Newborn's first poop

Your baby may wee as infrequently as four to six times a day. It can be three times a day If he is ill or feverish, or if the weather is extremely hot. Urination should never be painful. Visit your paediatrician if you notice any signs of distress while your infant is urinating, as this could be a sign of infection 

A newborn’s urine is usually light to dark yellow in colour. Sometimes you’ll see a pink stain on the diaper. However, it is nothing to worry about. It is usually a sign of highly concentrated urine. As long as the baby is wetting at least four diapers a day, there is probably no cause for concern, but if the pinkish staining persists, consult your paediatrician.

Your newborn’s first poo will be after the first or second day of his birth. It will be dark green in colour with a tar-like texture. Medically, the first poo is known as meconium and it is a good sign of an active digestive system. The first poo mainly consists of amniotic fluid and everything else that your baby had swallowed when he was in your womb. He will produce these for the first few days. 

Be ready to change about 6 nappies in a day if you are breastfeeding. You may need to change about 10 nappies if you are formula feeding your baby as a formula-fed babies take a lot more fluid than the breast-fed babies.

Every baby is different - some poop after every single feed while others poop after three to four days.

Breast milk is easy to digest and leaves no solid wastes to be eliminated from the baby's digestive system. So it is normal for some breastfed babies to poop only once till three to six weeks of age. Infrequent stools are not a sign of constipation and should not be considered a problem. Stay relaxed till the stools are soft. If your infant is otherwise normal, gaining weight steadily, and nursing regularly you should consider him healthy.

Formula-fed babies, on the other hand, should have at least one bowel movement a day. They are also prone to be constipated as bottle milk is difficult to digest.

Colostrum, your first milk, activates the baby's digestive system to push the meconium out of their body. Your breasts will start to produce milk in three to four days. Once that begins to happen, your baby’s poo too will change. For starters, it will get lighter in colour and change to bright or mustard yellow with seed-like particles. It will be loose-textured with a slightly sweet smell.

However, formula-fed usually have brown or yellow coloured stools with a foul smell. They will also be a bit firmer than that of a breastfed baby - though they are no firmer than peanut butter.

If your baby poops more frequently than normal and has watery stools, chances are that he/she has got diarrhoea. Visit your doctor as soon as possible if you see the following symptoms:

• Dehydration
• Blood in stool
• Constant vomiting
• Constant stomach pain for longer than 2 hours
• 10 or more watery stools in 24 hours 
• A fever over 40 degrees Celsius

• Hard, pebble-like poop is a sign of constipation in your baby. This can happen in formula-fed babies, who are given thick formula milk
• Mucus in the baby poop can be a sign of infection
• White colour in your baby poop indicates lack of bile in the liver while a chalky white to grey poop indicates that your baby is not able to digest food properly 

Check with your paediatrician if you see any of these signs.