I know many of you knew this post was coming eventually! Well, it’s here… The untold journey into newborn baby poop! Join me as I take you down a road filled with surprises like weird baby poop colors, strange and sometimes explosive pooping sounds, crazy poopy diapers, and those stomach-churning baby poop smells.
Let’s start with your baby’s very first poop. Nothing says “I’m born and ready to see the world!” better than…
Meconium
Seriously, nothing welcomes you into parenthood like a smack in the face and a complete shock to your senses than your baby’s diaper filled with meconium. That black tar-like baby poop that seems to explode into a diaper and gets into every nook, cranny, and fold on your babies skin.
Baby monkey’s first bowel movement was just like what you see in the picture of meconium in the above link to Wikipedia. Be careful – don’t click on that link if you have a weak stomach or haven’t been exposed to the world of meconium yet!
Thankfully, the meconium quickly comes and goes and is replaced by the seemingly never-ending diaper changes filled with…
Breastfed Newborn Baby Poop
They say that breastfed newborn baby poop doesn’t stink, but I can tell you first-hand that it does have a slight smell to it. It smells enough that when we’re holding Monkey that we can tell that he pooped and it’s time for a new diaper.
I’ll even go out on a limb and say that it has somewhat of a sweet smell to it, but it’s not a smell that you’d say “Mmmmm” to like fresh chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven.
So we’re safe from the smell of breastfed baby poop, but what I wasn’t safe from, and really freaked me out was the…
Seedy Baby Poop – What the!?
What really amazed me and really confuses me is why is breastfed baby poop seedy? Where on earth do those baby poop seeds come from? There’s no way seeds are flowing out of Jane’s breast when she’s breastfeeding so I figured something is going on in Baby Monkey’s belly to make milk somehow transform into a 
mustard colored poop filled with seeds. (Think Grey Poupon mustard with some poppy seeds all mixed in it. Makes me wonder why it’s called Grey PoupOn! LOL)
So I just had to research this one. After all, neither Jane and I ever took a class on what breastfed baby poop looks like, so all these sights and smells are new to us! Come to find out, seeds in baby poop is quite normal in breastfed babies. From what I can tell it has something to do with the mom’s fat in the breast milk and something happens in your baby’s belly or digestive track to have it form these seeds. Any other explanations on this are more than welcome so we and our readers can get to the bottom of baby poop seeds. All I know is those are not any seeds I want to plant in the garden… I bet they’d grow a poop tree!
And that brings me to the next stop on this journey into baby poop… the often interesting sounds of…
Baby Farts & Baby Gas Leaks
Some of you may remember my post about Pregnancy Gas I wrote awhile back where I listed 8 different gas sounds that Jane made throughout her pregnancy. Well, I’m going to say that Monkey is taking over where Jane left off! Baby Monkey farts and his wild baby gas sounds can fit into those list of 8 pregnancy gas sounds very easily – and then some!
There are sounds that come out of Monkey’s bottom that I’ve never heard in my life. For example, last night while Jane was breastfeeding Monkey, we heard this rapid-fire explosion that sounded like it was under water coming from his behind. “Oh my gosh!” I jumped up from the couch over to Jane and she was laughing so hard that her stomach was bouncing like crazy and Monkey detached from her nipple and seemed to be enjoying the bouncing belly ride!
I ran over to her expecting there to be baby poop all over Monkey, Jane, our couch, and who knows what. It sounded like it had enough power to shoot some projectile poop clearly across the state of Wyoming. At first I didn’t know what in the heck Jane was doing. She was making no sounds, I couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying, and I started to wonder if it was Monkey that pooped or if Jane had a massive accident and was crying!
“Are you OK? What in the heck are you doing!?” I asked Jane. Finally she could breathe and laughter came out. “I’m laughing!” She said.
“Do you have baby poop all over you?” I asked Jane as I inspected her surroundings. “I don’t think so, but would you mind taking him and changing him? I think he just pooped a TON”, Jane told me still laughing at the exploding wet baby fart Monkey did.
As I picked him up, “Bwwwwwweeerrrtttt Bwwweeerrrtttsssshhh!” OH NO!
I quickly made the few steps over to the changing table expecting the worse baby poop experience of my Daddy life. I laid Monkey down, unbuttoned the little snaps and unstuck one of the diaper straps. I moved to the side to get a sneak peak of the awaiting disaster and didn’t see anything. Huh!?
