Bowels and bladder
Bowels
Your baby will likely pass his first stool, called “meconium,” during his first day of life. Black, sticky and challenging to clean off the skin, meconium is cleared from the bowels within 2 to 3 days. Green transitional stools appear by day three, and turn to yellow seedy (breastfed) or yellow-brown (formula fed) stools by day five.
The number of stools should be at least 2 to 5 every 24 hours in the first five days of life, and usually 5 to 8 a day for the next few weeks. Stool consistency is normally runny. Yellow, brown, or green stool color is not a worry. If you see mucous or bright red blood in your baby’s diaper, please call our office to discuss with a nurse.
Bladder
Your baby should wet at least four diapers a day the first week of life, and six or more a day after that. Call us if the urine is dark yellow or contains dark orange brick-dust crystals, which may indicate that your baby is becoming dehydrated.