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

We know that although defecation is a common thing for babies, the shape, smell and frequency of the stool can often better judge the baby's gastrointestinal health. Once the baby has frequent or no bowel movements, it means that the baby has some gastrointestinal problems, so it is necessary to make adjustments in time. In order to allow more parents to take better care of their babies, let's take a look at how many times a day it is normal for a newborn to defecate.

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

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 is an introduction to how many times a day a newborn baby should have bowel movements. After understanding this, we know that the frequency and shape of bowel movements are different for breastfed babies and formula-fed babies. Therefore, when mothers judge the gastrointestinal condition of their babies based on stool, they must combine it with their baby’s feeding method. In addition, if the mother is breastfeeding, in order to ensure the gastrointestinal health of the baby, she must pay attention to eating light foods and balanced nutrition.