Stool frequency at 3 months. What should be the feces of a newborn when breastfeeding: what does the color of feces say? Child's stool color

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Green feces of a child at 3 months: what is the reason?

What should be kalurebenka 3 months? At what disease does a 3-month-old child have a green stool.

After the birth of a child, every mother is faced with the problem of stool in a newborn. In the first months of a child's life, he very often has difficulty with fecal excretion, this may be constipation or diarrhea. Before you start treating constipation or diarrhea, you need to pay attention to the stool itself. If the child is breastfed, then problems with the stool occur very rarely.

After all, breast milk for a baby is the best source of vitamins, it is also well digested by the baby's intestines. Sometimes the stool may be lumpy, mucus, or greenish in color. But if the child behaves calmly and you do not notice that something hurts him, then you should not worry. Such a chair can be from overeating, poor digestion, or when a child is born, its microflora has not yet been formed and frequent diarrhea or constipation can be up to 2-3 months.

Stools in newborns may be after each feeding in small quantities. When active lactation is established in a nursing mother, the child should have normal yellow stools with a thin consistency and the frequency of stools can be from 4 to 6 times a day.

When the child is already a little accustomed to the environment and his intestines have formed, then the frequency of stools is less frequent. There are cases that children by three months can empty their intestines once a day, this indicates that breast milk is well digested in the intestines of the child. The feces of a child of 3 months can sometimes have a slightly green color, but this is considered the norm and such a stool is called transitional. With artificial feeding, the baby's stool is almost the same as with breastfeeding, only it has a thicker consistency and a dark color.

It also happens that the child's stool may have a green color. The reasons for such a chair may be different, a violation of the intestinal microflora or the digestive system. If such a stool bothers the child, he may refuse to eat, the temperature rises or frequent spitting up is observed, in such cases, you should contact your pediatrician. If a child has 3 months of green stool, the cause may be an intestinal infection - dysbacteriosis. But before diagnosing a child, you need to see a doctor who will examine the child and prescribe a stool test for dysbacteriosis.

Causes of intestinal infection may be diathesis or allergies, congenital intestinal dysfunction, infectious diseases. If the child is breastfed, this infection can be transmitted to the baby from the mother. For the treatment of dysbacteriosis, medications are used to restore the intestinal microflora - these are Linex, Bifi-form. Enterol, Bifidumbacterin. You need to follow the diet of a nursing mother, during this period you should carefully monitor your diet.

How many times a day should a month old baby have a stool?

As a rule, immediately after birth, with the start of breastfeeding, a young mother does not have such a question, because the baby defecates almost after each feeding. But how many times a day should a month-old baby have a chair, because it is at this stage that parents notice that their baby may start going to the toilet less often? Naturally, attention should be paid to this issue.

How many times a day, according to the norms, should a child have a chair

In pediatrics, there are such average norms for ease of orientation. Once (when breastfeeding was not given due attention and most children were on mixed or completely formula-fed) they were accepted as an unshakable norm. Today, pediatricians advise simply to build on them, however, in each case individual approach is important .

0 - 4 months: baby's stool 1-7 times a day;

4 months - 2 years: stool 1-3 times a day;

from 2 years: 0.5-1 time per day.

Anything less was previously considered constipation. However, today pediatricians have come to the conclusion that if the child feels normal, has a normally formed stool, adequate nutrition and fluid intake, the child has the right to poop at least 1 time in 5 days, subject to exclusive breastfeeding and normal development. However, such norms are not permissible for a newborn child, but from a month and older.

Constipation is not defined by quantity, but by quality. And if the baby is not worried about the tummy, and if he defecates normally, on his own and easily, then this may just be the norm for him. Of course, such a phenomenon as a sharp transition from 5 times a day to 1 time in 5 days should alert and become a reason for consultation with the local doctor.

But if by the month the child poops from 1 time per day to 1 time in 2, or even 3 days with normal health, then you should not worry. It's just that the volume of feces can then increase (but you should not expect that it is directly proportional).

Breast milk can be absorbed almost completely and completely grow, and soft, unformed feces, accumulating in small amounts very gradually, do not create proper pressure on the intestinal walls, and therefore do not stimulate regular frequent emptying.

However, a rare stool in a one-month-old baby on artificial and mixed feeding is a serious reason to see a doctor. There are many nuances here. Most likely, the baby needs to be given more water, perhaps changing the mixture. Sometimes a course of prebiotics is required.

A little personal experience

At one time, a similar problem did not bypass me, when, under the condition of exclusively natural feeding (only the breast, on demand, without supplements and supplements), the child defecated 5 times a day during the first month, this figure dropped to 1 time per month, at 2 months - up to 1 time in 2-3 days. We also had such a thing (about 4-5 months) that we went to the toilet once every 5 days, but we felt great, the tummy was always soft, we developed well. The doctor advised to just watch carefully. And with the mixing of complementary foods and supplements, the stool became more regular and decorated (like in an adult).

In any case, it is necessary to consult a doctor if any question arises - you are responsible for the health of your baby. However, giving an enema and giving a laxative for no reason is also not good.

Child's stool: norm and pathology

If there are problems with the stool, it is still certainly important to look at the behavior of the baby, if there are changes in well-being, then urgently see a doctor. From my own experience, I can say that there are often problems when switching to a mixture when it was 2.5 months. It may often not be suitable if the composition lacks such important components as prebiotics and probiotics, there is no optimal ratio of whey protein (casein), lutein, etc. In general, you need to follow the composition very carefully. We did not immediately find our mixture, so during the search we encountered problems with stools, colic in the baby. Now we are eating Estonian Nuppi Gold, it contains almost everything you need, the stool from it quickly improved, and before that it was some kind of greenish color, very liquid, there are no allergic reactions.

Oh, while I was breastfeeding, there were no problems with the stool. But when I already started to introduce supplementary feeding, then constipation went. I immediately dismissed the enemas - I don’t want to spoil the intestinal microflora of the child and earn him a disbak. Soap pellets - from the same series. So the only effective assistant in this case was glycelax children's candles. They liquefy and inject feces pretty quickly (literally 20 minutes of waiting). Only the ass needs to be clamped to the baby so that the candle does not poop ahead of time when you insert it. Then our stool gradually improved, the body adapted to the new food. And there was no harm from candles to the child.

Tell me please! We are 9 days old, the stool is of a normal color, with small white blotches! According to the general condition, we seem to eat normally, but poop 1-2 times a day! they say that we should poop as many times as we eat! help.

Not necessarily with every feeding. Some do not poop for several days, but if the child is in good general health, this is normal.

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When a little man is born, parents are full of desire to take care of him as best as possible in order to prevent the slightest discomfort, and even more so diseases. If the baby is bottle-fed, most modern parents are very responsible in choosing mixtures, because the nutrition of the baby in the first months of life is the basis of everything: up to a year, proper feeding lays the foundation for health for life. There are several criteria for how well a replacement for breast milk was chosen: how the baby gains weight and height, what condition his delicate skin is in, and, of course, the stool of a newborn with artificial feeding.

What the baby’s diaper is filled with will tell an experienced pediatrician about his state of health no worse than tests, but it’s not always possible to show the baby’s stool to the attending physician. Therefore, this review will help you learn how to independently monitor the consistency, color, smell and regularity of stools in newborns in order to help the baby in time and correctly in case of problems.

Normal stool of a newborn with artificial feeding.

A bottle-fed newborn eats differently than a breastfed baby. This means that the stool of an artificial baby and the stool of a baby will be different, because the composition of human milk and formula, no matter how hard the baby food manufacturers try, is still not identical. Therefore, let's decide on the criteria by which we will determine whether everything is fine with the stool of a newborn: these are color, texture, smell and frequency.

Colour.

• Normally, the color of the feces of a bottle-fed newborn is naturally yellow or dark orange, and it depends on the mixture you choose.
• If you observe white inclusions in the feces, this is not scary: the digestive system of the newborn matures and learns to cope with food, soon it will fully digest and assimilate the entire mixture.
• However, if the point is not in the physiological characteristics of the baby, but in the fact that you are simply overfeeding the baby (after all, he cannot tell you when he is already “enough”), you will observe curdled undigested lumps in the feces, and the consistency of the feces itself will become thinner: this means that it is necessary to revise the portions in consultation with the pediatrician.
• When the stool is bright yellow or orange, you should definitely inform your doctor about this: this color indicates a malfunction in the functioning of the liver.
• And green feces in babies older than a week can be a sign of unpleasant diseases like dysbacteriosis, staphylococcal enterocolitis, rotavirus infection, or a congenital inability to absorb lactose (newborn feces - meconium - greenish in nature, but this is normal only in the first days after birth).
• A signal of danger is also a too dark color of feces, especially streaks or blotches of blood in it. Blood in the feces may appear due to the presence of microcracks in the anus (a common occurrence after constipation, when dry and dense feces scratch the rectum), but the reason may be different, so a visit to the doctor is also necessary.

