THE SCOOP ON POOP: Ten Things To Know About Baby Poop!
Foetal poop
How does your baby poop in the womb? They don’t! At least they don’t use their bowels in the womb. While you’re pregnant, your baby urinates into the amniotic fluid, which your body cleanses and replenishes regularly. But the rest of their food waste passes back to your body through the umbilical cord. Their bowels have not yet started moving.
First Poop
Your baby’s first poop is called ‘meconium’. This is a thick, dark, heavy substance that looks like tar. It is composed of stuff the foetus swallows in utero, such as amniotic fluid, intestinal cells, lanugo, mucous, and bile. In the womb, it serves as a barrier in the baby’s intestinal tract, but after being born, the baby has to clear the meconium out of their bowels in order to activate their digestive system. While attached to the umbilical cord, your baby doesn’t move their bowels, so they need to be cleared and primed before your milk comes in. One of the purposes of your colostrum–the first milk you produce–is that it is a powerful laxative that helps evacuate all the meconium out of your baby’s system in preparation for digesting your milk. This is also one of the reasons colostrum comes in such tiny quantities–drops!--because the baby is not yet ready to digest any serious amounts of food until after this process has been successful.
Transitional Poop
As your baby’s digestive system is clearing, your baby’s poops are transitional. You can expect a minimum of one poop on day one, two and day two, and a minimum of three per day after that. Their first couple poops will be pure meconium–black, heavy, thick–but will soon start shifting to dark green and chunky, and then lighter brown and seedy, and finally yellow and smooth. Don’t worry if it’s not exactly in this order, as every baby is different, but the poops will change as your colostrum clears all the meconium out of their bowels, and their system gets primed for optimal extrauterine function. Usually by the end of the first week, your baby’s poops will be consistently yellowish/orangey, and will sometimes be smooth–like pumpkin puree–and sometimes have texture–anything from dijon mustard to sesame seeds–which are just spots of milk fat and totally normal. If formula fed, the poop will be a bit thicker, like hummus or nut butter.
Fourth trimester poop
For the next eight to twelve weeks, your baby will poop a lot, usually three times a day or more. You might notice a few substantial poops, and maybe also a lot of minor ones in between, like small leaky streaks. You will be changing many diapers during the so-called “fourth trimester”-usually the first two to three months or so of your baby’s life. It is normal for babies to leak a bit of poop after each feeding during this early developmental phase.
Fourth Trimester Digestion
Another normal–if distressing–part of your baby’s poop journey at this age, is that their digestive muscles are not yet well coordinated. Babies go through an uncomfortable phase where they often strain, grunt, and cry while they poop, because they can’t yet relax their bowels while pushing with their diaphragm. Although it can look like terrible gas, or awful constipation, this is one of the normal causes of infant colic, and there is no real cure except time. Things that can help include breastfeeding, tummy massage, upright time (babywearing), and lots and lots of soothing and comfort. This usually resolves at around two to three months, when both your baby’s developing digestive system, and your own rapidly shifting milk, reach a shared plateau in their transformation.
Mature Baby Poop
One of the results of the big shift that happens at the two to three month mark, is that most babies reduce to one poop a day. And some even less–some babies only poop once every several days! A lot of people get alarmed when this change happens–the sudden decline from many poopy diapers a day to only one or fewer--but this is normal, and means that your baby has shifted to a more mature phase in their developing digestive system.
Fragrant Poop
You might notice that you can recognize the smell of your own baby’s poop! How your baby’s poop smells depends on what they eat, which might also be influenced by what you eat. If your baby is formula fed, their poop will smell like poop (pungent with a sulphuric undertone), since their digestive system reacts to formula as a food. If your baby is 100% breastfed/bodyfed (with nothing else at all), your baby’s poop will smell less poop-like because your baby’s digestive system processes your milk so quickly and efficiently that there is almost no odour-inducing bacteria in what comes out. It’s more like your amniotic fluid than food in a way, like part of the baby’s familiar system as opposed to something unknown. Everyone’s milk takes on subtle flavours based on their own diet, their own genes, and their own lifestyle, such that every breastfed baby’s poop smells a bit unique. Some parents would say greek yoghurt, bread dough, hops, sour cream, very ripe fruit–a little bit yeasty, but relatively inoffensive.
Night poop
Another digestive plateau that happens around two - three months is that many babies stop pooping at night. This is caused by the developmental stage of both their circadian rhythms, and their digestive systems, each of which go through a milestone shift at around this age. For some babies it’s later, but many will save their poops for the day from this point onwards, at least until they start eating solids. It is very common for babies to go through a short phase of renewed sleep-pooping when they start digesting solid food, but this stage ‘passes’ quickly.
Solid food poop
The next major poop change happens when your baby starts eating solid foods. Usually we introduce solids after six months, when the baby’s digestive system is finally ready to process something other than milk or formula. At first, their poops will look like their usual milk poops, with a few showstopping chunks of colourful carrot or chicken, or whatever they’ve eaten, completely undigested in the diaper. But over the next year, the solid food will be more and more broken down, and increasingly integrated, until it looks less like a garnish and more like poop-stew. Sadly, it is when your baby starts truly digesting food that their poops lose their odour-innocence, and start smelling like actual fecal matter. Say goodbye to that charming buttermilk smell, and hello to actual poop stink.
Problem Poop
As we have seen, normal poop can be many different textures and colours as your baby develops, but there are a few types of poop we want to be aware of.
Frothy green poop: This is usually a foremilk imbalance which is typically caused by switching sides while nursing, so the baby gets too much of the fast-flowing hydrating milk and not enough of the thicker, fattier milk. To solve, nurse on one side only per feed, using the other breast at the next feed.
Hard, dark, pebbly poop: This can indicate constipation. This is extremely rare in breastfed babies but can be caused by starting solids too early. If on formula, consider talking to your doctor or midwife about switching brands if it continues for more than a couple days.
Loose, watery poop: This could be diarrhea. It’s normal every once in a while, but if it persists, consult your doctor or midwife just in case it's a sign of an infection.
Blood in poop: This can happen for a variety of benign reasons, but it doesn’t hurt to chat with your care provider to rule out anything serious. If your baby has started solids, note that red specks often turn out not to be blood at all but just traces of brightly hued food.
Slime in poop: This usually clears up by itself after a couple days, but consult your doctor or midwife if it doesn’t. It can sometimes be caused by teething, or by an allergy or infection.
Generally, strange poops go back to normal with no treatment after a couple days, but always weigh the appearance of the poops alongside your baby’s behaviour. If they are acting unwell, the problem-poop can be an additional symptom, and might benefit from more immediate attention. If they seem otherwise fine, give it a couple days and see if it resolves before seeking medical help. Use your own judgement and trust your gut about how your baby is feeling. If you’re worried, it never hurts to get a professional opinion.
Ultimately, baby poop goes through many phases, and exhibits all sorts of different textures, appearances, and colours. Who knew there was so much to say about baby poop! I never thought I would be one of ‘those’ parents who obsesses over baby poop, and here I am decades later still doing it.
Stephanie Ondrack lives in Vancouver with partner, kids, and pets.
