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Newborn no urine in first 24 hours


Baby's First Days: Bowel Movements & Urination

Many new parents wonder what's normal and what's not when it comes to diapering their​ newborn. Here's what you can expect during your baby's first few days.

Urination

Your baby may urinate as often as every one to three hours or as infrequently as four to six times a day. If they're ill or feverish, or when the weather is extremely hot, their usual output of urine may drop by half and still be normal.

Urination should never be painful. If you notice any signs of distress while your infant is urinating, notify your pediatrician. This could be a sign of infection or some other problem in the urinary tract.

In a healthy child, urine is light to dark yellow in color. (The darker the color, the more concentrated the urine; the urine will be more concentrated when your child is not drinking a lot of liquid.) In the first week after birth, you may see a pink or brick-red stain on the diaper, often mistaken for blood. In fact, this stain is usually a sign of highly concentrated urine, which has a pinkish color. As long as the baby is wetting at least four diapers a day, there probably is no cause for concern. If the pinkish staining persists, consult your pediatrician.

Newborn girls may have a small spot of blood in the diaper, also usually in the first week after birth; this blood is caused by her mother's hormones affecting the baby's uterus. After that time, however, the presence of actual blood in the urine or a bloody spot on the diaper is never normal, and your pediatrician should be notified. It may be due to nothing more serious than a small diaper rash sore, but it also could be a more serious problem. If this bleeding is accompanied by other symptoms, such as abdominal pain, poor feeding, vomiting, fever, or bleeding in other areas, seek medical attention immediately.

Bowel movements

For the first few days after birth, your baby's first bowel movements will be a substance known as meconium. This thick black or dark green substance filled their intestines before birth, and once passed, the stools turn yellow-green.

Baby stools vary in color and consistency due to their immature digestive system. If your baby is breastfed, their stools soon should be yellow liquid mixed with some particles. Until they start to eat solid foods, the consistency of the stools may range from very soft to loose and runny. If they're formula-fed, their stools usually will be tan or yellow in color. They will be firmer than a breastfed baby's, but should be no firmer than soft clay. Green stools are not unusual, either, and they should not cause you alarm.

Whether your baby is breastfed or bottle-fed, hard or very dry stools may be a sign that she is not getting enough fluid or that she is losing too much fluid due to illness, fever, or heat. Once solids are introduced, hard stools might indicate that she's eating too many constipating foods, such as cereal or cow's milk, before her system can handle them. (Whole cow's milk is not recommended for babies under twelve months.)

Here are some other important points to keep in mind about bowel movements:

  • Occasional variations in color and consistency of the stools are normal. For example, if the digestive process slows down because of foods requiring more effort to digest (such as large amounts of cereal), the stools may become green; or if the baby is given supplemental iron, the stools may turn dark brown. If there is a minor irritation of the anus, streaks of blood may appear on the outside of the stools. However, if there are large amounts of blood, mucus, or water in the stool, call your pediatrician immediately. These symptoms may warrant attention from your doctor.

  • Because an infant's stools are normally soft and a little runny, it's not always easy to tell when a young baby has mild diarrhea. The telltale signs are a sudden increase in frequency (to more than one bowel movement per feeding) and unusually high liquid content in the stool. Diarrhea may be a sign of intestinal infection, or it may be caused by a change in the baby's diet. If the baby is breastfeeding, they can even develop diarrhea because of a change in the mother's diet.

  • The main concern with diarrhea is the possibility of dehydration. If fever is also present and your infant is less than three months old, call your pediatrician. If your baby is over three months and the fever lasts more than a day, check her urine output and rectal temperature; then report your findings to your doctor for consideration. Make sure your baby continues to feed frequently. As much as anything else, if they simply looks sick, let your doctor know.

The frequency of bowel movements varies widely among babies. Many pass a stool soon after each feeding. This is a result of the gastrocolic reflex, which causes the digestive system to become active whenever the stomach is filled with food.

By three to six weeks of age, some breastfed babies have only one bowel movement a week and still are normal. Breast milk leaves very little solid waste to be eliminated from the child's digestive system. Thus, infrequent stools are not a sign of constipation and should not be considered a problem as long as the stools are soft, and your infant is otherwise normal, gaining weight steadily, and nursing regularly. Babies with this breastfed stool variant usually have a large volume of stool if it has been a few days (so you should be prepared with lots of wipes to clean up).

If your baby is formula-fed, they should have at least one bowel movement a day. If they have fewer than this and appear to be straining, they may be constipated. Check with your pediatrician for advice on how to handle this problem.

The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.