Consistency. The stool of formula-fed babies is always denser than that of infants, so it is important for the mother to ensure that it is not too hard - the baby will be very uncomfortable, and in the long run it is fraught with constipation. The normal consistency of the stool of newborns is mushy, the feces become more formed only after the introduction of complementary foods. Liquid stools in artificial babies are also a sign of problems, usually, in addition to a rarefied consistency, there are also changes in the frequency of defecation, color and smell - all these are signs of an intestinal infection, and a little later we will talk about this in more detail. In addition, this may be a sign of an individual negative reaction to the mixture. In this case, you will have to choose another, after consulting in detail with your doctor.

Smell. In a bottle-fed newborn, the odor of the stool is more pronounced than in a naturally fed baby, whose feces normally have a slight odor before the advent of complementary foods. A putrefactive odor combined with a liquid consistency and the appearance of foam can serve as a danger signal - such a chair must be removed by a doctor, it can be a sign of a staphylococcal infection in the intestine.

Frequency. Formula-fed babies empty their tummy up to 6 times in the first days, but gradually the mode of functioning of their body becomes more orderly and predictable, and just a few weeks after the birth of the crumbs, they can already have a stool only once a day, while in breastfed babies, it can be several times a day (usually after each feeding). This is due to the fact that, unlike mother's milk, infant formula is absorbed longer and more difficult - the baby just needs more time for this.

Constipation in a newborn with artificial feeding

If there is no stool for more than a day, this can lead to compaction of feces in the intestines and to constipation, which is accompanied by discomfort and soreness. For formula-fed babies, constipation is the most typical problem (every third artificial newborn is familiar with it), while for babies, problems with loose stools are more common with mom's diet errors. Therefore, if a newborn who is bottle-fed, cries and worries all day, his tummy is hard, the process of pooping is painful, the baby pushes, blushes and screams, pulling his legs to his tummy, and the stool turns out to be hard and dense, in the form of a sausage or dense "peas"- this is constipation.

If the frequency of bowel movements is less than once a day (but not more than 3), but the feces are soft and the child does not experience discomfort, this may simply be an individual feature of your baby.

What are the causes of constipation? There may be several.

1. First of all, you should consider the composition of the mixture for artificial feeding: even if it is good and suits many, it may not suit your baby specifically. This is verified empirically: if everything is getting better as soon as the mixture is changed, then this is the reason. Often, children who are prone to constipation are recommended a mixture with probiotics or fermented milk formula.
2. However, the mixture itself may be all right, but its expiration date may be coming to an end or even end. Be very careful when buying and be sure to pay attention to the information about the date until which date the product should be consumed: if the expiration date expires, it is better not to take it.
3. Another possible reason is the consistency of the mixture is too thick. It may even fully comply with the norm indicated on the jar - it will be too thick for your baby, in which case it is simply necessary to make the mixture more diluted, liquid.
4. Also, too nutritious mixture that is not appropriate for age can lead to constipation. If the newborn has a tendency to constipation, then it is better not to rush to replace the mixture with a more “adult” version.
5. The introduction of complementary foods can also cause constipation, because the child is offered food of a completely new, denser consistency and often higher calorie content. In this case, be sure to keep a food diary and note the body's reaction to each new dish: if constipation is noted after taking certain foods (for example, rice, bananas), it is better to exclude them from the menu until the baby grows up. And whole cow's milk is generally contraindicated for a child under one year old (one of the problems that it provokes is also constipation).
6. A newborn who is malnourished can also have a problem with constipation: stool masses simply do not have anything to form in sufficient quantities, they “stale” in the intestines, compacting and making it difficult for themselves to move out. In this case, check the portions that the baby eats in one feeding: are they appropriate for the age and weight of the child? It is also important to pay attention to the nipple on the bottle: if it is too tight, with a very small hole, the baby will find it difficult to suck and he will stop sucking without even eating enough - simply because of fatigue.
7. Among the causes of constipation and lack of fluid in the body. Babies on artificial feeding must be supplemented with water, after 3-4 months - with baby tea, and after 6 months - compote. If the newborn was breastfed, and then he was transferred to the mixture, the parents can act as they are used to - that is, only feed without adding liquid, and then the stool is simply difficult to be excreted from the body, it becomes too dry and dense. And staying in a hot house with dry air in winter, or exposure to dry summer heat for several days in a row leads to dehydration of the body and can also cause constipation.
8. Babies also have constipation as a reaction to a stressful situation: separation from their mother, fear of losing her, getting into an unfamiliar environment without parents (for example, in a hospital) often also provokes a similar condition.
9. Physiological anomalies also occur: the anus may be too narrow, or the rectum too wide, in any case, the development of such children is closely monitored by a pediatrician.

How to help the baby?

1. Provide him with sufficient physical activity and mobility, make vigorous movements with his legs, pulling them up to his tummy (as when riding a bicycle) and pressing tightly against him, and also lay them on his stomach before each feeding;
2. Massage the tummy by moving your hand in a circle in a clockwise direction;
3. Let him drink more (in addition to ordinary water, there may be dill water, fennel tea, and for babies who are already receiving complementary foods, prepare prunes compote, freshly squeezed plum juice or plum puree);
4. Warm baths often help, as they have a relaxing effect;
5. Try also using glycerin suppositories: they help soften hardened stools and lubricate the anus, making it more elastic and slippery, making it easier for hard stools to pass;
6. In any case, if there is no stool for more than 3 days, and all the “light” measures you have taken do not help, be sure to tell your pediatrician about this. If the child does not have anatomical pathologies of the intestinal structure that lead to constipation, most likely, the doctor will prescribe an enema as an extreme measure: it cannot be abused, since it washes out beneficial microorganisms from the intestines. Also, the doctor can prescribe mild laxatives created specifically for babies up to a year old, for example, Duphalac (drugs for adults from constipation should not be given to babies).

Diarrhea in a newborn with artificial feeding.

Diarrhea for artificial babies is much less common than constipation, but it also occurs, and mothers need to be prepared to deal with this situation correctly.

Diarrhea is considered to be a completely liquid stool (not mushy, but rather the consistency of liquid sour cream and even more rare). Often, diarrhea is accompanied by bloating, frequent bowel movements, an unpleasant sour smell, and skin irritation in the diaper area, as such stools are highly acidic.

Often causes of diarrhea are dysbacteriosis, intestinal infection, too early introduction of complementary foods, changing the mixture for feeding, teething period and intolerance to certain foods and dishes.

