Babies are most likely to stop pooping at night after age 6-8 weeks. Before your baby leaves the womb, he or she spends all their time in darkness. They don’t understand the difference between night or day, so they are going to do their usual activities (sleeping, pooping, and eating) around the clock. Here are some factors that affect when your baby will stop pooping at night.
Differentiating Between Day and Night
By the time your baby reaches 6-8 weeks old, they are more likely to start telling night and day apart. Something that you can do to help is avoid bright lights at night time. If your baby wakes up for a feeding or diaper change, keep the lights dim. Some light is okay, but you don’t want the light to match the same intensity as it is during the day. This helps their natural clock and circadian rhythm.
Your Baby’s Tummy/Bowel Size
Something else to remember is that your baby grows a lot in their first few months home. As your baby’s stomach grows, so does their ability to hold food. Since your baby can hold more breast milk or formula in their tummy, they stay fuller longer. Additionally, the longer times in between feedings let your baby sleep longer and reduces the number of times each day that they need to go poop.
How to Make Night Diaper Changes Easier
Even though you have to get up to change your baby’s diaper at night, there are steps you can take to help your baby drift back to sleep easier. Baby getting back to sleep sooner means that you can, too.
Consider the Lighting
In addition to considering the brightness of a light, you’ll want to consider the color. Instead of choosing a light that is white or blue, which might seem bright even if it is a small night light, opt for warmer colors that promote sleep. Something that gives off orange or red light like a Himalayan salt lamp may be a good choice or you could buy a sleep-safe night light.
Use a Wipe Warmer
Have you ever stepped on a cold floor after a good night of sleep? The cold has a way of waking you up and taking you away from your warm, comfy bed. Making sure your baby’s wipes are warm gives you a better chance of putting them back to sleep after a diaper change. The cold wipes might cause a little discomfort, making your baby more alert once you change them.
RELATED: Keep Your Baby’s Bottom Clean With The Best Baby Wipes
Consider Clothing Choices
Those pajamas with snaps might be cute but they are far from practical when you’re in the newborn stage. Newborns poop a lot, so you’ll be undoing and redoing those snaps constantly. Instead, opt for newborn pajamas with a zipper at night. Alternatively, you could consider an open gown that gives you easy access when you need to change a diaper. In addition to making it easier to access your baby’s diaper, these types of clothing make it faster. This means there’s a lesser chance of your baby waking up.
RELATED: How to Dress Your Infant for Sleep
Don’t Distract Your Baby From Sleep
It can be easy to coo at your baby or make silly faces, especially when you’re deprived of sleep and trying to make the best of the situation. However, your baby takes cues from you. If you’re going to be up to having fun, they’ll want to get up and have fun with you too.
Instead, keep interactions minimal when you change your baby at night. Avoid giggling or making faces at your little one, regardless of how tempting it may be. If your baby does wake up, keep interactions calm. After they are done with changing and feeding, sit with them in a rocking chair or walk around with them to soothe them back to sleep. You could also lay them down in their crib and gently massage their tummy or head.
FAQs – When Do Babies Stop Pooping at Night
Do babies wake up when they poop?
For many babies, a sign that it’s time to change their diaper at night is when baby wakes up and cries. In some cases, however, your baby might poop without waking themselves up.
The biggest risk if your baby doesn’t wake up is that the poop sitting on their sensitive bottom might cause diaper rash. However, you can try to prevent this by applying a protective layer like diaper rash cream. The other risk is that your baby will have a blowout, especially if they move around a lot after their bowel movement without waking. You can buy diapers better suited to blowouts if this is an issue.
Should I wake up my baby to change a poopy diaper?
While some babies let you know as soon as they’ve pooped, others sleep right through it. If your baby doesn’t wake up, there’s no reason they need to be awake for the diaper change. Use lighting that isn’t too bright and be gentle as you move them around. Even if your baby does wake up, being gentle and using low lighting might help them drift off to sleep easier after they have been changed.
Final Word
If you are fed up with nighttime diapers, you aren’t alone. Fortunately, this is something you won’t have to deal with as frequently after the first 6-8 weeks of your baby’s life. By then, they will start to develop a sleep schedule and differentiate from day and night. This lets them (and you) sleep a little longer at night. Hang in there!
