Black stool--- a little freaked out here

[Rachels]

Never mind. I just spoke with the nurse line, and the culprit seems to be the 75 blueberries she ate last night. Geez Louise. Nothing like a few extra gray hairs before bedtime on a Friday night!

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[Imperia]

Hi Rachel,

First, I want to say what a cute new icon of Abigail.

Second, it was probably the blueberries as I have heard they can definately change the colour of the stool. What was the consistency?
Black, tarry stools indicate blood from the stomach usually; they are black because the blood has been digested. When yous ee streaks of blood in the stool that usually indicates lower intestinal or anal bleeding. If you have ever taken Pepto that often makes your stool black and tarry because it actually makes your stomach bleed a bit (so think of that as a guideline if you can). Unless Abigail is at risk for or has had stomach ulcers I wouldn't be too concerned, but call just in case. I am willing to bet this will clear up in 12-24 hours as teh blueberries pass through.

Good luck and let us know what happens,

Imperia

[barbarhow]

Love your new avatar!!!
We had some blackish stools recently, too after a blueberry binge. I figured it out because of the little berry that came out intact....oops. sorry for the tmi
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03

[COElizabeth]

Oh, yes. James had 3 huge black poop-filled diapers the day after his blueberry binge last week.

Did you actually count the number of berries? :) DH just kept defrosting more and dumping them on the tray - I have no idea how many there were, but it must have been a lot!

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02

[Calmegja2]

Sounds like blueberry poop to me, not to be confused with its purplish cousin, raspberry poop....;-)

[missym]

I'm glad it was nothing, Rachel!

LOL, did you know if kids drink too much purple kool-aid, their poop turns flourescent green? We had a freaked out bunch of people at camp one summer when we ran out of the other flavors!

Missy, mom to Gwen 03/03

[Sarah1]

Audrey eats blueberries almost every morning, and a lot of the time her poop is dark-greenish...when she eats a lot of carrots her poop is super orange...I'm pretty lax about it...when her poop changes color I always assume it's due to whatever she's eaten!

[deborah_r]

Speaking of blueberries, I was surprised to read in Super Baby Food that she considered them a choking hazard until 3 years old. I of course did not read this until after I had fed Kai blueberries cut in halves or quarters. He did OK with them but after I read that I was worried for hours he would have some delayed choking reaction. How do you all feel about this guideline? (She says to puree or mash them for babies 9-12 months, and I guess she is implying to cut them up for babies 1-2 years old)