What’s Normal

Babies less than six months of age commonly grunt, push, strain, draw up the legs and become flushed in the face during passage of bowel movements. This is normal as long as it does not cause pain.

The frequency of BMs varies widely from one baby to another. Many pass a stool soon after each feeding (especially breast-fed babies). By 3-6 weeks of age, some breast-fed babies have only one bowel movement a week and are still normal. Breast milk leaves very little solid waste to be removed. Therefore, infrequent stools should not be considered a sign of constipation, as long as the stools are soft, and your infant is otherwise normal, gaining weight steadily, and nursing regularly. If your baby is formula-fed, he or she may have at least one BM a day but can occasionally skip days.

Because an infant's stools are normally soft and a little runny, it's not always easy to tell when a young baby has mild diarrhea. Signs include a sudden increase in frequency (more than one BM per feeding) and an unusually high liquid content in the stool. Diarrhea may be a sign of infection, food intolerance, change in baby's diet or the mom's diet if breastfed.

Whether breastfed, or bottle fed, if your baby has hard or very dry stools, it may be a sign of not getting enough fluid, or loss of too much fluid due to illness, fever or heat. Once solid foods have been started, it may indicate too many constipating foods. If you have any questions, get in touch with our pediatricians. We serve North Tonawanda, Niagara Falls, and beyond.