What to do if the newborn baby doesn't poop for a day

What would you do if your newborn baby hasn't pooped for a day? Newborns are very cute. The unexpected arrival of this angel is like a magical and beautiful gift. People want to look at it again and again. The rosy face and childish appearance make the family members never get tired of looking at it. However, when the baby shows abnormal conditions, even if it is just abnormal pooping or no pooping at all, the family will immediately become anxious. So, why does this happen?

It’s okay if a newborn baby doesn’t poop for a day. If you are feeding your baby with formula, you should let your baby drink more water. If you are breastfeeding, you should avoid eating foods that are easy to cause inflammation, as this may also prevent your baby from defecating.

1. Newborn meconium (dark green)

I guess the first time a child came into the world, he or she probably scared the parents a lot. It was a lot of dark green poop, and the fathers were so scared that they ran to call a doctor.

Even if a newborn baby has not eaten anything, he or she will pass dark green meconium 6 to 12 hours after birth.

I don’t know if it’s because the babies cherish their mothers, or they don’t want to dirty the amniotic fluid they swallow every day, but the babies must come out of their mother’s belly before they are willing to poop for the first time in their lives. Meconium that has accumulated for 9 months must be cleared out through frequent bowel movements, which usually takes 2 to 3 days, 3 to 5 times a day, for the dark green color to disappear.

Meconium is usually odorless, viscous, and nearly dark green in color. It is mainly composed of amniotic fluid swallowed by the baby in the womb, epithelial cells shed by the fetus, vellus hair, sebum, bile, intestinal secretions, etc. These innate things are difficult to wash off, and experienced elders will tell the children's parents that they must use diapers instead of cloth diapers in the first few days.

Experts remind you - this is not a bad "poop": the time for premature babies to excrete meconium is sometimes delayed, which is mainly related to the poor intestinal motility of premature babies or delayed feeding of children.

2. Transitional stool (yellow-green)

During the days when meconium is excreted, breastfeeding also begins. When the meconium is completely excreted and the stool transitions to normal stool, it will be yellow-green in color. Most newborns' stools will show this stage after 2-3 days of breastfeeding, and then gradually enter the normal yellow stage (breastfed babies).

Experts remind you that this is not a bad "stool": the time when newborns start feeding and the amount of milk they consume will directly affect the appearance and duration of transitional stools. If the start of breastfeeding is delayed or the amount of milk consumed is too little, the transition period will also be delayed.

3. Stool during lactation

a. Breastfed babies (soft golden stools)

Because breast milk is rich in oligosaccharides, it can fully stimulate gastrointestinal motility. Therefore, most babies will not have hard stools and no obvious odor. The stools are golden yellow, occasionally slightly green and relatively thin; or ointment-like, uniform, sour and without foam. The frequency of bowel movements of breastfed babies is very flexible. Usually, the frequency is higher in the neonatal period, 2 to 5 times a day. As the child grows older, the frequency of bowel movements will gradually decrease. For children aged 2 to 3 months, the frequency of bowel movements will be reduced to 1 to 2 times a day. Therefore, if a breastfed baby has loose stools or has more frequent bowel movements, it is normal as long as the baby is in good spirits and feeding, has normal weight gain, and does not have difficulty defecating, abdominal pain, or bloating, and parents do not need to worry.

Experts remind you that this is not a bad "poop": Breastfed newborns may even defecate 7 to 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.

b. Artificially fed babies (khaki-yellow hard stools)

Babies fed with formula have less stool, which is usually drier, rougher, and a little harder like paste, but it is okay as long as it is not difficult to pass and does not look like sheep feces. If there is no problem with digestion, it will usually be earthy yellow or golden yellow with a slightly sour smell, about 1 to 2 times a day.

Experts remind you - this is not a bad "stool": babies who drink formula milk sometimes have yellow stools with green or cyan. This is because the iron content in formula milk is very high. When the baby does not fully absorb the iron in the milk powder, the excess iron will make the stool green. This is normal. It is not true what the older generation says that children’s stools are green. It is gastrointestinal discomfort caused by being frightened.

4. Stool after eating complementary food (dark color)

Babies start to eat complementary foods at 4 months old. As the amount and types of complementary foods increase, the baby's stool texture begins to approach that of adults and becomes darker in color.

Experts remind you - this is not a bad "stool": babies who eat more vegetables and fruits will have fluffier stools. If a child eats a lot of fish, meat, milk and eggs, his stool will smell smelly due to the protein digestion.

The Bad "Smelly" Capture Story

Once you are familiar with the normal "smell" of your baby as mentioned above, it will be easy to identify abnormal stools. In general, changes in the frequency and color of bowel movements do not indicate any problems, but the odor and water content of the stool may indicate many problems, such as the following bad "stinks" that hide hidden dangers and indicate disease.

Bad "stinky" 1--abnormal amniotic fluid in the mother's belly

B-ultrasound showed that the amniotic fluid in the mother's abdomen was turbid, and sampling showed the presence of turbid bodies. This means that the fetus has excreted meconium into the amniotic fluid, which is not a good thing. The most likely cause is fetal asphyxiation due to lack of oxygen.

Countermeasures: Check regularly and pay attention to abnormal fetal movements before delivery.

Bad "poop" 2--Newborn baby does not defecate for 24 hours

A full-term newborn baby has not passed meconium within 24 hours after birth.

