What should a newborn's stool be, how many times?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The birth of the first child is a great happiness for young parents, but along with joy come problems: peace and rest are forgotten. The child needs to be bathed, taken for a walk, closely monitor the behavior, physical condition of the baby during the day. One of the biggest concerns for parents is the stool in a newborn baby.

Stool frequency while breastfeeding

First of all, parents want to make sure that the child poops the right number of times a day, and the color of the stool is normal. The norm in this case is absolutely conditional, since each child has an individual organism, a certain nature of eating.

Babies aged 1-2 months poop quite often. The total number of stools should be at least 7 times a day. It is possible to talk about what kind of stool a newborn should have when breastfeeding, only knowing the nature of the mother's diet. The correct digestion of food by a child is also affected by physical and psychologicalcondition of a nursing mother.

Baby stool in the first days of life

The work of the intestines is traced from the first day of a baby's life. It even takes into account how much stool (in what quantity) the baby should have.

On the first day of life, baby's stool should be black. The mass that the baby defecates for the first time after birth is called meconium (it has the consistency and color of tar). The next 5-6 times the stool can be the same color. The baby may poop about 10 times on the first day, depending on the number of feedings.

From the second to the fifth day, the baby may not have a stool. Only slight discharge of meconium accumulated in the intestines is possible. Until all of the original stool is passed, the child will not have normal stools. These days the baby will not poop more than twice.

During the second week, the work of the intestines is gradually restored. At first there are non-systematic bowel movements, but more frequent than in the first days after birth. When breastfeeding, the stool of a newborn is determined by the individual characteristics of the child's body, which is beginning to get used to mother's milk. During this period, the composition of milk is not fully formed, lactation is in a state of development, therefore, the baby's feces may still be abnormal.

Consistency and color of stool

Mother's milk has the ability to loosen stools. In the period from three to six weeks, the baby may have a disruption of the intestines, an increase in stool up to 8 times. Many parents panic. But there is no reason to worry.

In the first month of birth, the baby has an irregular diet. He can ask for breasts 8-10 times a day. The same number of times the child should have a chair. It is usually thin, yellowish, and sometimes gray-green in color (depending on the nutrition of the nursing mother). You also don’t need to sound the alarm when you see a color greener than usual on a used diaper. If the baby is calm, the tummy is soft, these are more likely the consequences of mom's nutrition.

Small problems arise if the baby has green frothy stools. This means that he receives facial (front) milk that does not contain the right amount of fat, nutrients. Often the number of bowel movements does not exceed 2-3 times, constipation begins, the child is tormented by gases. A nursing mother should strictly monitor her diet, in particular, switch to a diet specially developed during lactation.

Main causes of concern

There are times when a two-month-old baby does not poop for 2, 3, or even 5 days, but he does not express complaints, is active in the game, calm in his sleep. This happens when the gastrointestinal tract reacts to milk recovery by producing new enzymes.

The process can last 2-3 weeks, and during this period the child either actively eats milk, or reluctantly breastfeeds. This does not mean that the baby is unhe althy, he just has an adaptation phase. Mom, observing the behavior of the child, studying the schedule, first of all pays attention to how her newborn should have a chair after breastfeeding. One of the reasons for concern is the green color of stool with foam.

There are two types of milk produced in the mammary glands: foremilk and hindmilk. The front (facial) milk is practically not saturated with fat, more liquid, contains a lot of water and carbohydrates. The child, eating it, takes it like a cup of tea. It is after feeding with foremilk that a newborn has a green stool of a liquidish consistency with a characteristic foam.

Hind milk is rich in fats, proteins, and thick. It helps to increase the weight of the baby. The stool after feeding with such milk is pasty, yellow-gray in color. Anxiety is caused by constipation and colic in the baby. If, after adapting the body to mother's milk, the newborn still poops with great difficulty, and there is no stool for several days, it is necessary to review the mother's menu, add elements with a laxative effect to food.

Breastfeeding Diarrhea

In newborn babies fed mother's milk, very often the stool is quite liquid. Considering the calm state of the child, his good mood, you can be sure that the cause of a weak tummy is the elements contained in mother's milk. We must not forget that children under one year old have an imperfect digestive system. Their intestines react even to the weakest negative internal and external circumstances. One of the causes of loose stools in newborns is dysbacteriosis (violation of the intestinal microflora). In addition to rashes on the face, the baby begins to have diarrhea. Common causes of diarrhea include:

• Bacteria.
• Viral diseases.
• Fungal diseases.

Gastrointestinal disorders in infants are often associated with a viral illness of a nursing mother. Together with breast milk, she passes the bacteria to the baby. During the period of illness, the mother is not recommended to apply the baby to the breast. If you notice symptoms of dysbacteriosis or other viral diseases, you should immediately contact your pediatrician.

The influence of the diet of a nursing mother on the child's stool

Mother's nutrition is of great importance in the proper functioning of the baby's intestines. Another factor affecting the stool of a newborn baby is the incorrect intake of food by a nursing mother. You need to strictly adhere to the diet, but also introduce the baby to a variety of foods through mother's milk.

