Question
The newborn was born six days ago and hasn’t had a bowel movement for four days. What should I do?
Answer
Newborns may not have regular bowel movements due to their underdeveloped digestive systems. In such cases, the nerves in the intestinal wall may sense the pressure from the contents inside, potentially triggering a reflexive bowel movement. Therefore, some newborns may only have a bowel movement every few days. For newborns fed formula milk, the digestion process may result in less frequent bowel movements, so these newborns may have longer intervals between bowel movements. If a newborn exhibits the aforementioned situation, parents can try using a thermometer to stimulate the reflexive bowel movement. Additionally, for newborns breastfed with milk, which is easier to digest, it may lead to less frequent bowel movements, so these newborns may also have longer intervals between bowel movements and not necessarily have a bowel movement after each feeding.