In line with its mission, the Editorial Board of MedTvoiLokony makes every effort to provide reliable medical content supported by the latest scientific knowledge. The additional flag “Checked Content” indicates that the article has been reviewed by or written directly by a physician. This two-step verification: a medical journalist and a doctor allows us to provide the highest quality content in line with current medical knowledge.
Our commitment in this area has been appreciated, among others, by by the Association of Journalists for Health, which awarded the Editorial Board of MedTvoiLokony with the honorary title of the Great Educator.
The newborn’s poop is an important matter. Its appearance – color, smell and texture – allows you to assess the health of the baby. For this reason, the parents and guardians of the child should pay attention to what the pile of their child looks like. It is also an important indicator for a pediatrician.
What should a newborn’s poop look like?
A newborn’s first poop is called meconium. It is sticky and is black-green in color. Smell does not give off any odor. Its color is caused by the high content of bilirubin, a dye that causes, among others, newborn jaundice. The mulch also contains amniotic fluid and mucus.
This poop is excreted by the newborn during the first two to three days of life. This is followed by what are known as transitional stools, which are lighter than meconium and have a loose consistency. It is the result of the colonization of the child’s digestive tract by beneficial bacteria that make up its bacterial flora.
Your baby’s next poop can be of a different color: it can be greenish, brown, or yellow, depending on how it is fed and the baby’s health. The consistency of a baby’s poop can also vary from semi-solid to solid.
The healthy poop of a breastfed newborn baby should smell like whey or sour milk and be yellow, golden or orange in color. Upon contact with air, the baby’s poo turns greenish.
A healthy newborn’s poop should be semi-fluid and soaked in a diaper. Until the age of six weeks, the baby should poop after each feed – later on, it will be slightly less frequent; two or three times a day.
In the following weeks and months of life, the child may poop every few or even several days, because his digestive system matures and milk is absorbed almost completely.
The bottle-fed newborn poop is light brown to pale yellow, has the consistency of butter and has a slightly rotten odor. Sometimes a formula-fed infant’s poop is hard, and the baby becomes constipated when donating it. In this case, you can give the child probiotics and prebiotics and massage his tummy to facilitate defecation.
The baby poop changes color, smell and texture when we introduce products other than milk to the baby’s diet. Grated apple and carrots often cause constipation. Beets and broccoli can induce a slight diarrhea effect and make your baby’s poop a greenish-brown color.
Doubts about the health of the child should be clarified immediately with the pediatrician. Online consultation of contracts via the halodoctor.pl portal.
When is a newborn’s poop a cause for concern?
A newborn baby’s pale gray poop may indicate that your baby’s liver is not working properly.
A dark, almost black pile is a signal that the baby has excess iron. It may also indicate gastrointestinal bleeding. Sometimes it is the result of the mother’s diet (spinach and beetroot give this color to the baby’s poop) or the administration of iron supplements to the baby.
A watery, greenish poop with mucus, pus and blood is a sign that your baby has diarrhea, for example due to gluten intolerance.
A dark green and frothy poop indicates food allergies or intolerances, or that the milk is too sweet, especially at the beginning of a feed.
Any abnormal newborn poop should be anxious, especially the one with pus or blood.
Also, too hard stools should arouse caregivers’ vigilance, because the child may feel pain when passing them.
Diarrhea in a newborn baby is a signal that a pediatrician should be consulted. Remember that a home visit is a good option for very young children. Take advantage of the HomeDoctor offer.