I then unlatched the other side of his diaper and pulled the diaper down. I was SHOCKED at what I saw! His little baby poop was only the size of a silver dollar! All those baby fart sounds, and baby gas explosions and all that was for this little bit of baby poop!? Whoa. I fully expected Monkey’s baby poop to be EVERYWHERE. But thankfully, we avoided a diaper disaster. :)
And this brings me to the often laughable subject of…
Baby Pee
Now why is baby pee sometimes laughable? Well, sometimes all you can do is laugh about the situations your find yourself in when it comes to baby pee. I can tell you that Jane and I have already experienced the joys of changing a diaper and putting on fresh clean clothes only to pick Monkey up and feel that he is wet. Yup, his baby pee soaked right though his diaper and right through his clothes, so we get stuck doing a back-to-back diaper and clothing change.
One of the laughable moments is when Jane is changing Monkey and I’m on the side of her helping her out with getting the diaper and clothing ready, she’ll 
just start to put his new diaper on and he’ll start to pee. She’ll have to shield Monkey’s face with her hand and although we don’t laugh about it when those things happen, all we can do is laugh about them now. *Thankfully* that hasn’t happened to me yet thanks to my rapid diaper changes I do, as I mentioned on Twitter today.
And yesterday, I was officially peed on for the first time. Urrgh. I had just changed Monkey and was sitting him on my lap playing with him. He made a weird face, I laughed, and then felt my leg getting warmer and warmer. Hmmmm… Why is your bottom so warm little buddy? I lifted him up and saw a big wet spot on my shorts getting larger and larger.
“Ahhhhh! Monkey is peeing on me!” I yelled to Jane. I was frozen and didn’t know what to do. Jane of course started laughing at me and once he was finished, I changed him… and then changed myself. And thanks to Twitter, we learned to make sure that Monkey’s wee-wee is facing down so he doesn’t leak pee all over his diaper… or parents!
The Baby Poop Journey: Act 1
With Monkey being only a week old, Jane and I know that our baby poop journey is JUST getting started. We have absolutely NO idea what we’re in for as far as the colors, smells, textures, sounds, and everything else that Baby Monkey throws (or poops out) at us. All I have to say is that I prey everyday that we never have to experience projectile poop first-hand when Monkey’s diaper is off.
Getting covered by baby poop along with the walls, ceiling, floor, and maybe even the dog is not anything I ever want to go through!
But you want to know something? I have been grossed out FAR less than what I had expected. Sure some of Monkey’s little baby poops gross me out. But I have surprised myself! I handled Monkey being born like a pro and I didn’t pass out or feel woozy – and (so far anyway) I’ve handles baby poop and baby pee like a pro Daddy!
But something tells me that the baby poop journey Act 2 is going to be another story when the sounds, smells, and colors of breastfed baby poop are taken to whole new levels!
P.S… I wrote the above 1/2 asleep – sorry about any sentences that don’t make sense or ramblings that don’t go anywhere. LOL Jane is sleeping on the couch right now. Monkey is sleeping. Our dog is sleeping. I have had too much coffee and in this weird zombie-like 1/2 awake 1/2 asleep daze that makes it nearly impossible to fall asleep right now!
You might also want to read:
- Always, always, always get diapers when needed
- 10 ways our baby has told me how much he loves me and how to tell if your baby loves you!
- Our Baby Feeding Schedule: A day in the life of Tarzan, Jane, and Monkey. Welcome to no sleepville.
- Three weeks postpartum: 14 things I’ve learned about being a mom, having a baby, & not going crazy
- Baby Throwing Up: Monkey Throwing Up Formula Last Night. We Were Scared.
= a post from Mommy Jane 
= a post from Daddy Tarzan
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
My Doula gave me the BEST advise regarding meconium. She said that the whole time you are in the hosiptal call a nurse to come change your baby’s diaper. They’ll do it. It’s their job, and if you feel bad about it, just casually say “I’m new at this can you show me one more time?” When your handling your baby for the first time getting that tar off it’s behind is not and easy thing to do..
In regards to poop.. you will see a million different colors and textures. My pedi says anything buy black (after the meconium passes) and red and just fine! Wait until your first lime greem diaper! Add that to your list of questions for you doctor. When my baby was confused when I would hear people say they their baby is sick and has diareha. How would you know? What’s the difference? Ask your doctor that too.. I did!
I dont think you ever covered this, and I dont know if you will (since it’s kind of contriversial) but did you get Monkey circumcised? Since this is an informational blog I wondered if you would talk about the care of that. Since more first time parents have no idea how to take care of that either!
We made “peanut butter diapers” Can’t wait to share that with you if you ever talk about it!
