Is it normal for a newborn to have smelly farts?

It is a very normal physiological phenomenon for newborns to fart. Generally, they will fart as long as they are fed or eating complementary foods. However, if the baby has a problem with smelly farts, it may be caused by indigestion. In addition, it may also be because the baby needs to defecate. In addition, if the baby farts frequently, farts with poop, or farts that are empty, it all indicates that the baby has some health problems.

1. Fart odor

This may very well be a precursor to defecation. There is a saying that goes: wind is at the head of rain, and fart is at the head of shit. When the baby has difficulty defecating, intestinal motility increases, which will expel the gas in the intestine, usually in the form of smelly farts. After the feces are expelled, the baby will no longer fart smelly.

If your baby farts frequently, smells sour, and burps constantly for a period of time, it may be that he has recently consumed too much fat and protein, causing indigestion.

At this time, parents should reduce the amount of milk, add boiled water to reduce the intake of fat and high-protein food, make the food thinner, and appropriately add milk containing bifidobacteria and glucose. Bifidobacteria can be converted into bifidobacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, which have the effect of inhibiting Escherichia coli and promoting food digestion and absorption.

2. Fart a lot

The baby may swallow too much air during the process of sucking milk, which is an important reason for the baby to fart a lot. At the same time, because the gastrointestinal tract of infants is immature, the intestinal motility of infants at different stages is not coordinated, causing intestinal bloating, which will cause gurgling sounds in the stomach. The more gas you expel, the more farts you will naturally produce.

If your baby cries frequently for no apparent reason and farts a lot, this phenomenon is medically called infant colic.

Infantile colic is the most common type of acute abdominal pain in children. It often occurs at night, mostly in infants under 3 months old, and is more common in infants who are easily excited, excited and irritable. Parents need to observe their babies closely. If they have fever, pale face, repeated vomiting, bloody stools, etc., they should go to the hospital for examination immediately.

3. Farting with poop

This situation is more common in breastfed babies and less common in formula-fed babies. This is mainly diarrhea caused by breastfeeding (i.e. breast milk diarrhea), because the prostaglandin content in breast milk is high, which promotes the movement of small intestinal smooth muscles, increases the secretion of water and electrolytes, and produces loose stools. Therefore, breastfed babies have more and thinner stools, and their farts will bring out stools. Mothers do not need to be surprised by this.

For older babies, farting with feces is mostly caused by eating too much food with high starch content. At this time, you should reduce the consumption of foods with high starch content and appropriately increase the intake of protein and fat foods.

In addition, other gastrointestinal disease factors cannot be ruled out, such as: the baby eats too much and incomplete digestion of food; intestinal virus and bacterial infection; intestinal flora imbalance, etc., which will increase the baby's bowel movements, mixed with smelly farts, and the stools will be thin or contain mucus and blood.

4. Empty Fart

The baby farts intermittently, but without any odor, accompanied by bursts of bowel sounds. This is mostly caused by increased intestinal motility due to hunger after the gastrointestinal tract is empty. At this time, you should feed it in time. So, farting may also be related to being hungry.

In addition, if the baby is breastfed and the feeding posture is incorrect, the baby may inhale a lot of air; if the baby is bottle-fed, if the bottle is not completely inverted and the milk does not fill the nipple, the baby will inhale air while sucking milk; also, if the baby cries while eating, air will enter the stomach along with the milk.

In addition, protein and lactose enter the intestines through the stomach, and the bacteria in the intestines will break down the incompletely digested protein and lactose to produce excessive gas. The above common situations will cause the baby to fart.