How many times a day is normal for a child to poop?

Children have different bowel movements every day due to differences in age, diet, bowel habits, etc. The frequency of feces in infants and young children can reflect the condition of the child's intestines. The frequency of bowel movements varies among breastfed, formula-fed, and mixed-fed babies. By understanding these characteristics of children, we can roughly understand the child's physical condition.

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.

Observation of the stool characteristics of infants and young children can help us understand their digestion conditions. If the baby's stool has a strong odor, it means that the protein is not digested properly. At this time, you should reduce the amount of milk appropriately or dilute the milk. If there is a lot of foam in the stool, it means that carbohydrates are not digested properly, and you must reduce or even stop eating starchy foods. If the stool looks creamy, it indicates fat malabsorption and the intake of fatty foods should be reduced.

Through the above introduction, we can roughly understand the reflection of feces on the baby's physical health. However, we should not worry too much about the baby's defecation. What is more important is to observe the baby's behavior and surface reactions. After all, the baby's ability to express is limited. If there is any discomfort, it will definitely be expressed in the simplest way first.