Preparing for the appearance of the first child in the family, good parents spend a lot of time and energy studying all that is connected with it. They know exactly when the baby should have teeth, at what age he will be able to raise his head, and at what - to take the first steps. But very few people know how much children should be at 2 months old. Yes, the topic is not the most pleasant - you can’t talk about this at the table. But to understand it is very important. On the one hand, this allows for the timely recognition of some dangerous diseases. On the other hand, the risk of panic rising out of the blue and excessive care to harm a child is reduced.
How many times a day does a baby poop?
Of course, the first thing to do is figure out how many times a child should be pooping at 2 months. The question is very difficult - there is no way to give a definite answer. A really large number of factors affect this: the presence of a healthy sleep, the psychological climate in the family, the nutrition of the mother, the presence of pathologies of pregnancy and childbirth. Therefore, the scatter can be very large - from 10-12 times a day to one in two or three days.
The main thing here is not to raise a panic. By the 5-7th day of life, a child develops a certain rhythm. Noticing his mother spending whole days with him is not at all difficult. Watching a week or two at the regularity of bowel movements, she already knows how many times a child should poop. Up to 2 months, the picture remains approximately the same - of course, in the absence of any disease. Natural changes occur gradually. At 2–4 months, the baby will poop 3–6 times a day. In half a year - about 2-3 times. And in a year this indicator will be reduced to 1-2. Throughout this time, the number of “sessions” changes smoothly and gradually. Any sharp failure both in the direction of decrease and increase should attract the attention of parents.
Amount of feces
However, it is not enough to know how many times a child is pooping at 2 months. It is also necessary to have an idea of how many feces should remain on the diaper or in the sliders.
This indicator increases gradually and will not always be the same. For example, if a child does not feel well, then during the day he can poop twice as often as usual. But due to poor appetite, the amount of feces will be very small. But this is rather the exception.
Usually a child in the first month or two spews out a little bit of feces - 5-10 grams, usually several times a day. This will surprise many - how little, by consuming hundreds of grams of milk per day, how little is so much? In fact, there is nothing surprising. Mother's milk is the most balanced meal. Therefore, almost the entire volume is assimilated. In addition, most of the milk is water, so a child with a good appetite will write quite often.
By six months, the number of feces will increase markedly and will be approximately 40-60 grams per day. The consistency will also change - we will consider this a bit later. Finally, in the year this figure will reach approximately 100-200 grams.
Normal consistency
So, having figured out how much children should be pooping at 2 months, you also need to find out about the consistency - this is also a very important indicator.
If the baby was born just a few days or weeks ago, then normal stool should be soft, reminiscent of liquid gruel. However, some children also have a rather thick gruel. The main thing to keep in mind is that it should be uniform in consistency and color.
Upon hearing this, some parents immediately begin to sound the alarm. They noticed that a rather thick, even hard and almost dry slurry remained in the diaper. However, panic is not worth it. We will not say that a long stay of a child in a diaper causes serious harm to his health - this is already a well-known fact. But here it is also worth considering that the diaper absorbs moisture, leaving only small and rather dry lumps on the surface. So this is not an indicator.
With age, the stool of the child becomes more dense. At six months, it is a rather thick gruel. In the year it is almost decorated - these are the usual "sausages" only more plastic and soft than in adults.
The older the child, the more dense his stool becomes, representing a thick slurry by half a year, and by the year it becomes almost formalized, but at the same time quite soft and plastic.
Keeping track of the smell
Now the reader knows how much and how a child should be pooping at 2 months. But another important indicator is the smell. Here, you don’t really need to follow it - changing the sliders or the diaper, it is difficult not to notice the “aroma” coming from the child who has just done the “dirty” thing.
Here a lot depends on what kind of feeding the baby is. Of course, the best option here is breastfeeding - mother’s milk has been created by nature itself over millions of years, and nothing better can be invented here. So, if a child receives only milk, then the smell of feces will be sour and almost pleasant.
Alas, it is not always possible to provide children with natural feeding. You have to use special soluble mixes and mashed potatoes. They are absorbed noticeably worse, as evidenced by the smell of feces - rotten or putrid, rather unpleasant.
Any deviations here should attract the attention of parents, especially if the child at 2 months often poops, or vice versa.
What should be the color
Experienced parents know that stool color is another indicator of a baby’s excellent digestion. What should it be? We will deal with this issue.
