Breastfeeding and constipation of the newborn and mother
When can we say that a newborn is constipated and therefore needs external help to go to the bowel? Constipation can arise more easily when using formula and at the beginning of weaning.
Feeding your baby, whether it’s breast or bottle or mixed, always brings many doubts and worries because you never know if he’s eating enough and with each discharge he rejoices because it means that something has evidently introduced and has digested. But will he have digested well or badly?
In the first few days in the hospital you were accustomed to the fact that your baby usually wet and soiled one to two diapers a day. The stools were dark and are called meconium .
Once you get home you will notice that his feces change from dark to yellow or light brown (sometimes even green) and the number of discharges increases from one to two per day up to five discharges.
And if the discharges are not even two a day? So we need, before thinking it’s constipated, to understand if it really is.
Infant discharge up to 6 weeks
If her stools are absent or she goes days without stool in her first six weeks of life, then you need to increase the number of feeds or offer formula on demand rather than on schedule.
The mother who breastfeeds him has a great help, colostrum , which increases the intestinal motility of the newborn, and has a laxative power.
Newborn after 6 weeks of life
A newborn can be healthy, even if he takes only one shock a day or even a week.
A baby is constipated when he passes loose, hard stools and it happens frequently if he is bottle-fed.
The act of evacuating for a newborn is difficult as you have to relax the sphincters, use the abdominal press and this ability only fully matures around the age of three.
In fact, it is not uncommon to see a newborn who makes an effort during the evacuation and then makes very soft stools.
Therefore, avoid using enemas or stimulation with a thermometer or the stalk of parsley. Give your child time and trust the skills he is slowly acquiring.
If a newborn instead follows a mixed breastfeeding it is possible for him to have greater difficulties in the evacuation as in the mother’s milk there is a greater presence of lactulose which regulates the intestine.
When the newborn is weaned, bowel regularity problems can arise.
Can what a nursing mother eats affect the constipation of the newborn?
Can a nursing mother’s diet cause — or relieve — a baby’s constipation? The short answer is probably No.
Gases and fibers are not passed from mother to baby . Also, breast milk is made from what’s in the blood, not the digestive tract.
According to La Leche League International, it is not what or how much a mother eats or drinks that stimulates milk production, but the baby’s ability to suck properly. In order to have more daily evacuations and an optimal increase in weight of the baby, it is important that the attachment and the sucking method are correct, that breastfeeding is frequent and on request and that the supply of second milk to the baby is encouraged.
The terms foremilk ( first milk ) and hindmilk ( second milk ) are used to refer to differences in human milk during a single feeding. The first milk, taken at the beginning of the meal, is more abundant, however it has a lower percentage of fat and calories. When the infant continues to feed on the first breast, the percentage of fat in the milk increases until the baby receives the second milk, which is richer in calories; the combined intake of both types of milk is considered ideal.
The massages are great
Imagine a clock drawn on your child’s belly.
Now place the 3 central fingers of your right hand at 7 o’clock and describe a clockwise circle up to 5 o’clock.
Just before taking my hand off, I place the 3 central fingers of my left hand at 11 o’clock, lift my right hand and move my left hand in a straight line towards 1 o’clock.
Just before releasing the left hand, I place the right again and repeat this sequence a few times. Here is a clear video:
Or you can lift the baby’s legs towards the belly, with the knees bent to do the bicycle. Usually, if done consistently and with each diaper change, after each massage there is a fart, a pee or a discharge of feces.
And when are mothers constipated?
In breastfeeding there is a drop in progesterone and the uterus together with the intestines and other organs are returning to their original position.
This often negatively affects contractile motility making evacuation difficult.
The problem can also occur if an episiotomy has been performed or there has been a laceration or if the hemorrhoids have come out.
Finally, if you take, for example paracetamol or painkillers, the drug can have this side effect and lead to constipation.
The first thing to do is to help yourself here too with nutrition, avoiding astringent foods, drinking warm water in the morning and introducing herbal teas, centrifuged juices, juices in order to soften the faeces and facilitate their expulsion.
Even physical activity , perhaps done by taking your child out for a walk, helps intestinal motility.
Last tip: try the mallow. It can be taken as a herbal tea.
Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.
Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.