From the first day of life, the infant diaper is under the scrutiny of young parents. There are many concerns: how many times a newborn should have stool, what consistency and color. Such anxiety is justified, because children's feces reflect the state of digestion of the crumbs.
How many times a day should there be a chair?
During the period of intrauterine development, in the intestines of the baby, primordial feces - meconium, which departs already in the first days after birth, accumulate. Fecal matter has a pasty consistency of a dark, almost black color, odorless.
After a woman normalizes lactation, infant feces pass into a formalized state. In the transition period, the color of the stool in newborns and its composition have mixed characteristics of primordial and mature bowel movements.
Children's feces have a yellowish color and a mushy state. The smell resembles slightly sour milk. In the first weeks of life, the child recovers quite often. To say how many times a chair should have a newborn in this period can only be approximately. Bowel movement usually occurs after each feeding, but can happen more often. The number of bowel movements reaches ten times a day.
With the growth of the child, the daily frequency of the stool gradually decreases and reaches one to three times. It is extremely rare that the child's body carries out the absolute assimilation of mother's milk, and then undigested residues are almost not formed in the intestine. In a similar situation, it will be difficult to answer the question "how many times should a newborn's stool be"? Bowel movements can occur occasionally, perhaps even once a week. That is, when the colon is filled with enough feces.
It should be clarified that a rare stool of a newborn at 2 months is considered the norm only under the condition of breastfeeding. At the same time, the child is active, cheerful, gaining weight well and does not show signs of ill health.
If the baby has mixed or artificial nutrition, then the question "how many times should the stool be in a newborn" can be quite definitely - at least once a day. If this does not happen, then most likely the baby has constipated. In this case, the child will behave uneasily and cry.
Everything described above refers to a typical process of the work of the children's intestines in the first months of life. Unfortunately, deviations from the norm sometimes occur, so it’s worth considering which stool the newborn still has.
Greenish feces
After a woman stabilizes the process of lactation, the baby's feces can have a greenish tint, sometimes with an admixture of mucus. There are several reasons for this.
Perhaps the baby is short of mother’s milk and remains hungry. Lack of food can be complicated by the fact that the mother’s breast is not sufficiently decanted or her nipples are tight.
On a children's chair mother's nutrition is reflected. If the diet of a nursing woman is a large number of vegetables and fruits, then this has a direct effect on the change in color and composition of the stool of the baby.
Greens in children's feces can be explained by inflammation of the intestinal mucosa. It could be provoked by oxygen starvation, or hypoxia, which occurred during childbirth. In this case, medical intervention will be required followed by long-term treatment.
Causes
The cause of intestinal inflammation can be maternal malnutrition. If the menu of a nursing woman contains products containing artificial colorants, food additives, fillers, preservatives, then harmful substances enter the baby’s body through milk.
The most common cause of the inflammatory process is dysbiosis. The disease is characterized by an increase in pathogenic bacteria that can inhibit the beneficial flora and provoke negative changes in the intestinal environment. If during pregnancy and childbirth a woman or child received antibiotics, then the chances of intensifying dysbiosis significantly increase.
With artificial feeding, stool disorders are often associated with nutritional characteristics. Feces in children are more dense than with breast feeding, and has a darker color. The presence of a greenish tint and pungent odor confirms the presence in the diet of foods containing a high concentration of iron. This reaction of the body is considered normal, and you should not worry about this.
In the case when the stool turns black without iron supplements, you should definitely consult a doctor to exclude intestinal bleeding.
Nutrition and stool in a newborn
Sometimes in baby feces you can find particles of food that the body has not digested. This fact should not cause parental anxiety, because some products, in principle, are not completely digested. Also, the food for the baby may not be well-worn, or the baby will overeat during feeding. The color of the stool may also vary depending on the composition of the products. Vegetables such as beets or carrots can give the faeces their distinct shade. But if poorly digested food appears in the feces all the time, you should sound the alarm and consult a pediatrician.
Watery bowel movements
With the disorder, the watery stool in a newborn can be so thin that it will leak out of the diaper. The cause may be an infection or a food allergy. It is imperative to pay attention to how many times a newborn's stool has occurred on that day. Frequent fluid bowel movements can lead to rapid dehydration. If liquid bowel movements are repeated repeatedly, then this is an occasion to consult a doctor. The help of a doctor is needed especially if mucus or blood is present in the feces.
Sometimes it happens that a watery stool in a newborn has a discolored, offensive smell and foams. This phenomenon occurs with poor digestion of milk sugar - lactose. The reason is the low content of enzymes in the child's body that can break down this carbohydrate. For breastfeeding, lactase should be added to breast milk at the dosage recommended by your doctor. If the baby is on artificial feeding, then they recommend a mixture with a low content of the above element.
Constipation
In the event of constipation, the child may experience pain and difficulty defecating. Traces of blood may be found in the feces - this is the result of a crack in the anus. Repeated constipation indicates intolerance to any product. Often they happen at the beginning of complementary foods or the transition to mixed nutrition.
Cause of bowel problems
According to the observations of pediatricians, problems with stool in newborns most often occur due to violations in the organization of breastfeeding. The microflora of the children's intestine is influenced by a number of reasons. This is late application to the breast, strict feeding in accordance with the schedule, early introduction of complementary foods (up to six months) or the transition to artificial feeding.
If the child has frequent stool disorder or a confirmed diagnosis of intestinal infection, then in no case should the baby be deprived of mother's milk. Breast nutrition will help restore microflora faster and give protective forces to a small body.
Conclusion
Self-medication is not recommended, especially with the use of biological additives. Any appointments should be made only by an experienced doctor.