Wet diapers and frequent feedings are signs that your baby is getting enough to drink. Sometimes it is difficult to determine if a diaper is wet. A tissue liner inside the diaper can help show wetness. It is common, during the first 4 to 5 days after birth, to find a pink-colored stain in your baby’s wet diapers. This results from normal crystals in the urine and is not a problem.
Preventing Diaper Rash
Change your baby’s diaper frequently. Let her bottom air-dry as long as possible at each diaper change. You may use a zinc oxide cream or petroleum jelly to protect the skin. Do not use powder.
Changing your Son’s Diaper
If your son is circumcised, gently rinse the area at each diaper change. It is important to keep the area as clean as possible. The gauze wrap on the penis will usually fall off within 24 hours following circumcision. Until the circumcision is healed, I recommend applying petroleum jelly or an antibiotic ointment to prevent the penis from sticking to the diaper.
Changing your Daughter’s Diaper
Using a wet cloth, wipe from front to back. Gently clean between all creases of skin. A little blood-tinged mucus from her vagina is normal at first. If this condition continues, becomes more frequent or heavier, call me.
Bowel Movements
Bowel movements of newborn babies vary considerably in size, color, consistency, and frequency. A baby may have several bowel movements daily, or none for a few days. Frequent bowel movements in a breastfed newborn are a good indication that he is getting enough breast milk.
Stools may be yellow, brown, or green – firm, loose, or pasty. Your baby’s first stools are black-green, tarry, and sticky. They are called meconium. By day 2 or 3, the stool will probably become brown to green and seedy. A breastfed baby’s stools are generally yellow, loose, and seedy once past the meconium stage. The stools of a bottle-fed baby may be yellow, green, or brown and may be loose to well-formed.
Change your baby’s diaper as soon as possible after each bowel movement or wetting. Clean the diaper area and wipe it gently with a cotton washcloth or a non-sensitizing diaper wipe.
