Is it normal for a baby to poop 3 times a day?

For parents, their children's health is the greatest happiness of being a parent. Babies are different from adults. When they are in pain or sick, they cannot express it with words like adults do. That is why parents must pay attention to everything about their babies to ensure their health. Careful parents can sometimes discover problems with their children from their stool. Normal bowel movements are a sign of healthy intestinal function. Is it normal for a baby to poop 3 times a day?

Children may have different bowel movements per day due to differences in age, diet, bowel habits, etc. The frequency and nature of infants' feces often reflect the physiological and pathological state of the child's gastrointestinal tract. Breastfed babies, formula-fed babies, and mixed-fed babies have their own characteristics in terms of bowel movement frequency and stool characteristics. If we understand these characteristics, we can understand the digestive tract function of infants and young children through their feces, adjust the amount and proportion of food in time, promote the digestion and absorption of food by infants and young children, prevent and reduce diarrhea, and detect some diseases early so that they can be treated early.

1. Breastfed infants’ feces: Breastfed infants who are not given complementary foods have yellow or golden yellow feces with a uniform consistency like ointment, or with various particles. Occasionally, it is thin and slightly green, has an acidic reaction, and has a sour smell but not smelly. Defecate 2-4 times a day. If you usually only have 1-2 bowel movements a day and suddenly increase to 5-6 times a day, you should consider whether you are sick. If the child has frequent bowel movements but is in generally good condition and does not lose weight but gains weight as usual, this should not be considered a disease. The frequency of bowel movements in infants can be reduced after adding complementary foods. For children over 1 year old, the frequency of bowel movements is reduced to once a day.

2. Artificial feeding stool: For infants fed with cow's milk, the stool is light yellow or earthy gray, hard, and has a neutral or alkaline reaction. Because milk contains a lot of protein, it has a distinct odor from the decomposition of the protein. Bowel movements are 1-2 times a day. If the amount of sugar in the milk is increased, the frequency of bowel movements will increase and the stools will be softer.

3. Feces of mixed-fed infants: Regardless of whether they are fed with human milk or cow's milk, if starchy foods are added at the same time, the amount of stool will increase, the hardness will be slightly lower than that of infants fed with pure milk, it will be dark brown, and the odor will increase. If you add more vegetables, fruits and other complementary foods, your stool will be similar to that of adults. When vegetable puree is first added, a small amount of green vegetable puree is often excreted in the stool. Some parents often think it is indigestion and stop adding vegetable puree. In fact, this phenomenon is common when healthy babies change their food. If there is no diarrhea, there is no need to stop adding complementary foods. After a few days, the gastrointestinal tract will get used to it and this situation will disappear.

I believe that through the introduction of the above text, everyone has a certain answer to the question such as "Is it normal for babies to defecate 3 times a day?" That’s right, the number of times a baby defecates every day, as well as some of its shapes and colors, are not necessarily the same. This is related to what you feed the baby and the baby’s physique. However, everyone must pay attention that if your baby has abnormal conditions such as diarrhea, it is recommended to go to the hospital for relevant examinations in time.