What should I do if my newborn baby has not defecated for 4 days?

Generally speaking, newborns defecate several times a day, but if they have not defecated for four days, parents must pay attention to it and pay more attention to whether the baby's belly has any changes. If the baby's belly becomes hard and bigger, parents must take the child to the hospital for relevant examinations as soon as possible, and then actively cooperate with the doctor for treatment, reduce the baby's pain, and give the baby appropriate boiled water.

What should I do if my newborn baby has not had a bowel movement for 4 days?

1. Feed more water

If a newborn baby has not defecated for 4 days, you can try feeding the baby some boiled water. At the same time, mothers who breastfeed should also drink more water. Water can help the newborn baby accelerate body circulation, stimulate gastrointestinal motility, dilute dry stools, and promote defecation in newborns.

2. Abdominal massage

If a newborn baby has not defecated for 4 days, the feces remaining in the intestine will be very dry and hard. While replenishing water for the newborn baby, parents can also give the baby abdominal massage, but the strength of the hands must be light, not too heavy, and massage in a clockwise direction.

3. Eat a light diet

For babies who are just 4 days old, breast milk is their main food. If they are breastfed, mothers must avoid spicy food and eat light food. This can prevent the heat in mothers' bodies from being transferred to the baby through breast milk and aggravating the baby's constipation.

Causes of baby constipation

1. Babies who drink formula milk are prone to constipation. Since formula milk is based on milk, its milk molecules are larger than breast milk molecules, and it contains casein, it can easily cause dry stools in babies.

2. Babies are prone to constipation in the early stage of adding complementary foods. If your baby has mild constipation after starting to add complementary foods, you don’t need to be surprised. This is usually because the first cereal food (rice flour) that the baby starts to eat during the transition period of adding complementary foods is low in fiber, which can easily cause constipation in the baby. Sometimes, adding complementary foods too quickly or too much can cause intestinal discomfort in the baby and lead to constipation.

3. After adding complementary foods to the unreasonable diet, many parents like to feed their children delicate food. I attach great importance to high-protein foods such as eggs, meat, and fish, for fear that my baby will not eat enough. On the contrary, if you feed your baby very little or even almost no root vegetables, the chance of constipation will greatly increase.

4. Insufficient water intake If the baby does not get enough water, dehydration may occur. At this time, his body will absorb as much water as possible from the food he eats and drinks, including "recycling" water from the waste in the baby's intestines, causing his stool to be dry and hard and not easy to pass.

5. Irregular lifestyle and failure to develop the habit of regular bowel movements. Changes in the environment or lifestyle can cause children to be unable to adapt and lead to constipation. In addition, psychological factors such as anorexia nervosa, tension and anxiety can also cause constipation.

6. Frequently suppress the urge to defecate. Some babies have irregular bowel movements. Sometimes, although they feel like defecation, they often consciously suppress the urge because of playing. If this continues for a long time, the sensitivity of the intestinal defecation reflex will decrease, causing feces to accumulate in the intestines, allowing more water to be absorbed, and the feces to become dry and difficult to excrete. Some babies also experience pain in the anus due to irritation from dry and hard stools after becoming constipated, so they are afraid to defecate forcefully, which makes the stool in the intestines even drier and aggravates constipation.

7. Babies who exercise less, especially fat babies, usually do not like to exercise. Long-term lack of exercise will weaken the abdominal muscles and reduce intestinal motility, which will also lead to constipation.

8. Drug-induced constipation Excessive supplementation of calcium and vitamin D can also cause constipation in babies. Because free calcium can easily combine with food residues in the intestines such as oxalic acid, phytic acid, phosphoric acid, and fat. It forms an insoluble hard substance that is difficult for the baby to excrete and causes constipation.