Many newlyweds are new parents and have no experience in childcare, and are often overwhelmed by their baby’s diapers. The baby stinks again! The color of the baby’s stool today is a little different than usual, is there something wrong with the baby’s health? Do you know? The color of the baby’s stool is a “health code” that can reflect the baby’s health condition. So what is the normal and abnormal baby stool color? What causes abnormal color of baby’s stool? In the face of the abnormal color of the baby’s stool, new parents and new mothers should do? Let’s hold our breath and unlock the code in the baby’s “stink” ~ dark green, tar-like “fetal feces” excreted in the first 1-2 days after birth, coming from the various “materials” swallowed by the fetus in the womb The fetus swallows various “materials” in the womb: amniotic fluid, fetal hair, mucus, small intestine epithelial cells, bile and water. It is very sticky in nature and if you do not see any discharge 48 hours after birth, you need to contact your pediatrician promptly. Yellow, granular, and somewhat sweet-smelling From the first week of life, breastfed infants will have 3-4 mustard-yellow, granular, fluffy stools every 24 hours. However, the frequency of bowel movements varies greatly on an individual basis, with some babies having a bowel movement every time they eat and some having a bowel movement once a week, which is normal. Yellowish-brown and strong-smelling If formula-fed, the stool will be darker and more viscous (kind of like peanut butter or bean paste), once a day or more. The odor is also stronger than breastfeeding, but don’t worry, you’ll get used to the smell soon enough. Greenish coffee color After a few months, with the addition of various solid supplements, new colors appear in the stool, such as orange or green, and occasionally intact undigested food particles. The overall look is like avocado paste. Brown, solid As the baby begins to walk, the stool becomes further larger and more shaped, with a Play-Doh-like appearance. The odor also becomes more like adult stool. The frequency of bowel movements is not important at this stage, but the regularity of the bowel movements is. Dark green A thick, pine like, dark green stool can be suspicious, but mostly it does not mean that there is anything abnormal in the body. The most common cause is a high intake of iron (such as iron-fortified formula), which has no adverse health effects. Bright green, foamy This can be seen in breast-fed babies who change breasts frequently, or in babies who eat low-fat formula. Try to let your baby suck one breast dry before switching to the other. In addition, certain viral infections can cause bright green stools, so watch for behavioral abnormalities. If you see any of the following stools, please do not hesitate to go to the hospital! Red color The stool of a normal baby should not have red color. A few foods may cause red stools, such as beef and certain medications. However, a more frightening situation is when there is bleeding from the lower gastrointestinal tract, which requires prompt medical attention. If it is a huge, dry, hard stool with a small amount of blood on it, it may be due to constipation. White A color as pale as chalk is a red flag that the infant probably has insufficient bile or an obstruction (bile is necessary to maintain the normal color of the stool) and needs to be checked out for liver or biliary disease. Black A tarry stool at any time other than the days of the newborn may indicate upper gastrointestinal bleeding. If left untreated, the consequences can be very serious. By understanding the pattern of change in the color and nature of baby’s stool, new parents will not panic because they do not know, and will not let down their guard and miss dangerous situations, so let’s learn.