Poop

When I was a doctor I never really understood parents’ preoccupation with their baby's poop. They would come to clinic or A&E with one of a million different problems but somehow the conversation would eventually turn to poop...

"It's a bit yellower than normal"

"It's definitely more green than I've seen it before"

"There's more of it"

"There's less of it"

"It smells more"

"It smells different"

Etc

Etc

Invariably followed by them whipping out a day old nappy for me to inspect...

Well, now I'm a parent I've also become obsessed with poop. It starts on day 1 when everyone tells you baby needs to pass meconium by 48 hours. Then it continues during the first week as everyone knows the best way to tell a breastfeed baby is getting enough milk is by the poop changing from black to mustardy colour. And so another poop-obsessed parent is born…

There are some occasions when bringing a nappy as evidence can be very useful:

- if the poop was very pale

- if the parents thought there might be blood present

So this is my rundown of poop colours and what they *might* mean. If you have others please add in the comments section and I can edit this list accordingly. Obviously if you are ever worried then see your doctor or health visitor.

White - this is abnormal. Your baby should see a doctor ASAP

Yellow/mustardy – pretty normal for a baby

Green – this can reflect too much foremilk in a breastfed baby so try keeping them on the same breast for a bit longer, rather than switching sides too soon. Sometimes poop also looks more green if your baby has a tummy bug

Brown – if weaning… welcome to the world of nearly-adult poop. Not nearly as nice to change as yellowy baby poop, smell is much worse, but (for us anyway) there tends to be a lot less leakage so outfit changes rarely needed

Black – if your baby is a newborn and it is super sticky and “tarry” then this is meconium. If your baby is older and this is a new thing then it might be blood which has passed though your baby’s gut (which is why it is not red) – see your doctor

Red specks – this could be food your baby has eaten if weaned or could be blood. If you think it’s blood then see your doctor – there are lots of common reasons why this can happen but you don’t want to miss the super serious ones so get your baby checked

Anyway so I will leave you (look away quickly if you're either easily offended, overly sensitive to baby poop or are currently eating....)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

(Hopefully they've looked away by now)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

With a picture of one of Doof's more "interesting" poops. I've never seen a two-tonal poop before. How about you?!