How many times a day does a breastfed baby poop?

Anyone who has been a mother knows that there is no uniform pattern in the bowel movements of newborn babies. Sometimes they have more, sometimes they have less. However, each baby has his or her own pattern. How many times a day is normal for a breastfed baby to poop? Experts say that the normal number of bowel movements for newborns is 7-8 times a day, which is much more than that of adults. If you want to know more detailed knowledge, please continue reading. I hope that parents can gain some understanding through the following content.

Normal stool shape and frequency

The stools of breastfed babies are golden yellow, occasionally slightly green and relatively thin; or they are ointment-like, uniform, sour and without foam. Normally, the neonatal period has more bowel movements, usually 2-5 times a day, but some babies may have 7-8 bowel movements a day. As the child grows older, the frequency of bowel movements will gradually decrease, and after 2-3 months the frequency of bowel movements will be reduced to 1-2 times a day. Therefore, if a breastfed baby has loose stools or has more frequent stools, parents do not need to worry as long as the baby is energetic, feeding well, and growing in height and weight normally.

If the baby is fed formula, the stool is usually light yellow or khaki, dry, rough, like a hard paste, and often has an unpleasant fecal odor. If there is more sugar in the milk, the stool may become soft and have a slightly rotten odor, and the amount of stool will be larger each time. Sometimes there is grayish white "milk curds" mixed in the stool.

Don't compare your child with other children, because each child has his or her own growth trajectory, and different children have different daily bowel movement times. But be careful. If you normally only have 1 to 2 bowel movements a day, and this suddenly increases to 5 to 6 times a day, you should consider whether you are sick.

TIPS:

During breastfeeding, careful parents can understand the quality of breast milk and whether the mother's nutrition is appropriate by observing the newborn's stool, so as to adjust the diet structure and breastfeed scientifically. For example:

If the newborn's stool is yellow, and the feces and water are separated, and the frequency of bowel movements increases, it means that the newborn has indigestion, which suggests that the breast milk contains too much sugar. Because excessive fermentation of sugar can cause intestinal bloating, foamy stools, and a strong sour taste in newborns, mothers should limit their sugar intake and appropriately control their starch intake.

When there is too much protein in breast milk or the protein is not digested well, the newborn's stool will have hard lumps and a foul odor like rotten eggs. At this time, the mother should pay attention to limiting the intake of foods with high protein content such as eggs, lean meat, soy products, and milk.

When breastfeeding is insufficient, the stool is green, small in quantity, frequent, and green and mucous. Newborns often cry due to hunger. In this case, the bowel movements will return to normal as long as the baby is fed enough.

When there is too much fat in breast milk, the newborn will have more frequent bowel movements and undigested food in the stool. At this time, you can shorten the time of each feeding and let the baby eat the first half of the milk. Because the first half of breast milk contains more protein, it is easy to digest and rich in nutrition, while the second half contains more fat and is difficult to digest. If necessary, the mother can drink a large glass of light salt water half an hour to an hour before breastfeeding to dilute the milk and then breastfeed the child.

When the intestines are infected, the stool will be loose or watery with mucus, and have a fishy purulent smell. At this time, you need to take your baby to the hospital for treatment.

The above article has explained very clearly the common knowledge about how many times a breastfed baby poops a day. Mothers should carefully observe the frequency, color and consistency of their children's bowel movements. Once any abnormality is found, you should go to the hospital for examination in time. If it is caused by some disease, you should receive treatment in time and try to restore your bowel movements to normal as soon as possible.