• By Emily Amelia Inglis
• Published 09/10/2012

With all the scare stories about meconium and baby poo, many parents dread changing baby’s first dirty nappy but it really isn’t as bad as you might think. Read on for all you need to know about baby poo.

How often will your baby poo?

Following birth babies normally do a poo within the first 48 hours and then seem to never stop! Once feeding is established it is normal to change between 6 and 12 nappies a day. Frequency depends on the age of your baby, how she is feeding and how often she is feeding, so every baby is different.

What does a normal baby poo look like?

The texture, colour and quantity of baby poo will vary and change a lot over the course of the first year of a baby’s life. The first baby poo, meconium, is odourless, dark green or black in colour and very sticky. By around day 3 or 4, baby poo will turn grainy in texture and mustard yellow or brown in colour. Breastfed babies poo that are soft and runny, bright yellow and with little odour, while bottle fed babies’ poos are usually a pale brown colour and are firmer and smellier than those of breastfed babies.

Starting solids

Once weaning begins, you’ll notice changes in her poo. As she grows, she will be able to digest fibre more efficiently, and in turn her poos will become more formed, a lot smellier and possibly less frequent. You will also see a difference in her poo as you introduce her to new and different foods and don’t be surprised if you find bits of undigested food in her poo like sweet corn and peas!

What sort of baby poo is not normal?

Diarrhoea

Symptoms:

· Poo tends to spurt out of her bottom and appears very runny

· She poos more often with larger amounts

· Baby may appear uncomfortable with tummy pains

Causes:

· Food allergy

· Tummy bug

· Too much fruit juice

· If still breastfeeding, something mum has eaten can cause diarrhoea in baby

· If your baby is teething her poo may be looser than normal but not diarrhoea

Diarrhoea should clear up without treatment within 24 hours, but if it persists contact your GP urgently to avoid dehydration

Constipation

Symptoms:

· Poos are small and dry, like rabbit droppings

· Baby can look very uncomfortable when having a poo

· Streaks of blood in the poo can be the result of tiny cracks in the skin, caused by passing a hard poo

Causes:

· Formula milk made up incorrectly

· Can also be caused by fever and dehydration

This information does not replace doctor’s advice.

About the Author : Emily Amelia Inglis is writing about breastfed babies poo.