Your Baby's Bowel Movements

You'll find that as you become a mom many things you normally wouldn't have taken an interest in suddenly become all you are concerned with. In particular I'm referring to your little one's bowel movements. It is very important that one knows what should happen at each stage of your child's development and that goes for when he's soiled his nappy.

At birth the first ever bowel movement your baby will have is called meconium and it has a black or greenish appearance and is often likened to being like a sticky, tarry substance. It's this colour and texture simply because of him digesting amniotic liquid, bile and the shedded skin cells. This as a result of being collected in the digestive system or intestines while inside the womb. This meconium is passed during the first 12 hrs of birth and if this is not done within 24 hrs could be indicative of more serious problems. Additionally, the baby passing meconium in utero can cause a complication sometimes referred to as meconium aspiration syndrome.

Once out of the hospital and at home you'll notice that the color and consistency of the stool changes drastically. There also is a difference between the stool of a breastfed baby and one on formula milk. Breastfed babies' stools appear to be mustard in colour and can be grainy or seedy. It's also quite runny and funnily enough has a sweetish smelling twinge to it, but don't worry you still know its pooh. Formula fed babies on the other hand have a dark or tanned colour and soft or firmer texture than a breastfed babies. Its been said that a formula feds baby stool should not be firmer than peanut butter consistency as his intestinal system is not so developed just yet.

If you didn't know before I'm sure you've learned by now that babies pooh quite a bit especially those being breastfed. You'll find they go after every feeding or during every feeding and at other times a few days may pass before there's a bowel movement. All this is quite normal. Owing to the consistency of the bowel movement inexperienced moms may think their baby is suffering from the 'runs' or diarrhea. The same goes for formula fed babies, as you'll find that they too have very regular bowel movements.

What I'm about to say may be very amusing to you the readers but all of it is true. The next time you feed your baby and he's about to have a bowel movement, you'll notice that the poor thing grunts, turns red or even cries when passing motion. Aside from they're crying and turning red, when they grunt they look like absolute darlings. This being said, its not abnormal and all babies do this at some stage or other. We have to bear in mind that it takes abit of time for them to get used to their bodily functions, till then they will continue to do this.

In other instances there may be times when their stool appears green in color, what this means really is especially with bottle fed babies, they are given a high concentration of iron fortified formula milk. Babies with jaundice tend to have green stools as well but this goes away after being placed under the bilirubin lights. Sensitivity to what is consumed by the mom is another reason for stools appearing green colored. One has to bear in mind that whatever you consume so does your baby and it takes awhile for him to grow accustomed to dietary changes. There are times that in response to this sensitivity to your diet they have skin rashes, green mucousy stools, spitting up abit and sometimes blood in the stool. If it happens more often than you're comfortable with seek the advice of your doctor as soon as possible. Black stools, like the greenish coloured are usually the result of iron supplementation or iron fortified formulas. This is a usual occurrence but if for some reason it appears too mucousy or has blood again seek the advice of your pediatrician.