Is it normal for babies to have mushy stools?

In fact, once we are unwell in our lives, we can definitely judge it by the condition of the body. For example, sometimes our stool is very abnormal, just like water, which often indicates diarrhea. This is not only true for adults, but even more so for children, so parents must always pay attention to whether their children's bowel movements are normal. So, is it normal for babies to have mushy stools?

Abnormal stool in newborns

1. Egg drop soup-like stool: 5-10 bowel movements a day, which may contain some undigested milk lumps, but generally no mucus. This indicates indigestion and is more common in children who eat milk or milk powder. If the baby is breastfed, breastfeeding should continue. Generally, there is no need to change the feeding method, nor to reduce the amount of milk and the frequency of feeding. The baby can return to normal naturally. If the baby is mixed or bottle-fed, feeding should still continue, but the dietary structure can be adjusted appropriately. For example, if the baby is formula-fed, more water can be added when mixing the milk to make the milk a little thinner. For those who drink less milk, some sugary salt water can be fed appropriately. The amount of milk fed each time can also be appropriately reduced and the number of feedings can be increased. If your bowel movements are still abnormal after 2-3 days, you should consult a doctor.

2. Green loose stools: often occur when the weather changes, you catch a cold, or you eat indigestible food. The number of bowel movements per day is usually 5-10 times.

3. Watery stool: more common in autumn and winter, mostly caused by enterovirus infection. Children usually have bowel movements more than 10 times a day, and their bowel movements are watery and the volume is quite large. Because children lose a lot of water, they often show symptoms of dehydration such as dry lips, sunken eye sockets, few or no tears, little or no urination, poor skin elasticity, etc. Children may also show symptoms such as lack of energy, spitting up milk, and not wanting to eat milk. They should seek medical attention as soon as possible, and attention should be paid to the disinfection of baby supplies such as pacifiers.

4. Mucus or pus and blood in stool: more common in summer when the weather is a little hot, mostly caused by bacterial infection, and should also be treated as soon as possible.

5. Dark brown foamy stools: more common in artificially fed babies, mostly caused by too much starch or sugar in the food (such as too much sugar in milk powder, adding rice soup and other cereal foods too early, etc.). It can usually return to normal by properly adjusting the diet structure.

6. Oily stool: The stool is light yellow, liquid, large in quantity, and shiny like oil. It can slide on the diaper or in the potty like oil beads. This means there is too much fat in the food. It is more common in bottle-fed babies and the diet structure needs to be adjusted, such as adding sugar appropriately or temporarily switching to low-fat milk (note that low-fat milk cannot be consumed as a normal diet for a long time).