My eldest child was an easy ‘pooper’ when she was a baby. She would poop several times in a day and was never once constipated in her life. However, when my second baby was born, her ‘plumbing’ patterns were different. She would only poop once in a few days. Once when she was about 3 weeks old, she only pooped after a week. Gosh, I was worried sick! When she finally pooped, it was explosive and my confinement lady stood at the changing table for almost half an hour waiting for baby S to complete her long deed 😅. All my 3 babies were exclusively breastfed for the first 2 months of their lives. Baby #3 was breastfed for 3 years.
If your baby is breastfed exclusively, they may not poop every day. This is because their tiny body can use up almost all the components of mother’s milk for nutrition and there is very little left that needs to be eliminated. After the first 6 weeks or so they can go even a week or two without a poop.
If your baby is formula-fed they might have up to four poops a day or just one every few days. Every baby is different.
Once you start your baby on solid food, it’s a whole new ballgame! You will notice which foods make your baby pass more gas than usual, which foods make her constipated and which foods make her poop easier.
As long as your baby is feeding normally and gaining weight (1 to 2 pounds a month), don’t fret too much about the number of poops. Some babies 2 months or older poop once a day or more often. Other babies poop once every few days or even once a week. Even if your baby is pooping less frequently, they should still have a big poop that is soft and easy to pass when they do go.
So how do you tell if your baby is constipated?
1. infrequent stools that are not soft in consistency.
2. hard pellets of stool.
3. long periods of straining or crying while trying to have a bowel movement.
4. streaks of red blood in the stool.
5. lack of appetite.
6. a hard belly.
Remedies For Your Baby’s Constipation
1. Switch up the milk. If your baby is bottle-fed, you may try changing to a different type of formula. Sensitivity to certain ingredients can cause constipation.
2. Add fiber to the diet. If your baby recently started to feed on solid foods, try adding a few high-fiber foods, such as pureed prunes, pears, broccoli, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, peaches and skinless apples.
3. Increase the fluids. Sufficient hydration is essential for regular bowel movements. Water and milk are great for keeping your baby hydrated.
For babies over 6 months, occasional prune, apple or pear juice may help speed up your child’s colon contractions, which may help your baby produce a bowel movement more quickly.
4. Encourage exercise. Exercise is important not only for adults but babies too. If your baby is at a crawling stage, try encouraging your baby to move around in the house. If your baby is younger, then you may help your baby to exercise by moving the legs in forward-backwards motion, circular motion or pumping motion. This is one of the most effective newborn baby constipation remedies.
5. Massage. Gentle stomach and lower-abdomen massages may stimulate the bowels to pass a bowel movement. You can use gentle hand movements with a good baby oil in a clockwise direction to stimulate the bowels to move to the rectal region. Do several massages throughout the day, until your child has a bowel movement.
It is advisable to consult a doctor before adopting any home baby constipation remedies on your baby. If your baby is not feeding properly, losing weight or passes blood in the stool, seek immediate medical help.
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