Baby poo guide: colour and texture differences

It might sound strange, but the sight of your baby’s first poo will be something you welcome. It’s called meconium and will be dark green and black in colour and your baby will pass it in the first 48 hours after birth, with some babies doing so during birth¹. This dark green meconium substance is made up of a number of things that your baby has swallowed during your pregnancy, including skin cells, hair and amniotic fluid, that your baby has swallowed during your pregnancy (2, 3). It may take up to a few days for your baby to pass all of the meconium in their system.

The colour of your baby’s stools will change as your baby grows. Over the next few days it will start to turn brown, orange or yellow, depending on whether your baby is breast or formula fed. Breastfed baby poo tends to be yellow, whereas formula fed baby poo can be yellow-green or a pale brown. Once your baby starts eating solid food, their poo is likely to turn into a darker colour.

Dark green baby poo might sound and look strange, but it’s usually nothing to worry about. Some formula milks designed to help with digestion problems can cause dark green or green baby poo, but if it persists, talk to your midwife or GP to rule out any underlying issues¹.

You should always seek medical advice from your healthcare professional if your baby’s poo is¹:

• Watery.
• Hard (this could be a sign of constipation).
• Pale in colour.
• Contains blood.

The above could indicate a problem with your baby’s health that needs to be checked and treated.

Take a look at our baby poo colour chart to get a better idea of what to look out for.

When your baby does a poo for the first time, this meconium will have a sticky, tar-like consistency. Be warned, this can be very stubborn to remove from baby clothes - not to mention your actual baby!

As your tiny tot grows, the consistency of their poo will change. Breastfed baby poo can be quite runny, and might have what looks like seeds in it - this is completely normal⁴. Formula fed baby poo on the other hand, is likely to be firmer or more paste-like¹.

Once your baby starts to enjoy their first tastes of solid food, their poo may become more solid in texture. If you spot that your baby’s bowel movements are hard, or that your baby is struggling to poo, this could be a sign of constipation. This isn’t uncommon in weaning babies as they start to enjoy and adapt to new tastes and textures.

You might also notice a change to your baby’s pooing habits if you’ve recently switched from breast to formula feeding. The chances are your baby’s poo will be different in terms of texture, smell and appearance⁵. 

So just how often should your baby poo? Unfortunately, there’s no set poo guide for infants, only general guidance.

As a general rule, your newborn baby will poo four times times a day on average during their first week of life, but this is likely to reduce to around twice a day as they get older and reach one year old¹. However, this can differ depending on whether your baby is breast or formula fed. 

Breastfed babies may poo every time you feed them at first, but as they grow and develop, it’s not unusual for them to go several days without having a poo. Formula fed babies may poo around five times a day when first born, settling to once a day as they get older¹.

The important thing to remember here is that all babies are different. So what’s normal for one baby may not be the same for yours. Ultimately, if your baby is gaining weight, not in distress and feeding well, there’s usually no cause for concern. Another consideration is their diet as the frequency of baby poo when weaning will be different to how often breast and formula fed babies do a poo.

Once you get to know what’s ‘normal’ for your babies pooing habits, you’ll be able to spot if there are any concerns about your baby’s health and if you need to seek medical advice.

There’s no getting away from it, your baby’s going to create a stink! Particularly if they’re formula fed, as this tends to result in stronger smelling baby poo. Breastfed baby poo doesn’t tent to have much of a smell¹. 

Once your baby embarks on their weaning journey, the variety of foods will change the way their poo smells (spoiler alert:  it’s more than likely going to be much stronger!).

If you notice that your baby is producing consistently foul smelling poos, it’s always best to seek medical advice from your GP to check that everything’s OK and put your mind at ease.