What should be the stool in a newborn? Perhaps this is one of those questions that new parents often ask their local pediatrician. And they’re doing it right! After all, a chair is one of the indicators by which one can judge the state of health of the crumbs. Particular attention is paid to color, consistency, the presence or absence of various impurities in the feces.
But just to give a definite answer to the question of what kind of stool a newborn baby should have is not so simple.
Important to remember
The consistency and color of the stool, as well as the frequency of bowel movements, depends on the type of feeding and the age of the baby. It is worth considering that the concept of “newborn baby” covers a whole year - from the birth of the baby to the age of 12 months. Throughout this period, the baby undergoes continuous changes, and the nature of the stool will also gradually change.
In order to maximize the answer to the question of what kind of stool a newborn should have (we do not give a photo due to aesthetic reasons), we will consider approximate norms and deviations from them.
Meconium
These are the first feces after the birth of crumbs. They are a tarry mass of black-green color. How could a baby who hasn’t eaten anything get a chair? Mekonium consists of amniotic fluid, mucus, and dead cells that the child swallowed while he was in the womb.
As a rule, this type of stool is practically odorless. By the third or fourth day after birth, it should become less viscous, and the color should be lighter. This will indicate that the gastrointestinal tract of the child is functioning properly.
Artificial feeding chair
Parents should not be bothered by the question of what normal stool a newborn has if their baby constantly goes to the toilet with a yellow or slightly brown gruel-like mass. It is this option that is considered ideal and indicates the normal operation of the digestive tract.
The presence of white lumps in the feces suggests that parents are diluting the mixture incorrectly and it is urgent to choose the right proportions.
Children who are breast-fed should empty their bowels 1-2 times a day.
Breastfeeding chair
In this case, everything is not as simple as with children on artificial feeding. Breasts can empty their intestines from 3-12 times a day to once every 5-7 days. Provided the child is well, both options are outside the norm.
Another difficulty is that it is impossible to accurately answer the question of what color or what consistency a chair should have in a newborn. A child may go to the toilet in a liquid or gruel-like mass. What color should the stool be in a newborn? All shades of yellow, brown and even greenish, with white lumps, a little mucus or without them. Feces will have a sour-milk smell.
Mixed Feeding Chair
So, with babies and artificers, everything is clear. And what kind of stool does a newborn have with mixed feeding? There are many of them.
In this case, generally accepted norms will not differ from those that are designed for newborns who are fully breastfed. This means that the stool of such babies can be almost anything, with the exception of some pathological phenomena, which will be discussed below.
Post-feeding stool
After the introduction of complementary foods, the consistency and color of the stool necessarily change. It becomes thicker, in some cases with lumps of undigested food.
The stool shade may vary depending on what the child was eating. Therefore, parents do not need to be frightened if, after feeding pears or broccoli, their baby’s feces suddenly turn green.
Black chair
When a black chair appears, it is important to contact your pediatrician as soon as possible! If the baby’s diet does not contain supplements with a high iron content, such a change in bowel movements may indicate internal bleeding.
Green chair
This version of the stool can be both the norm and talk about the presence of problems in the work of the digestive tract. Often it appears as a result of an excess of lactose in the diet of crumbs. Other causes of the appearance of green stool may be an excess or, conversely, a lack of food, intestinal infections, dysbiosis.
The stool is too pale
Requires a specialist. Very often, it indicates violations in the functioning of the gallbladder. It is immediately worth noting that such a problem is very rare, so do not rush into a panic.
Blood stool
It is unlikely that at least someone, when looking for an answer to the question, which stool is normal in a newborn, will consider feces with blood to be quite a common occurrence. Such changes require urgent medical attention and an examination!
Mucus stool
The appearance of mucus in the stool usually indicates enzymatic deficiency. Simply put, the crumb organism cannot fully cope with the amount of food that enters it, due to a lack of lactase.
The mucus in the stool may also indicate that the newborn child eats only the front milk and does not have time to “get” to the fatter - the back. In this case, it is recommended to change the breast less often (every 1-2 feedings or every 4-5 hours).
Infectious diseases can also be accompanied by the appearance of mucus in the feces. It is important to remember! If within two days the mucus has not disappeared, and other symptoms of the disease have joined this unpleasant phenomenon, you should immediately contact a pediatrician.
