A newborn baby is right for the most part. Irregular stool in an infant. Constipation medications for children

Good day, dear moms and dads! Only you know how impatiently you can wait for the birth of a baby. Undoubtedly, you prepared for his birth, bought a dowry, and waited.

And then this happy moment came, but along with boundless joy, a feeling of confusion and anxiety appeared. After all, there were nurses and doctors nearby in the maternity hospital who could examine the child and help you with Hard time and now you're alone. And somehow it's different.

How to understand if everything is fine with the baby, is he getting enough milk on time, is he healthy? The baby cannot tell you about this yet, but he does a very good job of showing you his condition. You just have to learn to understand the behavior of the crumbs and actions, his desires and needs.

Today we'll talk about how much should newborn poop. The chair of a child, to some extent, can talk about the state of his health, about how his digestive system works. Whether the food that you offer him is suitable for the baby will also be seen in the quality of the stool. So, let's go in order.

What stool is considered normal for a newborn?

Depending on what the baby and his mother eat, the color of the stool changes. If a newborn baby is fed only breast milk, then there will be any shade of yellow and green. For example, if the mother eats in in large numbers vegetable food, which is commendable and correct, then the color of the baby's feces may be green. This is all considered acceptable.

Babies who are formula fed may have darker, mustard-brown, and even brown stools. bad smell. The most important thing is that at the same time the baby is cheerful and calm. The consistency of the stool in newborns should be mushy. Which chair should be clear, but how much should a newborn poop? - This is a question that worries caring parents.

Normal frequency of bowel movements per day in newborns

If we talk about how many times a newborn poops, then, of course, there is no single norm and cannot be. In the first month of life, a baby can poop up to 7-10 times a day, and this is how many times it turns out. Note that artificial babies poop less frequently than those who are breastfed.

It happens that the baby is not suitable nutrient mixture, and stool retention can be up to two days. If at the same time the child is not bothered by gases, the tummy is soft and the child behaves quite calmly, no measures should be taken yet.

Stool retention - constipation in a newborn

For many children, at the end of the first month of life, it happens. Caring mothers immediately begin to worry and grab onto enemas and candles, thinking that the child has constipation. Although in fact, the reason is that the digestive system of the newborn adjusts its work and sometimes a slight delay in bowel movements is possible.

It is worth the wait and everything will work itself out. Of course, only on condition that the baby feels fine: there is no bloating, he has a good appetite.

In the event that when you change the diaper you see feces in solid form, then there is a high probability that the child has constipation and measures must be taken:

review your diet if the baby is on breastfeeding;
change the milk formula for an artificial baby;
talk to your pediatrician about your next steps.

Frequent stools - diarrhea in a newborn

As we have already said, in the first month the baby can poop every time after he eats, and this does not mean at all that he has diarrhea. Yet again. We carefully look at the quality of the chair.

If there is a very liquid, you can even say watery stool, then most likely it really is diarrhea (diarrhea). This condition is dangerous because it can lead to dehydration. child's body and as a consequence, .

By the way, your pediatrician will be interested in how much a newborn baby poops at every appointment. Be sure to tell the doctor what color the baby's feces are and how often he walks on the big one, this is very important for proper monitoring of the baby's health. Feel free to ask the doctor questions that interest you and for which you have not found answers.

Good health to your child, and to you, patience and understanding.

Often there is no stool in the baby as a result of a violation motor activity intestines. When feeding a child, there is a rhythmic contraction of the walls of organs gastrointestinal tract, due to which motility is observed - pushing food in the direction of the outlet. With violations of intestinal motility, constipation is observed. The occurrence of constipation is due to two main groups of reasons:

functional reasons. They are associated with a whole range of factors, among which stand out:

Changing the child's diet.
Poor selection of milk.
Small amount of drink.
Improper nutrition of a nursing mother.
Little physical activity.

Organic causes dependent on the presence inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract, as well as from pathologies acquired at birth.

First of all, with constipation, you should balance the diet of the baby. Sometimes doctors with constipation recommend giving food a little more, in order to provoke a slightly larger than usual formation of feces. Useful addition to bait fermented milk mixture on a one-to-two basis.

