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Home › Articles › General Health › Tummy Trouble?

Tummy Trouble?

A Guide to Your Newborn's Digestive System

By Jennifer Lacey

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While your baby was growing inside of your womb, the placenta acted as a lifeline. After birth, however, your little one is able to feed by sucking and swallowing milk through the mouth and moving it through the digestive tract.

A newborn's digestive system is made up of an intricate, delicate system of organs and functions. Nearly all newborns lose some birth weight during the first few days after delivery. This can be a cause of confusion for parents, who may become concerned Baby is not taking in enough formula or breast milk despite a steady feeding schedule. However, just like Mom, Baby will undergo post-delivery fluid loss, because for nine months, your baby has been on a fluid-only diet.

"Nearly all healthy newborns lose up to 10 percent of their body weight in the first days of life," says Dr. Jay Hochman, pediatric gastroenterologist and hepatologist at the Children's Center for Digestive Health Care at Atlanta Children's Hospital. Usually by the time your baby is around 2 weeks old, he will have regained or added to his birth weight.

Curious Finds
Bowel frequency varies from baby to baby. What is normal for some babies is not necessarily standard for others. Some newborns only make a single bowel movement per day, while others may make as many as 15 during their first few weeks of life.

The color and consistency of bowel movements vary as well. During the first two days after birth, your baby will pass a substance known as meconium in her stools. "In the womb, all infants swallow amniotic fluid," Dr. Hochman says. "This helps mature their lungs, as well as the intestines. Meconium is the digested amniotic fluid."

Meconium appears greenish-black in color and sticky in consistency. Once your baby begins regular feedings, meconium gradually disappears and the stools begin to take on new colors and odors. "When feeding begins, the meconium is replaced by greenish-brown transition stools," says Dr. Alan Sacks, pediatric gastroenterologist with Nemours Children's Clinic in Pensacola, Fla.

Breast Versus Bottle

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