Most young mothers, by inexperience discovering fragments of mucus in the baby's feces, begin to panicly think what was wrongly done by them personally. Or which of the ailments "clung" to the child. Experts are in a hurry to reassure - the presence in the stool of a small amount of mucus particles is considered the norm, especially if this is observed in the first days of the baby's life.
Reasons for the presence of large amounts of mucus
The small intestine secretes the right amount of mucus with the help of the endothelium, but it is almost invisible in the total feces. If the impregnations of the substance are visible to the naked eye for a long period, most likely the child may develop serious health problems in the future.
There can be a large number of reasons why a child has poked around with mucus, and this fact makes it difficult to quickly diagnose disorders that provoked the manifestation. First of all, mucous secretions are enhanced due to the activation of the endothelium. Usually this occurs under the influence of active acids or alkalis that enter the intestine. The intestine is forced to respond by protecting the integrity of the walls of the organ by enhancing the secretion of mucus. Mixed with food fragments and digested under the influence of enzymes, mucus together with feces comes out, but at the same time it easily differs from them in appearance, color and texture.
Mucus in the feces of newborns
An increased amount of mucus in the feces can be observed in children from the first weeks of their life. And if the baby was pooping with mucus, then there is nothing wrong with that. The explanation is very simple: the digestive organs have not yet had time to adapt after being in the womb, so failures in their work are commonplace. Together with food, bacteria with different effects simultaneously enter the baby’s intestines. Living in the digestive organs, they provoke an increased production of mucous tissue. And when the situation becomes stable, excess mucus disappears.
Slime provoking factors
If the situation is observed for a long time, and already a baby at 4 months old has munked up mucus, and the amount of mucus is not only not decreasing, on the contrary, the inclusions become larger and they are more clearly visible, which means that the following factors may be the reason for this:
- Depravity of food. Young mothers often use expressed milk to feed their babies, but forget that the product can go bad easily.
- The reaction of the child's body to other types of mixtures.
- Non-compliance with the diet of the nursing mother.
- The negative impact of microorganisms that provoked the development of dysbiosis.
- Lactose immunity.
- Fungal diseases transmitted by the mother to the infant at the time of delivery.
- Reaction to an early transition to bait.
In children, after a year, the main reason for the appearance of mucus in the feces is the effect of dysbiosis caused by any infection. After all, at this age, babies can pull in the mouth any objects they like.
Other causes of mucus
If the child poached mucus at the age of 2, then the cause may also be dysbiosis. But even older babies, already well distinguishing between the objects with which they play, particles of mucus (lumps) in the feces are not a rare occurrence. In this case, the cause of the manifestation may be:
- malnutrition;
- allergy;
- side effects of medications;
- worms;
- colds and viral diseases;
- prolonged constipation;
- hypothermia of the pelvic organs.
In rare cases, the development of an autoimmune pathology or the presence of more serious diseases of the digestive tract can be observed. Severe ailments in babies are considered a rare occurrence. However, diseases such as oncology, bowel obstruction, colitis, cystic fibrosis, Crohn's disease can cause an increase in mucus in the feces.
Chair norm for children
If a month-old baby pooped mucus, but his general condition is in order, then this is considered the norm. The norm of the chair for children, starting from the age of one year, is as follows:
- 1-3 days after birth. Feces resemble a tarry mass, odorless, black-green.
- 3-4 day. The consistency of feces has liquid lumps with particles of mucus. The substance is more reminiscent of a mushy mixture with different colors, in which there are dark green lumps with watery splashes.
- More than five days. The chair becomes yellow with a greenish tinge of porridge-like feces. The frequency of bowel movements usually corresponds to the frequency of feeding the baby. In feces, lumps of a whitish color, giving off an acidic smell, can be observed.
- In the future, the presence of mucus should not differ much in volume and color from the total mass of feces.
With artificial feeding, the consistency of the stool usually looks thicker, but with a change in bait, mucus streaks can be observed. The color of the masses is also different; a greenish-brown or dark yellow gruel-like feces is observed.
What can the consistency and color of feces say?
A feature of mucous inclusions is that they can vary in color. This factor is always taken into account by specialists in diagnosing the cause that created the appearance of a substance in the feces. Here's how to determine the type of color deviation:
- Black or red brown. These shades indicate that there are internal bleeding.
- Red with blood. If the child poached mucus with blood, this suggests that mechanical injuries of the digestive tract can become the cause of the manifestation. This often happens with the inept use of an enema.
- Pink. If streaks of blood are observed in addition, the appearance of such mucus may indicate the development of Crohn's disease, the presence of erosive cracks or the formation of ulcers on the surface of the digestive tract.
- Green. If the child poked green mucus, then this usually happens when there are colonies of fungal microorganisms in the digestive tract that are characterized by rapid reproduction.
- White. In these cases, detachment of the epithelium becomes noticeable, which is usually observed with an allergic reaction that provokes irritation of the internal membrane of organs.
