Meaning of different colours of poops of the child.

Poop colour of a child can not be compared with the colour of poop of adults.

Having different colour of  poop doesn’t mean it’s abnormal.

During infancy at different stages a child can have different colours of poop, it totally depends up on what baby is eating.

Other than this there are also some abnormal conditions which leads to different colours of poop.

Following are the most common colours of poop we can see and let’s see why?

1. Black tarry colour- It is the normal colour of the poop of the newborn, called as meconium, it is the first stool of the baby, contains amniotic fluid, mucus, cells which shed from skin and intestinal tract of baby, lanugo (fine hair on the baby's body), bile. It can be dark green, brown or yellow. Mostly it remains present for 2-3 days after birth.
2. Black- It can be seen in babies on breast feed or on formula feed, it is normal for first few days, later it can be abnormal.
3. Dark green- Seen in babies having green coloured food or the babies who are on iron  supplements, it is normal.
4. Yellow- Normal in breast feed babies.
5. Orange- Normal in breast feed or formula feed babies.
6. Green- It is normal in formula feed babies.
7. Red- It can be normal as it can be due to red coloured foods as red cereals, red frosting, beets.

Abnormal colours of poop:-

1. White- It is abnormal as it can be present in a child with liver problem.
2. Grey- It suggest the problem with the gastrointestinal system.
3. Bright red- It is abnormal and there might be problem or bleeding in the lower gastrointestinal system.
4. Dark red or brown- It is also an abnormal poop colour as it can be present in upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
5. Green- It can be abnormal as it can be present in diarrhoea, the colour is due to the bile present in the stool.