When Should You Be Worried About Your Newborn’s Poop?

Babies have their own way of doing just about everything. That is especially true when it comes to their poop. It comes in different shapes, sizes, and colors — sometimes all in the same day! 

Newborn poop is a common cause for concern, because “normal” seems to be a moving target. If you’re caring for a newborn, here’s everything you need to know about newborn poop.

What does a newborn baby’s poop usually look like?

Newborn poop changes a lot over a baby’s first week of life before it settles into a more predictable appearance. Here’s what you can expect from your newborn baby’s poop.

Meconium stools

For the first 3 days, your baby’s poop will be thick and tar-like. This is called meconium. Meconium is usually dark green to black in color.

Meconium is what your baby was making before being born. After birth, the meconium needs to come out before your baby starts making traditional looking baby poop.

The good news about meconium is that it doesn’t smell. The bad news is that it’s very sticky and can be challenging to clean off. Make sure to have plenty of baby wipes on hand for diaper changes.

It can also help to put a barrier cream on your baby’s bottom — like petroleum jelly or zinc oxide. This can help you get the meconium off more easily while providing protection to your infant’s skin. 

Transitional stools

Between days 3 and 5, you’ll start seeing some changes in your baby’s poop since they are eating more. The meconium might start to lighten up. You might even see softer, lighter colored stool mixed into it.

This is called “transitional stool.” It means your baby is almost done clearing out their meconium and is starting to make regular poop now.

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Some babies have transitional stool earlier. Sometimes they even start on the second day. This is normal. Your baby might have made less meconium or passed it faster.

Newborn stools

By the time your baby is 1 week old, their poop will look like “traditional” baby poop. That means it will be soft, not sticky, and a shade of yellow, green, or brown.

This type of poop is much easier to clean off your baby’s skin and doesn’t have a strong smell. Until your baby starts eating solid foods, you can expect stools to look more or less like they do at this point. 

Is it normal if my newborn’s poop looks watery?

Another unique feature of newborn’s poop is its consistency. There’s a wide range of “normal,” including watery poop. After all, your baby doesn’t have a fully mature digestive system and they’re on a liquid diet.

The Amsterdam Infant Stool Scale is a tool that can help you decide if your baby’s stool is true diarrhea or just normal newborn poop. The scale’s pictures show that watery stools can be perfectly normal. Even mucus in newborn poop isn’t unusual.

Though this tool was developed for babies receiving breast milk, it can still be helpful if your baby is eating formula.

In general:

• Babies eating only breastmilk have loose stools, usually with little specks in it that look like seeds.

• Babies eating only formula have slightly more pasty stools that can have up to a peanut butter consistency. 

• Babies eating both breastmilk and formula can have stool with any consistency in between. They might have a watery stool one time and a more pasty stool the next.

What color should my newborn’s poops be?

Your baby’s poop might be brown, tan, green, yellow, or even have an orange tint. The color might change a little throughout the day or from day to day.

Babies who eat breast milk might have more bright yellow poop, like the color of mustard. While babies who eat formula tend to have dark yellow or tan-colored stools.

If your baby is taking vitamins with iron, their poop might be closer to a dark green color.

Some babies might have green, frothy stools. These pea soup looking poops can be a sign of foremilk-hindmilk imbalance. 

How often should my newborn poop?

At this point, it should be no surprise to hear that there’s a wide range of normal when it comes to how often a baby poops.

Studies show that babies receiving breast milk poop on average 3 times per day. But that average is only part of the story. That same study found that babies may poop after every feeding or as infrequently as once a week. Breastfed babies usually start out pooping many times a day and then stool less often as they get older.

Babies eating formula have an average of two poops per day. They also tend to have more “consistent” stooling patterns. This means that they usually don’t make significantly less stools as they get older. But you might still see some variation from day to day.

It’s also normal for your baby to strain while pooping. Studies show that infants can strain for up to 10 minutes and cry before pooping. As long as your baby’s stool is still soft, straining doesn’t mean your child is constipated. This is just normal behavior, because your baby’s abdominal muscles are still developing.

What changes to my baby’s poop frequency, color, or texture may indicate a health issue?

Even though many things can be “normal” when it comes to newborn poop, there are a few things that can indicate a health issue, including:

• Delayed first poop: Your infant should have their first poop within 48 hours. If your child is over 2 days old and still hasn’t stooled, it can be a sign of a blockage in the intestine. 

• White, gray, or clay-colored stools: Baby poop shouldn’t be in the white-gray color family. They also shouldn’t be a washed-out yellow or green color. These are called “acholic stools” and can be a sign of a serious condition called biliary atresia. You can use an infant stool card or the PoopMD app to check your baby’s stool to see if it’s acholic. 

• Red stools: Red stools can be from blood. If your infant’s stools are red, maroon, or clearly have blood on them, this can be a sign of bleeding from the intestines. 

• Black stools: Meconium is normal, but your baby should have passed it all after 3 to 5 days. If your baby still has black or very dark stools after 5 days, it could be melena, which can be a sign of bleeding from the intestines. 

• True constipation: Babies can have constipation. One sign of constipation is hard, pebbly stools. Also, if your baby doesn’t poop unless you stimulate them — like putting a thermometer or finger in their rectum — they may be constipated. 

• True diarrhea: True infant diarrhea is consistently watery with little to no pieces of material in it. It absorbs into the diaper, like urine. In fact, it can be really hard to tell if your baby’s wet diaper is from stool, urine, or both when they have diarrhea. 

• Worms in poop: This isn’t common in the U.S., but infections with parasites can cause worms in your baby’s poop.

While all of these are uncommon, they can be a sign of a serious situation. If you notice any of these things in your baby’s poop, contact your healthcare provider. 

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Written by:

Meredith Grace Merkley, DO, FAAP

Dr. Merkley is a licensed, board-certified pediatrician who has over a decade of experience working in community health. She is currently a National Health Services Corp scholar, and is serving as the medical director of a school-based health clinic at a federally funded health center.

Edited by:

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH, is a medical editor at GoodRx. She is a licensed, board-certified pediatrician with more than a decade of experience in academic medicine.

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