Before you had a baby, did you ever think that you’d be so interested/horrified/fascinated/worried/excited/relieved to see what shows up in their diaper? That you’d be counting poopy and wet diapers and examining each one closely? You are not alone. Almost every new parent (especially first time parents) are very aware of their baby’s poop – the color, the smell, the texture. It’s so true that what goes in one end affects what comes out the other end… and monitoring your baby’s diapers is one of the best indicators you have in the first few weeks to know they are well-nourished and well-hydrated. It can be unsettling when your baby’s poop is not what you expect or “off” their norm.

Here’s the scoop on baby poop:

What is typical? Most exclusively breastfed babies’ poop is watery and mustard-yellow, and may have cottage-cheese like chunks or sesame-seed like bits mixed in it. The chunks are exactly what they look like – undigested milk, due to the immaturity of your baby’s digestive tract. It takes 6-8 weeks for a baby to develop a full complement of normal flora, the healthy bacteria in their gut that helps with digestion, and for their pancreatic enzymes to work at full efficiency. After a couple of months of age, those chunks and seeds generally disappear. Also, as their systems mature, around 3-4 weeks of age, most babies will suddenly poop less frequently. Some exclusively breastfed babies that have been pooping 5-8x/day (or more) go down to 1-2 poops per WEEK. This is normal…it means their digestive tracts are maturing, and you can just enjoy changing fewer poopy diapers! Don’t worry, the texture/color/frequency will change all over again when your baby starts eating solid foods – that’s extra fun!

Poop Color: Although most breastfed babies’ poop is mustard yellow, it can range from brown through orange to yellow and even shades of green. Any amount of formula in a baby’s diet usually makes their poop darker. An occasional color change that goes back to normal is nothing to worry about. If your baby consistently has green poop (i.e. several days in a row, every diaper) when their poop usually has been yellow, AND they are gassy AND their poop is “frothy”, that can mean they are getting too much foremilk, which is higher in lactose. The bacteria in their gut that help digest lactose work overtime and produce more gas. To correct this, try feeding only on one side at a feed and ensuring the baby thoroughly drains one breast before switching to the other breast, so they get enough hindmilk to balance it out. However, if your baby is growing well, not excessively gassy and otherwise things are ticking along just fine, green poop may in fact just be their normal. The only colors of poop that are medically concerning are white/chalky (rare, means malabsorption), bright red (rare, means GI bleeding), or black (after they pass the normally black meconium in the first few days). If you see black flecks or completely black stools in an older baby, that means there is old blood in the stool, which could be from you if you have sore bleeding nipples or could be from higher up in baby’s GI tract.

Poop Smell and Texture: Breastfed babies usually have very soft, sometimes runny poop that smells sweet, reminiscent of “buttered popcorn” or vanilla milkshake” (although, most dads say that only moms think the poop smells sweet!). Formula poops smell less sweet and are thicker (like peanut butter). If your baby’s poop smells quite foul, almost like bile or rotten fish, it could mean they are fighting a GI bug. GI viruses that cause diarrhea are normally self-limiting. Continue nursing and/or feeding as usual, and take your baby to the clinic if they are not back to normal in about a week. Mucous in the stool is common during times of excess drooling or teething, or it can indicate a food sensitivity (usually dairy). Read our post on food sensitivities for information on when and how to do a dairy-elimination trial. Very hard stool “rabbit-pellets” could mean your baby is constipated, however, constipation is rare in exclusively breast fed babies. Constipation is sometimes associated with other medical conditions, not just diet, so we recommend if your baby is truly constipated that you see your doctor. Constipation is not defined by how often your baby poops – remember a breastfed baby commonly poops 1-2x/week after the first month of life, but their poop is soft, so they are not constipated. It is the texture of the poop (hard, pelleted) that defines constipation. Constipation in an older baby who has started solids is not uncommon and usually self-resolves in a few days. It is OK to offer an older baby water or diluted fruit juice  to help soften their stool if the hard stool is causing distress (rule of thumb = 1 oz per month of life). Whole, recognizable pieces of food may also be seen in an older baby’s poop, this is also common/normal due to immature digestion. You can look forward to “diaper surprises” that might change daily once they start on solids!! These changes smooth out as their systems become accustomed to a wide variety of foods.

If you’re wanting even more details on baby poop, click here…or call or email us anytime with questions.

DISCLAIMER: We know when you surf the web for information, you can get conflicting results, and it’s not easy to know whether you are finding evidence-based, high quality recommendations. That’s part of our job here at Kodiak KINDNESS; we are here to support your informed decisions about infant feeding through your baby’s first year. We’ve done some background work and have reviewed the hyperlinks in this post. To the best of our knowledge, the information listed herein reflects current best practices. However, the information contained in this post and any links contained herein is for your informational use only; it is not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Furthermore, Kodiak KINDNESS is not responsible for the accuracy of any information contained in this post or links contained herein; it is for you to review at your own risk and discuss, as needed, with your health care professional in order to make a plan that suits your individual circumstances.