1. In the first case, it is necessary to take prebiotics and probiotics, preparations based on bifidobacteria will be an excellent solution. The fact is that dysbacteriosis is a violation of the balance of beneficial and harmful bacteria in the stomach and intestines: if antibiotics are prescribed to a child, the beneficial microflora dies, and it has to be repopulated. This explains the fact that after suffering diseases with antibiotic treatment, the child often gets "after" new problems: dysbacteriosis and diarrhea. To prevent this from happening, when treating the underlying disease, be sure to also take drugs that will preserve the intestinal flora (for example, Bifidumbacterin or Lactobacterin).
2. If the cause of diarrhea is an infection (with food poisoning or hygiene problems), then the baby will also experience vomiting and high fever. Due to inflammation of the walls of the small intestine, streaks of mucus and blood may also appear in the stool. Intestinal infection in newborns with artificial feeding is a common occurrence, because they do not receive immunomodulators that breastfeeding babies absorb with breast milk, and therefore their immunity is less strong and the body is less protected. To defeat the infection, the doctor will prescribe a broad-spectrum antibacterial drug.
3. Problems with diarrhea during the introduction of complementary foods are also a fairly common thing. Until now, there are “specialists” who recommend too early complementary foods, at 2-4 months, to which the body very often reacts with diarrhea, since the stomach is not yet ready for such a load. But even if complementary foods were introduced on time (for artificially fed children, it is recommended by WHO from 5 months old), certain products may not be digested, and they will have to be abandoned. Just keep a diary of complementary foods and note what exactly the baby gave a negative reaction to. And products such as whole milk of animals (cows, goats) and fatty foods in general should be excluded from the diet of a baby up to a year. Give juices with caution - they have a lot of sugar, and it contributes to the formation of more loose stools, as it is difficult for the body to digest.
4. If you decide to change the mixture, weigh the pros and cons, and don't do it without good reason, just out of curiosity and a penchant for experimentation. The baby's stomach is very delicate, abrupt changes are harmful to it, and therefore babies often react to a change in the mixture with diarrhea. Between two equally good formulas for newborns, always choose the usual one.
5. When babies are teething, their body becomes especially vulnerable to infections, moreover, it is sensitive to any irritants, and therefore diarrhea often occurs these days.
6. However, the most difficult cases requiring medical intervention, long-term treatment and constant monitoring are some diseases characterized by intolerance to certain types of food: celiac disease (calcified, shiny and fetid) that manifests itself with the introduction of cereal complementary foods and congenital disruption of the endocrine system - cystic fibrosis (extremely frequent foul-smelling stools of increased viscosity). In both cases, treatment is prescribed by a doctor.
7. It is also important to know that diarrhea can be one of the symptoms of appendicitis, peritonitis and intestinal volvulus, so in any case, with diarrhea, it is important to consult a doctor who will evaluate all the symptoms in a comprehensive manner and prescribe the necessary treatment.

How to help the baby?

1. The most dangerous consequence of diarrhea is dehydration. The baby becomes lethargic, drowsy and weak, his skin dries up and a rash may appear on the body, a large fontanelle sinks, and the urine becomes very dark and he rarely pees. To help in this situation, they often supplement it (every 10-20 minutes), prescribe a special drug - Regidron, and try to eliminate the causes of the situation: they treat dysbacteriosis or an intestinal infection, or remove complementary foods that caused diarrhea from the diet.
2. The doctor also prescribes drugs to the child that kill the intestinal infection. The most effective are Furazolidone, as well as Nifuroxazide and Levomycetin. When choosing a medicine for newborns, do not self-medicate and do not prescribe dosages for yourself, all the more so - do not use drugs intended for adults, always consult a doctor in case of doubt (if you do not call the doctor at home, take a diaper with a chair to the clinic ).
3. For feeding, prepare the mixture much more liquid than usual - you will return to a normal consistency only after recovery.

Green stool in a bottle-fed baby

In addition to the usual diarrhea, parents are often scared by a particularly unpleasant variety - green feces from a bottle-fed baby. During the neonatal period (that is, the first 5-7 days after birth), the baby, as we already know, can have dark greenish feces - this is meconium, the original feces, which is absolutely normal: in this way the intestines are cleared of the remnants of amniotic fluid, epithelial tissues and so on. But if a green tint appears in the stool of older children, this is a dangerous sign, but there can be many reasons for it:

• Lactose indigestion (in this case, the stool will not only be green, but also with foam and a very unpleasant sour smell) is a dangerous condition in which the baby has severe toxicosis of the whole organism. In this case, the use of any whole milk is excluded.
• Foamy green stools are also observed in another disease dangerous for the baby - staphylococcal enterocolitis, which requires immediate medical attention;
• Diarrhea with greenery, accompanied by vomiting and high fever, is also dangerous - these are signs of a rotavirus infection in infants, the doctor prescribes treatment.
• If the green stool has black blotches (thickened traces of blood) - we can talk about problems with the digestive system as a whole (congenital pathologies are possible), and this also requires prompt medical intervention.
• Green loose stools with mucus and sometimes grains of blood, which is accompanied by frequent regurgitation (not only after feeding), incessant anxiety and crying of the baby due to constant pain in the tummy, as well as skin rashes, is a symptom of dysbacteriosis.
• When the formula you choose is high in iron, green diaper contents are also possible. If the general condition of the baby is good, the consistency of the poop is normal and there are no more complaints, there is nothing to worry about in this color of the stool. But if any other warning signs appear, consult your pediatrician and change the mixture.
• If the stool is green and with mucus, this signals to us that the digestive system is immature - it does not have enough enzymes to process and ensure the absorption of food. Green color (along with undigested pieces) can be observed after the introduction of complementary foods to which the body has not yet adapted. This means that you need to wait a bit with complementary foods, or give your body time to adjust to a new type of food.

How to help the baby?

1. The first step will be the delivery of tests - it is impossible to guess about the reasons and waste time on the selection of options in this case. You will need to take a diaper with a stool and bring it to the laboratory for analysis, but inform your doctor first. If the baby has an infection in the body, tests will reveal it and it will be possible to prescribe adequate treatment.
2. The second point is bacterial culture, which will determine the composition of the intestinal microflora, identifying pathogenic organisms and determining the balance of beneficial and harmful bacteria for the body. With dysbacteriosis (lack of useful natural microflora), the baby will be prescribed drugs that will help beneficial bacteria settle in the intestines (usually Linex, Lactobacterin, Acipol and other drugs).
3. Reduce the portions of feedings and make them more often - so it will be easier for the child to cope with the digestion and assimilation of food. For the future, also try not to overfeed the baby, so as not to disrupt the digestive system. “I ate well” and “ate a lot” are not synonyms!
4. One way or another, diarrhea, fever and the general poor condition of the child (lethargy, capriciousness, constant crying) are the basis for consulting a doctor without self-medication.

Be attentive to your children and take care of them. Good luck!

If for some reason a young mother does not have the opportunity to provide a newborn baby with breast milk, then the way out of this situation is to transfer to artificial milk formulas. Difficult childbirth, infectious diseases, as well as the complete or partial absence of milk in the mammary glands can serve as an obstacle to breastfeeding.

The introduction of artificial milk mixtures into the baby's diet is accompanied by a number of changes in the digestive system of the newborn. The baby's stool undergoes a change, which changes its color, texture and frequency.

Features of artificial feeding

The assimilation of breast milk and artificial milk formula occurs differently in the body of the baby. If the baby is bottle-fed, then he is able to withstand longer intervals between feedings. This is due to the fact that the composition of the milk mixture includes an increased amount of casein, the splitting of which takes more time.

However, formula-fed babies are more at risk of developing an allergic reaction. The cause of the allergic reaction is cow's milk protein, which is foreign to the child's body.

Chair Features

When changing a diaper, do not rush to throw it in the trash, as stool fragments are a valuable source of information regarding the health of the newborn.

When evaluating a child's stool, attention should be paid to the following criteria:

• frequency and regularity;
• Colour;
• consistency;
• smell.

The nature of the stool may change as the child grows and matures. Age, diet and the amount of complementary foods introduced can affect its characteristics. The frequency of emptying is individual for each newborn baby. With artificial feeding, the baby's stool has a dense texture and a pronounced smell, which is associated with less thorough assimilation of the artificial milk formula.

The normal frequency of bowel movements during artificial feeding is from 1 to 6 times a day. The color of the stool of a formula-fed baby varies from light yellow to brown. The chemical composition of baby food has a great influence on the color of feces.

Pathological changes in the nature of bowel movements

A liquid consistency and a greenish tint to the stool is an indicator of disorders in the digestive system. In this case, a young mother should show the child to a pediatrician and replace the milk formula with another analogue.

If the feces of the baby have become liquid, watery or foamy, then this indicates the development of lactase deficiency. This condition is characterized by insufficient lactase activity. The main function of this enzyme is the breakdown of lactose (milk sugar).

Other symptoms of lactase deficiency are bloating in the baby, tension and soreness of the anterior abdominal wall, rumbling, constant crying of the child. Changes are also observed in the color and smell of feces. With lactase deficiency, the baby's feces acquire a characteristic sour smell and a greenish tint.

The solution to this problem is the timely seeking advice from a medical specialist, as well as the transfer of the newborn to another type of milk formula with a low content of milk sugar. If this does not help, then the baby is transferred to lactose-free baby food.

Another reason for the appearance of foamy stools during artificial feeding is an allergic reaction to the components of baby food. In order to solve this problem, it is enough for the mother to transfer the baby to a milk formula with a different composition. Dysbacteriosis is a potential cause of changes in the consistency and color of the child's feces. With a deficiency of beneficial bacteria, the child's stool becomes liquid, watery or acquires a dense texture. The color of feces with dysbacteriosis may remain the same.

