Patient's question:
Newborn, starting from the full moon, has bowel movements every 5 or 7 days. They can eat, drink, and sleep, and their tongue doesn't look pale. But when they need to poop, it's a lot at once. The color is normal, sometimes with curds, sometimes without, but it's always sticky! Two days before having a bowel movement, they release many particularly smelly farts. I thought it was constipation before, but how can it always be constipation?Doctor's answer:
Some breastfed babies may have bowel movements only once every few days, or even as infrequently as every 7-8 days, but the stool they pass is yellow and soft, without any signs of difficulty defecating. If the baby is feeding well and growing normally, this is a normal phenomenon. It is caused by the underdevelopment of the anal sphincter and the immature gastrointestinal tract in young infants. It may also be due to the efficient digestion and absorption of breast milk, leading to the accumulation of stool (known as "zuan tu"). If the baby shows no discomfort, no action is needed. However, if the duration is too long and it interferes with the baby's feeding amount or disrupts their deep sleep, abdominal clockwise massage can be performed.