Yellow, green, orange and brown are all normal baby poop colors. Red, black and white are the ones to call about.
Few things surprise new parents like the rainbow of colors in their baby’s diapers. The good news: most baby poop color changes are completely normal and simply reflect what your baby is eating and how their young gut is working.
This guide includes a baby poop color chart, what newborn meconium looks like, how breastfed and formula-fed poop differ, what green, red, black and white poop mean, texture and frequency, how poop changes with solid food, and exactly when to call your pediatrician.
Key Takeaways
Normal baby poop can be yellow, green, orange, tan or brown.
Newborn meconium is black and tarry for the first two to three days, then stools turn green and then yellow.
Breastfed poop is mustard yellow and seedy; formula-fed poop is tan to brown and pastier.
Call your pediatrician for red, black (after meconium) or white, pale gray or clay-colored poop.
Watery diarrhea with fewer wet diapers, fever or poor feeding needs prompt attention.
Table of Contents
Baby Poop Color Chart
Here is the short version. Pediatricians often compare healthy baby poop to fall leaves: yellow, orange, green and brown are all normal. The colors that need a call are red, black (after the first few days), and white, pale gray or chalky.
Color
What it usually means
What to do
Black, sticky, tar-like (first days)
Meconium, the first stool, made of material swallowed in the womb
Normal in the first 2 to 3 days
Dark green to greenish-brown (days 3 to 5)
Transitional stool as milk comes in
Normal
Mustard yellow, seedy, loose
Typical breastfed poop
Normal
Tan, yellow-brown, peanut-butter texture
Typical formula-fed poop
Normal
Green (any shade)
Bile, fast digestion, iron-fortified formula, a stomach bug, or green foods
Usually normal; call if with diarrhea and signs of illness
Orange
Pigments from milk or foods like carrots and sweet potato
Normal
Brown
Common once solids start
Normal
Red or red streaks
Red foods or medicine, swallowed blood from a cracked nipple, a small anal tear, allergy or infection
Call your pediatrician
Black (after meconium)
Can mean bleeding higher in the gut; iron supplements can also darken stool
Call your pediatrician
White, pale gray, chalky or clay
Possible liver or bile duct problem, such as biliary atresia
Call your pediatrician the same day
Baby poop color chart. When in doubt, take a photo of the diaper and call your pediatrician.
Newborn Poop: Meconium and Transitional Stools
Your baby’s first poops are meconium: thick, sticky and greenish-black, a lot like tar. It is completely normal and usually passes over the first two to three days. Wiping a little petroleum jelly on your baby’s bottom before diaper changes can make it easier to clean.
As feeding gets established, stools turn greener and looser (transitional stools), then settle into their usual color, usually by around day 4 or 5. This shift is a helpful sign that your baby is getting milk. Your pediatrician will ask about both wet and dirty diapers at the first checkups, so jot them down or use a newborn tracking app.
Breastfed vs Formula-Fed Baby Poop
Breastfed baby poop is usually mustard yellow, sometimes green or orange, loose or even watery, with small seed-like flecks. It has a mild smell. Loose breastfed stools are not diarrhea unless they suddenly become much more frequent or watery than your baby’s normal.
Formula-fed baby poop tends to be firmer, like peanut butter or hummus, and tan, yellow-brown or greenish. Some iron-fortified formulas make stools darker green. It usually has a stronger smell. For more detail, see our guide to formula-fed baby poop.
Babies who get both breast milk and formula often have stools that fall somewhere in between. Switching formulas can change color and texture for a few days too.
Green Baby Poop: Is It Normal?
Yes, green is almost always normal, even dark green. Common causes include bile moving through the gut quickly, iron-fortified formula or iron drops, a mild stomach bug, and green foods once solids start. In some breastfed babies, bright green, frothy stools can happen with a very fast letdown or lots of lower-fat milk early in a feed. If your baby is gaining weight and content, it rarely needs any change.
Check dark green stools in good light to make sure they are not actually black. Call your pediatrician if green poop comes with diarrhea, fever, vomiting, poor feeding or signs of dehydration.