To improve digestion baby before feeding, it is useful to turn on the stomach for ten minutes, massaging it clockwise with the application of a warm heating pad. Such procedures help to prepare the intestines for eating and to establish its full-fledged work.

If the baby cannot go to the toilet for more than a day and a half, it is necessary to give him a water enema. Water should be maintained at a temperature of 20-24 degrees.

It is wrong to compare your child with someone else, because, like all people, children are unique and what is normal for one may be unacceptable for another. The same child can poop ten times during the day, after which they do not go to the toilet for several days at all.

Often, the type of feeding determines the frequency of stools in newborns. If children are on a natural diet, they tend to have fewer bowel disorders and their stool frequency ranges from one to seven times a day. With mixed or artificial feeding children go to the toilet less often - about four times a day.

Wherein great importance It has general state a baby, how calm he is, cheerful, whether his tummy is soft, whether he has an appetite. It is very important to monitor the consistency of the stool, because the stool is considered normal if it has a mushy or liquid consistency. In turn, hard stools indicate violations digestive system. Intestinal disease manifests itself by the appearance of mucus, lumps and blood streaks. Similar symptoms are a signal to parents that they should contact the pediatrician.

There are enough funds to help a child start going to the toilet normally. All of them are completely harmless.

Boiled dried apricots help well. The broth is prepared from two to three pieces per glass of water, cooked for up to ten minutes, until the water begins to boil. The broth should be cooled, then drained and given to the child to drink from the bottle. The first improvements come after twelve hours.

If the child suffers from constipation, instead of a mixture based on milk, a decoction of oatmeal should be given to him. The preparation time of such a decoction is longer, however, it is cheaper and much more useful. To prepare it, you should take a couple of spoons oatmeal, pour boiling water over them, cook for a while, about ten minutes. Then, when the water reaches the boiling point, one tablespoon of sugar should be added. Further, it all depends on whether the child has an allergy to milk, if so, add a glass of water, if not, you can add a glass of milk. Then boil again, let cool and stand for half an hour. After that, the broth is filtered through a sieve or cheesecloth and cooled to body temperature. The child should be given a decoction in the amount necessary for his age.

As a rule, constipation is not evidence of any serious illnesses. The body of an infant is just beginning to get used to external influences, so such a reaction is quite possible. In the event that the general condition of the child is acceptable, he is cheerful, active, cheerful, then there is nothing to worry about and after a while the baby goes to the toilet on his own. In order to dispel all doubts, it is recommended to go for an examination, thereby eliminating the likelihood of a disease.

How to help a baby poop: remedies

You should not begin to deal with constipation in an infant without first making sure that it is really constipation. Stool retention for a couple of days is not a problem if the child himself does not show any signs of anxiety. All the more so when breastfeeding there is such a term as hungry constipation, when the baby does not poop, not because he cannot, but because he simply has nothing to do with it. This is due to the fact that the milk in his intestines is completely absorbed, leaving no processed products behind.

If stool retention occurs against the background of bloating, gas, loss of appetite, whims and anxiety, he should be helped to empty the intestines.

Babies should not be given laxatives, as they are simply contraindicated for them. The exception is Duphalac, produced on the basis of lactulose, but its effect is not instantaneous, therefore, in the case of a serious condition of the child and pain in his tummy, more fast acting agent. This also explains the unsuitability of such folk remedies as water from prunes, beet juice, which are more suitable for the prevention of constipation, and not when the child is already suffering, being unable to poop.

Despite the fact that laxatives are contraindicated for a child, one should begin with stimulation of intestinal motility. The best remedy against constipation infant is exercise and massage of the tummy.

First of all, the tummy should be warmed by applying a warm diaper to it. Then you can massage it clockwise around the navel, pressing it not too hard. You can do the child exercises like a "bicycle", pressing his knees to his stomach, then folding the child in half, by raising the legs. Such gymnastics contributes to the removal of gases, after which the intestines are well emptied.

