Biological Waste Making Systems

More commonly known as babies!

Babies are wonderful little things. They have that wonderful baby smell. They smell like baby soaps and baby powders and baby lotions... and then they poop, and wee, and dribble and vomit. Seems obvious, but a lot of new parents really don't quite know

what to expect, and some things that are perfectly normal can worry some new parents. So I'm going to explain the ins and outs of baby waste products so that any new parent knows when to - and when not to - panic.

Urine.

Babies wee a lot. How much they wee will largely depend on their age and fluid consumption. When they are very young they will wee only small amounts but they will do it often. Sometimes up to 48 times a day! Depending on the type and quality of the nappies used, nappies don't have to be changed that often, fortunately. Nappy rash will occur in any baby that is left for too long in a wet nappy. Older babies will wee less often, but will wee in larger amounts. They may go for hours dry and then over-fill their nappy in one hit.

If the baby's urine is clear, they are getting plenty of fluid and they are healthy. If the urine is yellowish, they are dehydrated and need more fluids. If the urine has a horrid smell to it or seems to contain traces of blood, there is a chance that there may be some sort of infection of the urinary tract. See a doctor if this becomes a concern for you. Urinary Tract Infections (UTI's) can become extremely painful if not treated.

When very young baby boys are about to wee, they will often have an errection just beforehand. This is perfectly normal and it will eventually stop happening. Just a warning, if you see your newborn boy get an erection, make cover! If you don't you could well end up having to change yourself as well as the nappy!

Faeces.

A baby's first poop is commonly called a tar plug. It is without a doubt the worst and hardest to clean up poop a baby is ever likely to do in it's life! It is very dark, almost black, very sticky and pastey, and it stinks like nothing else. It looks and has a consistancy similar to vegemite, but doesn't smell anything like vegemite. Fortunately they only need to poop a couple of times at most and this will be gone, never to be seen again.

Babies that are exclusively breastfed will usually poop less often than formula fed babies, sometimes only once every 4 days. If a baby hasn't pooped for more than 4 days, your baby may be constipated. Breastfed baby poop usually starts out pale brown, soft and runny, and may have tiny little lumps that may appear pale to almost orangish in colour; though the poop can be darker in some babies. It has a mild smell, and as the baby gets older the poop slowly becomes more pastey.

Formula fed babies will have a stronger smelling and darker coloured poop that is very soft and usually somewhat pastey. Some brands can even make the poop look almost greenish in colour. If the formula isn't mixed to the right consistancy, it will effect the poop. Too runny may mean that the formula is too thinly mixed and constipation will occur if mixed too thick.

When a baby starts eating solids, their poop will change dramatically according to the types of foods they are eating. It will change colour, consistancy, smell, and texture according to what is going in the other end. Babies on solids will poop more often and it can vary from mild to extremely stong in smell. The two things to watch out for are constipation and diahorrea. Diahorrea in babies is just like in adults - it happens often and is very liquidly. Consult your doctor if such symptoms don't clear up within a day or two.

Poopy nappies need to be changed as soon as possible as the bacteria in the poop can irritate and infect the skin and nappy rash can set in fairly rapidly.

Vomit.

Sometimes babies will over-feed and then regurgitate the excess. If it is just regurgitation from over-feeding, the milk will simply back up the system and come out the mouth the same as it went in because it never reached the stomach. It will just look and smell like milk.

Babies with reflux will often regurgitate milk that has gotten much closer to the stomach, and this can contain stomach acids which can hurt the baby's throat on it's way back up. It will also give it a smell and texture similar to vomit. Fortunately this only comes out in small amounts, but it is rather unpleasant for the baby - and for you to clean up.

Vomiting is a violent reaction to something upsetting the stomach. It could be that the milk was off, or a stomach bug or other illness (eg: gastro), or food poisoning causing this. Vomit will usually come up in significant amounts quite suddenly and violently. It can be painful, and is often followed by diahorea within a couple of days after if the cause is bad enough. Vomit has a strong acidic smell, and the food or fluid that was consumed beforehand may appear partly digested or lumpy. This is because vomit comes directly from the stomach where the food or fluid has already started being digested by the stomach acids. Dehydration is a risk, so fluids must be kept up when this occurs. If caused by an illness or food poisoning, fever may be present or appear soon after. If symptoms persist for more than a few hours, it is best to have your baby checked by a doctor.

Dribble.

Little babies haven't even figured out that they have a tongue, let alone how to control it. They can't draw fluids into the back of their mouth to swollow. That's why they need to drink from a teet. If a baby is producing excess saliva or has residual milk in it's mouth, it may very well dribble it out rather than swollow it. As babies start getting onto eating solids (mashed foods) they often haven't learned how to draw the food into the back of their mouths at first and will seem to spit it out. In actual fact they are just dribbling their food. If the baby is pulling strange faces it is most likely because the food is a different taste to what they are used to and they are just giving a natural facial expression of "What is this?!" It doesn't mean they don't like the food. If they start to cry, it could also just be out of frustration because they are hungry but can't figure out how to swollow what they are being given. Of course, in crying, they will dribble even more. It can be a frustrating and messy learning experience for both the child and parent, but persistance will pay off.

The most common cause of excessive dribbling is teething. This will ease once the teeth have come through. As they get older and learn how to use their tongue, they will be more inclined to swollow this excess saliva rather than dribble it out. Babies with cleft palets and other oral problems may have more difficulties with dribbling.