Baby Poop Color Chart: What Breastfed Baby Poop Should Look Like

This baby poop color chart helps you make sense of what’s in your breastfed baby’s diaper. Choose your baby’s age and the color you see: the checker explains what it usually means and whether to call your pediatrician, and shows how many wet and dirty diapers to expect in 24 hours. Diapers are one of the best ways to tell your baby is getting enough milk, alongside weight gain.

If you’re worried at any point, trust your instinct and call your baby’s doctor. A photo of the diaper helps the doctor or nurse on the phone.

Baby poop color chart

Color	What it usually means	What to do
Black, sticky, tar-like (days 1–2)	Meconium, the first poop	Normal. Expect it to change color by day 3–4
Dark green / greenish-brown (days 2–4)	Transitional poop as milk comes in	Normal, and a good sign your baby is getting milk
Mustard yellow, loose, seedy	Typical breastfed baby poop	Normal
Green	Fast or frequent feeds, a mild bug, iron	Usually normal; call if there is diarrhea, mucus, poor feeding or slow weight gain
Brown or tan	Formula, combination feeding or solid foods	Normal
Orange	Pigments picked up in the gut	Usually normal
Red streaks or blood	Swallowed blood (cracked nipples), a small tear, cow’s milk protein allergy, or other causes	Call your pediatrician today; get care right away if there is a lot of blood or your baby is unwell
Black after day 4	Possible blood higher up in the gut (unless your baby takes iron)	Call your pediatrician today
White, pale gray or clay	Bile may not be reaching the gut (for example biliary atresia)	Call your pediatrician now

How breastfed baby poop changes in the first week

1. Days 1–2: meconium. Your baby’s first poops are black or very dark green, thick and sticky. Meconium is made of things your baby swallowed in the womb. Most babies pass their first meconium within 24 hours.
2. Days 2–4: transitional poop. As colostrum gives way to more milk, poop turns greenish-brown and looser.
3. Days 4–5 onward: yellow and seedy. Once your milk is in, poop becomes mustard yellow, loose and often seedy. If your baby still has dark poop on day 5, ask your pediatrician or a lactation consultant to check that feeding is going well. Our guide on when breast milk comes in explains what’s happening on your side.

Diapers to expect by age

The CDC gives these minimums per 24 hours for breastfed newborns:

Baby’s age	Wet diapers	Poopy diapers
Day 1	1	1
Day 2	2	3
Day 3	5	3
Day 4	6	3
Days 5–7	6	3

From day 5, fewer than 6 wet diapers or fewer than 3 poops a day can be a sign your baby isn’t getting enough milk. Call your pediatrician, and see our guides on how often to breastfeed a newborn and how to increase milk supply. Urine should be pale yellow by day 4; orange or pink “brick dust” crystals in the diaper after day 3 are worth mentioning to your pediatrician.

Texture matters too

• Normal: soft, loose, even runny, sometimes with small seed-like bits.
• Diarrhea: much more frequent, watery poop that soaks into the diaper, sometimes with mucus. Call your pediatrician, especially if your baby is under 3 months, has a fever or has fewer wet diapers.
• Hard pellets: fully breastfed babies are rarely constipated. Hard, dry poop is worth mentioning, especially if your baby gets formula or solids too.

When to call your pediatrician

Call right away for white, pale gray or clay-colored poop, a lot of blood, or a baby who is very sleepy, feeding poorly or has a fever (100.4°F / 38°C or higher in a baby under 3 months, measured rectally). Call the same day for red streaks, black poop after the first days, diarrhea, or fewer diapers than the chart above. For anything else, a call to the office is always okay if you’re unsure.

Feeding questions are often the key to diaper questions. A lactation consultant can watch a feed and help: see our breastfeeding support directory and our breastfeeding basics guide.