Stool Colors
- What is Normal?
Newborns have meconium stools in the first few days of life.
These are black and sticky. After the baby begins to have milk,
they change to transitional stools which are thin and green.
Within a few days, this progresses to milk stools. If the baby is
breast fed, the stools are usually mustard colored and very soft with
small curds. If the baby is formula fed, the stools are still
usually yellow but are firmer. Some of the time, baby's stools
will be green in color. This is an indication of more rapid
transit time, which means that food is moving through the intestines
more rapidly, but is not a sign of illness.
As babies and children begin to eat more foods, their stools change in
color and consistency. As a rough guide, the colors that may be
signs of disease are red, white, and black.
- Red stools are
obviously of concern because the red may be blood. However, it
may also be dy
e from medicines or food items such as Kool-Aid.
- Black stools can be from blood that has been in the intestine a longer
time. Black stools may also be caused by iron in vitamin
supplements or by dyes in foods. There is a very simple test that
can be performed on a stool specimen that will determine if the stool
has blood in it. If that test is normal, the color is likely to
be artifact such as food dye.
- White stools may be a sign of liver disease, especially if present in
an infant. Significant jaundice (yellow to orange discoloration
of the skin and whites of the eyes) is usually associated with
this. These symptoms can be evaluated with a blood test to see if
there may be a problem. Sometimes, toddlers will have white
stools if they have a very high milk intake. In that case, there
is not a disease process but the child may well need a more balanced
diet.
Occasionally, children will have vivid stool colors such as fairly
bright blue or orange. These are almost always associated with
eating a food with bright dye (Froot Loops) or sometimes with eating
crayons. Children really are interesting people.
Written by Dr. Dooley