“Why is my daughter passing black stools?”
For the past 3 days, my daughter who is 3 years old has been passing black stools. Her diet hasn't changed, so I don't believe that it's that. What else could be causing this?
5 Answers
You should take a picture of the stools and show it to your pediatrician. There can be plenty of reasons for change in color of stool, but one needs to decide if it’s truly black vs. a really dark brown.
Aniruddh Setya, MD, FAAP
Aniruddh Setya, MD, FAAP
Typically dark, black and very sticky stools can indicate a little bit of blood that may be coming from the gastrointestinal tract. Dark stools like the one you are describing are usually from a bleed that is in the upper part of her intestinal tract, specifically near the stomach. This can come from many different sources such as acid reflux, stomach ulcer, stomach polyp, food allergy, or tears in the esophagus called Mallory-Weiss tears. I would recommend that she be seen right away by her primary care provider and testing be done on the stool to see if she really has blood in the stool or not.
Passing of black stool is usually a sign of upper gastrointestinal bleeding and should be evaluated by the Pediatric gastroenterologist emergently. I advise you consult a Pediatric gastroenterologist immediately, or take your daughter to the nearest ER for evaluation.
Oral iron therapy can also cause black stool.
Oral iron therapy can also cause black stool.
Black stools are a sign of upper GI bleeding
A dark/black stool could be related to certain food. An Upper GI bleeding (from esophagus or stomach) presents also with black stool. If this persists, I recommend contacting the PCP and get the poop tested for blood.
