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What's a Normal Pooping Pattern for Newborns?
The nursery tracks how often your baby pees and poops from the moment your tiny one is born. But do you really need to do that after you go home with your newborn?
There are a lot of apps and charts out there that make you think that you have to keep track of every feeding and every wet and poopy diaper. But really, you don't need to do that.
If your baby is making three or more good wet diapers a day, they're hydrated. If your baby is pooping anywhere from several times a day to once every three to four days, they're normal, too.
Actually, breastfed babies can poop every time they eat or up to once a week with a huge blowout.
Parents worry their newborns have constipation because they look like they are having a hard time pooping. They will cry and scrunch up and get fussy and grunt and turn red or purple like they're straining really hard. But the majority of the time, that's actually something normal called dyschezia, which literally means apparently painful pooping. It's when the babies have to increase pressure in their bellies to open up the sphincter to let the poop out.
When Baby Poop Signals a Serious Problem
When do we as pediatricians worry about pooping issues? Well, if your baby's poop has blood in it, we're worried. If your baby's poop is pure white and the texture of dried chalk, we want to know.
If your baby has stopped pooping and stopped eating and their bellies are large and bloated and hard, or if they stop pooping and have projectile vomit, especially if the vomit is green, that's a big red flag for us.
If your new baby has any of those, that's a trip to the closest children's emergency room, as those cases may require imaging that we can't do in the office, or a surgeon may need to get involved.
More Answers to Your Questions on Keeping Your Kid Healthy
Latest trends and issues in children's health on the Healthy Kids Zone with Dr. Cindy Gellner