- Yellow. The presence of inflammatory processes is on the face. The reason for this is the presence of an increased amount of leukocytes in the mucus.
If the consistency of the mucus has a density more reminiscent of lumps, while the appearance of feces resembles jelly balls - these are signs of the presence of parasitic organisms. Liquid mucus indicates problems associated with a malfunction of the pancreas, lactose intolerance.
Symptomatology
If the child poked around with transparent mucus, but this phenomenon is not common, while the child is not bothered by abdominal pain, and he feels normal - there is absolutely no reason to be worried. However, the frequent appearance of mucus with the manifestation of concomitant symptoms suggests that the child has health problems. The symptoms that are most often observed in such cases are as follows:
- frequent constipation and diarrhea;
- poor appetite;
- increased flatulence;
- the baby is concerned about abdominal pain;
- the baby often cries;
- fever, baby chills or fever;
- fatigue, lethargy, drowsiness;
- the child often asks for a toilet, but the urge to defecate is false;
- nausea, vomiting;
- constant runny nose, in which the child swallows the discharge, which leads to the entry of mucus into the stomach;
- cough with sputum (the same mechanism for sputum ingestion).
Experts warn: in case of profuse vomiting, fever, blood clots in the feces, the child should be hospitalized immediately.
The presence of mucus in various disorders of the digestive tract
If the child poached with mucus, then its presence can be observed with various malfunctions of the digestive tract. The most common ones are:
- Diarrhea. In this case, the presence of mucus on the background of diarrhea can provoke dysbiosis. Especially often this happens against the background of the treatment of various diseases with the help of medications that destroy the microflora of the child’s body. Antibiotics are most often treated in this way, not only upsetting the balance of trace elements involved in the absorption of food, but also causing diarrhea.
- Constipation This condition is one of the symptoms indicating a malfunction of the digestive system. In this case, the mucus can either have a transparent white color, indicating problems with the excretion of hardened feces, or pale pink, which can occur with mechanical destruction of the walls of the digestive tract.
In both cases, the appearance of mucus is a kind of reaction of the digestive organs, preventing their rapid destruction.
What is required of parents
Having discovered unusual lumps of mucus in the feces, parents should carefully study the further behavior of the child, observing his appetite, sleep, periodically measuring body temperature. Any deviations that indicate that the baby has health problems become a reason for parents to turn to medical professionals for help.
Parents often make the mistake of starting to treat the child on their own, without a firm belief that they figured out the reasons for what is happening. In no case can this be done, since only the doctor decides what treatment the child needs to be prescribed. This is done after the cause is diagnosed by studying the tests.
Diagnostic Methods
Abundant mucous inclusions are clearly visible upon examination. Their consistency, color, quantity and other features are also determined. If the child has poked around with mucus, then before going to the doctor it is necessary to study the stool to explain the changes in more detail to the specialist. In any case, the doctor will propose to study the secretion of mucus using laboratory equipment, so you need to understand his requirements with understanding.
In the study of analyzes in laboratory conditions, it is necessary to provide material that will be studied, more precisely blood, feces and urine. If experts consider it necessary, a complex of additional studies can also be assigned: X-ray, ultrasound.
Drug treatment
Medication is prescribed after diagnosing the causes of mucus:
- When diagnosing acute respiratory viral infections, influenza, bronchitis, pneumonia and other viral diseases, the emphasis when choosing the right medicine is placed on antiviral drugs and substances that reduce the symptoms of the common cold: nasal drops, rubbing, cough syrups, antipyretics, gargling solutions.
- When exposed to infection, a course of treatment is prescribed, where the main drug substance is antibiotics and rehydrates. Drugs may also be used to treat various viruses.
- When diagnosing thrush, you need to use antifungal drugs, and here the recommendation of specialists is an important factor.
- Inflammatory processes and pathological changes are treated with glucocorticoids and sulfasalazines.
- Erosive destruction and ulcerative processes are treated with drugs that reduce swelling and have wound healing properties. Along the way, if necessary, painkillers are also prescribed.
- With complex diseases (such as pancreatitis), drugs are prescribed that contain enzymes - Pancreatin, Creon.
Folk methods
In some cases, doctors advise you not to forget about traditional medicine. With the help of herbal teas, tinctures of honey with black radish treat cough, runny nose, cold.
In the treatment of dysbiosis, decoctions from oak bark, chamomile, and shrubby cinquefoil have proven themselves well. Honey, diluted with carrot juice, garlic works well against worms. Indigestion, frequent constipation is well managed by tincture of chamomile flowers, dill seeds.
Little conclusion
The presence of mucus in the stool is not a disease, as many believe, this is just one of the symptoms that indicate the development of a certain kind of disease. It can also be a warning about malfunctions of the digestive tract and digestive system. It is necessary to consult specialists and take tests, especially if your child is dripping blood with mucus.