In the first days of life, the chair has a yellow color with various shades - brown, even golden. Lumps are either completely absent or make up a small fraction of the total mass. Gradually, with the advent of lure, it darkens. And when the child switches to regular food, completely abandoning mother's milk or reducing its amount to an insignificant amount, the stool becomes completely brown.
In addition to the above colors, feces may also be greenish. In this case, you should not panic, stuff the child with drops and call an ambulance. The stool is often colored green due to biliverdin or bilirubin. It is most often excreted in infants with physiological jaundice. Until the sixth to ninth month, the body breaks down hemoglobin, inherited from the mother and providing partial immunity. At the same time, these substances are produced that give the feces a greenish tint. And at first the chair may not be green, but yellow or brown. And when in the air it gradually acquires an unusual shade - bilirubin is oxidized.
However, if the stool suddenly turns green, without any transitions, and this has never been seen before, this is an occasion to consult a doctor. It is possible that there is an upset digestion (for example, due to the appearance of complementary foods or getting milk in excess) or a disease like dysbiosis or intestinal infection.
We examine the feces
A useful habit in a young mother can be to examine the feces of the baby. In general, any impurities signal some problems. Therefore, you should be aware of them.
For example, white lumps are a sign that the baby’s digestive system is not fully functioning. Because of this, it can poorly absorb milk. However, if the baby feels well and is gaining weight normally, this can be neglected - with time it will pass by itself.
The same can be said about particles of undigested food with the introduction of the first complementary foods. The stomach only tunes, gets used to those products that it will consume in the coming years. If the particles have not disappeared within 5-7 days, then this feeding should be discarded. Apparently, it was introduced too early, and the children's stomach can not fully digest it.
Do not be scared and mucus. It is present in any intestine, having an important protective function. If she appeared in the stool of a child who receives mainly breast milk, you should not worry - this is a variant of the norm.
But if veins or blood clots or pus were found in the feces, then there is a reason to consult a doctor. This is a really dangerous symptom - you should not wait until everything normalizes by itself - this can lead to serious complications.
How lure affects stool
Young parents, knowing how and how much children should poop at 2 months and beyond, are terrified of being afraid of any deviations. But they will certainly be. The most striking example is the moment with the introduction of complementary foods. They recommend starting with juice - beetroot, apple, carrot. Just a few drops two to three times a day, while monitoring the reaction of the child's body. Then switch to mashed potatoes, and then to porridge.
Of course, every new product in the baby’s diet affects stool. The body has to adapt, to produce new enzymes necessary for their breakdown and assimilation. Therefore, diarrhea, excessively dense feces, too frequent or rare bowel movements are quite possible.
Is it constipation?
Quite often, inexperienced parents panic if the child is 2 months old poop once every two to three days. Some mothers go to the doctors, while others immediately take laxatives or give them to the child to facilitate the bowel movement.
And completely in vain. It was already noted above that milk is almost completely absorbed by the child's body, and the amount of waste in this case becomes minimal. Therefore, do not worry and try to fit the baby under the established template. Even if you know how much your baby is 2 months old, it’s not necessary to follow this schedule.
The main thing is that the baby is fun
How do you know if a child needs help? After all, the baby cannot say that his stomach hurts, and he wants to poop, but he cannot. In fact, an attentive mother will always notice if something is wrong with the baby. He refuses food, pushes, but at the same time he cannot go. Of course, because of this, the child cries for no apparent reason (dry, does not have an elevated temperature).
From the behavior it is quite possible to determine that something is wrong with the baby. Therefore, if a child at 2 months of age doesn’t give a bad shit, but at the same time he bucks cheerfully, smiles at the whole world and eats with appetite, then there is no reason for concern.
How to give your child medicine
Alas, in some cases, you still have to resort to medication. For example, if a child at 5 months of age does not poop for 2 days or more and it is noticeable that he is already experiencing discomfort, he will push a lot, and sometimes this is accompanied by crying, but cannot go to the toilet. The doctor will probably prescribe suitable drops. However, even the most experienced parent is unlikely to convince the baby to drink them.
How to be in such a situation? The easiest way is to express a little milk and stir the drops in it. Then feed the baby with a teaspoon or from a bottle.
The same can be done with artificial feeding - in this case, the drops are mixed in a mixture. There are usually no problems here.
Conclusion
On this our article comes to an end. Now you know how much children should be pooping at 2 months, and also understand various deviations and the most likely causes. As a result, you can avoid many of the serious problems that young parents face.