How many bowel movements should a newborn have in one day?

A newborn can have as many as eight to ten bowel movements a day, but as long as she is having at least one, she's probably all right.

One day without a bowel movement is usually no cause for concern. As long as your baby is feeding well and wetting her diaper five or six times a day, then she's most likely getting enough to eat. If she starts to become uncomfortable or has a persistently swollen abdomen, then she may need some help with pooping, and you should speak to your pediatrician about how to facilitate this.

 

In the early days, a newborn's bowel movements are thick and dark green in color. This is due to a substance called meconium that has been building up in her intestines during pregnancy. As the baby starts to feed and have bowel movements, she will finish expelling the meconium and her stools will start to turn yellowish. It is not uncommon for an infant's bowel movements to vary in color from day to day. The color of the stools can depend on a variety of things, including what a breastfeeding mom is eating, how hydrated the baby is, and the type and frequency of formula the infant is being fed, if applicable.

 The first days What you saw in his hospital nappies — the greenish-black tar-like stuff — is called meconium. This first newborn poop usually appears within about 24 hours of birth. Instead of food, it's made up of the stuff your baby collected in his intestines while in utero — old blood cells and skin cells, for instance (good thing the menu out here is more delectable). That's why it looks so drastically different from all the baby poop yet to come.

 

Two to four days after you meet your bundle of joy, you should notice "transitional" stools — they tend to be green and less tacky than meconium. This is a sign that your baby's intestinal tract is all-systems-go. From that point on, the type of food your baby is eating will determine the scoop on his poop:

 

Breastfed baby poop is normal when...

It's mustard yellow, green, or brown. (Think "welcome to earth tones"!)
It's seedy or pasty.
It smells sweet(ish!) — not normal bowel-movement odor.
It fills his diapers at least five times a day (and for some babies, during or after each feeding). Mom's milk digests at a faster rate than formula does.

Formula-fed baby poop is normal when...

It's yellowish-brown to brown.
Its texture ranges from nut-butter to pudding.
It smells more like regular poop.
It fills the diaper three to four times a day.

Once your baby's feeding schedule has been established, his "special delivery" diapers may appear five or more times a day or once every three days. That's perfectly normal. As long as his stools are soft, he isn't constipated. But you should call your doctor if...

 

Your breastfed baby doesn't poop for more than three days.
Your formula-fed baby doesn't poop for more than five days.
Stools are hard and pebbly, or much thicker than peanut butter.
Stools are thin, watery, or you see mucus in the diaper — this may be diarrhea.
You notice his stool is red or black, which could indicate bleeding.
You notice his stool is white, which could indicate he's not properly absorbing nutrients.
Welcome to the world of baby poop!