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The rainbow’s colors might fascinate you but believe it or not, seeing different colors of your baby’s poop is every parent’s newfound hobby. But instead of joy it only makes you feel anxious. You would have never thought you’d be learning about your baby’s poop colors, but no one can escape this in parenthood. Unfortunately, unlike adults who communicate with each other in case of some intestinal complications, this is not the case for your poor newborn baby. And what makes this scenario even more challenging is when we don’t know what our baby’s poop indicates about their health.
This post will highlight everything you need to know about your baby’s poop, from its color to frequency. But before we dive into the main topic, let’s clarify some basics. So read along to get your questions answered.
What Does Your Baby’s Poop Indicates
Poop is one of the signs we examine to get data on a baby’s health and well‐being because they aren’t yet able to communicate their feelings to us. Your newborn’s poop’s color, consistency, and texture are just a few examples of the many things we might conclude from them. Such as:
- Disease: Sometimes, an illness, such as an intestinal infection, might be detected in your baby’s feces as the first or only sign.
- Hydration: Constipation can occasionally be a symptom that extra fluids are needed for hydration. Although there are minimal cases of constipation in breastfed babies, they are yet to be introduced to solid foods.
- Nutrition: We may use the colors to detect if a baby is taking in breastmilk or formula-based food and, later, if solid foods are being eaten. Specific colors can also suggest problems with nutritional absorption.
What Is a Regular Baby Poop Like
If you are a first-timer, you must wonder what a regular baby poop looks like? Well, don’t worry. We’ll take you through every parameter to help you distinguish between a healthy poop and an unhealthy one.
- For the first few days, your baby’s poop will look black and accompanied by a thick mucus-like substance called meconium. But worry not. This poop will turn from black to dark green in no time.
- Once all the mucus is out of your baby’s body, it will start having normal poops. However, the features of the poop will highly depend on the type of food they are served.
Let’s have a look at each one of them:
- Breastfed Newborn Babies: Don’t be surprised to see various colors from mustard to greenish in your baby’s poop. Usually, a small amount of mucus can be seen as well. You might not be aware, but your baby’s poop color will also depend on what you eat. A regular poop during this period will be consistent or might not even be there. It’s all normal, though.
- Formula-Fed Newborn Babies: If your baby is formula-fed, it will have a different poop frequency and texture than a breastfed one. You’ll often come across paste-like feces with a yellowish or brown-colored texture.
- Breastmilk and Formula Combined: If your baby has both these types of intake, it will show the poop mentioned above characteristics only.
- Solid Food Intake: Most probably, after 6 months, you’ll introduce your baby to solid food, and this is the part where it will all start to stink. It’s all due to the extra fat and sugar your baby digests. As a result, its stool will become more firm and, as mentioned above, with a more pungent odor.
So, these were the poops you shouldn’t be worried about. Now, as we have discussed the regular one, it’s time to introduce you to the colors which should be looked upon.
What Does The Poop Color Mean
Now, here’s the actual part where all you careful parents should keep a note. Anything your baby eats or drinks will genuinely reflect on its poop’s texture, so go through the following colors to know more about the health issue your little one might be going through.
- Red: This color is of danger, even in the case of your baby’s health. Your baby’s poop turns red only when it has blood in it. So if you aren’t feeding your little one any red-colored solids, kindly consult a doctor.
- White or Gray: One of the rarest poop colors, but you shouldn’t wait any further from consulting a doctor because this color indicates the liver is unhealthy.
- Black: When red stool remains in the intestine for a long time, it turns black. So, if your baby is pooping a black colored stool, you should consult a doctor. Although sometimes dark green poop also looks like black, nothing to worry about.
- Milky White Mucus: As mentioned before, it’s meconium. A regular poop with mucus in it shouldn’t be alarming. It’s normal unless your baby has other symptoms like diarrhea, high fever, or vomiting. In that case, you should seek medical help.
- Any Other Shade of Green, Yellow, Brown: All these colors are typical and indicate a healthy poop symptom. But if you are unsure about them, you can always consult a doctor without hesitating.
Now that you know everything there is to know about your baby’s poop, you don’t need to be anxious anymore. Just focus on the basics, and you’ll be good to go. You should be appreciated for putting in so much effort to learn about poop in the first place.. So share your baby’s poop story and how you reacted or resolved the dilemma in the comments below. Take care!