If the baby eats an artificial mixture, then it is recommended to transfer it to acidophilic or sour-milk baby food. It is also recommended to take probiotics containing the necessary amount of beneficial bacteria.

Serious causes of liquid and foamy bowel movements include rotavirus and staphylococcal infections. With rotavirus infection, the child's stool acquires a pungent odor and a frothy texture. The disease occurs against the background of cramping abdominal pain and a sharp increase in body temperature.

Constipation with artificial feeding

With artificial feeding, constipation is not a rare problem. The reason for this phenomenon is the chemical composition of milk mixtures containing an increased amount of fatty acids.

Other causes of constipation in a child with artificial feeding include:

• insufficient intake of fluid in the body of the child;
• abrupt change of the milk mixture;
• lack of beneficial bacteria in the large intestine (dysbacteriosis);
• feeding the child at once with several milk mixtures.

Symptoms and signs of constipation in a newborn include:

• The child does not empty the intestines for 2 days;
• The tummy of the newborn looks swollen, and at the slightest touch to it, the child begins to cry;
• Each attempt to void is accompanied by straining and crying. At the same time, the newborn grunts, and his face turns red.

Despite the variety of ways to eliminate constipation in a newborn, it is recommended to entrust the solution of this problem to a medical specialist. A young mother can help her child on her own. To do this, it is recommended to give the baby more drinking water and massage the tummy with a light stroke. If constipation becomes permanent, then the child needs to undergo a detailed examination.

A child's stool is one of the most important indicators of health. Already in the maternity hospital, doctors, when going around, always ask mothers if the baby pooped. How and how much a child poops, district pediatricians and nurses will be interested in the future - during patronage at home and when examined in a clinic. In this article, we will look at all about the stool of infants, since this is an extremely important component of the life of young children, and we will consider not only the stool of children who are breastfed, but also those who receive artificial nutrition.

Why is it important to pay attention to how a child poops? The frequency of defecation acts and the main characteristics of the stool (quantity, color, presence / absence of impurities, consistency, smell) make it possible to evaluate, first of all, the work of the child's gastrointestinal tract. In addition, they can be used to draw a conclusion about the nutrition of the baby (including whether he has enough breast milk); changes in stool characteristics may indicate the presence of diseases in other organs and systems. Of considerable importance is the fact that defecation in children occurs regularly (often daily), most of the properties of feces can be easily assessed visually (during examination), and therefore for attentive parents, any changes in the stool do not go unnoticed.

But what to do when changing the regularity or quality of the stool: call a doctor, treat yourself or don’t worry at all - everything will go away on its own? In general, how should a baby normally poop, and how does the stool change at different periods of his life?

About the norm and its variations

The frequency of stools in infants varies from 10-12 times a day to 1 time in 4-5 days.

Norm is a relative concept. I am always surprised when I hear “a baby should poop 3-4 times (2-5 or 1 or 10 times, it doesn’t matter) a day with yellow gruel.” Remember, your child does not owe anyone anything. Every baby is an individual from birth. How he will empty his intestines depends on many factors - and on the degree of maturity of his digestive system, and on the type of feeding, and even on the type of delivery, and on concomitant pathology, and on many other reasons. The main guidelines for determining the individual norm for your baby are the well-being of the child, the regularity, painlessness of bowel movements and the absence of pathological impurities in the stool. Therefore, below I will give not only the average normal indicators, but also the extreme values ​​​​of the norm and its variants, depending on the influence of various factors.

Frequency of defecation

After the passage of meconium (the original feces of a viscous consistency, brown or black-green), from 2-3 days the child has a transitional feces - dark green or yellow-green, semi-liquid. From 4-5 days of life, a certain rhythm of bowel movement is established in a newborn. The frequency of acts of defecation fluctuates within fairly significant limits: from 1 time in 1-2 days to 10-12 times a day. Most babies poop during or immediately after eating - after each feeding (or almost after each). But a stool once every 2 days will also be a variant of the norm - provided that it is a regular stool (occurs every two days), and the act of defecation itself does not cause anxiety or pain to the child (the baby does not scream, but only groans slightly, the feces pass easily , no excessive straining).

With growth, the child begins to poop less often: if during the neonatal period he had an average of 8-10 stools, then by 2-3 months of life the baby poops already 3-6 times a day, at 6 months - 2-3 times, and by year - 1-2 times a day. If, from the first days of life, the baby pooped once a day, then usually this frequency persists in the future, only the consistency changes (the mushy stool gradually becomes formalized).

Amount of feces

The amount of feces is directly related to the amount of food consumed by the child. In the first month of life, the child poops quite a bit - about 5 g at a time (15-20 g per day), by 6 months - about 40-50 g, by the year - 100-200 g per day.

Stool consistency

The norm for newborns is a soft mushy consistency. But even here, fluctuations within the normal range are quite acceptable - from liquid to a fairly thick slurry. Ideally, the stool is homogeneous, evenly spreading, but it can be liquid with lumps (if the child poops in the diaper, the liquid component is absorbed, slightly staining the surface, and a small amount of small lumps may remain on top).

The older the child, the more dense his stool becomes, representing a thick slurry by six months, and by the year it becomes practically formed, but at the same time quite soft and plastic.

Colour

Yellow, golden yellow, dark yellow, yellow green, yellow with white lumps, yellow brown, green - each of these colors will be normal for a newborn's stool. After breastfeeding is completed, the stool becomes darker and gradually turns brown.

Green feces

Please note that greenish, marsh-green, yellow-green colors are normal variants, and the green color of feces is due to the presence of bilirubin and (or) biliverdin in it. Bilirubin can be excreted with feces up to 6-9 months, that is, a greenish color of the stool in this age period is quite normal. In newborn babies, the transition from yellow to green stool and vice versa is especially noticeable during physiological jaundice, when maternal hemoglobin breaks down and bilirubin is actively released. But even in the following days and months of life, until the intestinal microflora is fully established, the presence of bilirubin in the stool, which gives the feces a green color, is acceptable.

It is also quite normal when the feces are initially yellow in color, and after a while it “turns green” - this means that the feces contain a certain amount of bilirubin, which is invisible at first, but oxidizes upon contact with air and gives the feces a green color.

On the other hand, if a baby (excluding a child with jaundice) has never had a green stool before, and suddenly the feces become green or streaked with green, either a functional indigestion (against the background of overfeeding, introduction of complementary foods, etc.) will be more likely .), or lack of milk in the mother, or some kind of disease in the child (intestinal infection, dysbacteriosis, etc.).

Smell

In a breastfed baby, the stool has a peculiar, slightly sour smell. In artificial children, feces acquire an unpleasant, putrid or rotten smell.

impurities

In general, any impurities in the stool - undigested food particles and other inclusions, blood, greens, mucus, pus - are considered pathological. But the neonatal period and infancy are exceptional periods, here even pathological impurities can turn out to be quite normal. We have already talked about greenery and found out why green can (though not always) be a variant of the norm. Let us now analyze other impurities in the child's stool.

Normally, the following impurities can be observed in the baby in the stool:

White lumps - due to the immaturity of the digestive system and enzymes in the baby, because of which the child does not fully absorb milk (especially when overfeeding). Provided that the child feels satisfactory and the weight gain is normal, these inclusions can be classified as normal.

Undigested food particles - appear after the introduction of complementary foods and are explained by the same physiological immaturity of the gastrointestinal tract. Usually, the stool returns to normal within a week, if during this time the nature of the feces in the crumbs does not return to normal, complementary foods are most likely introduced too early and the baby is not yet ready for it.

Mucus - mucus in the intestines is constantly present and performs a protective function. The appearance of it in small quantities in children who are breastfed is a variant of the norm.

What impurities should not be in the stool of the baby:

• pus;
• blood.

Their presence is a dangerous symptom, and if even small amounts of pus or blood appear, you should immediately consult a doctor.

Changes in stool depending on the nutrition of the child

Breastfeeding baby's stool

An excess of carbohydrates in the diet of a nursing mother will lead to increased fermentation processes in the baby's intestines, intestinal colic, rumbling, frequent, loose, foamy stools.