Chair with pieces of food
It has already been recalled that in the stool of a newborn baby who has already been given complementary foods, particles of incompletely digested food may appear. Parents should not be afraid of such a phenomenon - it is considered quite normal.
But when considering the question of what kind of stool a newborn should have, it is worth clarifying some nuances. Slices of incompletely digested food should not be present permanently in the stool. Otherwise, you need to contact a specialist to check the baby's digestive tract for the assimilation of nutrients.
Foamy chair
We will continue to consider what kind of stool a newborn should have, and recall another possible option: a chair with foam. There are several reasons for its occurrence.
So, if a child feels well and is gaining excellent weight, but suffers from colic and gas, which are accompanied by a frothy stool, you can judge the imbalance of the front and rear milk. But why is this happening? The fact is that front milk contains a large amount of lactose. The still immature pancreas of the crumbs are not able to cope with its full digestion.
Fixing the problem is not so difficult. It’s enough to just adjust the baby’s nutrition: give a second breast only after emptying the first one or, if more milk is produced than necessary, express a little before feeding.
Another reason for the appearance of foamy stools is primary lactase deficiency. In this case, the newborn is very poorly gaining weight and often goes to the toilet “in a big way”. You can confirm the diagnosis only after giving feces for carbohydrates. An increase in their content by more than 1% indicates indigestibility. Additionally, parents can conduct other tests to identify the possible presence of allergies, dysbiosis, and also to identify the cause of lactase deficiency.
In this case, unfortunately, it will not be possible to maintain breastfeeding. The baby will have to be transferred to a low-lactose or lactose-free mixture.
Foamy stools can also form as a result of an intestinal infection. In this case, other unpleasant symptoms join him: poor baby feeling, fever, diarrhea (possibly with a green tinge, impurities of blood or mucus), vomiting. This state of crumbs requires an immediate doctor's call!
Diarrhea
You should immediately clarify which stool in a newborn baby is considered diarrhea. It is not only a liquid mass that can leak from the diaper. The question of diarrhea in a newborn begins to go only if the baby goes to the toilet "for the most part" with water and this happens more than 12 times a day. The chair can be painted yellow, brown or green.
Be that as it may, the appearance of diarrhea in a baby should not be ignored, especially if the newborn is less than three months old. In such small children, dehydration occurs very quickly and can lead to sad consequences.
Constipation
We have already figured out the main aspects about what stool should be in a newborn. The photo below shows a crying baby who can’t go to the toilet “in a big way” due to constipation. Should parents be afraid of this phenomenon? It all depends on how often it repeats.
If a baby's hard stool has arisen once, then do not panic. But if constipation torments the baby constantly, it is necessary to find the cause of the problem and eliminate it. At what, the faster - the better!
During constipation, the baby behaves uneasily, cries and pushes. In some cases, blood can be seen in the baby's stool. It appears as a result of damage to the mucous membrane of the anus by solid feces. This is very painful for the baby, so you should not put off a visit to the pediatrician for a long time.
To summarize
So, having considered what stool should be in a newborn, we can conclude that the only generally accepted norm does not exist. Its consistency and color may vary depending on the age, type of nutrition and health status of the crumbs.
Symptoms such as:
- diarrhea;
- vomiting or excessive spitting up;
- temperature rise;
- deterioration of well-being of the baby, decrease in external reactions;
- lack or low weight gain in the first 3 months of life;
- weight loss (this does not include weight loss in the first days after birth);
- the appearance of signs of dehydration (sunken fontanel, sagging skin);
- bad breath;
- rare urination (up to 6 times a day). In this case, the urine is dark in color and has a pungent odor.
And a few points that should not be done:
- Stop breastfeeding with constipation, diarrhea, dysbiosis, intestinal infections. It is important to remember that mother’s milk has unique properties and can help the baby to quickly cope with all the problems, restore the intestinal microflora. The reason for the cessation of breastfeeding is only lactase deficiency.
- Take tests for no apparent reason. Why waste your family budget on unnecessary things and add yourself another reason to worry? All necessary examinations should be prescribed by a specialist, and not by a neighbor who allegedly also had such a problem.
- Do it yourself! In no case should you treat a child on the advice of friends or articles from the Internet! If something worries young parents, you can always seek help from a children's doctor.
It is very important to monitor the nature of the bowel movements of the baby, and then no problem will go unnoticed. Let all the kids grow up healthy!