All About Poop

When I was pregnant, my husband and I swore to each other that we would not be the kind of parents who talked about poop. Like so many good intentions, that one, pardon the pun, quickly went down the toilet. Three years and two children later, I can honestly say we talk more about our daughters' BMs than about movies, books, or politics.

To my relief, we're not weirdly obsessive, say the experts. After all, most of us grew up with the notion, presumably from our mothers, that a regular poop schedule is a sign of a healthy body that's receiving the proper fuel. Turns out, Mom was right. "For breastfeeding moms who can't measure what their baby is eating, poop is one of the only clues. What goes in is what comes out," says Ari Brown, MD, a pediatrician and coauthor of Baby 411: Clear Answers & Smart Advice for Your Baby's First Year (Windsor Peak).

But there's an even better reason for being obsessed with baby poop: If you're a newborn novice, the colors and textures, not to mention the frequency, can really throw you for a loop (who knew poop could be bright orange?). You're going to spend many a waking hour looking at it and cleaning it up, so you might as well get the facts on what's normal and what isn't.