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If your child poops during the day, you will know what you should do. All you need is to grab your baby to change a diaper without flinching. However, it is a different story if your baby poops at night.
So, can babies poop in their sleep? Yes, and it might be uncomfortable for both him and you. You will likely have to wake him up and yourself to change his diaper.
If you’re a first-time parent, you’ll have to balance your options and determine which is more critical: your baby’s sleep or comfort.
Let’s dive into this article to understand clearly your baby’s pooping routine at night and help him have a better sleep.
Is It Normal for Babies to Poop in Their Sleep?
Your baby may poop while sleeping, but it is normal. However, when your baby grows older, this routine becomes abnormal.
Many specialists believe that many newborns will poop right after a meal. Thus, you may anticipate your newborn to defecate at night at first, particularly if they’re nursing.
Breastfed babies can sometimes go many days without pooping. It’s also not a cause for concern. Besides, infants given formula have fewer bowel movements. Nighttime poops may be less of an issue if you use formula milk.
When your child grows up and starts eating solid foods, you can do many things to guide him to poop in the daytime only.
A baby’s systems are usually quite good and healthy, so bowel irregularities or looseness is infrequent. In its simplest term, the frequency of your baby’s defecation during the nighttime is entirely up to his gastrointestinal system.
Although it may not benefit your sleep schedule or the number of diapers you change, you should know that the nighttime poops indicate a balanced and healthy system. However, if your baby poops in their sleep and you don’t change the diaper in time, this will be a big problem.
Stool contains a lot of bacteria and sprinkled material, which can harm the skin. The moist and warm environment of a diaper attracts yeast, leading to a yeast infection.
For these reasons, you should know how to stop your baby from pooping in their diaper while sleeping.
How Long Can Baby Sleep With a Poopy Diaper?
If you let your baby stay in a wet or poopy diaper for too long, they may experience a diaper rash. Most moms change a diaper right after they smell feces while their baby is sleeping, but it is unnecessary.
Several factors influence when you should change a dirty diaper.
- Ensure that you change your baby’s diaper every breastfeeding cycle in the daytime.
- You may change your baby’s dirty diaper during a feeding session, soon after a breastfeeding session, or before his short nap.
- If your baby often wakes up after pooping, you can wait a few minutes. Nevertheless, waiting more than 30 minutes isn’t good for them.
What to Do If Baby Poops While Sleeping?
Dealing with your baby pooping in the daytime is simple while changing a diaper at night might be challenging. You will need to change that dirty diaper since the enzyme in your baby’s stool can generate ammonia, which can cause yeast infection.
Should I wake my baby to change the poopy diaper? How to change a dirty diaper while letting them sleep well? Those are the questions that every mother always asks because no one wants to disrupt a baby’s good sleep.
The following tips may be helpful for first-time moms. Let’s take a closer look!
- Change your newborn’s diaper quietly and quickly before returning to his bed.
- You don’t want to make a big deal about it. So, try not to make your nursery too bright. Turning on the ceiling light will wake your newborn up entirely. One tip here is that you can use a little night light with soothing sounds to quickly bring your baby back to sleep.
- Don’t make eye contact or talk to your baby while changing the poopy diaper, as he may wake up.
- If you can change the dirty diaper in your baby’s crib, it’s better. You don’t need to clean up everything as you can do it after he wakes up.
- Don’t use wet wipes because your baby may feel cold, and he will be awake immediately.
- Before applying a wipe to your baby, keep it warm with your hand.
- A sleep sack may be helpful, and a zippered sleeper is even better.
How to Stop Your Baby from Pooping at Night?
If your baby or toddler still poops in sleep every night, it’s a problem you need to deal with. It not only affects your baby’s health but also yours.
Look no further than the ways below to get your baby or toddler to stop pooping overnight.
1. Lather Up
Always cover your baby’s bum in a generous coating of a diaper cream before bedtime. Even if you forget the feces or decide not to change your baby, you can still protect their skin against diaper rash. Try this cream, which can heal the rash markedly after just a few times of use.
2. Allow Time For Digestion
Before placing your baby or toddler in the crib, make sure you give them enough time for digestion.
Playing a little after lunchtime or dinner might help get the baby’s system working well. Furthermore, because toddlers want privacy while they defecate, consider some autonomous play.
3. Apply The “Eat, Play, Sleep” Method
To give your baby enough time for digestion and excretion, you should apply the “Eat, Play, Sleep” strategy. Start feeding your baby when he wakes up rather than before he goes to sleep. This method is beneficial for a variety of reasons!
Make sure your baby stays hydrated. It will assist him in pooping and avoiding constipation.
4. Maintain a Food Log
Keep a diet diary to check whether particular foods are perhaps the source of your baby’s poop.
Give your baby fruits like pears, peaches, prunes, and plums or high-fiber cereals earlier during the daytime to have time for digestion before going to bed.
At supper, it’s better to turn to starchy carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes. You may try bread, spaghetti, cheese, rice, bananas, and meat for dinner if your pediatrician approves.
5. Set Up A Schedule
Whether your child is frequently getting up early and pooping, check and see whether he has finished sleeping and his intestines have followed suit.
Early morning awakenings might lead to an excessively early bedtime for an extended period. Try to encourage your child to sleep at a certain age at a reasonable hour.
For instance, the best sleeping time for newborns and toddlers is often between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.
6. Help Your Baby Build A Routine
When your child is comfortable, pooping is simpler. Hence, to allow them more time to defecate, try stretching their routine besides an early bath.
Consider giving your newborn a massage or cycling your legs to stimulate his digestive system working.
7. Try Sleep Training
It might be more challenging to control your child’s bodily system if your evenings and nights of sleep are a disaster or if he doesn’t have good sleep patterns.
Teach your child to fall asleep on their own, sleep through the nighttime, and have a regular daily sleep routine. It can assist your child in overcoming these difficulties and preventing feces from disturbing their sleep.
8. Alleviate Teething
Teething causes more drool, leading to loose stool. This case can result in nighttime defecation. It’s best to find ways to help your babay drool less. If you can do that, you can stop him from pooping at night.
When Do Babies Stop Pooping At Night?
Baby’s digestive systems are smaller, so they often defecate immediately after eating, within one hour.
For a baby, there isn’t much difference between night and day. Until the age of 4 to 6 weeks, a newborn will still be pooping at night. Their circadian cycle begins to function more or less efficiently at this period. The frequency of defecation at night began to decrease from this point forward.
A baby’s internal clock, on the other hand, will take significantly longer to regulate. However, this case varies from child to child. After about 4 months, some babies stop pooping overnight, while others continue for much longer.
As a result, pediatricians recommend that parents should take specific actions to assist their children.
Wrapping Up
It’s normal for babies and toddlers to poop at night and during their sleep. This will change over time as they get older and their digestive system develops.
If you need to stop this situation to ensure a good night’s sleep for your child, you can apply ways like setting up a schedule, building a routine for your kid, or lathering up diaper cream.
Hopefully, this post will be helpful for you.
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