The nutrition of a breastfed baby is determined by the nutrition of the mother, and the baby's stool will depend on how the mother eats. If the mother follows the basic rules of nutrition for nursing women, restricting excessively fatty foods and sweets in the diet, the baby's stool usually meets all the criteria for the norm - yellowish, mushy, without impurities, regular, homogeneous. With an overabundance of fats in the woman’s menu, breast milk also becomes more fatty, its digestion is difficult, and therefore the baby may experience constipation and the inclusion of white lumps in the feces. A diet rich in easily digestible carbohydrates often leads to an increase in fermentation processes in the child's intestines, and is accompanied by rapid, liquid, sometimes even foamy stools, against the background of rumbling, bloating and intestinal colic. With severe bloating, constipation is possible instead of loose stools.

Certain foods in the diet of a nursing mother can cause an allergy in a baby, which manifests itself not only in the form of skin rashes, but also in the form of changes in the stool - it becomes liquid, with mucus.

With a lack of milk in a nursing mother, the baby's stool becomes first viscous, thick, then dry, green or grayish-green in color, crumbling, leaving in small quantities, or persistent constipation occurs.

Chair of a child on mixed and artificial feeding

Compared to infants receiving breast milk, formula-fed babies poop less frequently (in the first months of life - 3-4 times a day, by six months - 1-2 times a day), their stool is denser, putty-like, dark yellow in color, with an unpleasant putrid or sharply sour smell. With a sharp transition to artificial feeding, when changing the usual mixture, stool delays (constipation) are possible or, on the contrary, loose stools appear.

Feeding formulas with a high iron content (to prevent anemia) may produce dark green stools due to the presence of unabsorbed iron.

When feeding babies not with artificial adapted mixtures, but with natural cow's milk, various problems with stools are even more often observed: chronic constipation or diarrhea. Feces in such children are usually bright yellow, sometimes with a greasy sheen, with a "cheesy" smell.

Changes in the stool against the background of the introduction of complementary foods

By themselves, complementary foods, which are a completely new type of food for a child, require the active work of all parts of the digestive tract and enzymes. In most cases, children do not fully absorb the first complementary foods, and undigested particles come out with the stool, they can be easily seen in the baby's feces in the form of heterogeneous inclusions, grains, lumps, etc. At the same time, a small amount of mucus may appear in the stool. If such changes are not accompanied by the child's anxiety, vomiting, diarrhea and other painful symptoms, it is not necessary to cancel complementary foods - its introduction should be continued, very slowly increasing the single portion of the dish and carefully monitoring the well-being and nature of the baby's stool.

Separate complementary foods, such as vegetables with a high content of plant fibers, can have a laxative effect - stools become more frequent (usually 1-2 times compared to the norm for this child), and stool is sometimes a little-changed dish. For example, mothers note that they gave the child boiled carrots, and after 2-3 hours he pooped the same carrots. When the goal was not initially set to stimulate the emptying of the intestines of the crumbs (the child did not suffer from constipation), it is better to temporarily postpone the administration of the product that caused such a reaction, moving on to more “tender” vegetables (zucchini, potatoes) or cereals.

Other dishes, on the contrary, have a fixing effect and increase the viscosity of the stool (rice porridge).

All this should be taken into account and correlated with the peculiarities of the child's digestion when introducing complementary foods to him.

In general, the introduction of any complementary foods in healthy children is accompanied by an increase in the amount of stool, its heterogeneity, changes in smell and color.

Pathological changes in the stool and methods of treatment

Now consider what changes in the regularity of bowel movements or in the quality characteristics of feces are abnormal and indicate a violation of digestion, diseases or other pathological conditions.

Defecation frequency disorders

Three options are possible here: constipation, diarrhea, or irregular stools.

Constipation

The concept of constipation includes one or more of the following symptoms:

• delayed bowel movements - for 2 days or more; for a newborn child, constipation can be considered the absence of stool during the day, if earlier he pooped several times a day;
• painful or difficult bowel movements, accompanied by screaming, straining the child; frequent ineffective straining (the child tries to poop, but cannot);
• dense consistency of feces, "sheep" stool.

The main causes of constipation in infants:

• mother's lack of milk;
• irrational feeding (overfeeding, improper selection of mixtures, feeding with cow's milk, early introduction of complementary foods, lack of fluid);
• low physical activity;
• immaturity or pathology of the digestive system;
• concomitant diseases (hypothyroidism, pathology of the nervous system, rickets, etc.);
• organic causes (intestinal obstruction, dolichosigma, Hirschsprung's disease, etc.).

Help with constipation

In case of acute constipation in infants, regardless of the reasons for stool retention, defecation should be established. First, you can try to help the baby in this way: when he is pushing, trying to poop, bring the legs bent at the knees to his tummy and lightly (!) Press on the tummy for about 10 seconds, then lightly massage the abdomen clockwise around the navel, repeat the pressure . In case of ineffectiveness of auxiliary measures, it is recommended to use children's glycerin suppositories or give the child a microclyster ("Mikrolaks"). If there are no baby laxatives in the home medicine cabinet, you can perform a cleansing enema with boiled water at room temperature (within 19-22 ° C) - for a child in the first months of life, use a sterile (boiled) syringe of the smallest volume. You can also try to stimulate bowel movements reflexively, irritating the anus (by inserting a syringe tip or a gas tube into it).

Sometimes difficulties in defecation are due to a large number of gasses in the baby's intestines - this is easy enough to understand by how the baby cries when trying to poop, his tummy is swollen, rumbling can be heard, but gases and feces do not go away. In such situations, abdominal massage and adduction of the legs are also used; you can just try to put the baby on the tummy, vilify him in your arms, putting his stomach on your forearms. Facilitate the discharge of gas (and after them the stool) warming the tummy (mother can put the baby on her stomach, face to face; attach a warm diaper to her stomach). Of the medicines, simethicone preparations (Bobotik, Espumizan, Subsimplex) give a fairly quick effect on eliminating colic; herbal remedies (dill water, Plantex, fennel decoction, Baby Calm) are used to improve the discharge of gases.

With recurring constipation, it is not recommended to constantly use reflex irritation of the sphincter tube or use cleansing enemas - it is highly likely that the child will “get used” to poop not on his own, but with additional help. In the case of chronic constipation, it is necessary, first of all, to establish their cause and, if possible, eliminate it. Treatment of chronic constipation in infants should be comprehensive, including correction of the mother's nutrition or the selection of artificial mixtures, competent timely introduction of complementary foods, daily walks, gymnastics, massage, and, if necessary, drinking water. Less commonly prescribed drugs (Lactulose, etc.).

Diarrhea

Diarrhea is understood as rapid (by 2 or more times compared with the individual and age norm) bowel movements with the release of liquefied stools. Diarrhea does not include the constant release of small amounts of feces (slightly smearing the surface of the diaper) when passing gases - this is due to the physiological weakness of the anal sphincter, and as the child grows, the feces cease to come out when passing gases.

The table below lists the most likely causes of diarrhea in infants.

Irregular stool in the baby

An irregular stool is an alternation of constipation with diarrhea, or an alternation of a normal stool with constipation and (or) diarrhea. The most likely causes are irrational feeding, intestinal dysbacteriosis. Irregular stools can be a manifestation of chronic constipation, when a large amount of liquid stool appears after a long absence of stool.

With irregular stools, you should first of all pay attention to the nature of the child's nutrition. If errors in nutrition are excluded, there are no overfeeds, the baby receives food according to age, then you need to consult a doctor for further examination and treatment.

Changes in the amount of stool

A decrease in the daily amount of feces in infants is observed mainly with constipation and starvation - in both cases, the feces are dense, poorly discharged, dark yellow or yellow-brown in color. Abundant stools are possible against the background of overfeeding. The constant excretion of large amounts of feces, especially of an unusual color, with a sharp unpleasant odor, requires a mandatory examination of the child (to exclude enzymatic deficiency, intestinal diseases, etc.).

Consistency changes

Feces become more dense with constipation, dehydration and lack of food; liquid - against the background of diarrhea for any reason.

Color changes

As we have already discussed, the color of the feces of an infant is very variable, and most often color changes do not pose a danger - with a few exceptions - the baby's feces should not be colorless or black.

Black color is a warning sign that can be a sign of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, and with black stools, bleeding should always be ruled out first. In addition to black stools (melena), bleeding may be accompanied by pallor, lethargy of the child, often there is vomiting with an admixture of scarlet blood. Also, black stools are noted when blood is swallowed in case of nosebleeds.

However, there are also quite harmless reasons for the discharge of black feces in a baby:

• taking iron supplements;
• swallowing blood by the baby during sucking with cracked nipples in the mother.

