Let’s talk about poop. OK it’s super gross, but it’s normal and let’s be honest we all do it so talking about it shouldn’t be that disgusting yet we disappprove. But when your baby is born we as parents do this super weird thing where we obsess about our child’s poo. I’ve done it, Christ I’m writing about it right now and just had a long conversation with my mum about Emily’s stool. We become obsessed with the consistency, the colour and frequency of our baby’s poo. 5 weeks in and we’ve gone through so many different shades of poo I feel like I could qualify as a Gastoenterologist (poo doctor). Thing is poo is super important, gross, really gross, but your baby’s poo can tell you a lot about their health and if your baby isn’t pooping properly then there’s something wrong.
When I was 7 months pregnant I attended an antenatal class with Sam called the journey, a day dedicated to giving you an insight into what happens when your baby arrives. Included in that day was the crazy different shades of poo colour that will frequent your baby’s nappy in the first week of birth and boy we were not expecting that! Honestly, if it weren’t for the constant reassurances from my midwife, I would have freaked out, panicked and taken Emily to A&E. Thankfully it is normal that the first week of poo is different to their 5th week of poo. As they get older, week by week their poo and bowel movements change, thanks to their diet but some of the colours and consistencies need to be seen to be believed.
The first few poo’s are greenish-black
It’s definitely something to witness. The first three days of their poo’s are called meconium. It’s this thick and sticky residue that has no smell, but weirdly looks like tar. Meconium is made up of amniotic fluid, mucus, skin cells, and other stuff ingested in the womb, it doesn’t really smell – so you may not realise it’s time for a nappy change.
They call it mellow yellow
The first few days of her poop was incredible. I mean we just couldn’t believe it could be that black. When she turned 3 days old it became lighter, less black, more army green and less sticky. This is to show she was digesting breastmilk and that her intestinal tract was fine. In a few days you’ll forget about the green and in will come yellow.
Dijion Mustard
As if yellow isn’t weird enough, breastfeeding helps their poo look like Dijion mustard, I’m sorry all French mustard fans, but it’s true. It looks like dotted seeds, doesn’t really smell but will take you by surprise. If you stick to breastfeeding this consistency will be here to stay till you introduce solids at 6 months.
Pine for me
By day 7 of Emily’s life, I had to stop breastfeeding, we both developed thrush and it hurt like hell for me and was uncomfortable for her. So we changed to formula, SMA’s Comfort Milk to be precise and that poo shade was also strange, this time a pine green colour. This colour is normal for comfort drinkers so no fear if your baby’s poop is different on another formula.
Formula fed babies generally have smellier poo to those who are breastfed. As time goes by and their diet changes, the consistency and colour will change. The different types of food introduced in their diet will show through their poo too. That should be interesting. I suppose keep an eye out for what I may write about that…
Missy, Me & Him 