suddenly appear in an infant after taking certain medications. For example, medications used to prevent and treat anemia include iron, which gives stool that color. Vitamin complexes, medications with bismuth, and activated carbon have the same effect.
If you find that your child has black stools after using any medications, you need to carefully read the instructions for them.
It should be noted that drugs containing acetylsalicylic acid, as well as some anti-inflammatory drugs (Ibuprofen, Diclofenac) and anti-clotting agents, cannot stain the stool itself. However, their use sometimes causes internal bleeding.
Therefore, if you find black stool in a child, especially in the form of diarrhea, during treatment with these drugs, you should immediately seek medical help.
Bile
Sometimes the color of the stool is not black, but it appears so in poor lighting. This usually occurs when the baby has dark green stools due to bile and may look very dark. If this is the case, you can confirm your doubts by rubbing a piece of stool on something white or looking at it more closely under a bright light.
Gastrointestinal bleeding
When a child experiences other symptoms along with blackened stools - fever, pain, prolonged anguished crying, vomiting - this indicates bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract.
Various reasons that can cause bleeding:
- stomach ulcer;
- gastritis;
- Mallory-Weiss gap;
- foreign body or organ injury;
- intestinal ischemia (when blood does not properly supply the intestines);
- vascular malformation.
Every parent, when they notice black stool in their baby, begins to worry about what is causing these changes. Don't panic in advance.
Carefully study your child's diet over the past few days. If the food products mentioned above (beets, currants, pomegranates, etc.) were present, then more than likely they were the ones that colored the stool an unusual black color. Perhaps the reason is the use of certain medications (they were also mentioned earlier). In the case where the child has recently eaten regular foods and has not taken any medications, suddenly blackened stools are likely to indicate the occurrence of a life-threatening condition. And a visit to the doctor cannot be postponed.
Monitor the texture and color of your stool for several days. If the causes are harmless and not dangerous (for example, the use of certain foods and medications), then the stool returns to normal no more than 2 days after eliminating them. In cases where the feces have turned black due to serious illnesses, this will not happen.
Pay special attention to a child whose stool suddenly turns black. Does your baby look sick? How had he been feeling in the weeks and months prior to the blackening of his stools?
When the causes of blackening of the stool are harmless, the child’s well-being does not change, he feels healthy and full of energy. When the occurrence of black feces is accompanied by constipation, bloating, vomiting, nausea, anemia, heartburn, abdominal pain and other suspicious painful signals, the intensity of which increases over time, it is most likely that this is a serious disease or its complications.
How is the examination carried out?
If certain digestive diseases or surgical pathologies are suspected, a number of examinations of the child are carried out. These include primarily a general blood test. It evaluates hematocrit (the ratio of plasma to blood cells) and hemoglobin with the level of red blood cells. With blood loss and internal bleeding, they are reduced, and the ESR rate increases. In a biochemical study, the levels of proteins and urea may be changed; blood is also needed for coagulation; its indicators may be changed in certain pathologies of the body that lead to bleeding. It may also be necessary to determine the volume of circulating blood, if technically possible in the clinic.
From instrumental studies, the child undergoes an abdominal x-ray, if necessary with contrast, as well as computed tomography. They can indirectly indicate the source of bleeding in the digestive tract.
EGD is also indicated - examination with a special system with a camera and illumination at the end of the tube, the condition of the mucous membranes of the esophagus, stomach and the initial part of the small intestine for ulcerative and erosive defects, bleeding and injuries. Diagnostic laparoscopy or sigmoidoscopy may also be prescribed.
Depending on the specific diagnosis, the treatment tactics for the child are already determined, right up to surgery.
Alena Paretskaya, pediatrician, medical columnist
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When to seek medical help?
Black stool in babies is not necessarily a sign of illness, but you should talk to your doctor if the problem persists. The color usually returns to normal after a few days, but if it doesn't, it's time to see a doctor.
The doctor will confirm whether there is indeed blood in the stool. The specialist will also examine the outside of the anus to determine the true cause of the bleeding. Sometimes a rectal examination is performed to confirm the diagnosis.
Your doctor may recommend further testing if you are unsure about the cause of the bleeding. A colonoscopy will be ordered to examine the interior of the lower intestine.
Other facts about baby chairs that parents should know
Black stool in babies is a concern for parents, but from time to time you may notice other changes in the consistency and color of the stool.
Red chair
This is usually blood, so it makes sense to talk to your doctor, especially when this change persists. The baby may have a small crack on the inside of the anus when hard stool passes through, sometimes causing bleeding. If this is the case, your doctor will recommend drinking more fluids, prunes, and fiber to soften your stool.
Red stools may be the result of taking antibiotics that combine with iron.
Certain foods and drinks, such as red juice, can cause stool to appear colored.
Green chair
Green stool is usually the result of stool moving too quickly through a baby's intestines. This is not a cause for concern, especially in infants. But the child must gain weight well.
Green stool can also be the result of eating a lot of fiber foods (broccoli or other green vegetables). In some cases, the green color is due to the use of dyes in the food or drinks that the child consumes.
Yellow chair
In addition to black stools, the child sometimes has yellow stools. Don't worry about yellow stool if you are breastfeeding. Sometimes it looks like mustard in the diaper after feeding.
But consult a specialist if yellow stools are accompanied by abdominal pain. This may be due to inflammation or irritation in the intestines.
White chair
While gray or chalky stools are usually not a sign of abnormality, they are often the result of the child eating something unusual. You should tell your pediatrician if this occurs repeatedly. Rarely, it is associated with liver problems or another medical condition.
Thus, black stool in itself is not dangerous. But this is a possible signal of serious diseases in the body that threaten life if timely help is not provided. On the other hand, this is often explained by the banal consumption of certain foods that turn the stool an unusual color. In any case, do not be squeamish when studying the condition of your child’s stool. Nature is intelligent - it has provided a whole system of signs and signals that make a person wonder whether his body is in order.
Tactics of parents in the presence of black feces
If a child has blackened stools, it is important to initially assess his condition and analyze his diet, as well as any new medications that have appeared in his diet. It is important to carefully evaluate the baby’s condition, especially such manifestations as moodiness, lethargy or weakness, severe drowsiness outside of normal bedtime, and abdominal pain. If the child answers the usual questions normally, is well oriented in space and time, and does not complain about his health, you need to observe him for several hours. If there are repeated episodes of black stool that are not associated with diet and medications, you need to visit a pediatrician and have a stool test (coprogram). The doctor will definitely ask what foods the child ate two days before the visit; it is important to remember all of them in detail.
Important
If abdominal pain or vomiting, nausea occurs, children faint, they are very lethargic and pale, an ambulance must be called immediately and hospitalization in a surgical hospital.
It is important to inform emergency dispatchers of all alarming symptoms so that the ambulance arrives as soon as possible. It is important to note whether the child had any injuries or falls, whether he could have swallowed sharp objects or bones, or nut shells with sharp edges.
