Help! There Are Black Worms in my Baby’s Poo!
We received an e mail earlier this week from Cheow in Singapore who was horrified to find something nasty in her baby’s diaper.
His poo seemed to be full of little black threads. She told us “… they look like worms, but they are not moving. And there are LOTS of them!”
Of course, we are not doctors – and it is ALWAYS important to seek medical advice when you have any concerns about your baby.
However, one thing that immediately sprang to mind when Cheow mentioned black worms were – believe it or not – bananas!
Yes, strange though it may seem, eating bananas can lead to the appearance of black, fibrous threads in baby’s poop and – from personal experience – we agree that they do look alarmingly like worms!
This is a harmless and perfectly normal phenomenon – although the black bits may sometimes look more like specks than threads or worms.
We suggested to Cheow that bananas might be the cause and asked if her little boy (Kang) had eaten any recently.
Well, we received another message from Cheow today, telling us…
Kang loves bananas and recently has been eating them up to twice a day. We took him to see the doctor anyway and she agreed that bananas were the cause – in fact, the staff at the hospital thought it was funny that we thought they were worms! Kang hasn’t had any more bananas since we received your reply… and there are no more ‘worms’ in his diaper!
We’re glad you’ve identified the cause, Cheow – although, of course, it’s fine to continue to include bananas in little Kang’s diet.
NOTE: A parent similarly concerned about these ‘worms’ – which turned out to be banana fibres – kindly sent us a photo to help other parents identify them.
Click here to see a photo of black ‘worms’ in baby poo
After introducing solid foods to baby, there are very noticeable changes in his poop – and they CAN be a little worrying, particularly when you’ve become accustomed to the yellow, almost sweet-smelling poop of the breast fed baby!
Sometimes you may find little bits of undigested food – and some foods may have an extreme effect on the appearance on your baby’s poo – beets, for example, can give it a positively red colour and may even give a pink hue to his pee!
As we mentioned, you should always see your doctor if you are worried – but most of the strange sights you’ll see will be a perfectly normal part of your baby’s transition to solid foods!
Poop talk…
Well, the topics of conversation certainly change when you’re a Mum, don’t they?
But if YOU have ever noticed that a certain food has had an unexpected affect on your baby’s poo, we’d love you to tell us about it by leaving your comments below! That way, other Mums on the verge of introducing a new food to their babies may have a better idea of what they may find in their little one’s diaper as a result!
Category: Feeding tips
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Sites That Link to this Post
- Our Top Ten Baby Food Tips from 2008 | The Homemade Baby Food Recipes Blog | December 30, 2008
- Worm in Baby Poo Scare « Lish + Issues = Lissues | July 13, 2009
- Blood in Baby Poop - What Does It Mean | The Homemade Baby Food Recipes Blog | July 5, 2010
Oh – lol – I was so worried she might be having a reaction to the bananas I fed her – my four month old has eaten bananas twice in the last week and both times ended up with a HUGE mess of BLACK BLACK poo – now I know that’s normal …. I feel silly for freaking out!
Katherine, never hurts to check with doc though, you know? I have a 4 month old, too! Looked like she had black paint chips in her poop, very odd sight! I bought jarred baby food for my first two kids, this is my first time making my own baby food. Never saw this with her older siblings, I wasn’t prepared, haha!
Just quickly dashed on computer to search for baby poo!! as my lil bubba left me with a greeny speckled dirty nappy!! reassurred now as he did have fresh banana yesterday… so thanks to all who left info on here
dear all,
thanks everyone! i discovered the same in my 5 month old baby who has been eating banana for the past 2 days. i emailed her pedia dr. and she said its normal. i just have to continue observing if there is more strange stuff other than the one i noticed.
i freaked out and was not able to sleep last night. thanks for this info.
tomorrow she will start eating apple. if there is some expected odd appearance in her stool, i would be very glad if you let me know so i won’t freak out the 2nd time.
thank you.
Although it’s FAR less likely, you can sometimes see the little ‘thread’s after apple or even other fruits/veg. It’s simply the fiber but seems much more noticeable after banana.
Oh my goodness!!! Did I panic when I saw my little ones nappy! Went straight to the computer and found the answer here. Thank you for putting my mind at rest!
I was so worried when I changed my 6.5 month old ds’ diaper and it was full of black flecks! So thankful I found this site as I gave him 2 servings of home made banana baby food yesterday for the first time! Thank you for this article!
You’re welcome – so glad it helped
Thank you for this i have just started weaning my little boy and saw the same in his nappy too!!
He also had banana the past two days put my mind at rest thanks again!
You’re welcome.
Thanks for this.. i freaked at first on seeing my baby’s poop but calmed down to see it was just the bananas he ate yesterday
Wow.. I am so glad to have seen this information because I just saw this in my 5 month old daughter’s poop. It freaked me out and I just left a message with the doctor. And she did just eat bananas within the past few days. It was a site to see and I did take a picture and its clearer then the one I saw on here. I mean it was all over …. Thanks for the info and if you would like to see the picture I can sure send it. The things that the body responds to in these ways are something.. Thank God it wasnt worms…lmbo!
Thank you Terese – we’ve contacted you regarding the photo, which we’re sure other parents will find useful
I started banana to my three months old baby .after that when I change his diaper I was surprised to see black threats in poop I check from computer now I am satisfied to know that it is due to banana
i started giving my 4.5 month baby girl banana. started getting worried when i seen black threads in her stool. thank u everyone my minds now at rest
Thank you for all your comments here, it is sooooo helpful. I was panic too when I saw the greeny flecky poo! Now I feel much better. I can see how Mums are getting wrinkles ! LOL
I’m sooooo releaved. Harrison is 21/2 and has had bananas lots of time before but has only just started having thread / worm like black bits in his poo. It has reassured me a lot reading everyone else’s experiences. Thank you!
Hi,Thanks for the information.I saw the same after giving my 6.5 months daughter smashed banana with her cereals.
Thanks for the info guys my first son was fed on jars so when i changed my lil ones nappy not long ago an found these ‘worms’ i really panicked until reading this and knowing he had fresh banana yesterday
Thank you
You are very welcome