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Updated on November 12, 2023.
Is this poo normal?
You wouldn’t believe the amount of chat I have about baby poo!
People send me pictures of their baby’s nappy all the time, asking “Is this poo normal?”
Every parent worries about their kid’s poos at some point or another.
Below is a guide to help you navigate this topic and understand what the color, consistency, and frequency of baby poop can tell you about your baby’s health and development.
If you remember nothing else from this blog, remember St Kilda – “red, white or black get it checked”
Baby Poo Colour Chart
| Poo colour/consistency | What could this baby poo mean? |
Dark green or greenish black |
Meconium passed in the first few days. This is your baby’s first poo and is sticky and tar-like. It is a combination of amniotic fluid, bile and fatty acids your baby ingested while still in the womb. |
| Pasty light brown
|
Normal poo for babies having formula, a peanut butter consistency |
| Thick brown
|
Normal poo once solids begin, resembles more of an adult poo, dark brown (or darker brown than when on breastmilk or formula) and stronger smell than when just on milk feeds |
| Mustard yellow
|
Normal breastfed-baby poo, pasty or seedy (like dijon mustard) . Breastfed babies can also have looser brown or green poo. |
| Light green
|
Green baby poop is normal for formula and breastfed babies; this colour poo is telling you that something has simply passed through your baby’s gut faster.
What I regularly find is a breastfeeding mother who has all of a sudden eaten a huge amount of green roughage and beans trying to fill her body with nutrition – which has made her baby’s poo green – remember what passes through your system quickly will also pass through your baby’s system quickly. |
| Black
|
Black in baby’s poop can be a sign that your baby has ingested some blood and is not normal. See your doctor if your baby has black poo. Sometimes it is swallowed blood from cracked/bleeding nipples when breastfeeding.
Note: Meconium passed in the first few days is black (very dark green) but your baby’s poo should not stay black in colour. |
| Red
|
This is not normal and could be a sign that your baby is bleeding. Can also be a sign that your baby has an intolerance. See your doctor if your baby’s poo contains blood. |
| White or light grey
|
This is not normal. This could be a sign that the liver may not be producing enough bile, making the poo white in appearance and a chalky texture. See your doctor. |
Frothy Baby Poo
Frothy poo that burns the skin can be a sign of lactose overload (this is a different entity to lactose intolerance) and often results from feeding too frequently.
The foremilk in breastmilk is lactose-heavy, so feeding too often causes excess lactose intake.
For more information see the Foremilk / Hindmilk lesson in the breastfeeding section of your Dr Golly Sleep Program.
Mucous in Baby Poo
This poo looks snotty or like shiny string, you can check this by opening and closing the nappy, if it looks like there are stringy powerlines in between the poo, that’s often mucous. There is often a shine to the poo.
This can indicate an intolerance to something in a breastfeeding mother’s diet or the formula. See your doctor if your baby has mucousy poos.
Mucous in poo is a sign of food intolerances, of inflammation in the baby’s digestive system – there’s lots of general information on how to manage this, in the Dr Golly Sleep Program.
Breastfed baby’s poo
If you’re breastfeeding your baby, the first few months’ stools may look a little like Dijon mustard, with a slightly runny consistency, not dissimilar to runny peanut butter.
The color of your baby’s poo may also change depending on what you’re eating – when it comes to breast milk – your baby eats what you eat. For example, if you eat green vegetables (like spinach), you might see a green tint in the contents of your little one’s diapers.
Breastfed babies are almost never constipated (see below for more).
Do Formula fed babies have different poo?
If your baby drinks formula milk – their poo won’t usually be quite as runny as a breastfed baby.
Their poo will be more light brown/tan (rather than mustard) and the consistency will be very similar to peanut butter or soft-serve ice-cream (sorry for the visuals!).
Introducing solids and your baby’s poo
When you introduce solids into your baby’s diet, their poo may start to smell stronger, due to the extra fats, sugars and proteins in their diet.
If your child is eating finger foods, you might see undigested bits of food in their poo – this is because their digestive system is still getting the hang of processing solids.
Bananas, beetroot and baby poo
These are 2 foods parents can become distressed about. .
When you first introduce bananas you may notice little black threads (some parents get worried it’s little worms) in your baby’s poo, if this happens, rest assured this is just the center part of the banana.
When I get panicked parents worried about the pinky / purple colour of a baby’s poo, worried that it might be blood, one of the first questions I ask is whether they introduced beetroot in the last 24 hours – very commonly, the answer is yes!
(Remember any blood or redness in the poo should always be reviewed / investigated).
How often should my baby poo?
A text I regularly receive is “My baby hasn’t made a poo for a week – something is wrong, they’re constipated!!”
When thinking about constipation and the frequency of poo, I like parents to look at the consistency of the bowel movement, not the frequency with which it is passed.
Some babies will poo with every feed, others may only poo once a week – and both are normal!
As long as the stool is soft and easily passed, you shouldn’t have to worry about how frequently the baby is pooing – so long as the bub remains comfortable.
Breastfed babies are almost never constipated.
Remember this is not medical advice
As you work through the Dr Golly Sleep Program and my content, please always remember that this does NOT take the place of medical advice and if in doubt always consult your doctor.
