When it comes to parenting, little gets a parent's attention more than changes in their baby's poop. The texture, frequency, and color of a baby's stool are sure to raise curiosity as well as concern. Probably one of the most mysterious signs is black poop in the baby's diaper. Is that normal, or is that a sign of some illness?

This guide covers the possible reasons, normal conditions, and when black stools may warrant a visit to the doctor.

Baby poop changes significantly within the first year of life. From that first sticky meconium to the more consistent stools when the digestive system matures, parents encounter a wide variety of colors and textures. Although green, yellow, and brown hues are generally normal, black, red, or white poop may sometimes signal underlying issues.

• Green, yellow, or brown: Usually normal and dependant on diet (breast milk, formula, or solid foods).
• Black: Normal in some cases, but can also represent blood in the GI tract.
• Red: May indicate the presence of blood, but this color may also result from a food like beets or red dyes.
• White: Usually a sign of an underlying problem, such as bile duct issues, and should be attended to right away.

Baby Poop Colors

First Week: Transition from Meconium

In the first week of life, a baby's stool changes from meconium to transitional stool, which is dark green to brown. Towards the end of the week, breastfed babies typically pass mustard-yellow, seedy stools, while formula-fed babies pass firmer, yellow-brown stools.

3 to 6 Months: Diet and Development

As the baby's digestive system matures, stools become more consistent. Breastfed babies may have less frequent bowel movements, while formula-fed babies often pass stools daily.

6 Months and Beyond: Solid Foods Enter the Picture

With the introduction of solid foods, parents may observe color, texture, and odor changes. Dark stools from specific foods are normal but rarely a cause for concern.

Why Is My Baby's Poop Black?

Black poop in babies can be due to various reasons, some of which are completely harmless, while others necessitate immediate medical assessment.

1. Meconium: The First Poop

Meconium is the black, sticky substance passed during the first few days. Composed of amniotic fluid, bile, and skin cells, meconium is a sign the baby's bowels work. It usually transitions to greenish-yellow poop by three or four days.

2. Iron-Fortified Formula

Babies who drink iron-enriched formula may have very dark green or black diarrhea. This is a benign reaction to the added iron and nothing to worry about.

3. Dietary Factors

When babies start eating solids, foods that are dark in color, such as blueberries, or foods colored with artificial black dye will cause stools to be dark.

4. Internal Bleeding of the Bowel

One of the more serious causes of black poop is bleeding in the upper GI tract, including the stomach or esophagus. In this case, stool can be tarry, and may have a particular odor.

When Black Poop Is a Concern?

Not all black stools are normal. Here are red flags that may indicate the need for medical attention:

Persistent Black Poop Past Meconium Stage: If your baby remains with black stools after the neonatal period, contact your pediatrician.

Concurrent Symptoms: Vomiting, fever, fussiness or refusal to feed could imply a GI condition or infection.

Behavioral or Feeding Changes: If black stools come with lethargy, unusual fussiness or feeds poorly, call for help right away.

Conditions That May Mimic Black Poop

Occasionally, stools can appear black but are actually dark green. This can be due to iron supplements or certain medications. However, a pediatrician should be consulted for any changes in stool that persist or appear unusual.

When to Call the Doctor

Call your pediatrician if:

- The baby passes black stool after the first week of life and there is no obvious dietary cause.

- Black stools are followed by vomiting, fever, or discomfort in the abdomen.

-The baby shows dehydration, where there are lesser wet nappies, dry lips, etc.

While black poop in babies can be alarming, most of the time it is benign and related to changes in diet or transitional phases. Parents should, however, remain vigilant and contact their pediatrician if they see a persistent black stool or if accompanied by other symptoms. With this knowledge of what's normal and when to worry, parents can ensure their baby's digestive health stays on track.

As a caregiver, always trust your instincts about the well-being of the baby and consult the professionals immediately when in doubt.

"I miss who I was too," says the Christina Applegate, revealing her emotional conversation with daughter Sadie

She is speaking candidly about how life with multiple sclerosis (MS) has changed not just her, but her relationship with her daughter.

