The contents of a baby's diaper can be very diverse. Sometimes it can be difficult for parents to understand if a baby's bowel movements are normal. In order to worry less about the stool of a child in the first year of life, you should know how the baby's feces look like in normal conditions.
In a newborn
In the first days of a newborn's life, his stool, called meconium, can scare parents with a black-green color and a tarry consistency. There is no smell in such a chair. However, this is a completely normal stool for a newly born baby. Such feces are substances swallowed by the baby in utero. The appearance of meconium means that the baby's intestines have begun to work.
From the second day of life, the baby's feces begin to change color (becomes grayish or gray-green) and consistency (it becomes like an ointment or semi-liquid). This "transitional" type of feces shows that the baby receives colostrum in sufficient quantities and the milk is well absorbed in the child's body.
Depending on the type of feeding
From the second week of life, the appearance and frequency of the baby's stool changes. These changes are influenced by the type of feeding of the baby.
Pectoral
The color of feces can be yellow, mustard-colored or brownish. The smell in the stool of a baby receiving only breast milk is sour milk, not harsh. The consistency of the stool is similar to liquid semolina porridge, pea soup or liquid cottage cheese. There are usually white blotches in the stool, there may be a small amount of mucus, as well as a greenish tint, but if the baby's well-being is not disturbed and the baby is gaining weight well, parents should not worry about such signs.
In the first 1.5 months of life, a baby can poop 4-12 times a day. Further, the frequency of emptying decreases. The norm for a child over six weeks old who receives only mother's milk is stool from two to four times a day to one emptying in 2-5 days. The less often the baby poops, the larger the volume of his stool will be.
The stool of a breastfed baby may change at the same time as the mother's diet changes. In addition, if parents look into a soiled diaper lying in the air, they will see that its contents have turned green. This is also the norm.
Artificial
The color of the stool of the infant receiving formula is darker - yellow or brown. At the same time, an artificial baby should not have orange or green, as well as very dark (almost black) stools.
The smell in the stool of formula-fed babies is harsher. In consistency, the feces of infants who are fed with a mixture are thicker, but mushy. They may contain inclusions that resemble cottage cheese, if the child was given a too thick mixture and it was not completely digested. Excessively thick stools are evidence of improper preparation of the mixture or overfeeding of the baby.
The frequency of emptying crumbs on artificial feeding in the first weeks of life does not differ from this indicator in a baby receiving breast milk (4-12 times a day). Further, the baby, who is fed with mixtures, poops 3-4 times a day, and over time only 1-2 times a day.
Mixed
The stool of the baby, which is fed with both human milk and formula, has a rather thick consistency, but it can also be mushy. Its color is usually brown, it can be light or dark. In the feces, there are small blotches of greenery. Stool odor is strong enough.
After the introduction of complementary foods
When a child begins to try complementary foods, his stool changes. It acquires a thicker consistency and a more unpleasant harsh odor. The stool color of the baby being fed is usually brown. In the feces, blotches of different colors may appear due to undigested food, for example, beets or carrots. This is permissible, because boiled vegetables are still difficult for the baby's intestines to digest.
Constipation after the introduction of complementary foods is quite common, we advise you to read another article about it.
