Baby poop

Ask a doctor: Baby poop

Baby poop is marvellous. That sound weird? It shouldn't. Because baby poop is a sign of hydration, nutrition and that all the plumbing is working.

Every time your baby poops, you should give yourself a little bit of a high five.

But things you want to pay attention to are the colour of your baby's poop, how often your baby's pooping, and if the poop is too hard or too watery.

What does newborn poop look like?

In the very early days, the first few newborn baby poops might be really, really dark, sticky and hard to clean. This is totally normal. It's called Meconium. 

Then, as your baby starts to drink more breast milk, this poop becomes thinner and a little bit lighter. This is called Transitional Stool. 

Baby poop colours

As their gut starts to grow, poop can range in colour from really, really, really dark brown to greens to yellows to some type of mix in between.

But baby poop should never be red, white or black. If you ever notice these colours, you want to talk to a doctor immediately. 

How much should a baby poop? 

How much your baby poops actually depends on the baby. Some breastfed babies may actually only poop once every few days. Some babies poop multiple times a day. What's important is that all the poops are well formed and easy to pass, and your babies aren't struggling.

If your baby's really struggling and the poop is hard, it might be a sign of constipation. If the poop is really frequent and watery, it may be a sign of diarrhoea. 

If you have any questions about the colour of your baby's poop, or if you're worried about constipation or diarrhoea, you want to talk to a doctor.

But in the meantime, smile. Remember, baby poop is human physiology and science’s way of saying: Everything here is working.

Dr. Alok Patel is a parent, paediatrician at Stanford Children's hospital, producer and ABC News correspondent.