The Dead to Me actress, 53, recently shared an emotional moment from a conversation with her 14-year-old daughter, Sadie, on the Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa podcast. Diagnosed with MS in 2021, Applegate has gradually withdrawn from public life as she navigates the daily physical and emotional toll of the condition.

“I don’t get up in the morning with that,” she said, referring to any sense of personal motivation. “I get up because of her. She’s the reason I’m still here and trying.”

But that strength has been tested in ways that have cut deep—especially as a mother. During their recent conversation, Sadie told her something that Applegate says "was like a knife to the heart."

“She said, ‘I miss who you were before you got sick.’ And I do too,” Applegate said, holding back tears. “I miss that version of me very much.”

The toll of daily life with MS

Applegate has never shied away from speaking about the realities of living with multiple sclerosis.

On Conan O’Brien’s podcast earlier this year, she revealed that she rarely leaves the house anymore. The pain and fatigue have become too overwhelming.

“If people saw what my life was like on the daily, they wouldn’t be able to do it. Because I can sometimes not do it. It’s really, really hard,” she admitted.

And that physical struggle directly impacts her ability to parent. Once an active, involved mom, picking up her daughter from school, dancing with her at home, volunteering in the school library, Applegate now says that version of herself is gone, and her daughter has noticed the change.

“She’s had to see the loss of her mom, in the way that I was a mom with her,” Applegate told PEOPLE in an earlier interview. “She doesn’t see those things anymore. This is a loss for her as well.”

There are days, she added, when the pain is so severe that Sadie simply knows not to ask anything of her. “If she sees that I’m laying on my side, she knows she can’t ask me to do anything. And that breaks me,” Applegate said. “I love doing things for her. I just can’t sometimes. But I try. I try.”

What is multiple sclerosis?

As per the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, multiple sclerosis is a chronic, often disabling neurological condition that affects the central nervous system, the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. It is an autoimmune disorder, meaning the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells, in this case, the protective sheath (myelin) surrounding nerve fibers.

Without intact myelin, nerve signals slow down or get interrupted, leading to a range of symptoms that vary from person to person. These may include muscle weakness, fatigue, numbness, coordination issues, vision changes, and memory problems.

Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40, although it can occur earlier or later. MS does not have a cure, but treatments can help manage symptoms and slow disease progression. The severity of symptoms also differs, some people experience mild, manageable relapses, while others gradually face increasing disability.

Life with MS: A new normal

One of the most difficult aspects of MS is its unpredictability. Symptoms can flare up unexpectedly and may disappear for long stretches. While the disease doesn’t typically shorten life expectancy, it does require a major adjustment in daily life.

In Applegate’s case, it has meant redefining her identity, not just as an actress, but as a mother and a person. Still, despite the pain and fatigue, her love for her daughter keeps her grounded and trying.

“Sadie is the reason I’m still here. She gives me the strength to keep going,” Applegate said.

A big concern for parents these days is how kids are seemingly swallowed by technology. They no longer plead to go out and play for ‘just five more minutes’. The serotonin and dopamine boost we used to crave while playing outside as kids, does not seem like a big deal any longer. Could this be due to the increase in electronic device usage?

Parents who are worried about their kids screentime are right to be concerned. Many studies have shown the increased screentime slows down brain development. If certain habits can slow down brain development, are there others that can increase brain development?

A new study published in the Environment International journal suggests that living close to green areas, like parks or forests, might lower a child's chance of developing problems like ADHD and autism. This protective effect seems to start even before they are born.

How Green Spaces May Help Before and After Birth

The study found that children were less likely to experience brain development problems if their mothers lived near green spaces before or during pregnancy. The same benefit was seen if the children themselves lived near green spaces when they were infants. These important findings were published in a science journal called Environment International. One of the lead researchers pointed out that having more access to green spaces in cities could truly support healthy brain development in young children and help reduce the number of developmental delays.

Why Green Spaces Might Be Good for Brains

Scientists don't fully understand yet exactly how green spaces might help a baby's brain grow healthily, even while still in the womb. However, they have some ideas. They believe that being around nature can reduce stress and feelings of sadness, encourage people to spend more time with others, and lower exposure to loud noises and very hot or cold temperatures. All of these things could be good for a young child's overall development.

