Hello Doctor, This Is Regarding My Son (23 Months Old).

Posted on Mon, 26 Aug 2019

Question: Hello Doctor,

This is regarding my son (23 Months old). He is mostly doing very dark green color poop from last 4 days (Picture attached). Also, the stool is lumpy and hard. He used to pass green color stool till the age of 15 months. However, it was not as dark as he is doing from last 4 days. We didn't notice any big change in food habit or the type of food he eat on daily basis except for 5-6 spoons of spicy snacks he took the day before getting dark green poop.

We don't see any other symptoms. Also, he is active and playful during the day as previously.

Please find below his weight and height :

Weight - 20 pounds (He is low weight from the birth. As per the doctor, it could be genetic as I was underweight till the age of 18). His diet is less compared to other kids of his age.
Height - 33.6 Inches

Request for your advice if it is something to worry about.

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
I feel it is iron rich food or iron supplements

Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXXXX thank you for requesting me directly here.

By what you say I feel that the possibilities are that your child should be on iron supplements or on iron rich food.

Usually that is the most common cause for hard stools which are dark green or black in colour. I am telling this because iron can cause mild constipation and hard stools also.

The best way to relieve this will be -
1. Papaya is best natural laxative and has got good iron content also.
2. Give the kid at least one litre of water per day exclusively.

I do not think there is anything for you to worry about in this regard at all.

Best regards - Dr Sumanth Amperayani

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (1 hour later)

Hello Doctor,

Thanks for the advice.
Yes there was a diet change in last 1 week. We started giving him Wheat flour Halwa (Twice in last 1 week), Ragi flour Halwa (Twice in last 1 week) and Dal Rice almost everyday (Almost 7 times in last week). This is in addition to Gerber Oatmeal which is high in iron (60% of daily value) - 3 times in last 1 week.
We will go ahead and give him Papaya and Water (1 Litre) as per your advice.
Also, Just one more query. A little stupid query though but just thought to ask to clarify my doubt - I took him for hair cutting couple of days back and looks like he swallowed 4-5 hairs as he was trying to clean them from his face and got them into his mouth. I tried to take them out of his mouth but he was getting irritated and not opening his mouth properly to get those hairs out. Little curious if 4-5 hairs (Small in size) can create any problem later on? I heard people get stomach aches due to hairs in stomach although I guess that would happen in case of large amount of hairs.

Thanks & Regards,
Ashish

Answered by Dr. Sumanth Amperayani (16 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Nothing to worry at all

Detailed Answer:
4 - 5 strands of hair do not pose any problem at all.
What you have heard is about trichobezoars and large amount of hair being swallowed and obstructing the intestinal lumen please.
That is not at all the case here.

Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar