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

When the baby defecates, many parents will observe the color, smell and amount of the stool in order to diagnose the baby's diet, growth and disease. This phenomenon has become very popular in society. So how many times a day is normal for a baby to defecate? The baby's stool can be divided into meconium, breastfed stool, and formula-fed stool. The frequency and amount of bowel movements vary greatly. Only symptomatic diagnosis and differentiation can make an accurate judgment. Let's learn about the answer below.

The poop excreted by a newborn baby is called meconium. It is black-green or dark green, sticky, odorless, and a bit like asphalt used for paving roads. Meconium is composed of bile, intestinal secretions, desquamated epithelial cells, amniotic fluid and fetal hair swallowed by the baby in the womb, and is usually excreted within two to three days.

If no meconium is seen within 24 hours after birth, one should suspect congenital malformation of the digestive tract causing fecal obstruction, which requires prompt diagnosis and treatment. Three to four days after birth, meconium gradually transitions to regular baby stool. After that, the frequency of the baby's bowel movements is more affected by the feeding method.

First, let’s talk about the frequency of bowel movements of breastfed babies, which also varies in stages. For breastfed babies, the frequency of bowel movements is very flexible. Usually, the frequency is higher in the neonatal period, 2-5 times a day, or even after each feeding. This is because breast milk is easy to digest, easy to excrete, and because of the reflex peristalsis of the intestines after food is input. Therefore, if a breastfed baby has loose stools or has more frequent bowel movements, it is normal as long as he is in good spirits and feeding, is gaining weight normally, and does not have difficulty defecating, abdominal pain, or bloating, and parents do not need to worry.

Breastfed newborns may even defecate 7-8 times a day. Parents do not need to worry. This is called physiological diarrhea, which is a normal phenomenon. When the baby grows to a certain age, this diarrhea will disappear automatically. In addition, if the baby's stool is dark green and mucous, it means that there is insufficient breast milk and the baby is in a semi-starved state, and the amount of breast milk needs to be increased. If the mother's breast milk is indeed insufficient, the baby can be given fresh milk, milk powder, etc.

Baby poop is usually mushy or thicker than ice cream and has no odor. Babies who are breastfed rarely suffer from constipation. They absorb almost everything and produce very little waste. This explains why babies sometimes only defecate once every three days. Please remember that the food the mother eats greatly affects the baby, and spicy food can cause indigestion in children.

Compared with babies who are breastfed, artificially fed newborn babies have less feces, which are usually drier, rougher, and slightly harder like paste. But as long as it is not difficult to defecate and does not look like sheep feces, it is fine. If there is no problem with digestion, it will usually be earthy yellow or golden yellow with a slightly sour smell, about 1-2 times a day. After the child's digestive function stabilizes, children who eat formula milk have more frequent bowel movements, and the stool is harder, yellower, and has a peculiar smell than that of breastfed children. Babies who are fed formula should have a bowel movement at least once a day. If this is not the case and they have difficulty defecating due to hard stools, they may be constipated.

Sometimes parents will find that their child's stool is soft, like soft-shelled eggs, but a normal child's stool should be hard. The solution to the problem is to give the child more water: that is, add more water to the usual formula milk. You can also give your child more cold boiled water while feeding him. After the child reaches a few months old, you can add some dried plum juice or filtered fruit juice to the drinking water to prevent dry stools.

Through the explanation in the article, we can accurately judge how many times a day a baby's bowel movements are normal. Although some babies have frequent bowel movements, based on multiple judgments, we find that the bowel movements are normal. Therefore, we cannot make a unified judgment that there is a problem if the baby has frequent bowel movements. If the baby has infrequent bowel movements, it also depends on the situation. Babies with umbilical cords have regular bowel movements and fewer bowel movements, so the frequency of bowel movements changes, and parents must also identify them in time.