What the Study Discovered

For this research, scientists looked at a lot of information from over 1.8 million mothers and children who were part of the Medicaid program in different states. They used satellite images and the mothers' home addresses to figure out how much green space they lived near. The results were quite interesting:

• Children whose mothers lived near green spaces had a 34% lower risk of intellectual disabilities.
• They also had a 17% lower risk of autism.
• For children who lived near green spaces themselves after they were born, the study found a 19% lower risk of learning disabilities.

The researchers noticed that these protective effects were present at different stages: before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and in early childhood. This suggests that there might be various biological reasons why green spaces are helpful at different times.

Stronger Benefits in City Areas

The study showed that the protective effects of green spaces were even stronger for children living in city areas and for children from Black or Hispanic families. This suggests that green spaces might provide an even greater benefit in places where they are not as common. Increasing access to green spaces in city environments could really support early childhood brain development and help reduce the number of developmental delays.

What We Still Need to Learn

It's important to remember that this study can't prove that living near green spaces directly causes healthier brain development. There could be other factors that also play a role in a child's risk for developmental problems.

Future research will dive deeper into the exact reasons why green spaces might benefit children's brain development. They also want to explore whether different kinds of green spaces—like parks, walking trails, or playing fields—offer different levels of benefit.

A baby’s sex at birth might not be the equal coin toss that we’ve always believed it to be. A new study published by the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, titled, “Is sex at birth a biological coin toss? Insights from a longitudinal and GWAS analysis” challenges this long-held assumption.

The study was published on July 18 in the journal Science Advances, and it found that several factors, including a mother's age, genetics, and the sex of older siblings—may influence whether she’s more likely to have a boy or a girl.

Patterns Behind the Birth of Boys and Girls: How Was The Study Conducted?

The research looked at more than 146,000 pregnancies involving over 58,000 U.S. nurses from the NIH-funded Nurses’ Health Study, covering the years 1956 to 2015. What they found was eye-opening: families with three or more children were more likely to have either all boys or all girls than if the sex of a child was purely random.

“If you’ve had two or three girls and you’re trying for a boy, your odds aren’t 50-50 anymore,” explained Jorge Chavarro, professor of nutrition and epidemiology and the study’s senior author, in a quote to The Washington Post. “You’re more likely to have another girl.”

Also Read: It Might Not Be Diabetes; It Could Be This Common Pill Causing Heart Disease: Study

The Role of Maternal Age and Genetics

One of the biggest surprises was the link between maternal age and the likelihood of giving birth to all children of the same sex. Women who started having children after age 28 had a slightly higher chance of giving birth to only boys or only girls.

Researchers believe this could be due to biological changes that come with age, such as shifts in hormone levels or physical conditions that may affect which sperm survive and fertilize the egg.

Additionally, the study identified two specific genes that appear to be linked with the likelihood of having children of only one sex. While scientists don’t yet know how these genes affect birth sex, their discovery opens the door for further research.

Chavarro noted that future studies should explore whether lifestyle choices, diet, or even exposure to certain environmental chemicals might also play a role.

Are Families Subconsciously Seeking “Gender Balance”?

The study also touches on social patterns. In families with two children, there was a higher chance of one boy and one girl. Researchers believe this may be because couples tend to stop having children once they have one of each sex, possibly due to a preference for a “balanced” family.

This idea is supported by another paper published in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, which jokingly refers to parents who have three boys or three girls as those who “lose the birth lottery.”

When Expectations Don’t Match Reality

The findings also bring up the topic of “gender disappointment”, a real emotional experience for some parents when the sex of their baby isn’t what they hoped for.

A 2023 paper in the BJPsych Bulletin found that in many Western families, this disappointment often stems from a desire to experience raising both sons and daughters.

In everyday life, these expectations can be seen in subtle remarks like “Four boys? Poor you,” or “Still trying for a girl?”, comments that reflect how deeply society views gender roles and balance, reports CBC.

What It Means for Expecting Parents

While the science behind birth sex is clearly more complex than a simple 50-50 chance, experts agree it’s not something to stress over. Rather, it’s a reminder that biology, age, genes, and personal choices all come together in ways we’re only beginning to understand.