Does a breastfed newborn need to switch to formula milk if he has diarrhea?

Do newborns need to switch to formula milk when they have diarrhea after breastfeeding? Some babies have diarrhea symptoms after drinking their mother's milk. What can be done to relieve the baby's diarrhea? Do you need to switch to formula milk when the baby has diarrhea? Let's talk about the situation of newborns with diarrhea after breastfeeding.

Causes of Breastfeeding Diarrhea

Breast milk diarrhea is generally caused by two reasons:

1. It may be that the prostaglandin content in breast milk is high, which promotes the movement of small intestinal smooth muscles, increases the secretion of water and electrolytes, and produces loose stools.

2. It may be that the baby is intolerant to lactose and lacks lactase in the body. Lactose intolerance is divided into primary and secondary types. The lead acetate method can be used to measure the amount of lactose in the feces of the child for initial screening, and then it can be confirmed by rapid results after a lactose-free diet.

When the so-called physiological breast milk diarrhea occurs, do not switch to milk feeding for the purpose of forming stool. The baby's body will gradually adapt to the prostaglandins in breast milk, and the lactase will gradually mature and the enzyme activity will increase, which will enable it to decompose, digest and absorb lactose, and the condition will gradually improve with the addition of complementary food. In addition, be careful not to cover the nipple of the child. After each breast is basically empty, if you continue to suck, the fat content in the milk will increase, which is easy to cause fat indigestion. It is recommended to suck if you want to, and stop if you don't want to. It takes about 10 minutes each time, and the full breast can be basically sucked empty.

Does a breastfed newborn need to switch to formula milk if he has diarrhea?

1. If the baby has diarrhea caused by breast milk, there is no need to change the formula for diarrhea. Because breast milk diarrhea generally does not affect the normal development of the baby, even if the baby has diarrhea, the formula should not be changed for feeding.

2. It is recommended to check the lactase in the baby's body. As long as there is no deficiency, you can continue to breastfeed.

3. If you really need to change milk powder, you need to feed your baby at intervals, once with milk powder and then once with breast milk. Generally, it is better to feed mainly with breast milk at night.

What to do if you have diarrhea while breastfeeding

Generally, breastfed babies will not suffer from diarrhea, but under special circumstances, eating nutritious and safe breast milk can also cause diarrhea, which is sometimes quite serious and often makes the family very anxious.

Characteristics of diarrhea caused by breastfeeding. Breast milk diarrhea, as the name suggests, is diarrhea caused by breast milk. This type of breast milk diarrhea is not common in real life. When diarrhea occurs, the possibility of disease should be ruled out first. In fact, breast milk diarrhea has obvious characteristics. This type of diarrhea generally causes 3 to 7 bowel movements a day, which are foamy and watery, with a special sour smell. The stool is thin and slightly green, with foam and milk curds, and sometimes even with strips of transparent mucus. There is no fever during diarrhea, the baby has no obvious pain or crying, and the stool test shows no abnormal infection. There are generally no other symptoms of diarrhea. The baby is lively and has a good appetite. Although the course of diarrhea is long, the weight gain is about 300 every 10 days, and it is prolonged. If the diarrhea lasts for a long time, it may lead to serious consequences such as growth stagnation and malnutrition, and timely treatment is required.

Causes of breast milk diarrhea. Diarrhea caused by breastfeeding is mainly due to the high content of prostaglandins in breast milk, which can promote the movement of small intestinal smooth muscles, increase the secretion of water and electrolytes, and produce loose stools. At the same time, children are prone to diarrhea because of their lactose intolerance and lack of lactase in the body. There are two causes of lactose intolerance: primary and secondary. The lead acetate method can be used to determine the amount of lactose in the child's feces for initial screening. If a lactose-free diet is used and the effect is rapid, it means that this is the cause.

Generally, mild physiological diarrhea does not require treatment, and breastfeeding can continue. In this way, the baby's body will gradually adapt to the prostaglandins in breast milk, and the lactase will gradually mature, the activity of the enzyme will increase, and it will gradually be able to decompose, digest and absorb lactose, and gradually improve with the addition of complementary food. In terms of diet, you can feed 100 ml of fresh soy milk plus 5 grams of glucose instead of milk, and physiological diarrhea can be controlled. Soy milk feeding should not be used alone for a long time, and fish protein should be added gradually. The specific method is to use 180 ml of rice soup to mix 5 grams of fish protein. Generally, infants can be fed 3 times a day.

The manifestations of bowel movements in infants and young children at different stages

Newborn baby's stool

Newborns usually begin to excrete dark green (some say black), sticky, odorless meconium within 12 hours after birth. Premature infants usually have delayed meconium excretion for more than 24 hours due to less meconium formation and weak intestinal motility. Digestive tract malformations must be ruled out. Meconium can be excreted within 3 to 4 hours, after which the stool gradually turns yellow.

Breastfed baby's poop

The stool of a breastfed baby is ointment-like, mostly golden or yellow, occasionally light green, with visible milk curds, no obvious odor or slightly sour. Breast milk has a mild laxative effect, so 10 bowel movements a day are not abnormal; breast milk is easily digested and absorbed, so a bowel movement once every 10 days is also normal.

Milk powder fed baby's stool

The stool of babies fed with formula is muddy, mostly light yellow or yellow, occasionally green, with visible milk curds, no obvious odor or a slight odor. Babies fed with formula generally have fewer bowel movements than breastfed babies, usually 1 to 4 times a day.

Mixed feeding baby's stool

The nature, color and frequency of stool are between those of breastfed babies and formula-fed babies.

Baby's stool after adding complementary food

After the baby starts to eat solid food, his stool will gradually take shape. Most of the stools are yellow or brown. They may also show the color of something he has eaten. Undigested food particles may be seen. There is an ammonia smell. The frequency of stools of babies after the baby starts to eat solid food is not fixed. It is possible to have one stool a day or 3 to 4 stools a day.

Baby's stool after normal meal

After a normal meal, the baby's stool is basically formed, mostly dark yellow or brown, with undigested food particles occasionally visible, and the (ammonia) odor is stronger than before. After a normal meal, the baby's bowel movements may decrease compared to before, and bowel movements will gradually become regular.

Tips: It is a good thing for your baby to have granular substances in his stool.

If your newborn baby's stool seems to contain seed-like particles, then you should be happy because these particles are the residual milk after the baby absorbs enough breast milk. This means that the breast milk is sufficient and the baby absorbs good and sufficient nutrition.

If there are a lot of milk curds in the stool, it means that the baby's intestinal absorption function is disordered. Mothers of breastfeeding babies should eat light food first. Formula-fed babies can first adjust the concentration of milk powder to half milk, then change it to 3/4 milk after 2-3 days, and then change it back to full milk after 2-3 days. The next step is to change the milk concentration based on the improvement of the baby's stool and observe whether there is any improvement. If there is no improvement after adjusting the milk concentration or the appetite decreases, please take the baby and the stool to the doctor for diagnosis and treatment.