Pathological impurities

In the stool of the baby, there should never be impurities of pus or scarlet blood (even a streak of blood) - if they are found, you should immediately seek medical help. Pus can appear with inflammatory (infectious and non-infectious) bowel diseases, blood - in case of bleeding from the lower parts of the digestive tract, with severe infectious diarrhea, with blood clotting disorders, with cracks in the anus, etc.

When to see a doctor immediately

The admixture of blood in the baby's stool is a reason to immediately consult a doctor.

Immediate seeking medical help (call an ambulance) is necessary if the baby has at least one of the following symptoms:

1. Black stools (not associated with taking iron supplements).
2. Scarlet blood or streaks of blood in the stool.
3. Diarrhea with fever, vomiting.
4. Stool in the form of "raspberry jelly" - instead of feces, pink mucus comes out - a sign of intussusception of the intestine.
5. Colorless stools associated with yellow skin and eyes.
6. A sharp deterioration in the child's well-being: lethargy, pallor, monotonous cry, incessant crying, etc.

Not only those listed, but also any other “wrong” changes in the baby’s stool, for which you are not able to find an explanation on your own or are not sure of their reasons, require a pediatrician’s consultation. It is always better to play it safe and discuss with your doctor the signs that worry you.

Which doctor to contact

When changing the stool in a child, you must contact the pediatrician. After carrying out diagnostics and tests, the doctor can refer parents and the child to a consultation with a gastroenterologist, infectious disease specialist, allergist, endocrinologist, surgeon, hematologist.

Diet for constipation in children from 1 year to 7 years

Dr. Komarovsky about constipation in children:

What to do if the child does not poop every day? - Doctor Komarovsky

If a newborn baby has problems with stool, everyone suffers: the child cries from pain and discomfort, and young parents find it difficult to understand what can be done to alleviate the suffering of the crumbs.

Let's find out together which stool is considered normal for a newborn, what problems may arise and what needs to be done in this case.

What you need to know

First rule for new parents - the stool of a newborn directly depends on his nutrition and age , and also absolutely individual for each baby.

That is, it is necessary to clearly understand that the stool of babies on breastfeeding and artificial feeding will be quite different, both in color and in consistency.

Therefore, it is wrong to compare the number of soiled diapers in a crumb who only eats and a baby who receives it. Focus only on the individual characteristics of your child, creating your own rules and patterns.

Important nuance : do not be alarmed if, even in the maternity hospital, you see a mass of dark green in the diaper of a newborn baby. This is the original feces, meconium, and normally it completely leaves the baby’s intestines on the 2nd-3rd day of his life. Then the baby has a transitional lumpy green-yellow stool, which is subsequently replaced by a yellow slurry of a puree-like consistency.

Chair while breastfeeding

In a newborn baby who only eats, the number of bowel movements can be equal to the number of feedings, while the baby who eats can seriously stain his diaper only once a day.

The first difficulties with stools can occur in a child in the first week of life, because he gets used to breast milk, various bacteria and microbes enter his body, to which his intestines need to adapt.

The concept of “normal stool” in a breastfed baby is quite individual: in some children, the feces do not contain lumps, mucus or other impurities, while in others it may be heterogeneous and contain whitish inclusions, which only indicates the immaturity of the digestive system of the crumbs.

Usually, the consistency of the stool in the baby is mushy, and the color is yellowish-golden. Sometimes you can see feces with a greenish tint in the baby's diaper, which is due to the immaturity of the liver enzyme systems and does not require treatment. However, if the green color of the stool in the baby is constant, you should consult a doctor.

With age, the baby begins to poop less often, by three to four months a certain regimen appears, for example, the baby most often empties the intestines in the morning or during one of the daytime feedings.

As the child grows older, his digestive system matures and becomes more stable, the consistency of the feces also becomes thicker and more uniform, directly depending on which the nursing mother consumes.

Important nuance : during the introduction of complementary foods, at the age of 6 to 10 months, as a result of the reaction of the digestive tract of the crumbs to new foods, the baby will change the consistency, color and smell of the stool, and diarrhea or constipation may also occur. Therefore, in order to be sure that the new product is accepted by the baby's tummy with a bang, it is imperative for a young mother to monitor the change in the consistency of the child's feces during the introduction of new products.

Chair with artificial feeding

The stool of children who are fed and thicker than those of breastfed babies has a more persistent odor, brown to pale yellow in color.

If a baby who eats milk from the mother's breast sometimes poops 5-7 times a day, then a formula-fed baby can empty the intestines 1-2 times, which is due to the characteristics of artificial mixtures that are digested by the child's body longer than mother's milk.

What to do with constipation

The baby has a stool retention for 1-3 days, he is restless, crying, and he has a hard tummy - perhaps the crumbs have developed. Constipation can occur in a child, regardless of whether he is breastfeeding or formula-fed.

If the baby does not have anatomical defects in the colon (and this is extremely rare), then the cause of stool retention may be functional constipation, which is based on a violation of intestinal tone - atony or spasm. Also, constipation may be due to dietary errors or medications.

Of course, the first thing to do with a problem of constipation in a baby is to consult a pediatrician, however, some fairly simple exercises and rules can help the child avoid discomfort.

Required condition - improve baby's nutrition , decide whether he has enough food, whether the proposed menu is suitable.

Laying your baby out on his tummy, massaging his tummy before meals, cycling, and being physically active throughout the day will also help your baby avoid the discomfort of constipation.

Helping the baby to empty with a cotton swab, a gas tube or an enema will require a certain skill and accuracy from the young mother, and laxative drugs can be given to the baby only as directed by a doctor.

Pediatrician Maria Savinova tells: “Constipation is a condition in which a child has difficulty, insufficient or infrequent bowel movements. Almost all children face the problem of constipation in the first year of life and most often this is not associated with any serious diseases, but occurs due to the immaturity of the digestive tract, dietary errors or lack of fluid intake. It is necessary to treat constipation comprehensively: the doctor, if necessary, prescribe the necessary medications, parents make the baby’s diet balanced and tasty and organize a sufficient amount of movement, and a good mood and support from parents will become a necessary component for a complete cure for the crumbs.

What to do with diarrhea

Diarrhea (or diarrhea) in a child can occur in case of malnutrition of the mother (in case the baby is breastfed), or the baby himself. Also, diarrhea can be a consequence of intestinal infection and the immaturity of the pancreatic enzyme.

If your baby has diarrhea need to see a doctor , and if there is an increase in temperature, weakness, dryness of the lips and tongue, this should be done as quickly as possible.

During diarrhea, it is important to regularly replenish the loss of fluid in the baby's body with standard saline solutions, as well as wash the crumbs after each bowel movement to avoid irritation of delicate baby skin.

Until the moment of birth, the blood circulation in children is arranged differently, and the intestines are generally sterile. After the birth, the child's body begins to work like an adult, which at this stage is difficult and unusual for him.

The baby cannot say or clearly express his discomfort and cries a lot in the first three months. The color of the feces in a newborn is an objective factor by which parents can judge the state of health of the baby.

Bowel function in the first months of life

The children's organ performs standard functions - it participates in the digestion of food, promotes the absorption of nutrients into the blood and removes unnecessary products. You can evaluate the quality of his work by the parameters of feces - consistency, color, smell, presence of inclusions. In addition, the functioning of some other organs and systems is judged by changes in secretions.

Metabolic products begin to accumulate even in the womb, and exit after childbirth, so the first feces of the baby looks non-standard. Intestinal sterility and a weak enzymatic function lead to the fact that after meconium, the stools do not have a strong odor, and their color is expressed in a grayish tint.

As beneficial bacteria colonize and digestion improves, the feces acquire a pronounced unpleasant odor and turn yellow-brown. The relationship between the work of the gastrointestinal tract and the nature of the discharge is obvious and allows you to assess the health, as well as the needs of the newborn.

The frequency of bowel movements in infants occurs up to 12 times, regardless of the type of feeding. This allows parents to notice the problem in time if it occurs. At the same time, young mothers should adhere to the “golden mean”, that is, understand in which cases it is worth worrying about, and when there is no danger.

And for this, basic concepts of how the feces of a newborn look normal are needed. Doctors believe that this concept is relative and it is impossible to compare all babies according to the same parameters. The rate or number of bowel movements and their appearance differ depending on the type of feeding of the child.