It is necessary to gradually include new products in the mother's diet, while carefully monitoring the frequency of the baby's stool, paying attention to the consistency and color. Many parents tend to believe that dairy products should be excluded from the diet. In fact, they are needed for a breastfeeding baby, but the mother should consume them in limited quantities.

The small amount of dairy products that enter the baby's body through breast milk contributes to easy bowel movements. From dairy products, the stool of a newborn should be yellowish in color, of a weak consistency, with a slightly sour smell.

Constipation risk

Stool retention in newborn babies from 2 to 4 days or very hard stools in small balls is constipation. In childrenconstipation is usually due to the accumulation of gases. Bloating is noticed, respectively, colic begins. Constipation does not pose a particular danger (except for intestinal diseases, which also cause constipation), but the baby feels discomfort, refuses to eat, becomes lethargic, weak.

Constipation is not only due to dysfunction of the gastrointestinal tract. From the feces, the reverse absorption of toxins begins, which causes constipation. The lack of stool for several days mainly affects babies who take artificial food, since the intestines of artificial children do not immediately adapt to complementary foods.

Constipation and its prevention

There is the concept of "hungry constipation", when the baby eats only mother's milk, without taking complementary foods. In this case, he assimilates everything eaten, the intestines can hardly excrete anything. This indicates that the baby is malnourished. Such constipation is not dangerous. The first cause of constipation is the irregular and incorrect nutrition of a nursing mother. She should eat fruits and vegetables that do not cause gas, eat only boiled foods (fried is strictly prohibited), drink plenty of fluids. One factor that causes constipation is the lack of water in the child's body.

Rare stools with artificial nutrition also happen when the baby's complementary foods often change. It is necessary to try in the first 2 months to regularly feed the baby with the same mixture. It is recommended to use baby food containing prunes, dried apricots on an oatmeal basis.

Main causes of delayed stool

It is difficult to specifically determine how many times a newborn should have a stool, since each child has an individual body, the intestines function differently. An important role is also played by the form of nutrition of the baby: breast milk or artificial nutrition. With constipation, the baby does not go out in a big way for several days. The reasons for delayed stool can be very different:

• Lack of iron in the body.
• Reduced intestinal motility (dysbiosis).
• Lack of fluid in the body.
• Allergies from food intake (mainly artificial ones).
• Baby immobility.
• Frequent use of enema.
• Abuse of laxatives.

Teething stool

Adults can't even imagine what newborn babies go through when they start teething. Firstly, it is very painful, and secondly, it is painful for a weak child's body.

The process of teething takes a lot of energy from the baby. During the period of teething, the child's immunity weakens, which means that the baby is susceptible to various infections, viral diseases. The functions of the gastrointestinal tract are also affected. It is usually during this period that babies begin to have diarrhea.

It is necessary to strictly monitor bowel movements and be sure to determine how many times a newborn has stools during teething. It is very important to take into account the fact that during this period with diarrhea, the smell of feces practically does not change. A distinctive feature is only frequent bowel movements (6-8 times) during the day, and the color becomes yellow-brown, and the consistency is liquid.

Duration of teething diarrhea

When teething, the duration of diarrhea cannot be accurately predicted, because babies have different organisms and physiologies. Presumably it should last no more than 4 days. If the cause of diarrhea is only teeth, the child should not be bothered by pain in the tummy.

If the baby feels bad, the feces have an unusual smell, you need to take action. In this case, there may be an infection that the child is able to pick up during teething. It is recommended to strictly monitor the frequency, color, smell of the stool. If these symptoms are not present, the diarrhea resolves quickly without sequelae.

Feeding your baby with diarrhea

If the stool in newborn babies is liquid during the period of teething, it is necessary to change the diet for a while. Avoid fatty foods and dairy products from your diet. It is imperative to give the baby as much liquid as possible, since during the period of diarrhea the child's body is severely dehydrated. Most importantly, you need to monitor every day how many times the newborn has pooped and what kind of stool he has.

Mixed infant stool

When there is not enough breast milk, mothers have to give complementary foods. After breastfeeding, the baby takes a small amount of the mixture, which undoubtedly affects the functioning of the intestines and how mucha newborn should have a chair.

Mixed feeding reduces the number of bowel movements during the day. Because, no matter how high-quality the mixture is, it will still be far from the composition of mother's milk. In addition, the consistency of feces and stools in newborns during breastfeeding is different. Moreover, the color and smell change.

We must not forget that feeding can lead to a violation of the microflora in the intestines, so you need to carefully choose artificial nutrition, but it is better to consult a pediatrician.

Note to parents

The he alth of a newborn baby is the most important thing for parents. First of all, the attention of fathers and mothers is concentrated on nutrition, sleep, on what kind of chair the child has, but the most important thing is to monitor the behavior of the baby. If he is active, cheerful, mobile, then nothing bothers him. No need to sound the alarm.