Question
A child is seven months old, can eat solid food, and has a good appetite, but cannot gain weight. They have bowel movements 2-3 times a day or more. What methods are there to regulate this? Thank you!
Answer
Normal breastfed babies can occasionally have bowel movements that are light green in color. If the baby’s bowel movements are deep green, it may indicate indigestion. Causes of indigestion could be the mother consuming stimulating (irritating) or overly cold foods, as well as the mother’s emotional stress and anxiety, which can also affect the baby’s bowel condition. When bowel movements are acidic, bile in the stool is oxidized by air to become green. Bile contains bilirubin, a pigment that turns stool yellow when stained. After oxidation, bilirubin turns into biliverdin, causing the stool to appear green. When stool is exposed to air in a diaper, bilirubin oxidizes into biliverdin, resulting in a green surface on the stool. Since the stool has been oxidized in the intestines and excreted as green, green stool is not an abnormal condition; it is a normal phenomenon and there is no need to worry about it.