Baby bladder movements

Baby bladder movements - how often should baby be wetting her nappy?

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While the frequency of bladder movements varies widely between babies, keeping an eye on how often your baby wets her nappy can help you to gauge whether she is feeding well. As your baby's feeding routine becomes established you will begin to become attune to her routines and familiar with what is normal for her.

In the first days after your baby is born you should expect baby to wet her nappy at least twice every 24 hours as she begins to pass the liquid from the milk she has begun to consume. You may notice that she passes tiny orange or pink crystals, these are harmless urates but can be a sign your baby needs to feed more often.

Over the first week you should notice an increase in the number of wet nappies produced until your baby is wetting between 5 and 6 nappies a day.

As your baby grows and beings to consume more milk you are likely to notice a combined increase in the number of wet nappies and the volume of urine produced. This will continue until baby begins to exert some control over her bladder when the number of wet nappies produced each day will decrease but the amount of urine released each time she wees significantly increase.

Your baby's urine should normally be a very pale yellow colour. If you notice that your baby's urine is dark yellow it may indicate that she is not taking on enough liquid during feeds, or feeding often enough so you should seek advice from your healthcare provider.

It is much easier to gauge the wetness of your baby's nappy when using a cloth variety as disposable nappies tend to absorb most of the liquid away from baby's skin so that the nappy almost feels dry to the touch. When using disposables you can use the 'heavy nappy' test to check that your baby is producing enough urine. You can do this by pouring between 2 and 4 tablespoons of water into a clean nappy and picking it up. This will give you some idea of how heavy a wet nappy will be in comparison to a dry nappy.

As long as your baby is producing 5 -6 (pale yellow) wet nappies a day you should have little reason for concern. However if you are worried about your baby's bladder movements you should seek advice from your doctor.