Baby Poop Color
Can you tell me what is a normal baby poop color?
This is the subject that everyone just loves to talk about, right? Ironically, while this is not something you can imagine discussing before you become a parent, it becomes a natural part of everyday conversation once your baby is born. You will be discussing baby stool, texture, color and smell on such a routine basis with your physician, midwife, family, friends and your partner, that it becomes and afterthought that it was gross and disgusting before!
Keep in mind that there are a number of variations that can affect the color of your baby’s stool, including her age, if she is bottlefed or breastfed, the diet of the breastfeeding mother and if she is on solid foods or not.
Colors Of Baby Stool
The first bowel movement your newborn will have is known as meconium. It is most likely going to be black and very sticky and is often referred to as a “tar like substance”.
As your baby starts to breastfeed or bottlefeed, you will notice her diaper is filled with a grainy brown, yellow or orange bowel movement. Typically this stool will have very little odor to it if the baby is being breastfed. However, the bowel movements of a bottlefed baby can be more offensive and have a foul odor. This stool will also be more firm than breastfed stool.
As your baby ages the stool may become more watery and take on more of mustard or greenish color. When she is being fed solids around the age of 6 months, the stool will then take on the color of the food she was just fed. As an example, if you just fed your baby solids such as carrots, the stool will be orange, if it was peas the stool will be green, etc.
As your baby turns 12 months and is put on whole cow’s milk and other solids that were off limits such as citrus foods, you will notice it will start to become more consistently brown, much like an adults.
Occasionally you will find blood in your baby’s diaper, but in most cases this can be caused by a tear in the rectum, swallowing some blood from a chaffed nipple of the mother, etc.
If you notice the blood is consistently occurring with each bowel movement and your baby seems to be in discomfort, do not hesitate to contact your physician or take him to the emergency room.
If you notice that your baby is passing hard black stool, such as hard little pellets, this could be a sign of constipation. If you suspect this is the case be sure to advise your physician for recommended treatments.
Related posts: