You'll never care (or talk about) this as much as you will when you're a new mum

You'll never care about (or talk about) poo as much as you will when you're a new mum. From the colour to the texture to -- sorry -- the odour, you'll wonder, "Is this normal?" almost every time you change your baby's nappy. And that's a good thing! "The extra attention to stool is very well-deserved," says Laura Jana, MD, co-author of Heading Home with Your Newborn: From Birth to Reality. "Your baby's poo tells a whole lot about how he or she is doing with eating." So get over any squeamishness over the squishy stuff, and check out our baby poo primer.

Black Goo

What it is: Meconium
When: Within the 24 hours after birth
What you need to know: You've probably never seen something as sticky, thick, tar-like and greenish-black as your baby's first poo. Meconium is "what’s been sitting inside the intestines while the baby is forming," says L.E. Wolovits, a general pediatrician at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas and an assistant professor of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical School; it's a combination of amniotic fluid, mucus and cells shed during the baby's development. It's also extremely messy and sticky! Expect to be cleaning up a meconium mess for a while. The good news is that the meconium stage only lasts a few days.
Half-n-half

What it is: Transitional stool
When: Days 1- 5 (or so)
What you need to know: Over the first few days of life, you'll notice your baby's poo changing from the classic, thick, tarry meconium to something lighter colored and not quite so sticky. His poo may literally look different from one nappy change to the next -- and that's okay! It takes time for your baby to empty out his pre-natal waste. In the meantime, he’s starting to take in fluid -- colostrum and breastmilk, or formula. New food in = new poo out. How quickly your baby passes through this stage is strictly a function of how much he takes in. If he nurses a lot and your milk comes in on day two, the transitional poo stage may only last a day. If it takes him longer to ramp up his intake, the transitional stage may last until almost the end of the first week.
Yellow & Seedy

What it is: Breast milk poo
When: As long as your baby is exclusively breastfed
What you need to know: "The best description I ever heard of breastfed stool is that it's like mustard being shot out of a cannon," says Dr. Wolovits. Breast milk poo can indeed be that yellow. And it definitely comes with some force behind it! Almost every veteran mum has a story of being hit by projectile poop, so take our advice: have a new nappy ready to go as soon as you remove the soiled one. Breast milk poo is yellowish-green and seedy. It's not formed, but it's not exactly liquid either. The color and consistency may change slightly from day to day, but in general, it's squishy, yellow-hued and non-offensive. Chalk it up as another benefit of breastfeeding: breast milk poo doesn't really stink! (It has a unique smell that's sometime described as sweet or yeasty.)
Again?!

What it is: More dirty nappies than you can possibly imagine in one day
When: Early newborn period
What you need to know: Frequent pooing is 100 percent normal. Some babies, especially breastfed newborns, "squirt every time they eat," says Dr. Jana. That's because babies, like adults, have a gastrocolic reflex. Simply put, it means that the act of eating triggers intestinal activity, which triggers the need to poo. But don't worry: As babies get older, they're better able to hold their poo, so you won't be changing 14 poopy nappies a day forever. Things will slow down around month two.
Peanut butter?

What it is: Formula poop
When: As soon as formula feeding is well-established
What you need to know: Formula fed babies typically have soft, tan poo. (Some people describe it as like peanut butter – gross, we know!) Don't even try to compare your baby’s formula fed poops to the poos of your best friend's breastfed baby. Your baby's stools will be more solid (but still mushy) and slightly stinkier.
Pea-soup poo

What it is: Frothy green poo
When: Rare
What you need to know: Green, frothy stools are often a sign of a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance in breastfed babies, so if you see foamy green poo, call your pediatrician or lactation consultant. Foremilk, the first milk you baby gets during a feeding, is thin and watery; hindmilk is thicker (think of milk with cream) and contains more fat and kilojoules. Green frothy poo is usually the result of too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. Letting your baby decide when to come off the breast (instead of switching him after a pre-determined time) may resolve the issue.
Seeing red

What it is: Could be blood -- or nothing
When: Rare
What you need to know: A little bit of blood in your baby's poo, particularly if the stool is harder than usual, is usually no big deal. "If your baby is acting completely fine and eating okay, you can probably wait to call the doctor," says Dr. Wolovits. (Of course, you should always call your pediatrician if you're really concerned.) But if the blood is mixed with the stool, call your doctor as soon as possible, just to be on the safe side. If your baby is older -- and already eating solids -- think long and hard about what he's had to eat recently before panicking at the sight of red-colored poo. Beets, for instance, can turn poop a lovely shade of magenta.
White as a ghost

What it is: Chalky white poo
When: Extremely rare
What you need to know: White poo is not normal, so "if you see it, you need say something," Dr. Jana says. It may be a sign of underlying liver disease that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
Dark as night

What it is: Black-tinged poo
When: After the meconium period
What you need to know: If your baby's poos have been normal coloured (yellowish-green for breastfed babies, tan for formula-fed babies) and suddenly transition to a dark black colour, give your doc a call. That black colour may be an indicator of bleeding somewhere in the digestive tract, Dr. Jana says. One small exception: iron supplements can turn the poop black, too, so if your baby has recently started an iron supplement, a black poo may be nothing to worry about.
Slip-n-slide

What it is: Mucus-streaked poo
When: Most common when baby is teething or has a cold
What you need to know: "When babies are teething, they have increased drool and saliva and the stools may look a little more slimy or mucusy," Dr. Wolovits says. Increased drool = more drool to swallow = drool in the nappy. The same thing is true when your baby has a cold. If he's got mucus running down the back of his nose and throat, odds are good you'll see it in his nappy. Sometimes mucus in the stool indicates infection, but in that case, the poo will have a funny odor and may be a different colour. (Trust us: you'll know.)
What's that smell?

What it is: Solid food poo
When: After starting solids
What you need to know: Expect nappy duty to get decidedly stinkier after baby starts solids. The poo will also change colour and consistency. Watch out: rice cereal, in particular, can be constipating. If your baby is having trouble, Dr. Wolovits suggests switching to oatmeal baby cereal. Colour-wise, expect a lot of variation. Carrots tint the poo orange, blueberries turn it bluish-purple…you get the idea.
Buried treasure

What it is: Poo with undigested chunks of food
When: After starting "real food"
What you need to know: It's not uncommon -- or a sign of trouble -- to find whole pieces of food in your older baby's poo. "When you change the nappy, you may actually see corn and raisins and bizarre chunks of food," Dr. Wolovits says. That's partly because your baby doesn't have many teeth. It's pretty hard to chew your food thoroughly when you only have a couple chompers!
Like a river

What it is: Loose, watery poop = diarrhoea
When: Usually the result of a bacterial or viral infection
What you need to know: If it's winter and your baby has a slight fever and green, really smelly, really watery poo, he probably has rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhoea in babies. Food allergies, antibiotics, parasites and other infections can also cause diarrhea, so if your baby has had diarrhoea for more than a day or so, call his doc. Dehydration is a real threat; push fluids if at all possible. You can also use nappy cream to protect baby's tender bottom.
Rabbit pellets

What it is: Hard, dry stools = constipation
When: On occasion. Starting solids may cause constipation.
What you need to know: The number of days between poos is not a reliable indicator of constipation, Dr. Jana says. "Some babies can go a week without pooing and be fine," she says. "Other babies are constipated after two days." So instead of looking at the calendar, look at your baby's poos. If they're soft, all is well. If they're hard, formed and dry (like little rabbit pellets), he's probably constipated. Try switching cereals; rice cereal is more constipating than barley or oatmeal. You can also try adding fruits and veggies, if you've already started solids. There's no harm in giving your pediatrician a call, either.