Video: The best newborn feeding regimen

What does the color say

Normal chair:

• Black-green. This is what meconium looks like, which appears in the first day of a baby's life.
• Yellow-green, marsh. After the previous form, this color indicates the beginning of the enzymatic system and the digestion of mother's milk. The sour smell of bowel movements is also considered a variant of the norm. The main thing at this time is that the baby gains weight.
• Yellow. Such a stool is formed after the previous transitional period and is the result of the proper functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and liver.

In older children who eat complementary foods, changes in the color of the stool occur depending on the food eaten. Orange causes carrots, burgundy - beets, and dark - prunes.

Pathological stool - green!

Often indicates malnutrition of the child, which occurs due to lack of milk, the physiological characteristics of the nipples, or the mother's plant-based diet.

The cause can also be an inflammatory process in the intestinal mucosa, which prevents the organ from functioning normally and impairs the digestion of food. This happens with dysbacteriosis or as a result of pathologies during pregnancy.

If the green color is caused by the presence of bilirubin, then this is considered normal until 9 months of age, so it is important to contact a pediatrician who will determine the cause of the changes.

A pronounced green color in an artificial child is caused by acquaintance with a new mixture.

• Small areas with a red tint are due to the appearance of blood particles, which is considered a dangerous condition. The cause is an infection, constipation, or an allergy to milk protein.
• Bright yellow or orange. If the color of the feces is not caused by complementary foods or the mother's diet, then it indicates problems with the liver.

As a rule, pathological conditions of fecal masses are accompanied by the appearance of such symptoms:

• Elevated temperature.
• Abdominal pain.
• Vomit.
• Diarrhea.

If only the shade of stool is alarming, there is little cause for concern.

Video: How long should I breastfeed my baby?

Color of feces while breastfeeding

The stool of infants who feed on mother's milk differs in the following parameters:

1. It may be absent on some day due to the good digestibility of mother's milk.
2. The stool has a light sandy tint, which mothers often confuse with diarrhea.
3. The stools are shapeless, liquid and heterogeneous.
4. The color of the feces depends on the mother's diet and changes after each feeding.

Additional inclusions

Particles in the stool tell the doctor what is difficult for the digestive system to cope with and what kind of failures there are in its work.

Often in the feces there are white grains, which are undigested lumps of cottage cheese. Such inclusions are formed when the child overeats or due to enzymatic deficiency. The first reason is easy to eliminate, but in the second case, an examination of a sick child and additional tests will be required.

If there are too watery areas with foam in the feces, such changes are caused by lactase deficiency. Several pathological processes that occur in the intestine and do not cause difficulties in medical diagnosis lead to a characteristic clinical picture. Often such a deviation is temporary and disappears on its own closer to one year of age.

Sometimes undigested food is found on the diaper. More often, this condition is caused by new complementary foods and normalizes after a few days. If this does not happen, the introduction of unusual food is postponed, perhaps the baby's body is not yet ready for it.

Black dots in stool are usually bloody patches. They are absent in the stool of a healthy child and a similar symptom requires an urgent consultation of a pediatrician. If at the same time the discharge has a bright green color, a dangerous intestinal infection can be assumed.

Mucus, even in large quantities, doctors consider the norm. However, there should be no other warning signs.

Consistency

The stool with artificial feeding is denser than with natural feeding. However, the comparison should not be made with generally accepted norms, but with other bowel movements of your child. If the feces were shapeless, and then, without changing the diet, began to come out in dense pieces, the mother should be wary. The cause may be her own diet, an intestinal infection, lack of fluids, or other factors.

Hard feces in the form of a pebble cause discomfort to the child and can injure the intestinal mucosa.

At the period of formation of the functions of the gastrointestinal tract, the nature of the feces changes. Why this happens, as well as how the normal stool of a newborn looks and smells, the pediatrician should tell the parents. Dangerous situations, as a rule, have mixed symptoms, and also cause constant anxiety of the child. The key to the rapid maturation of enzymatic systems and the proper functioning of the intestines is mother's milk. , read our article.

The baby's chair worries most modern parents. No matter how often it appears, what consistency and what color it is, these questions are very pressing. It is difficult to know what is normal and what is out of the norm. Quite often, panicking parents cause a lot of anxiety for pediatricians. Even one day of delay in bowel movements, for many, seems unbearable. But, after all, the baby adapts to the outside world and knows how to react to it. And caring and excessively zealous parents, it remains to watch their child and help him if necessary.

What is the stool for the baby?

So, first of all, you should figure out what kind of chair the baby should have. Exact figures and norms are not given in this case. Everything is purely individual and the baby's stool is formed based on the portion eaten and the quality of the food consumed. It is quite normal if after each breastfeeding the baby's stomach is cleared. In the first weeks, this happens regularly. If there is no emptying, then you should not panic. It may appear in 2-3 days. And this is also natural.

As soon as the baby was born, his bowel movements may have a dark green color. Such a chair of the baby due to the release of the contents of the intestine. At that time, its nutrition was a little different, so when it comes out, it turns green. You should not be afraid. When all the food processed by the developing intestines comes out, the feces will acquire a normal yellowish tint. This will happen on the 3-4th day, the field of the birth of the baby.

In some children, stool retention occurs due to a change in diet. They are only getting used to their mother's milk, so adaptation can take several days. If the baby's stool does not appear after 3 days, then it is recommended to contact a pediatrician. In most cases, it will be enough to massage the tummy or make an enema with cold water. Everything will be restored and the baby will feel better.

Constipation can be provoked by complementary foods. Some mothers think that the child does not eat enough. After all, it is simply impossible to explain his cry to others. Introducing complementary foods in the early days, they provoke the colonization of the intestinal tract with new bacteria, resulting in constipation. If it is possible to feed yourself, then it is not worth the risk with complementary foods. It is better to introduce it a little later. And if there is absolutely no milk, then you should prepare for the initial constipation and slight pain in the intestines of the child. Although, it all depends on the diet.

What is the stool of the baby, regarding color? If he is breastfed, then yellow without impurities, liquidish, of various sizes. For formula-fed babies, yellow stools are also characteristic, of a denser consistency, which comes at regular intervals.

It is quite normal to empty both 3-8 times a day, and once every 3 days. It all depends on the colonization of the child's body with beneficial bacteria and the ability of enzymes to break down the food eaten.

In the first days of life, the color of the stool in the baby is dark green, close to black. The consistency resembles tar. Very viscous and sticky. The residual contents of the intestines consumed in the womb come out.

Grey-green or slightly yellowish stools usually appear on the fourth or sixth day. It all depends on the amount of milk and its quality. The more the baby eats, the more likely it is that the stool will acquire a normal shade. Baby stool at least 4 times a day, although there are deviations.

Yellow stools appear in babies as early as the second week of life. It remains the same shade for a long time if the baby is breastfed.

With age, a change in the color of the baby's stool can indicate the introduction of complementary foods. After all, it is he who has the greatest influence on the color of feces. If you started to give a few drops of apple juice or even 50 milligrams, then you should not be surprised when the baby's stool has acquired a black tint. This is due to the fact that the lack of enzymes aimed at digesting exclusively breast milk cannot yet cope with new complementary foods. As a result, the stool oxidizes and comes out in an unsightly black color. The color of the baby's stool when introduced into the diet of carrots or pears may acquire a more yellow tint. After broccoli and zucchini, it is common to see a slightly greenish tint to the stool.

The color of the stool in the baby depends on many indicators. It may vary depending on the nutrition of his mother, complementary foods, and the composition of the mixture used.

Normal breast stool

Depending on age, normal stools in infants can be recognized. If in the first days of life the appearance of green feces is quite normal, due to the absorbed amniotic fluid, then by the end of the first week, this is not acceptable.

At the age of 3-7 days, the color of the stool acquires a gray-yellow hue and a more dense texture. Emptying happens up to 7-8 times a day, but 1 time in a couple of days is quite normal.

From a week to a month and a half, the baby's stool resembles yellow or brownish semolina in consistency. In this case, emptying is observed up to 6 times a day.

From one and a half months, the normal stool in the baby is quite variable. It can be both mushy and more liquid. Color range from yellowish to green. The frequency of emptying is from 1 to 4-6 times a day. Much depends on the foods consumed by the nursing mother.

With the introduction of complementary foods, the baby's normal stool changes greatly. His intestines adapt to new foods, resulting in both bright yellow and reddish, greenish and brown stools. Its consistency is quite variable. It all depends on how the product eaten affects the baby's body.

