Patient's question:
A child who is three and a half months old has bowel movements only every 4-5 days. It seems like he is straining, and his appetite is very low. He often refuses to breastfeed but drinks formula every three hours, with only 90 milliliters each time. The child is a bit underweight. What could be wrong with him?Doctor's answer:
The frequency of a child's bowel movements does not have a fixed number. As long as it is regular, it is normal. Even if it is five or six times a day, or every two or three days, it is still normal. This is because children have different individual constitutions. However, based on your description, your child may have insufficient food intake, or it could be due to strong digestive and absorption function, or possibly slow intestinal motility. But whatever the case, if your child used to have bowel movements every day and now suddenly goes two days without having one, that is definitely not normal and already constitutes constipation. Since your child only has bowel movements every four or five days, that is definitely constipation.