Just wait. The projectile poop will come. So will the poop that comes out the back of the diaper up your Monkey’s back. It will come. I promise. And you will handle it and laugh about it later. And yes, making sure that the little guy’s wee-wee is pointing down will help to avoid wet clothes and parents. I learned that the hard way as well.
Sounds like you both are getting the hang of the parent thing! Just remember it is trial and error and what is right for one person, is not right for another! Do what your instincts tell you to!
@Ryley … Peanut butter diapers… the name alone scares me!
@Jennifer … I remember one of my friends telling me that he and his wife were at the mall and walking their little Monkey in a stroller. Suddenly they smelt something and looked in the stroller. Their Monkey pooped so much it filled the diaper, overflowed into the stroller, and left a small trail where they had been walking! Now those are the kinds of stories I’m hoping I’ll never have to share on this blog that happened to us! LOL
You may want to check this out – the Pee-pee teepee! http://www.poshbaban.com/product_details.asp?itemid=58
That way you won’t get wet while changing Monkey
@BandFsfirstpregnancy …. Oh yes, we have pee-pee teepees, but Monkey moves around so much while changing them it will not stay on. His legs are always moving around everywhere. He’s a very active guy on the changing table – especially during the day!
Imagine having your precious little boy playing the part of the baby Jesus in the church Christmas play. I wonderful event that memories are made of. Then all of the sudden you hear that noise, a noise that all new parents go through. Yep! And as they hold the little baby Jesus up for the the entire church to rejoice, there is baby poop running down his leg. From the front row I sat, as Joseph, played by a non father, tried not to throw up, and I prayed he would not drop my baby Jesus. LOL. True story! And you’ll have your own. Welcome to parenthood. You guys are doing great.
I’ve heard those tents are useless. I used to stick a clean diaper under my oldest, undo the dirty one & pull it off, leaving the clean one under :& then wipe (gotta keep the bun up all the time until you’ve wiped of course). That way, you can quickly lift it up to catch if baby starts to pee. My husband’s unique system involved a garbage bag with head & arm holes cut out. lol Or you could look into elimination communication.
Until you start feeding “solids” after 6 months, the poo should just be varying shades of orange/yellow. If it’s green, it’s very likely he’s not getting enough fatty hindmilk & needs to nurse longer/more often on the same side.
Too late for you guys, but for your readers, the best thing to do until the meconium is gone is to put vegetable oil on your baby’s bum at every change. It comes off super easy if you do.
As he gets older, they will space out more (although my oldest’s didn’t for a long time). Then you might start getting worried if he doesn’t go for days. That’s also perfectly normal for a breastfed baby, up to 2 weeks weirdly, so long as the baby isn’t straining/doesn’t have a hard tummy. It’s extremely rare for a breastfed baby to get constipated.
I’ll probably remember the other thing I was going to say as soon as I post, but it couldn’t have been that important, right?
Oh, I remember (& sorry about the horrible typos above, I was holding a baby with one hand). If you start getting quite a few poop blowouts & you’re nearing the higher weight on the diapers (assuming you’re using disposables, which are much worse for blowouts than cloth, btw) you should move up a size. Even if the diaper still seems to be fitting ok, poo coming out the back/sides on a regular basis is a good sign it isn’t big enough.
Not sure if you have one but Babies R Us sells.. i’m not sure how to describe it.
Its basically kind of an oval shaped mitt that you put over the babys wee-wee. They’re really cute the one I has says “tinkle tinkle little star.”
I haven’t used it yet though cause I haven’t had my baby yet so I dont know exactly how useful they really are.
I haven’t laughed so hard in ages! What a funny post! With my #4 due in 2 1/2 wks, it was great to revisit this thing that unites newborns. I had forgotten some of those sounds and sights. I had two blow out explosive poop babies and one who pooped very delicately. Our delicate pooper is such a girlie girl now. Our blow out boy is a go get ‘em, rambunctious little guy. My blow out daughter is a totally spunky hilarious little darling. It’s funny to consider how their pooping style as infants is kind of like their toddler personalities. I’m sure I’m the only person in history that can link those two things together! Ha!!!!
Yes, I too am looking forward to hearing about your impressions of the green ones and the explosive ones that leave baby, his clothes and you dirty and reeking of the smell for hours after clean up. One word of advice – put a towel in the bath tub, lay him down on it and dismantle him and do the clean up there in the bath tub. He can’t roll anywhere or off anything if you have to turn your back for a minute to wet a rag in the bathroom sink. Actually, another word of advice about the explosive ones – get a picture of it so that when you recount it at his 21st birthday and he doesn’t believe you, you’ll be able to have the pics to prove it!
For my little boy, we had a couple of special yellow face washer reserved for only one purpose – it was used to drape between his legs at changing time. We made sure we never used the yellow ones on us for any other purpose!