Red, Black and White Poop: When to Worry
Red: Red foods (beets, red dyes), some medicines, swallowed blood from a cracked nipple, or a small anal fissure from straining can all turn stool red. Streaks of blood with mucus can be a sign of a cow’s milk protein allergy or an infection. Always call your pediatrician about blood in the stool.
Black: Normal as meconium in the first days. After that, black stool can mean bleeding higher in the digestive tract. Iron supplements can darken stools too, but let your pediatrician decide which it is.
White, pale gray or clay-colored: This is the color that most needs prompt attention. Pale stools can mean bile is not reaching the intestine, which happens with liver conditions such as biliary atresia. Biliary atresia is rare, but early surgery greatly improves outcomes, so call the same day. Pale stools plus yellow skin or eyes beyond the first two to three weeks, or dark urine, are especially important to report.
Tip: take a photo of any unusual diaper in good lighting, and save the diaper if your doctor may want to see it.
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Watery, soaking into the diaper, more often than usual
Possible diarrhea; watch for dehydration
Hard pellets or dry balls
Constipation
Mucus strings
Occasional mucus is common (drool, a cold); lots of mucus, or mucus with blood, needs a call
Undigested food bits
Normal after starting solids
Frothy
Sometimes from fast feeds; call if with poor weight gain or diarrhea
Baby poop texture guide.
Hard, pellet-like stools with straining and discomfort point to constipation. See baby constipation and how to help a newborn poop. Never give laxatives, enemas or suppositories without talking to your pediatrician first. Grunting and turning red while pooping, with soft stool, is normal for young babies and is not constipation.
How Often Should a Baby Poop?
Frequency varies more than parents expect. In the first weeks, breastfed babies often poop after many feeds, several times a day. After about 6 weeks, some breastfed babies go several days without a bowel movement, which can be normal if the stool is soft when it comes and your baby is feeding and gaining well. Formula-fed babies more often poop once or more a day, though every day or two is also common.
In the newborn period, diaper output is one of the best signs a baby is getting enough milk, so your pediatrician may ask you to track it. If you are worried about intake, our guides to how much a newborn should eat and newborn feeding schedules can help.
How Baby Poop Changes With Solid Food
Once your baby starts solids, usually around 6 months, poop becomes thicker, browner and smellier, and it takes on the color of what they ate: orange after carrots, green after peas or spinach, dark after blueberries. You may see pieces of food that passed through, especially skins and corn. All of this is normal. Learn more in our guide to starting solids.
Constipation is more common during the move to solids. Offering water with meals (from about 6 months), plus fiber-rich foods like pureed prunes, pears, peaches and plums, often helps.
White, pale gray, chalky or clay-colored stools (call the same day).
Red stool or blood streaks, or black stool after the meconium days.
Watery diarrhea several times in a row, especially with fever, vomiting or poor feeding.
Signs of dehydration: fewer wet diapers, dry mouth, no tears, a sunken soft spot, or unusual sleepiness.
Hard stools with pain, a swollen belly, or no stool with vomiting.
A newborn who has not passed meconium within the first 24 to 48 hours, or who has very few dirty diapers in the first week.
Any fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher in a baby under 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
What color should baby poop be?
Healthy baby poop is usually yellow, green, orange, tan or brown. Breastfed babies tend to have mustard-yellow, seedy stools and formula-fed babies have tan or yellow-brown, pastier stools.
Is green baby poop normal?
Yes. Green baby poop is almost always normal and can come from bile, iron-fortified formula, a mild stomach bug or green foods. Call your pediatrician if it comes with diarrhea, fever or poor feeding.
What baby poop colors are a concern?
Red or bloody stool, black stool after the first few days of meconium, and white, pale gray or clay-colored stool. Pale stools can signal a liver or bile duct problem and need a same-day call.
What does newborn poop look like?
A newborn’s first poop is meconium: black-green, sticky and tar-like. Over the next few days it becomes greenish transitional stool and then yellow, usually by about day 4 or 5.
Why is my baby’s poop black?
Black poop is normal as meconium in the first two to three days. After that, black stool can be a sign of bleeding in the upper digestive tract, though iron supplements can also darken stool. Call your pediatrician to check.
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