Every baby or child has different bowel habits. Many newborns
who are breast-fed have 5 to 10 bowel movements a day. They may
have as few as 1 or 2. After 2 weeks, breast-fed babies' bowel
movements might be less frequent. Bottle-fed babies tend to have
1 or 2 fewer bowel movements a day than breast-fed babies.
Babies sometimes go 2 days or longer between bowel movements.
This usually is not a problem as long as: Normal stool during
infancy may be runny or pasty, especially if the baby is breast-
fed. The presence of mucus in the stool is not uncommon. Unless
there is a change in your baby's normal habits, loose and
frequent stools are not considered to be diarrhea. Diarrhea
occurs when there is an increase in the frequency of bowel
movements or bowel movements are more watery and loose than
normal. Diarrhea has many causes. A child may develop diarrhea
from a change in his or her diet. A baby's or child's digestive
tract may not tolerate large amounts of juice, fruit, or even
milk. Diarrhea may be caused by a