How to help a baby with constipation: massage

Massage for babies with constipation is not very complicated and every parent can do it. It runs like this:

ten times you need to go in a circular motion around the navel, first in one direction, then in the other;
along the lateral lines of the abdomen, hold hands from top to bottom and from bottom to top;
in addition to stroking the tummies, you can put the child on the back, bend and unbend his legs at the knees;
laying the baby on his back, you can alternately cross his arms and legs. Do 10-15 repetitions;
before each feeding, you can lay the baby on the tummy for five minutes;
moving clockwise, pinch the baby's tummy, combining pinching with patting.

Massage stimulates the intestines, strengthens the abdominal muscles of the child, significantly improves blood circulation in the tummy. All this improves bowel movements in infants, while eliminating pain and colic in his tummy. Several sessions are quite enough to completely relieve constipation and its consequences for the baby's body.

Feces of a newborn baby - important indicator children's well-being. The frequency of the stool and its main qualities (color, density, smell, volume, the presence of foreign inclusions) indicate the work of the digestive system of the baby.

Also, according to these characteristics, you can understand whether the child eats enough, whether he has any diseases. Noticing changes in the frequency or characteristics of the stool, parents do not understand whether it is worth going to the doctor or is this the norm. That is why it is so important to know how often a child should poop and what his feces can be.

The norm is always something averaged and therefore various “deviations” are possible. It cannot be definitely said that "a newborn child should poop 8 times a day, and his feces must be green or yellow."

Any newborn is an individual, so the acts of defecation depend on many factors, including:

The most important thing that parents should worry about is that the stool should be painless, regular, without bloody inclusions, and the child himself should not experience discomfort.

Fecal frequency

First, meconium leaves the child - the first feces of a newborn, the color of which is dark green or even blackish, and from the 5th day a certain defecation rhythm begins to be established in the baby: from once every two days to 10 times a day.

Usually newborns poop during feeding or immediately after eating. However, feces in two days is also the norm, if only it is regular, and the bowel movement itself occurs calmly, without tears and strong straining.

An adult child does not poop so often: by 8 weeks, the baby empties the intestines about 3-5 times a day, by six months - 2-3 times, by 12 months - twice a day. If newborns poop once a day, then the rhythm persists further, only the consistency changes (the stool is already more solid).

Stool volume

How much a child poops depends on how much food he ate before. A newborn of the first month of life poops very little - about 20 grams per day. From the second half of the year, the volume of stool increases to 40 grams.

Density

The norm for a newborn child is a soft, gruel-like stool. However, liquid and rather thick feces also fall into the “normal” category. The ideal option for young children is rather liquid and homogeneous feces that are absorbed into the diaper, staining it in a characteristic color.

In older babies, the feces are harder, resemble a thick mushy consistency, by 12 months it is almost completely formed, but it is plastic and soft.

Color

There are many color variations for the stool for newborns. It might be yellow golden hue, yellow-green, yellow with whitish lumps, brownish and green.

These shades are characteristic of breastfeeding, after breastfeeding, the feces darken and then turn brown.

Green chair

Often parents are frightened when they find a green or yellowish-swamp “surprise” from a newborn baby on a diaper.

A similar color of feces is the norm and is due to the presence of bilirubin in them. This pigment can be found in the feces of infants up to 8 months, so green feces- normal option.

It is worth worrying if suddenly the child has bowel movements Green colour although this has never been seen before. Probably, in this way his body reacted to the introduction of complementary foods, milk deficiency or some kind of disease.

Smell

In breastfed babies, feces have an unusual, slightly sour smell. If a child is raised on mixtures, then his feces will differ in a not very pleasant, slightly putrid or rotten smell.

Inclusions

Normal stools in newborns (both naturalists and artificialists) may include various impurities, among which:

whitish lumps- such inclusions are associated with insufficient maturity of the digestive organs, as a result of which the child is not able to absorb milk in full;
not fully digested food- such particles occur during complementary feeding and are associated with age characteristics in addition, perhaps the child is simply not ready for the introduced products;
mucous impurities- mucus protects the gastrointestinal tract, so do not be afraid of its appearance in the feces of infants.

Parents should be alert following selection and impurities in the feces of a newborn baby:

purulent substances;
bloody inclusions.

