A few days ago we explained to you how babies pee is and what we should consider if it changed color, smell or appearance. As urine is not the only thing that a baby eliminates, we are going to talk about his poop today, explaining how is the baby poop, how it changes over time and what are the signs that have to alert us, in case something was happening.
The first poop, which we can also call stool to make it finer, is expelled by the baby during the first days of life. It is the meconium, a dense, sticky and dark green or even black substance that "resided" in the intestines of the baby and must be removed in order to digest milk well. The meconium, if you wonder what it is, are the remains of pregnancy, dead cells and secretions of the digestive system combined with amniotic fluid, mucus, lanugo and ultimately everything that has been entering through his mouth.
In the process of eliminating meconium, the poops will change color, gradually leaving them to be so dark to become greenish yellow and finally a mustard color with lumps, which is the normal and usual color of a baby's stool.
In Babies and more Nine filthy things that become completely normal after having childrenThe consistency of the baby's poops
Many parents doubt whether it is normal for their son or daughter to make such soft and discarded poops, and come to ask if it is not possible for him to have diarrhea. Pulling logic, if the baby only drinks liquids, the most normal is that the stool is soft, sometimes throwing almost liquid. They only change a little if a baby does not drink breast milk and drinks artificial milk. In this case the poops acquire a yellowish color pulling cinnamon and they are more consistent, usually because the digestion of infant formulas is slower and tedious than breast milk, which reaches the stomach as a ring to the finger, that is, being an easy and fast digestion (unless some food consumed by the mother produce some kind of discomfort or reaction).
In case the child's stool is hard and dry, whether breastfeeding or bottle feeding, we might think that he is drinking too little fluid or that he is eliminating too much because of heat, fever or illness. If this happens later, when you already eat solid foods that could cause constipation (cereals, bananas, carrots, ...), we might think that you need to eat more variety, reducing the amount of those who constipate you, as you could be eating too many.
Changes in stool color
Timely changes in color and consistency are usually normal. If for example a digestion becomes longer because that day you have taken cereals or other foods that require more time to be digested the poop has a greenish hueIf the baby takes an iron supplement, they will be dark brown or almost black and if the culete is irritated, blood veins may appear to the point of having an external wound or fissure. If instead you see more blood, mucus or water it would be advisable to discuss it with the pediatrician as it could be suffering from some type of infection such as gastroenteritis or an intestinal problem.
Diarrhea or gastroenteritis in the baby
Sometimes, as I have said, it can be difficult to know when the baby has diarrhea, since they already make many bowel movements throughout the day and these are liquid or semi-liquid. Let's say the clearest sign would be the increase in frequency, maybe even make two per shot, and see that the poops are even more liquid than they were. Diarrhea is usually a symptom of intestinal infection (gastroenteritis) although it may also be due to some change in diet. If you drink breast milk, few changes will make, of course, so the difference may have occurred in the mother's diet.
What should concern us in case of diarrhea, whatever the cause, is the risk of dehydration. As we are talking about breastfeeding babies, babies who drink milk, the treatment is none other than to continue feeding them frequently, that is, breast milk on demand or bottle on demand. In any case, if you want more information, I refer you to the entry I wrote a while ago about the diet of babies and children when they have diarrhea.
In Babies and more The hilarious story of a father to discover his daughter covered in poop from head to toeIn case you have a fever it is advisable to ask the pediatrician. If we talk about a child under 3 months my recommendation is take it directly to the hospital, because it is a tiny baby who is having an infection, being necessary to control and treat it. If you are older we can go to the primary care center for your pediatrician to assess it.
The frequency of bowel movements
It is very difficult to say what is the normal frequency of bowel movements of babies because varies greatly between one baby and another. Many babies poop shortly after taking the shot, this is due to the so-called gastrocolic reflex, whereby the digestive system is activated when food enters the stomach. Others, on the other hand, have a lower frequency and get to make a daily deposition, or sometimes even none (one every two or three days, abundant). In this case it will be necessary to see if this low frequency is due to a normal process, that is, because the child has that rhythm or if he does little poop because he eats little. If it comes first, nothing happens. If it is the latter, it can be very dangerous for your health, because you could be malnourished.
In Babies and moreDiarrhea in children: the most frequent causes and how we should actTowards the month or two months many babies who drink breast milk make a single bowel movement a week. That is to say, at the beginning they carried a rate of 5-8 a day, more or less, and suddenly they do only one in many days. This is normal and is due to the fact that breast milk generates very few solid wastes so that the child's digestive system has to eliminate them. That is why it is not considered a problem nor is it called constipation. It would be if the baby made a bowel movement per week and it was hard. Then we would talk about constipation and then we should look for a solution. If instead the poop is soft, the child feeds normally and is gaining weight, nothing needs to be done.
Babies who drink artificial milk, on the other hand, have to have a more constant bowel movement rate. The normal thing is that they do at least one deposition per day. If this is not the case, we must observe if when it comes to pooping it is very strong, if it costs, we go, because in that case it is possible that the feces are harder than desirable and then we could be talking about constipation . In such a case, a change of milk can solve the problem, changing the one that is being used for one of another brand or for its more digestive version. They used to call them anti-constipation and now they usually call them Digest or something similar, because they have joined the anti-colic and anti-constipation into a single product with a more "digestible" name. If this is not enough, you should talk to the pediatrician to assess the need to use a baby laxative.
