Babes

What is normal?
Most parents are afraid of what they might find in a baby's nappy. The colour of a baby's poo can vary and depends a lot on whether he / she is breastfed or formula fed. The first poo which is called Meconium is a green black sticky  poo which is from the your baby ingesting the lanugo, which are the fine hairs that covered her  while in the womb.

A normal poo for a breastfed baby is soft and a mustard yellow colour, whereas a formula fed baby can vary between light brown / yellow to dark green. Newborn babies poo often and you will be changing many smelly nappies, but as your baby gets older it will slowly decrease in frequency.

Constipation is not often experienced in breastfed babies but formula can contribute to a baby becoming constipated. Your baby may skip a day, or two, or even three and not be constipated but if your baby has difficulty when making a poo and it is more like pebbles than clay, then you could give your baby a little cool boiled water in between feeds. Should this persist do speak to your doctor about it.

Diarrhea is when your baby has frequent watery poo. Not just very soft. Be sure to increase fluids, monitor temperature and keep an eye out for any other symptoms. Should it persist for more than 24 hours take your baby to the doctor.