Presence such secretions- an unfavorable sign, therefore, if purulent or bloody impurities are found in the feces of the baby, the child should be immediately shown to the doctor.

How often does a baby poop while breastfeeding?

In a natural child, the process of emptying the intestines largely depends on how the mother eats.

If a woman observes the main principles of nutrition, then the baby’s stool is “normal”: frequent, yellow, mushy, without inclusions.

If mommy is addicted fatty foods, then the child’s intestines digest milk with difficulty, therefore the baby poops less often, whitish lumps appear in the feces.

With carbohydrate-rich food, fermentation begins, as a result of which the stool is liquid, frothy, and the tummy begins to swell and rumble.

Experts say that the frequency of feces depends on the age of the babies, so a baby at 6 months does not poop as often as a newborn at 2 or 3 weeks. In general, the patterns of bowel movement are as follows:

Experts say that a newborn on IV () may not poop as often as a child who eats mother's milk. This is due to the fact that the mixtures in the intestines of artificial people are digested much longer than natural food for a newborn.

Features of bowel movement in newborns on IV are as follows:

For infants on IV, the same formula works as for a newborn who eats mother's milk: how much the baby eats, how many times it defecates. But since mixtures are usually given to a child not as often as breasts, then the artificial one poops less often.
With artificial feeding, the stool is more solid. This is why an artificial person can poop irregularly and even suffer from constipation (feces take longer to move through the intestines and have time to harden).

Among artificial people, irregular or liquid stool. Due to the confusion in mixtures, the intestines of a child on IV do not have time to adapt to the new composition and react in their own way - with constipation or diarrhea.

Constipation and diarrhea in newborns

An equally important topic that worries many parents is how to determine whether too frequent or rare, liquid or hard stools are a sign of a disturbed digestive system or some kind of disease.

Specialists identify 3 variations in the frequency of bowel movements in newborn children: constipation, diarrhea, or irregular defecation.

Each of these pathological conditions have their own characteristics.

It is possible to talk about difficult fecal eruption in a child on artificial or breastfeeding if any of the following signs(possible combination of symptoms):

The main causes of difficulty with bowel movements in monthly baby the following:

deficiency of milk in the mother;
improper feeding (lack of water, excess food, unsuitable mixtures for artisans, early feeding);
insufficient physical activity;
immature gastrointestinal tract (for example, in premature babies);
various diseases (diseases of the central nervous system);
organics (intestinal obstruction).

If newborns poop very rarely, you must first perform simple steps: make a light massage of the child's tummy, review your diet or change the mixture for children on IV.

If the initial measures are not effective enough, you should consult a doctor who will determine the exact cause of the difficult stool and prescribe the correct therapy - using glycerin suppositories, lactulose syrup or microclysters.

Too frequent and loose stools, which differ in consistency from individual or age indicators, are the main symptom similar condition. Diarrhea in infants is not spotting on diapers, which appears when gas is discharged.

The causes of diarrhea during infancy depend on many factors, including the child's age and health:

Diarrhea in newborns is dangerous due to dehydration, so it’s still better not to engage in amateur activities, but to contact a pediatrician.

He will determine the provoking factor, prescribe treatment, which includes changing the diet (purchasing a different mixture with artificial feeding) or taking medication.

Irregular stool

A similar problem is characterized by alternating delayed bowel movements with diarrhea or a change normal stool diarrhea or hard stools. The main reason is improper feeding.

If parents are faced with irregular bowel movements, it is necessary to change the child's diet. With a balanced diet, normal feeding and suitable mixture you should make an appointment with the doctor for a thorough examination.

All parents are concerned about how much and how often a newborn baby should poop. The process of defecation is influenced by many factors, so the concept of "norm" in this case is rather arbitrary.

However, any error baby chair requires observation and consultation of a doctor, while the mother needs to monitor her own diet and purchase suitable for the baby mixture.

Hello, I'm Nadezhda Plotnikova. Having successfully studied at SUSU as a special psychologist, she devoted several years to working with children with developmental problems and advising parents on raising children. I apply the experience gained, among other things, in the creation of psychological articles. Of course, by no means do I pretend to be the ultimate truth, but I hope that my articles will help dear readers deal with any difficulties.

