Newborn Bowel Movements and Baby Poop

Your baby's stools will change dramatically during the first few weeks of his life. What you might initially take for diarrhea could, in fact, be a perfectly normal bowel movement for a young baby. Here's what you need to know about infant bowel movements.

It's greenish-black sticky mucus that is present in the baby's bowels before birth.

Most babies pass their meconium within 24 hours of the birth, although some babies pass meconium prior to or during the birth. (Note: Passing meconium prior to birth may be an indication of fetal distress and may result in the baby inhaling some of the meconium into her lungs—something that could result in respiratory difficulties in the newborn. So don't be surprised when your doctor or midwife gives your baby an extra-thorough checkup, if your baby happened to pass meconium prior to birth.)

If your baby hasn't passed any meconium by the second day of life, be sure to let your baby's doctor know, as this could be a symptom of a bowel obstruction.

It's greenish-brown to bright green; either semi-fluid or full of cords and mucus.

It happens during the first month of life as your baby's digestive system begins to adjust to life outside the womb.

Your newborn may have 3–9 transitional stools per day. There may be a small amount of blood in the first few stools—likely the result of blood from the mother that may have been swallowed during the delivery, but you should check with your doctor just to be sure.

It's mustard yellow; creamy in texture; may contain seed-like particles; may have a mild "sour milk" smell.

It comes once the transitional stools have stopped (by the end of the first month of your baby's life).

Initially, breast-fed babies have bowel movements more often than formula-fed babies, but by age 2 months, the number of bowel movements may drop to 2 a week. This is because your body has switched from producing colostrum, which is thought to have a laxative effect, to producing mature milk. Since there is very little waste material in mature breast milk, your baby simply doesn't need to eliminate as often as a formula-fed baby.

It's yellowish, tan-colored, or brown stools that are relatively solid (e.g., peanut butter-like consistency); foul smell.

It comes cnce the transitional stools end (within the first month of life).

A typical formula-fed baby will have a bowel movement up to 5 times per day. Formula-fed babies sometimes have problems with constipation (the infrequent and painful passage of a hard stool). If you are certain that you're preparing the formula correctly (using the correct proportions of formula and water), you might consider switching to another type or brand of formula and/or supplementing your baby's formula feedings with bottles of water.

You should get in touch with your baby's doctor immediately if your baby's stools become black after the passage of the initial meconium (a possible indication of upper gastrointestinal bleeding); putty colored or chalky white (a possible indication of liver trouble); very mucusy (a possible indication of inflammation or infection); or bloody (a possible indication of infection or internal bleeding—although, if the bloody stools show up during the first few days of life, it's likely to just be the result of maternal blood swallowed during the delivery).