Countermeasures: Ask your doctor to check whether your child has congenital malformations of the digestive tract.

Bad "smelly" 3--grey stools in newborns

The baby's stool has been grayish white or clay-colored since birth, and there has never been any yellow stool, but the urine is yellow.

Countermeasures: Notify the doctor immediately, as it is most likely caused by congenital bile duct obstruction. Delays in diagnosis and treatment can lead to permanent liver damage.

Bad "stinky" 4--tofu dregs

The stool is loose, yellow-green and contains mucus, and sometimes resembles tofu dregs.

Countermeasures: This may be fungal enteritis. Babies with fungal enteritis will also suffer from thrush. If the child has the above symptoms, he needs to go to the hospital for treatment.

Bad "stinky" 5--egg drop soup-like stool

The baby has 5 to 10 bowel movements a day, which contain a lot of undigested milk and generally no mucus.

Countermeasures: It is more common in children who drink milk or milk powder. If you are breastfeeding, you should continue. There is no need to change the feeding method or reduce the amount of milk or the frequency of feeding. Most babies will return to normal naturally. If mixed or artificial feeding is used, the dietary structure needs to be adjusted appropriately. You can add more water to the milk powder to make it thinner, or feed some sugary salt water. You can also reduce the amount of milk you feed each time and increase the number of feedings. If your bowel movements are still abnormal after 2 to 3 days, you should consult a doctor.

Bad "stink" 6--green loose stools

The stool volume is small, the frequency is high, and it is green and mucous.

Countermeasures: This situation is often caused by insufficient feeding. This kind of stool is also called "hunger stool" - your baby is not full. At this time, as long as you give enough nutrition, the stool will return to normal.

Bad "smelly" 7--foamy stool

The stool is loose, contains a lot of foam and has a distinct sour smell.

Countermeasures: Appropriate adjustment of diet structure can restore to normal. If a baby has yellow foamy stools before adding complementary foods, it means that there is too much sugar in the milk. The amount of sugar should be reduced appropriately and the amount of milk should be increased. If a baby who has already started eating complementary foods has brown foamy stools, it is due to excessive starch in the food, such as rice porridge, infant cakes, etc., which is caused by indigestion of the sugars in the food. You can just reduce or stop eating these foods.

Bad "stinky" 8--rotten egg stool

The stool smells like rotten eggs.

Countermeasures: This indicates that the baby is consuming too much protein or has protein indigestion. You should pay attention to whether the milk concentration is too high or whether the baby is eating too much. You can dilute the milk appropriately or limit the amount of milk for 1 to 2 days. If you have already added egg yolks, fish and other complementary foods to your child, you may consider temporarily stopping adding such complementary foods and then gradually adding them after your baby's bowel movements return to normal. You can also give your baby some multivitamin preparations to aid digestion.

Bad "smelly" 9--oily stool

The stool is light yellow, liquid, plentiful, shiny like oil, and slides on the diaper or in the potty like beads of oil.

Countermeasures: This means that there is too much fat in the food, which is more common in formula-fed babies. It is necessary to increase the sugar intake appropriately or temporarily switch to low-fat milk (but note that low-fat milk cannot be consumed as a normal diet for a long time).

Bad "stink" 10--water and feces separation

The water content in the stool increases, becoming soup-like, with the water separated from the stool, and the frequency and amount of bowel movements increase.

Countermeasures: This is a pathological manifestation, which is common in diseases such as enteritis and autumn diarrhea. Losing a large amount of water and electrolytes can cause dehydration or electrolyte imbalance in children. The child should be taken to the hospital immediately and attention should be paid to the disinfection of the baby's utensils.

Bad "smelly"--11 bloody stool

There are many forms of bloody stools. Usually the stool is red or dark brown, or contains blood, blood clots, bloody mucosa, etc.

Countermeasures: First, you should check whether the child has taken iron supplements or large amounts of iron-containing foods, such as animal liver and blood, which may cause false blood in the stool. If the stool becomes loose, contains more mucus or is mixed with blood, and the baby cries and is restless during defecation, you should consider whether it is infectious diarrhea caused by bacillary dysentery or other pathogens, and you should go to the hospital for treatment in time. If the stool is red bean soup-like, dark red in color and accompanied by a foul odor, it may be hemorrhagic necrotizing enteritis; if the stool is jam-colored, it may be intussusception; if the stool is tarry black, it may be upper gastrointestinal bleeding; if it is bright red bloody stool, it mostly indicates that the blood comes from the rectum or anus. In short, bloody stools cannot be ignored, and the above conditions require immediate hospital diagnosis and treatment.

Bad "stinky" 12--sheep feces

The baby's stool is dry and granular.

Countermeasures: Generally speaking, formula-fed babies are more prone to constipation than breastfed babies. We don't judge whether a child is constipated based on how many times a day or how often he or she has bowel movements. The most important indicator is the size of the baby.

The above is the answer to the question about a newborn baby not pooping for a day. Industry insiders suggest that when a baby does not poop for a day, parents should not be too nervous or anxious. Secondly, they need to figure out the cause of this situation, or consult a doctor or medical staff to find the right way to deal with it. If it still doesn't work, then you have to take your child to the hospital as soon as possible, because this matter cannot be delayed.