The black chair in the child can cause great concern on the part of his family: "Why does the child have a black stool?" "Maybe this is internal bleeding?" "Maybe he ate something poisonous?" "Did he drink a cup of my morning coffee ? "- And the child meanwhile jumps about the apartment cheerfully and does not understand the feelings of the domestic ones:" What kind of a problem did they invent for themselves? "
If the child's behavior does not arouse your fears - he has a healthy complexion, is moderately active and does not complain about his mood - you can be sure that the cause of black feces in a child is hidden in food eaten the day before. But if the black liquid or hard stool of a child is supplemented by a deterioration in his general condition - this is a good reason to seek emergency help from a specialist.
Why is it black?
Consider the types of black feces in a child.
1. The first black feces parents can notice already in the diaper of a newborn somewhere on the third day of his life. Such a feces is called "meconium". Sticky and black as pitch, meconium is a mixture of digested epithelial cells, hair, mucus, bile, water and the amniotic fluid of the newborn. Meconium comes from all newborn babies, because its appearance should not bother you. Over time, the feces of the child will acquire a habitual consistency and a brownish hue.
2. Black or black-green feces in a one-year-old child may surprise more. After all, he usually has a completely different color than usual! Analyze what the child ate the day before. If in his diet were fruits (apples, bananas), berries (blueberries, blackberries, currants, cherries), juices, vitamins containing a large amount of iron - do not worry, under the influence of gastric juice, the iron was oxidized, and at the output you saw the stench of an unusual color. In this there is nothing wrong with excluding from the diet such products in the future there is no reason.
Iron-containing can also be a new mixture for breast-feeding. Therefore, if you have not yet introduced fruit into your diet, and the feces have turned black, the reason may be a new mixture.
Separate black strips in the child's chair result from the introduction of bananas into the child's menu, and this should also not cause excitement.
Remember also whether you gave the child the activated charcoal the day before. Its action is also accompanied by staining the feces in black. When the course of treatment is over, the color of the stool should become familiar.
3. The only case when a black feces in a child should cause concern from relatives is a black stool as a result of internal bleeding in various parts of the digestive tract. However, in this case, the staining of the feces in a specific color is also accompanied by a worsening of the general well-being of the child. If the child has nausea, vomiting, prolonged constipation, he complains of abdominal pain, dizziness, weakness, it is necessary to urgently seek medical help, since it is contraindicated to stop internal bleeding at home. In this case, the color change of the stool occurs due to the oxidation of iron from the erythrocytes.