Frequent stool in the baby

Most parents find it difficult to understand that frequent stools in infants, of normal consistency, yellow or brownish in color, are the norm. If the child is active, eats well, gains weight, goes to the toilet no more than 7 times a day, then this is not a cause for concern. Here the reason lies not in diarrhea, but in the specifics of bowel movement. Thus, it better assimilates the resulting products.

If the baby's stool has changed, become liquid, it contains foam impurities, an unpleasant sour smell and mucus - you should contact your pediatrician. Perhaps the child has an intestinal infection and it is worth taking measures immediately. Or the reason lies in the wrong complementary foods or dry mix. You need to act very quickly, since dehydration, due to regular loose stools, is inevitable.

Rare stool in the baby

For most parents, infrequent stools in babies are cause for panic. Many mothers, and especially fathers, find it quite difficult to explain that this is the norm. In the first days of life, the child may experience delays in bowel movements and it is impossible to stimulate his intestines in any case. Even if the baby does not have a stool for 2 days, then on the third day he can empty himself without any problems. You should not assume that every child in the first days of life must go to the toilet at least 4 times a day. The body is individual. A rare stool in infants, if it is observed once every 3-4 days. And then, for some, this is the norm.

Rushing to help the baby, in this case, can only aggravate the situation. Frequent enemas can wash out the nascent gut flora and then further digestion of food can become even more problematic. If you want to help your baby in the first days of life, you should massage his tummy clockwise. In most cases, this helps not only to improve digestion, but also as a prevention of colic.

If there is a significant delay in the baby's stool against the background of poor health, fever and excessive arousal, it is advisable to put a cool enema to release the contents of the intestine.

Blood in the stool in the baby

As soon as blood is found in the stool in the baby, it is worth alerting. Even if the reason lies in the cracks in the nipples and she got into the esophagus along with mother's milk, you need to check everything well. Some babies, especially those under three months old, lack vitamin K. Surprisingly, it is practically absent in mother's milk and is very difficult to accumulate. As a result of its shortage, the blood loses its tendency to clot and hemorrhage into the internal organs can occur. Blood in the stool in infants, even in small amounts in the form of streaks, may indicate hemorrhagic disease of the newborn. Timely intake of the vitamin can improve the situation and prevent the progression of the disease.

Another reason why there may be blood in the stool in a baby is a small crack in the anus. If the child does not often go to the toilet or has constipation, then a crack can appear quite simply. Even from a simple fart.

Sometimes, for blood in the stool in a baby, they take the introduced complementary foods: beets, tomatoes, watermelon.

Loose stools in the baby

Wanting to find out the reason why loose stools are observed in infants, it is worth understanding his diet. Often, the culprit of such torment for a child is his caring mother. Even banal cucumbers can provoke loose stools. An abundance of vegetables, in the first months, can lead to regular loose stools. With the introduction of complementary foods, you should not worry about the liquid consistency. Infection may be a cause for concern. Against the background of loose stools, a high temperature may rise, the child becomes irritable, refuses to breastfeed. Emptying occurs more often than 8 times a day. You should immediately call an ambulance, as dehydration can be fatal.

Foamy baby stool

Carefully understanding the problem, we can say that the foamy stool in the baby has several reasons, which depend not only on the characteristics of his body, but also on his mother.

• Lack of nutrition. When the baby feels the need for food, but does not receive it in sufficient quantities, the foamy stool in the baby can become a pattern. If the mother does not have enough milk, then the problem can be solved with the addition of formula.
• Deficiency of lactase. Foamy stools in infants are often associated with a lack of lactase, an enzyme responsible for processing mother's milk. In this case, there are two options for solving the problem: add this enzyme to your diet or stop breastfeeding.
• Food allergy. When introducing complementary foods, you should be very careful. The baby's body may react ambiguously and the foamy stool in the baby will appear with noticeable frequency. If, after the first sample of complementary foods, the baby has a foamy stool, then its introduction should be postponed for one to two months, until there are more enzymes in the baby's body responsible for the proper processing of food.

It is very easy to correct a foamy stool in a baby if you make a minimum of effort and carefully monitor the ongoing changes in the child's body.

Stool with mucus in the baby

In cases where there is a stool with mucus in the baby, it is impossible to do without resolving the problem with enzyme deficiency. The baby's body simply cannot cope with the amount of food, resulting in not only mucus, but also loose stools. In some cases, it is advisable to introduce complementary foods in the form of rice porridge, and for others, kefir is useful. It all depends on the age of the child, the method of feeding the regularity of the stool with mucus.

In the first months of life after birth, the child should empty the intestines at least once every 36 hours. And in the first month, the child walks on the "big" as many times as he ate. The older the baby gets, the less often he goes to the toilet. In the first 6 months, the number of emptyings is about 5 times a day. Then, as the child grows older, the number of stools is reduced to 3-4, and after a year the child walks on the "big" 2-3 times a day. But the main thing to remember is that at least once every 2 days - this is already considered a deviation from the norm.

The baby's stool has the consistency of a slurry - not very liquid, but not solid either. There may be white or yellow curdled lumps - these are lumps of milk, so there is no need to panic. By 6 months, the stool becomes more firm, but, nevertheless, it should not be very hard and resemble “sheep” stool (small balls) in shape. After a year, a child's stool can be both uniform and in the form of gruel - both of which are the norm.

The color of the stool in an infant should normally be from light yellow to light brown. Therefore, if you see that the child has a light stool, do not panic - this is the norm. There is a difference in color depending on what the baby eats. If he is breastfeeding, then the stool will be yellowish with a sour-milk smell. If the baby is artificially fed, then the stool will be thicker and lighter in color, sometimes even with a grayish tint. But the child may have a green stool, if applied.

When the first complementary foods appear in the child's diet, the color of the stool begins to darken, with the introduction of meat, it acquires a characteristic fecal odor. By the end of the first year, the color of the baby's feces is already becoming brown with shades of those foods that the baby ate the day before. A greenish tint can be if the child ate, for example, broccoli, and orange - carrots or pumpkin.

Deviations from the norm

Deviations from the norm are considered changes in both the color of feces and its consistency. The most common deviations are:

• Loose stools in a child. It is a deviation from the norm at any age. In infants, the causes of watery stools can be dysbacteriosis, intestinal infection, lactase deficiency, etc. In any case, this problem should immediately lead you to the pediatrician's office.
• The child has green stools (stools with mucus). This phenomenon is quite common in infants and most often is the norm. But if this phenomenon occurs more often than once in 6-7 emptyings, then we are talking about pathology. Here, too, dysbacteriosis, an intestinal infection, for example, staphylococcal enterocolitis, can also be causes - it just has a characteristic symptom of a green color.
• Bloody traces in the stool. This, of course, immediately speaks of pathology. There can be a lot of reasons here - from viruses and dysbacteriosis to constipation. A doctor must be contacted immediately.

Constipation in the chest

Constipation in infants can occur for a variety of reasons. Constipation is when a child is unable to empty their bowels on their own for 36 hours or more. Also, dense shaped feces in the first months of life are considered constipation, even if emptying occurs frequently.

Causes of constipation in a child up to a year:

• Dysbacteriosis;
• Violation of the biliary tract;
• Violation of the pancreas;
• Improper nutrition;
• Weak muscle tone;
• Insufficient fluid intake;
• Stress, fear.

Treatment depends on the causes of constipation. These can be drugs that normalize the microflora or intestinal motility, and drugs for the production of bile. But before visiting a doctor, parents can help their child cope with this task. If you find that the child has not walked on the “big” for more than 36 hours, or not much time has passed yet, but you notice that the child has not gone to the toilet at the usual time, while he is pushing, groaning and crying, it is recommended to start stimulating emptying . You must follow these steps in sequence:

Frequent stools in a child

Diarrhea is not only common. Diarrhea or frequent stools in a child is any stool that occurs more often than normal (more than 5 times) or has a too thin, watery consistency. Most often, both the first and second occur at the same time. An intestinal infection can be quickly determined here - vomiting and fever are added to a private stool. The first thing parents should do before the doctor arrives is to prevent dehydration, give the child plenty of water, but in small portions every 15-20 minutes. In addition to ordinary water, it is also desirable to give saline solutions. Dehydration can be recognized by external signs - dry lips and mucous membranes, lethargy, lack of saliva, convulsions, lethargy. In this situation, you can no longer do without an ambulance.