Your baby's stools

For the first few days after birth, babies pass urine and meconium - greenish black sticky stools. This is the substance that lines the gut when the baby is in the uterus and it is expelled over the first few days. It is remarkably sticky and hard to remove from skin and nappies. For this reason, it may be better to use disposable nappies for the first few days, even if you plan to use terry nappies after this.

After the first few days, a breastfed baby’s stools are yellow, sweetish-smelling and very soft - sometimes no more than a stain on the nappy, sometimes a lot more. A bottle fed baby’s stools are pale brown, smelly and more formed. Some baby formula milks give a greenish tinge to the stool. The occasional green stool in a breastfed or bottle fed baby is nothing to worry about. If your baby has persistent green stools, or foamy stools, or stools containing mucus, talk to your health visitor.

Healthy babies urinate frequently. Breastfed babies may poo several times a day at first and then less frequently after a few weeks. A week or more between motions is possible, as is a much more frequent pattern. Fully breastfed babies don’t get constipated but formula fed babies may do. If your baby is having difficulty passing uncomfortably hard stools, see your health visitor for advice.