A newborn's bowel movements vary depending on the type of food she receives. While a breast-fed baby's bowel movements are of a looser consistency, an infant receiving exclusively formula has firmer stools. Even these firmer stools should not be solid or hard, which are signs of constipation.
Breast-Fed Babies
Breast milk is easier for newborns to digest, thanks to certain types of bacteria in the colon, which help break down mother's milk. For this reason, newborn babies receiving exclusively breast milk -- either from the breast or pumped breast milk from a bottle -- have looser, more frequent stools. These stools are yellowish-brown in color and are runny, often with small curds that look like seeds. The gastrocolic reflex causes many babies to have a bowel movement every time they nurse, up to eight to 12 times a day through the first several weeks of life.
Formula-Fed Babies
A baby receiving formula has stools that appear yellow, green or brown in color. Because formula milk is more difficult for a baby's system to digest, it has a firmer consistency. However, even these "firm" bowel movements should still be mushy -- you should easily be able to break apart the stool using your hands. Formula does not activate the gastrocolic reflex as strongly as a mother's milk, so formula-fed babies do not have bowel movements as frequently. Some newborns on formula have up to four bowel movements a day, but others may only have a stool once every few days or as infrequently as once a week.
Constipation
Whether your baby receives breast milk, formula or a combination of the two, she can still be at risk for constipation. Four major signs of constipation are a baby who strains to have a bowel movement, has infrequent bowel movements, a regularly swollen abdomen or has solid, hard stools. Premature introduction of solid foods, allergies to solid foods or even mother's milk or formula and dehydration all cause constipation.
Solutions
To alleviate the discomfort associated with constipation, rub your baby's tummy or push her knees to her chest to help her pass a stool. If those natural methods do not work, insert a glycerin suppository or liquid glycerin into her rectum to make the passage of the stool more comfortable. Prevent future bouts of constipation by feeding a formula-fed newborn smaller amounts of formula less often, or switching her formula until you find one that does not lead to constipation. If you recently introduced solid foods, scale back until the hard stools stop before reintroducing. A breast-feeding mother should keep track of changes to her own diet to see if her eating habits have an impact on her newborn's bowel movements; newborns can have allergies and sensitivities to certain foods ingested by the mother and passed to the baby through breast milk. If your child continues to have hard, solid stools, contact your pediatrician.
