Feces a newborn baby: everything you need to know
When a baby arrives, everything is new for mum and dad. His pupu is also an unknown world, and parents often get scared for some detail that seems abnormal, but is normal instead. However, observing faeces is very important as it is one of the first strategies for assessing health in adults and children.
As far as the newborn is concerned, the faeces may have some surprises in store. First of all, it is important to know that the faeces consist largely of water (more than 70%) and for the remaining percentage they are composed of solid material (bacteria, fat, inorganic material, mucus, intestinal cells and some proteins).
But what is meconium?
For the first two to three days of life, the newborn baby emits special stools, which take the name of "meconium". They are greenish-black in colour and have a slightly sticky consistency, so much so that it is sometimes difficult to remove them from the celery. In reality, this is a completely normal colour because meconium is composed of everything that the newborn must expel in its first days of life. Therefore from intestinal secretions, from intestinal epithelial cells and also from the amniotic fluid ingested by the baby during pregnancy.
It is very important that it begins to be emitted in the first 24 hours of life of the newborn. A late emission, in fact, can be the signal of something wrong, for example the presence of an obstacle to transit in the intestine, or a metabolic anomaly that slows down intestinal peristalsis.
Breast fed infants
When breast-feeding, the baby moves from meconium to the faeces themselves. The faeces of the newborn assume different colours and consistencies depending on the type of breastfeeding. In fact, the diet - whether with breast milk or with artificial milk - conditions in a very marked way the appearance of your pupu. In breastfed infants, the faeces are much softer and are usually ochre yellow in colour. You can also find some white lumps in the faeces of the breastfed baby. There's no need to worry. Everything is in order.
Infants breastfed with formula milk
The faeces of infants breastfed with artificial milk are firmer and drier. Their natural colour is always yellow but darker than breastfed babies.
How much does it do with it?
Sometimes, neurons are surprised at how many faeces a baby can produce: a breastfed infant, in fact, can discharge even after every meal, and it is normal that it can do so. But it can do it even less often, and so it generally does a lot. However, if the newborn does not evacuate every day, it may be a sign that he or she is not feeding properly, and that he or she needs to eat more. In this case it is worth hearing a lactation consultant to check how things are going and - if necessary - correct any errors.
Constipation in the newborn?
It is often thought that each feed should be followed by an evacuation. In reality, this is not the case for everyone. There are infants, in fact, who evacuate every two days and grow regularly. As a rule, the faeces of breastfed babies are easier to eject because they are softer.
Nutrition with artificial milk, on the other hand, can lead to the production of more compact and, at times, more difficult to eject faeces. This type of constipation, however, can occur in all newborns and can also be attributed to an immaturity of the muscles of the sphincter. The latter normally resolves itself spontaneously.
If the baby's diaper is left clean for too long, however, it is advisable to consult the paediatrician. Often, in fact, the constipation of the newborn can lead to annoyance and nervousness of the child.
When faeces are liquid, what should we do?
If you experience diarrhea in your newborn, you should be very careful. In fact, there is a risk of the baby dehydrating and dehydration in such young children is very dangerous. Therefore, in case of diarrhoea, the newborn must continue to feed paying attention to any weight loss. If the latter exceeds 10%, it is necessary to go immediately to the paediatrician.
Everything changes with weaning
When, in addition to milk, the child starts to eat other foods, its intestinal bacterial flora changes drastically, and consequently also the faeces change, which gradually become more and more similar to those of the adult: harder, darker - brown.
Lucia Franco
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