It was heavy enough that it stayed put while he kicked his legs around and protected us while we changed him. As time goes on, he will stop doing it.
Haha! The joys of poopy diapers! I’m fairly certain that at one time or another my thoughts were similar to what you said! Even the seedy diapers- wasn’t prepared for those! I totally recommend cloth diapers. My daughter got to a point where everytime we changed a diaper, we were changing clothes too. Cloth has kept it all in and with minimal leakage (much less than when she was in disposables). There’s a lot of options out there.
I have a son who is now almost 12 years old. All poop and pee incidences have long ago faded from our memories. Our second baby is now due in October 1st week. This post makes it sound like its going to be fun time with the poops and pees. Actually it scares me. I am sure we will manage somehow.
After several months (More like half a year
) of reading HisBoysCanSwim, I’ve decided to finally make a post. I may know next to nothing about pregnancy and the like, but I /will/ try my best to support you two. It may be either through humorous and/or heartfelt comments; or searching through the internet for information. (Yay subpar information) I really have no idea about how to end this post. >_> Maybe this will work. Good luck to you three! 
Sincerely, an anonymous person who seems to have a lot of free time on his hands.
Our son was rehospitalized with jaundice just after he was born. One of the things we had to do in the hospital during his photo therapy was track his diapers with a chart. The doctors gave us a chart asking all the specifics of what was in his diaper at each changing every two hours–color, texture, wetness–the whole bit. That’s when we knew we were really parents, when my husband and I were having very serious discussions about the contents of our boy’s Pampers!
@Olivia … LOL! That is a funny story! Talk about one of the worse places to have that happen!
@devaskyla … I can’t wait to see the rainbow of colors. LOL Well, maybe I can wait awhile. And yes, those teepee’s would be GREAT if Monkey was born with velcro on his ding-a-ling-wing-wang, those things would stay where you need them.
Sadly, Monkey likes to move his legs and feet around so much, he kicks if off multiple times, so I gave up on those and just do rapid diaper changes. 
And very impressive holding your baby in one arm and typing with the other!
@Kristina … See my above comment. I’m sure they must work for some baby’s or else they wouldn’t be selling them out there, but if your baby is active like our Monkey, it just doesn’t cut it.
@swingshinemum … First, congrats on # 4! Wow! Very interesting how you compare baby’s personalities on their pooping style. LOL! I have a feeling that you may be onto something there! ha ha And thanks for the tid-bit with the tub. Oh boy… I truly have no idea what we’re in for here. ha ha!
@Elizabeth … Cloth is something we thought about… still thinking about…
@Baby Pushchairs … Congrats! And don’t be afraid. Your oldest is 12 years old and you made it through. I am convinced that most parents somehow forget about these crazy times in the beginning. Maybe it’s the lack of sleep… or maybe it’s nature’s way of making sure we don’t remember these parts so we’ll want to have more kids. LOL But like everyone says, it’s well worth it and all those baby poop and pee memories seem to fade away when you see your baby smile.
Well, that’s what I keep telling myself anyway. ha ha!
@Jargner … Well, well, well, thank you! It’s so nice to have you comment after 6 months of reading our blog.
And what can I say, you being an anonymous reader and commenter is fitting since we’re anonymous ourselves! So Jargner, don’t be a stranger around these parts! And always feel free to comment if you have any humorous or heartfelt things to say. It’s a great way to pass the time. 
@Lori at I Can Grow People … LOL, I remember a comment someone left on our blog awhile ago where a husband and wife would talk about their baby’s poop and pee cycles, colors, texture, etc. over dinner! Two words come to mind that a friend told me a few months ago referring to what happens the moment your son is born, “everything changes”. He’s right! EVERYTHING changes – including all the discussions you have with your spouse!
Oy! Baby poop/pee/puke . . . the stories and the laughs that you can have after the fact. With two little boys we have had our share of adventures in this area. Our oldest son would toot and make noises like nobody’s business. We would have to hide our head (often laughing) in public from the sounds coming from his rear. Imagine being in synagogue for Yom Kippur and BAM – that sound erupts in the middle of a silent time.
Of course, I still remember the day of the 7 diaper, diaper change. We heard the rumble went to change him. Just as I was closing up the diaper. . . he filled it again. This happened at least 7 times! Then one day when I was home alone and TechyDad was on his way home from work our son let some major projectile poop fly. I was standing there with mustard colored baby seed poop spanning at least 6 feet of the light tan colored apartment carpet. All I could think about was the security deposit being gone. I called TechyDad on his cell phone in tears (I was quite upset and hormonal at the time). There I was with poop all over me, the baby and our bedroom.
