Color Changing Poop

Not just something he drinks, it can be from food too. I think it sounds like those are the days he's had something with food coloring in it and this is his body getting rid of it.

My son is 2 1/2 and he has green poop sometimes too, sometimes it is a bright green. I think it has something to do with the Fruit Loops that he eats or the Skittles, or fruit snacks. I didn't worry too much about it. I have also noticed that sometimes if we have cake at a birthday party and there is blue icing, his poop will be greenish the next couple of days. So my guess, like some have said, is the food dye-coloring in different products. So dont freak out, it is normal.

Call your doctors office and talk with a nurse to see if they are concerned about it.
p.s. go single mommyhood!!

M.
http://largebummies.blogspot.com/

My son has green poop a lot of times. I don't pay any mind to it. My own poop is green sometimes! I figure if it's anywhere in the brown or green family it's normal...

food dye! Juices, snack cakes, anything commercially-prepared will do this! Relax.....the only time to worry is when you see black (possible blood) & pale yellow (waaaaay toooo much dairy).

Does your son eat fruit snacks? My bunch went through this for a short time when they were really into different character fruit snacks for their snacks.
T.

My son's poop does that too! I talked to his doctor about it and she said it could be because of all the blueberries my son eats (the boy will eat an entire tray of blueberries ever day if they are in the house). If your son is a big berry eater, it could be that.

My gut says if it's gone on for a year without any other symptoms, it's probably fine, but call his doctor if you're concerned.

T.

Hi there! Yep, I sure do. Go through it with both my kiddos. It is something that they eat that turns it that color. For example my kids LOVE fruit chews (dora, spiderman.. those types) and it never fails everytime it will change the color of their stool. I was worried about it when I started seeing it with my kids but then I checked when they had it and what they had to eat and it never failed.. with specific foods it just does that. I hope that put your mind a rest a little bit. Good Luck!!

He's getting a lot of iron in his diet. If you doubt this, just take an iron supplement every day for a week and see what happens! You might mention it to the Ped. on your next visit, but I wouldn't make a special appointment just for this. Iron-rich foods include liver, lean red meats, certain seafoods, spinach, kale, broccoli, parsley, brussel sprouts, back bean, lentils, and so on. Is he taking a mutivitamin? It could also be that he's eating a lot of food dyes. I know its freaky to see a rainbow in your kid's diaper but at least this time, it's probably nothing to worry about!

You might see if he is eating any of the fruit snacks that have characters on them like Wonder Pets or Sponge bob. My son had that happen to him after eating those I'm guessing it is the food coloring in the snacks. It goes away after he stops eating them for a couple days so we only feed him the welch's fruit snacks and he has never had a problem. Hope this helps.

If he is not eating anything with excessive food coloring (as the others suggested; fruit snacks, candy, kool aid, etc.) then I would bet it has to do with the food being processed too fast. When food goes through your system super fast it doesn't turn brown it comes out green, like bright green. Do you have a lot of geese in your area...do you ever notice how green their poop is esepcially if you accidentally step in it? It's the same thing...geese eat and poop all day long! It's nothing at all to worry about. I notice it in my daughter if she has eaten more fruit than normal. Since fruit has so much fiber and can cause more bowel movements, it sometimes expedites the process and causes the green poop.

is he eating crayons?
My daughter used to eat crayons and she'd end up with rainbow poop sometimes b/c of the crayons.

Yup, went through it with both kids. It was a shocker with the first one, but we figured out that it was the fruit loops he was snacking on that made his poop bright green. After not letting him have those fun sugary round things for about a week, he was back to normal. We just expected it when our second child would have colorful cereal. Sounds like you might have the same thing going on with your son. Unless he is in pain, I wouldn't worry too much about it. BTW I like the response from Kristin T. Very informative.

I flipped out once when I was taking care of a 3 year old and she had RED poop. I called her mother at work and she laughed and said that it was the cool aid that she was drinking, OMG that scared me...so yes, food coloring can really change poop color. As for the green, it could be iron in his poop, is he taking a multi vitamin? That can happen just from the iron in the vitamin alone. Also...veggies stay pretty green..chances are there is nothing to worry about...but talk to your pediatrician next time you are there.

Color is just light bouncing off of something. Plants are green because they do not have pigments that absorb green light, and therefore it bounces off and we can see it. Depending on what your son ate, and what was absorbed, it could be different even if he ate something twice in a row, because the digestive system is not completely efficient, and it depends on what his body needs as well. What comes out in a BM will be different every time and will likely have a different color every time.
The only reason green would signal an issue is if there is not a sufficient amount of healthy bacteria in his gut breaking down the bile that his liver is secreting. It could also mean that his digestive system is working faster than normal. Either way, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. Give him some yogurt on a regular basis and see if that changes anything

This is completely normal. Try monitoring what he eats and drinks for a few days, I bet you can nail down the item.

Blue Gatorade makes lime green poop!!!

Happens to both my boys after blue/purple/green juice/koolaid or fruit snacks/rollups/gushers

I think it just depends on what they eat. My girl loves carrots & avacado. So we get orange & green sometimes. I'm noticing the older she's getting the less it happens.

This happened to us one time! My daughter's poop was BRIGHT green! It completely freaked me out. I called her preschool to tell them that she wouldn't be in, because I had to take her to the doctor due to some kind of stomach issue, bright green poop, etc. Well, her teacher started laughing and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I guess you didn't see the activities we did yesterday. We had green eggs and ham day for Dr. Seuss' birthday!" So basically my daughter had eaten a whole bunch of scrambled eggs with green food coloring in them, and it made her poop this crazy neon green color. Food coloring is in everything. I bet if you check all his favorite snacks, you will find green food coloring listed in the ingredients somewhere.

Does he ever eat blue yogurt? I've noticed when my son eats that color yogurt it changes the color of his poop.

Does he eat fruit snacks at daycare? Those always turn my little girl's poop green or blue. Pretty much anything with a lot of artificial colors will do it.