Your baby’s first bowel movement normally occurs within 24 hours of birth. It is a sticky, dark green or black paste called meconium, which is the waste that has collected in your baby’s bowels during its time in the womb.

During the next three to four days, once your baby begins to drink breast milk or formula, the stool loses its stickiness and changes from its dark greenish black color to brownish green, then to brown and to yellow.

By the end of the first week, stools of breast-fed babies tend to be mushy and odourless; usually mustard-yellow coloured with a loose consistency. Formula-fed babies, meanwhile, tend to have more formed stools with a stronger odour and colours ranging from yellow to green to brown.