In this article, we will answer the question of young mothers: How many times should a newborn baby poop.

Most young mothers start to panic when the child's behavior changes, they often ask questions: is the baby getting enough milk, is it hot or cold, how many times should a newborn baby poop, etc.

So let's take a look at the question...

In general, the child's stool has the ability to change, then the child poops 8 - 10 per day, then does not go to the toilet for several days.

What is the norm?

Since all children are different, the concept of the norm does not exist here. You have to watch your baby if he is worried about anything, if he has a good appetite, if his stomach is soft, if he is in a good mood, etc. The type and frequency of your child's stool is affected by the type of feeding. If your baby is breastfed, then he can poop up to 7 times a day and this is normal. My children were breastfed and the frequency of going to the toilet was about the same.

In general, in children of this age, the stool has a uniform consistency, it can be either liquid or mushy, but it should not be solid. It is important that you monitor the child's stool, there should be no lumps, mucus, blood in the baby's secretions (if you find any of the above, in this case you need to consult a doctor, as the child may have some kind of disease).

Sometimes it happens…

It happens that a child, being breastfed, poops once every two days and there is nothing to worry about (unless, of course, he is naughty and has a hard stomach), his body simply absorbs mother's milk well. If it’s hard for a child to go on a big one, he often cries, pushes, and all this is to no avail, then this is constipation.

How to deal with this problem?

First of all, you need to look at what the mother of the child eats, namely, include laxative foods in the diet. You can also use an enema, but remember the volume of water should not exceed 30 ml. and water temperature should be room temperature. And one more nuance: often you can’t do an enema, as this can aggravate the problem of constipation. Massage in the intestinal area (clockwise) helps well, as well as laying the baby on the tummy. You can’t listen to grandmothers and put pieces of soap in your child, as this can affect the intestinal microflora.

If our children had constipation, they cried, refused to feed, arched, well, in general it was terrible, then the wife took an ear stick (previously choosing with the smallest cotton head) and smeared it with baby cream and thereby forced her son or daughter to poop. Instead of a bar of soap! The effect was! But I’ll say right away that this is often not worth doing, as the child himself stops trying to poop. There are medicines for constipation for children, but they should not be used without the advice of a doctor.

loose stool

Also, the baby has liquid bowel movements and mothers often perceive this as diarrhea, but this is not always the case. As I wrote above, a child can poop up to 7 times, if he does this more often, then try to remember maybe you ate something new the other day and eliminating this product will improve your child's stool. If the liquid stool does not stop and you notice any impurities in the child's secretions, the stool foams and has a sharp unpleasant odor, the color turns green, then you need to see a doctor. Maybe it's lactose intolerance or intestinal infection, in any case, without going to the doctor can not do.

Artificial feeding and stool of the newborn

WITH natural feeding we figured it out, now let's talk about a child who eats mixtures. Ideally, a child on artificial feeding she goes to the toilet about 4 times a day, the color of the feces can be either light yellow or dark brown, the smell is sharp. If you notice that the baby's feces are liquid and there are undigested lumps in it, then this means that you overfed him with a formula. You need to contact your pediatrician.

Every mother knows her child well, so you just need to keep an eye on him and not panic in vain!

This is where I will end this article. Health to you and your children!

Normally, the baby poops quite often. The baby's stool is porridge-like in consistency, yellowish or greenish color, and it may also contain white curd lumps of milk. But when the stool becomes more frequent and crying is added to this, loss of appetite, gas formation increases, the child slowly gains weight - you need to see a doctor.

How many times exactly the baby should poop, eating breast milk - it is impossible to say unequivocally. This process is directly related to the time of day, drinking regimen, maternal nutrition, as well as the individual characteristics of the body. Usually normal frequency stool changes to different periods tiny life.

First day of life

The first stool is called meconium. It is a black chair. On this day, the child can empty the intestines 1-6 times a day.

2nd–5th days of life

At the stage of this period, there may be no stool or the passage of meconium. Until the meconium completely leaves the baby's body, he will not poop normal feces. On such days, the child defecates up to 3 times a day.

