A person’s gut is constantly performing a balancing act between absorbing nutrients, water, and filtering out what we are eating (the good and the bad). It doesn’t take much to temporarily throw off the balance; too much dairy, not enough whole grains, or a virus. When the stools turn green (with or without diarrhea), it usually means that SOMETHING has interrupted the gut’s balance. In a younger, strictly breastfed baby, it is usually something that mom is eating. Most often, abnormal stools in a breastfed baby is due to mother eating/drinking cow milk products. If it is not that, then it could be any one of a number of things: soy, wheat, peanuts, Mexican food… My daughter was very sensitive to mom eating bananas, and eleven years later, she still doesn’t like them.
If baby’s stools turn green, then think about what you have recently eaten. Often the green color is temporary and they will go back to normal within a week. If not, then you might need to make some changes in what you are eating. If baby is having diarrhea that is profuse, watery, and green, then he probably has gastroenteritis (“stomach flu”). Click here for diarrhea discussion. Also read tracking down food allergies for clues on what might be upsetting his gut balance.
Dr. Jim