Babies who are mainly fed breast milk tend to have stool that experts describe as thin, loose and seedy - like grainy mustard or cottage cheese, or a thick soup. “I’ve seen all three of those things in perfectly normal babies,” said Dr. Still, seeing any of these three colors doesn’t necessarily mean a scary diagnosis. If you see this hue in your infant’s poop, get in touch with your pediatrician within 24 to 48 hours. This color could indicate a serious issue, such as a condition in which the tubes that carry bile from the liver are blocked, potentially resulting in liver damage. Jon Vanderhoof, M.D., a pediatric gastroenterologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and senior lecturer in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Without bile, stool ends up pale or white, explained Dr. White stool, on the other hand, could be a sign of the absence of bile - which largely gives poop its color. Seemingly unrelated causes of red stool could also include a bacterial infection, allergies or gastrointestinal issues like bleeding polyps. Common causes of red poop include swallowing blood from mom’s nipples during breastfeeding, straining from constipation (which can cause little tears in the skin) or diaper rash. Black stool, for instance, can be caused by something as benign as an iron supplement. While red and black stools always warrant an immediate call to or evaluation by a doctor, they don’t always signal a serious problem. Black might indicate bleeding higher up in the G.I. There are three colors, however, that might signal a problem, experts noted: red, black and white.Ī red stool could mean that there is fresh blood in your child’s poop, possibly originating from the lower gastrointestinal tract. “People want to talk about daffodil versus sunflower, cappuccino versus latte - I’ve heard it all,” said Dr. One thing that all the experts I spoke with emphasized is that parents don’t need to overanalyze the colors left behind in their baby’s diapers. And the color may vary a little more if your baby is fed formula than if she’s fed breast milk, said Dr. There may be some variability in the color from day to day, she noted, or from week to week or month to month. “Really any color of fall is okay,” said Dr. But it can also range from any shade of yellow, orange, brown or green. The most common baby poop color is a mustardy yellow - yellow-tan or yellow-brown. Douglas Mogul, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.Ĭolor. “The reality is that poop - from a neonate onto infants and toddlers - is really a lot more simple than people want to break it down,” said Dr. There isn’t one particular way your child’s poop should be, and in most cases, poop that looks a little off is actually normal. From birth until your baby starts solids, poop mileage may vary.īetween the time when your baby starts feeding on breast milk or formula and until she starts solids, her stool can vary a lot. Meconium can last for a few days and will become more of a black-ish green as it transitions to a more typical baby poop. Lockwood said that while some babies may just have one bowel movement per day, others will have small amounts throughout the day at this stage. Newborns typically start excreting meconium within the first 24 hours of life - your infant may even pass it during delivery. It also contains bile produced by her liver, which is largely where the black hue comes from. What exactly, then, is it cleaning out? Cells, amniotic fluid and other material the baby has swallowed in the womb - as well as mucus that the baby’s bowels are producing. “But it’s the digestive tract cleaning out.” “Since the baby hasn’t been eating foods yet, it doesn’t look like a normal stool that we think of,” said Dr. Doctors often describe this poop, called meconium, as tar-like others describe it as looking like motor oil. The stool that babies pass during their first few days of life is unique. During the first few days of life, watch for a tar-like color and consistency.
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