2nd week

It is impossible to say exactly how many times the baby should empty the intestines per day at this age. Before 3 weeks of age, the baby may have irregular bowel movements. This is the normal state.

Such an irregular process of defecation is explained by the characteristics of the organism. baby and normalization of lactation. After the first week, the formation of colic and gases in the crumbs is often noticed.

3rd–6th week

Since mother's milk has laxative properties, the baby begins to empty the intestines up to 10 times a day. Often the number of meals is equal to the number of bowel movements. When the baby poops a little - up to 4 times, the mother should observe the process of lactation, namely, how much milk she produces. Such a failure in the crumbs may be due to insufficient production of milk.

From the 6th week

From this point on, the number of bowel movements is sometimes reduced. They can be observed once a day, and sometimes once every three days. This is due to the appearance of an enzyme crisis, when the baby's digestion reacts sharply to changes in the composition of mother's milk. The production of enzymes affects the general condition of the child: he may be active or, conversely, be lethargic.

From the 2nd month

2 months of age is characterized by the normalization of the rhythm of the gastrointestinal tract. Now the child will not often go to the toilet. Children often defecate about 1-2 times a day. But the number of bowel movements, equal to 6, is also considered the norm.

From the 6th month

Many parents are starting to introduce complementary foods. During this period, there is a change in fecal masses, they can acquire Strong smell, dense structure, and the number of bowel releases is reduced.

Attention! If the child is defecating frequently, parents need to constantly weigh him.

How much should the baby weigh

In the first week, the baby can reduce its weight.
And after the first, its increase begins.
The normal set is about 150 grams per day.

If all the conditions for normal weight gain are preserved, then the baby often poops due to individual features organism.

When formula fed

A bottle-fed baby goes to the toilet less frequently than a breastfed baby. This is because formula is harder to digest than milk.

Normal frequency of bowel movements

Pediatricians say that regardless of the type of food, the baby will poop as many times as he ate. The recommended meal interval is about three hours.

Normal consistency

When fed with formula, the feces will have a dense structure, which explains its irregularity. Sometimes this leads to constipation.

constipation

When the baby does not empty the intestines for a day, this indicates a delay in stool. If the mixture is not suitable for the crumbs, he may often suffer from constipation or the appearance of a liquid stool. At such a moment, you need to contact the pediatrician and transfer the baby to another mixture.

It is worth remembering that it is impossible to change mixtures often, as this can cause malfunctions in the gastrointestinal tract, since the digestive system does not have time to adapt to the new nutrient. When parents are forced to change the mixture frequently, the baby's stool must change: its frequency can either increase or decrease.

How to relieve constipation

Many pediatricians claim that a stool once every 5 days is the norm, since breast milk can be completely processed in the intestine. But if the child suffers from colic, bloating, behaves restlessly, refuses to eat and does not poop at all, someone should help him.

There are several ways to help alleviate the condition of the baby:

Lactulose syrup. The basis of this syrup is lactulose, which normalizes bowel function. For children, it is considered a safe laxative, but it has by-effect in the form of gas. Therefore, it is impossible for a child to receive a lot of this medicine. It is necessary to give him exactly as much as prescribed in his instructions. Usually the relief effect is achieved at night.
Glycerin suppositories. Such a drug is used if the first remedy did not work. Usually one candle is enough to gently solve the problem at night. But do not use this medicine regularly.
Enema. This procedure can only be used in last resort if there is a long delay in stool, bloating, colic.
Massage. Massage should activate the work of the intestines, which will remove gases and promote stool. To do this, you can perform the “bicycle” exercise or stroke your stomach around the navel regularly, several times a day.

Conclusion

How many times should a baby have a bowel movement per day? Why doesn't he poop at all even at night? These questions often concern new parents. Usually the number of bowel movements from 4 to 10 times is considered the norm. Sometimes the baby does not have a bowel movement at all. In most cases, if the baby good mood, he is active, eats well and sleeps at night, there is no reason for concern, since milk is fully absorbed in his body, and the child simply has nothing to poop.

It is worth sounding the alarm when the baby is lethargic, restless, he poor appetite and moody mood.