Even before you bring your baby home the focus is mainly on wet diapers and bowel movements. Since they can’t talk to us, we need to watch them and monitor them in all ways and bowel movements are key component to that monitoring. So then $100,000 question is, ‘What is normal?’
Let’s talk about the most common issues which is constipation. First, we consider if your baby is breast or formula fed. If your baby is breast fed the answer to what is normal is almost anything can be normal! Breasted babies can poop multiple times a day or not poop for days at a time. Breast milk is God’s most natural and perfect food source for your baby. Most often it is our job to monitor and watch but not worry about inconsistent bowel movements in the newborn period.
If your baby is formula fed it is also true that bowel movements can be inconsistent, but bowel movement issues are a little more common so we recommend that you keep track of bowel movement frequency and also stool consistency. If stool is formed, hard or even pellet like consistency then we need to have a visit to discuss how to keep his/her little bowels moving more frequently.
Too many bowel movements either breast or formula fed also comes down to stool consistency. If there have been enough bowel movements in a row that the stool consistency has become more like water, then our focus immediately becomes hydration. What lands our little ones in the hospital if they have a GI bug is not the GI bug itself but it is that they get dehydrated because they are losing too much fluid through their GI track.
You can assess hydration status by monitoring wet diapers. If the baby hasn’t had a wet diaper in 8-to-12-hour time period then it is best to call the office and schedule and appointment.
This can be very scary for parents. What is normal? What should I be concerned about? When should I take them to be evaluated? Rest assured all of us here at Sanctuary are here for you! There is never a bad question. When in doubt….ask! We will help you decide if you should bring the little one in for a visit and help guide you what to look for if we don’t think a visit is warranted.
Functional Pediatric Wellness
Parents in our pediatric wellness program get more than just a trusted and experienced provider for their children, but access to our childhood wellness guidance resources online 24/7. As we combine the best of functional, conventional, Christian, and years of parenting without driving you to unnecessary fear, you get our guidance for parenting in this fallen world. Here we offer a sample of our wellness resources from birth through age five. You can sleep better at night knowing we will work with you to individualize your child’s health care.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
