What is the difference between exclusive breastfeeding, artificial feeding and mixed feeding?
Because breast milk is rich in oligosaccharides, it can promote the growth of intestinal beneficial bacteria and effectively stimulate gastrointestinal peristalsis, so most exclusively breast-fed babies' stools are golden yellow, thin or even ointment-like, sour and foam-free. Breastfed babies generally defecate more frequently in the neonatal period, 2-5 times or even 7-8 times a day, but the amount of defecation will not be too much. With the growth of the baby's age, the frequency of defecation will gradually decrease, and the frequency of defecation will be reduced to 1 ~ 2 times a day in 2 ~ 3 months. Because of the high content of casein and calcium in formula milk powder, it is not easy to digest. The feces of artificially fed babies are generally khaki or brownish yellow, which are sticky or hard paste, sometimes contain particles, and taste sour, about 1 ~ 2 times a day, and there is no obvious difficulty in defecation. The stool characteristics and frequency of mixed feeding infants are mostly between exclusive breastfeeding and artificial feeding. In the stage of adding complementary food, some babies have insufficient digestive function for new foods (such as rice flour, rice porridge, meat, etc.). Because their intestinal function is not perfect, and they are more prone to constipation.
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What is the frequency of defecation?
Infants who are exclusively breastfed have relatively more defecation times, while those who are artificially fed have relatively fewer defecation times. At the same time, the frequency of defecation is not fixed because of the different feeding methods, the size of months, the ingredients of formula milk and the gastrointestinal function of each baby. Generally speaking, as long as the baby's mental reaction and breastfeeding are good, the weight gain is normal, and there is no difficulty in defecation, abdominal pain or flatulence, parents don't have to be too nervous. Baby defecation varies from person to person, and the number of defecations per day will not be exactly the same, but the regularity of defecation is more important.
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What are the abnormal stools?
Whether the stool is normal or not requires parents to observe and compare more. Pay special attention to whether there is any change in stool characteristics, whether there is any difficulty in defecation, and whether there is blood in defecation. If the number of stools increases or decreases compared with usual, or the stool becomes thin and shapeless, or there is a lump in the stool, or even bloody stool and mucus in the stool, it is necessary to be vigilant and seek medical advice in time.
When the baby's defecation is laborious, the defecation time is prolonged, and the stool is dry, it is necessary to be alert to constipation. The younger the month, the earlier constipation occurs, and the more attention should be paid to seeking medical advice in time to avoid diseases such as Hirschsprung's disease and hypothyroidism. Although most constipation is functional, if you don't pay attention to it and intervene reasonably, your baby will have pain and fear in defecation, which will aggravate constipation.
Repeated defecation is sparse and frequent, and will not decrease with the increase of months. It is necessary to be alert to lactose intolerance. Once you find blood in your stool, you should seek medical advice promptly. Whether there is a little bloodshot stool, mucus pus and bloody stool, jam-like stool, tarry stool or even bloody stool, you need to see a doctor immediately and follow up closely. This may be related to allergic gastroenteritis, bacterial enteritis, inflammatory bowel disease and other diseases. Severe cases may be gastrointestinal bleeding caused by peptic ulcer, intussusception and other diseases, so it is necessary to seek medical treatment as soon as possible.
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What about baby constipation?
Sometimes after adding complementary food, the baby is prone to hard stool. Parents can adjust the types and thickness of complementary foods, from thin to thick, from less to more, from the same to diverse. You can appropriately increase mashed vegetables, fruits and other foods, increase dietary fiber, drink more water and exercise more. At the same time, it is necessary to supplement fruit juice properly, improve the osmotic pressure of stool, increase the moisture of stool and promote intestinal peristalsis. You can also add some probiotics and prebiotics to improve the intestinal environment and promote intestinal peristalsis.
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What does baby diarrhea need to pay attention to when taking medicine?
Because the organs and systems of infants are not well developed, and children's own physiological characteristics, children need to be more cautious in drug use. When the baby has diarrhea, whether it is rotavirus diarrhea or bacterial enteritis, antidiarrheal drugs (such as compound phenylephrine) should be banned, because these drugs can inhibit gastrointestinal peristalsis, increase bacterial reproduction and toxin absorption, and are sometimes very dangerous for infectious diarrhea. At the same time, some drugs with otonephrotoxicity (such as gentamicin and amikacin) should be used with caution when infants have diarrhea. Commonly used drugs for adult diarrhea are sometimes not suitable for children, such as quinolones (such as levofloxacin and norfloxacin), which are not recommended by pediatricians because of their own influence on children's cartilage development.
Commonly used drugs for infantile diarrhea mainly include mucosal protective agents (such as montmorillonite powder), microecological agents (such as probiotics and prebiotics), oral rehydration salts and other drugs. Early zinc supplementation is also recommended for acute and chronic diarrhea. In addition, Chinese patent medicines with good taste and mild nature can also help treat baby diarrhea. The specific choice of medicine and dosage still requires doctors to take it according to the specific situation of each baby.