Normal bowel habit during the first 6 weeks in healthy, term infants

Abstract

ObjectiveThe bowel habit in the first few weeks is relevant in the assessment of symptoms which are often nonspecific and may or may not be indicative of underlying pathology. There is very little available data. We therefore undertook a study to investigate the normal bowel habit in healthy, term infants. Design, settingInfants were assessed by the health visitor at the initial contact (10-14 days) and sample and at the 6-week check. Details of feeding method and bowel habit were collected by simple questionnaire. ResultsA total of 238 infants were recruited after 14 exclusions; 87.3% of babies passed meconium within 24 and 99.2% within 48 hours of birth. The majority of infants at 2 weeks passed at least one stool every day (95.3%). At 6 weeks most babies (87.8%) continued to pass a daily stool, although the range widened, with 98.3% passing a stool within the range three or more per day to once every 3 days. Implications forThis study suggests in the first 2 weeks of life that most infants have a practice daily bowel motion. By 6 weeks, although the range has increased, 98.3% will have a bowel motion at least once every 3 days. This means a bowel frequency of less than every 3 days is unusual and requires consideration of underlying pathology.

5. Constipation and toileting issues in children

“…Meconium is passed within the first 24 hours in about 87% of infants and within 48 hours by 99%; 2 this is not influenced by whether the infant is receiving breastmilk or formula 2 . Subsequently, however, the method of feeding has a significant impact on stool frequency, colour and consistency.…”

“…However, breast‐fed infants may occasionally have no bowel actions for 3 days or more, which is rare in bottle‐fed infants. Within the first few weeks of life, 64% of breast‐fed, but only 30% of bottle‐fed, infants are having more than three bowel actions a day 2 , 3 . Stool frequency reduces progressively with age, so that by 16 weeks of age both breast‐fed and bottle‐fed infants are passing on average two stools a day 4 .…”

False‐Positive Meconium Test Results for Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters Secondary to Delayed Sample Collection

“…Meconium begins to accumulate in the fetal intestine at 12 to 16 weeks of pregnancy with the emergence of fetal swallowing, and is comprised of materials ingested in utero (Moore et al., ). It is excreted in the newborn's first few bowel movements shortly after birth, which in healthy full‐term infants typically occurs within 48 hours (Griffin and Beattie, ), but may be delayed in premature, unhealthy, or low birth weight neonates (Kumar and Dhanireddy, ; Verma and Dhanireddy, ). The neonate's excretions gradually transition from the black, tarry, and odorless meconium to postnatally produced milk stool over the first few days of life.…”

Management of Chronic Functional Constipation in Childhood

“…In the school-aged child, education and peer will pass meconium within 48 hours of birth. [5] A delayed relationships are affected. passage of meconium after this time raises the possibility of • Diet.…”

“…Without early treatment the condition is likely to impact on life. [2][3][4][5] all aspects of the child's life, including education and psychologiDefinitions of childhood constipation may also include other cal well-being as well as physical growth and development.…”