Patient's question:
Born 11 days ago, at first, the baby had good bowel movements, with about 5 times a day. Starting from the eighth day, the bowel movements began to decrease, to about once a day, and this continued for several days. I don’t know what the reason is. With 28 hours of experience, the baby still hasn’t had a bowel movement. It is said that babies should have 7 or 8 bowel movements a day, but now the baby only has one a day, which really worries me. I hope a doctor can help me understand what the reason is, whether it is normal or not. The baby seems to be in good spirits, and the bowel movements are also quite good, with an average of 2 hours between feedings. Most of the time, the baby is breastfed, and the complexion looks good, without any yellowing. The only thing is that the baby’s mother feels that the baby has been eating a bit greasier these days, so she has added some vegetables to the soup and eaten lighter food than before. Could it be related to the mother’s diet?Doctor's answer:
The number of times a child has a bowel movement isn't fixed; as long as the stool is soft and regular, it's fine. If there's constipation, the child often cries after nursing and continues to suckle for a long time without letting go. If giving them some formula stops the crying, then it's likely constipation. Constipation is common in breastfed infants. If the stool contains yellowish-white curds, it indicates poor digestion. In addition to giving the child some absorbent water to help, if the child is breastfed, the nursing mother should avoid eating overly fatty foods and focus on a light, nutritious, and easily digestible diet.