Is loose stools in babies a cause for concern?
A young mother constantly has reasons for concern, and loose stools in a newborn is one of the reasons for anxiety. Therefore, it is necessary to get acquainted with this problem in detail.
The first days of life
During the first days of the baby, usually the stool is greenish-black, this is quite normal. Within a week, the stool normalizes and takes on a yellow-orange color and its smell is quite bearable, like fermented milk. Green stools or loose stools in babies are not a good sign. The cause of it may be dysbiosis. In this case, the smell becomes unpleasant and harsh. Although in the first months, a little green particles and mucus in the stool is normal, because the gastrointestinal tract is just beginning to adapt to a variety of foods that mom eats. The stool of formula-fed babies depends on the mixture received. It is usually less frequent and more dense.
First feeding and eating solid foods
The first feeding and the consumption of solid food leads to a change in stool. Therefore, the color of the stool speaks not only of the health of the baby, but also of the kind of food he takes. Vegetable food gives a greenish tint, beets give a reddish tint, and carrots in large quantities color the stool orange. Dark stools in infants can be in the case if the child eats a large amount of meat or receives iron supplements in the course of treatment.
Reasons for concern
Red-brown blotches should be alarming, it may be blood and it is better to consult a doctor in this case.
Another reason to see your doctor is if your baby has prolonged light, light yellow, or whitish stools. It is more correct in this case to take the feces for analysis and establish the cause. This may be a signal about a malfunction of the child’s intestines or the functioning of the liver. Also, diathesis in infants can cause problems with stool.
Greenish stools can be caused by taking antibiotics, so taking probiotics is recommended. If the smell is pungent, this indicates an excess of proteins. And an excess of carbohydrates, which are poorly absorbed, will make the stool yellow-green. And if an infant’s loose stool contains mucus, this indicates inflammatory bowel processes. An attentive mother will always monitor the baby’s stool and notice the problem in time, and will eliminate it in the shortest possible time.
Another problem is the frequency of bowel movements in infants. There are no rigid norms in this matter, all this is very individual. In the first months, the newborn may have stool after any feeding, and by the age of five months, the frequency is reduced to three times a day. The introduction of complementary foods leads to the fact that the baby can poop once a day. There is no need to raise a panic if the child has not pooped for one day, it is considered to be a constipation when more than 2 days have passed.
Sometimes loose stools can be an unreasonable cause of concern for young moms. Do not worry if the baby poops like that once. Just try to pay more attention to the general condition of the baby. If he behaves as usual and is cheerful then there is no reason for alarm. After all, the main thing is not the contents of the diaper, but the health and vigor of the child!
