The moment you have a baby, there can be a lot of talk and focus on the colour of their poop. The different poo colours determine when baby is getting breastmilk. It will be black and then turn a pesto green which then turns into a mustard yellow colour once the baby is digesting breastmilk.

If only our focus on poo stopped at the newborn stage. It’s a fact that the first couple years of our child’s life, there will be a daily poo viewing and observation. You might will experience poonamis, poocassos and the unfortunate pain of constipation as you watch your child try with all their might (watery eyes and all) to do a number 2 that just won’t budge. A little sugar in water or some pear juice can help push things along, providing your kid will actually drink it.

As your child becomes a toddler, the smell becomes a clear indicator of a turd freshly laid. Mums become pros at the sniff test and can smell a pooey nappy a mile away. Even if it’s not their child’s.

We can joke around about poo, and let’s be honest, it can be a crappy subject to discuss. Yet poo can say a lot about our health and the health of our children.
HealthWorks have put together a clever graphic called ‘How Well Do You Know Your Shit?’

It shares the different textures of poo and what they mean from a health perspective.

A sausage with cracks means you need to drink more water.

Separate lumps, like little nuts means you need more fibre (like vegetables and fruit) as well as more fluids.

Very watery is diarrhea which means you’re sick and have an infection somewhere that the body is trying to flush out.

And then there’s the shades of poop. Brown is good. Apparently.

An infographic like this is good to refer to when you see your kid’s poop. It can give a clear indication of what may be needed more or less in their diet.

Do you know how to read your child’s poop?