Soon after that, TechyDad was doing another diaper change with our first. He heard a rumble and jumped out of the way. I did not know what was happening. Suddenly I was covered from shoulders to toes in baby poop! Needless to say I was not laughing at the time. I managed to get myself in the shower, with my clothing on to hose off while hubby was dealing with our son. Thank goodness our little guy was never quite an adventure with his diapers. Never had the sounds, diapers or fun when he was a baby, which makes me afraid of potty training coming soon.
Babies love to pee during changes. We usually just put a burp cloth over them until they are older. One day my oldest started to pee in the middle of a diaper change. I was not quick enough on the draw and he would not stay still. I stood back and just let him pee all over himself. He giggled and was so proud of himself. Who wouldn’t given what a water fountain he was.
Don’t you love being a parent? Before this you never would have imagined talking, writing, laughing and exploring the wonderful world of baby poop!
Typing & holding is a skill you can learn pretty fast. All the parenting message boards have moms who nak (nurse at keyboard). What was fun was when I nursed & played World of Warcraft. People were always a bit stunned, especially in instances.
& on topic, this post has reminded me of the time my oldest managed to pee in his own mouth…& his ear.
One thing I wanted to add for any other first time parents info.
I was always so frustrate in the begginig because I did NOT have a good sleeping baby. I would nurse him, he would fall blissfully asleep then we’d have to change him. I was so frustrated that we had to change him AFTER he ate and wake him up.
It isnt always like that, In a month or 2 he wont have to be changed AFTER eating. That was such a HUGE relief to me.
Looks like TheAngelForever beat me to the punch and told our good baby poop stories. I do have a story that I heard of, though. Didn’t happen to us (thank goodness!), but it makes for an… um, interesting story nonetheless. So this woman’s eating a hot dog when her little one fills his diaper. She changes him, washes her hands and goes back to eating. Noticing some mustard on her arm, she licks it off…. only to realize that it’s not mustard! The moral of this story is you should never trust any mustard-like substances after you’ve had a baby.
I didn’t see that anyone said anything about the “wait there’s more” diaper. You start to change it and all of a sudden it just starts again. Like lava it bubbles out and completely fills the diaper. Stay calm. Remember that everything is washable and try to lay clean wipes down to create another layer. We did this with the last one for over a minute. 70 seconds of ooze filled three diapers before she stopped. All I could do is laugh. Imagine how great she must have felt. It’s good to be the baby! Congrads again and thanks for the wonderful heartfelt posts. I can’t wait to hear the birth story. I’m so happy everything turned out save and healthy and wonderful for all three of you.
Ha ha, my son had projectile poop as soon as we got home from the hospital. It was seedy flying poop. I expected the pee to fly, I didn’t expect the poop. I also, just wanted to say you guys seem like you will bring much laughter and joy to baby tarzans life. Congrats on your little guy.
breastfed babies do have better smelling poop. just be glad you don’t have a formula poop to change
Poop, and our little boy (5mos) always seem to be the topic of conversation these days. I do have a story for the books though. My son is breastfed and his bm’s come few and farbetweem sometimes. I am always waiting for the preverbial “shoe” to drop! LOL. My fiance and I are sitting in the Living room an d I have my son on my knee and he has that explosive poop that is never good, and all of the sudden my leg feels a little too warm. Yep, I look down and sure enough I have poop running down my leg. So I hand him off and attempt to clean myself off, and then tend to the baby. I have him in his changer and I’ve finally gotten all of the poop off and while reaching for the diaper a stream of pee lets loose. Thankfully not in my direction but all over baby. These new adventure are always welcome and very hysterical in the end!
haha it is so cool and lol
bye o one 9 sec ok i am get to do that as a help o and say i cup lol it is i see you pee ranbow colors haha 
:):):):):):):):):):)
my daughter is only 10 days old and i’ve already experienced enough projectile poo to last a lifetime. the most memorable so far was the one that happened just after i’d washed her bum in the kitchen sink (the remains of her last poo were all over her lower back, eeeek) and i was holding her under the arms and trying to sweep her quickly back over to the changing pad and onto a clean, outstretched new diaper. just before she came in for a landing, she had a blow-out which shot straight down at the floor, where it sprayed directly into… the dog’s food bowl. even the dog had to agree that it was pretty spectacular. anyway, this is the first time i’ve read your blog – i stumbled across it while googling “newborn poop” to see if these crazy explosions really are the norm – and i literally laughed until i cried. looking forward to many more laughs as the adventure continues…