Malia Jacobson
Tummy Trouble
The scoop on poop and other first-year digestion issues Babies, especially newborns, spend most of their waking hours feeding and pooping, so it’s understandable that digestive issues are a top concern for new parents, says Uma K. Pisharody, MD, a specialist in pediatric gastroenterology. “New babies mostly eat, poop and sleep, so anything that makes them fussier than normal often leads to an assumption that there’s a problem with the baby’s digestion.” Most babies have healthy, functional digestive systems—even those who experience an occasional bout with gas, diarrhea or tummy pain. But because common digestive issues like spitting up, reflux, diarrhea, gas, constipation and changes in bowel movements top the list of new parent concerns, they’re worth addressing. From the first poop to the first birthday, Dr. Pisharody answers questions about first-year digestion issues. What are the top digestive issues you see in babies? Most babies who come to see me are brought in for fussiness or excessive crying. The vast majority of the time, the baby is otherwise fine. The top issues I see and treat in babies are feeding problems, difficulty gaining weight, vomiting, changes in bowel movements like diarrhea or constipation, and reflux. Conditions like digestive tract birth defects or bowel obstructions are much less common.
What’s the first step you take when a new patient comes in? I ask the parent or caregiver a lot of questions about feeding: What’s going on in the home during feeds, when do
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feeds occur, and how do feeds relate to fussiness or other symptoms. I then look for red flags that tell us there could be a digestive problem. Those red flags could be forceful vomiting (noticeably more forceful than normal spit up), particularly vomit that has a fluorescent yellow/green color or blood, any blood in the poop, or problems with the baby’s growth.
When it comes to spitting up, what’s normal? How much is too much? There is actually no “normal” or “abnormal” amount of baby spit up, as each and every baby is different and it’s best not to compare babies to each other. What I look for first and foremost is whether or not there is any forceful