Baby's first 24 hours | Pregnancy Birth and Baby

Baby's first 24 hours | Pregnancy Birth and Baby beginning of content

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The first day of your new baby’s life is thrilling and exhausting for both of you. This page explains what your newborn baby can sense, and how the umbilical cord and placenta can be managed. It has general information for you if you have had a healthy, full-term pregnancy – 37 to 42 weeks’ gestation.

What will my newborn baby look like?

When your baby is born, their skin might be blue and mottled. They are likely to be covered in amniotic fluid, blood and vernix, which is a cheesy white substance. This is normal.

Their skin will start to become pink as they start to breathe — which is about a minute after birth. Your baby’s hands and feet may still appear blueish for several hours.

The amniotic fluid and the vernix are there because they were there in the womb. They are important for your baby to be able to smell and taste after birth. These familiar things help your baby to feel secure outside the womb.

Birth of the placenta and cutting the umbilical cord

After you have given birth to your baby, you will have more contractions that will help you deliver the placenta. Once this happens, the umbilical cord, which is connected to the placenta, will be clamped in two places and cut. Your support person might be invited to cut the cord.

Skin-to-skin contact

After a normal vaginal birth, your newborn baby will be put on your chest for skin-to-skin contact. Your baby needs sleep and food, and they need to feel secure and warm, so they need to feel your skin.

Doing this simple thing:

  • reduces newborn crying
  • helps start and sustain breastfeeding
  • helps maintain your baby’s body temperature

After this first contact, they will be weighed, measured and observed to make sure they are healthy.

If you have a caesarean section, ask your midwife to make sure your baby has skin-to-skin contact with you as early as possible. It may be possible for you or your partner to hold your baby-skin-to skin in theatre and in recovery.

Feeding

Babies start to show signs of wanting to feed soon after birth and usually attach and suck at the breast about 50 minutes after birth. They may then breastfeed for an hour or more. Put your baby against your chest, and they will probably find your breast and start feeding. If that doesn’t happen, you can ask your midwife or a lactation consultant for help.

The first milk you make is called 'colostrum'. It’s thick and often yellowish, rather than pure white. It’s the ideal milk for your baby. Normally a small amount is produced — your baby’s tummy is just the size of a marble.

If they haven’t fed an hour or so after birth, try again a couple of hours later. You can also express some colostrum to feed to your baby on a spoon.

Weighing and measuring

After skin-to-skin contact and the first breastfeed, your midwife might offer to weigh your baby, and measure your baby’s length and head circumference. Your baby doesn’t need to be washed for at least 24 hours.

Vitamin K

At the time of weighing, your midwife will also offer to give your baby a vitamin K injection to prevent bleeding from vitamin K deficiency.

Cord blood collection if you are Rh negative

If your blood group is Rh negative, some blood will be taken from the umbilical cord to determine whether your baby’s blood group is compatible.

Sleeping

Your baby will stay with you so you can bond and respond easily to their needs. They’ll probably sleep soon after their first feed, and that might last 6 hours or so. They will probably sleep for more than half of their first day in the world.

Apgar scores

One of the main observations made after birth is called an Apgar score. It assesses your baby’s adjustment to life outside the womb. The Apgar score is measured at 1 minute and 5 minutes after birth while the baby is on your chest. Sometimes it is measured again at 10 minutes after birth.

It records your baby’s heart rate, breathing, colour, muscle tone and reflexes. The maximum score is 10. A score of 7 or above usually means your baby is doing well. It is not an ability or intelligence test, and it doesn’t predict your baby’s health later in life.

What will my newborn baby see, hear, smell, taste and feel?

Your baby has been listening to your voice for the last half of your pregnancy and will recognise it when you speak to them after birth. Your partner or support person’s voice may also be familiar if they have also been talking near your baby. Your baby will feel secure when they hear your voices and may respond by turning their head towards you. Your baby will also be able to hear your heart beating as they did in the womb.

Your baby’s vision is blurred at birth but they will be able to focus on your face from about 30 centimetres away. This is called the ‘cuddle distance’. It is roughly the distance from your breast to your face. Your baby will make the connection between what they hear and what they see.

Your baby will smell and taste the amniotic fluid and your colostrum, which has a similar flavour.

Urine and meconium

Within the first 24 hours your baby will probably pass urine and meconium (newborn faeces) at least once. Meconium is black and sticky. Your baby’s poo will change colour and consistency over the next few days.

More information

You can call Pregnancy, Birth and Baby, 7 days a week on 1800 882 436 to speak with a maternal child health nurse to find out more.

Sources:
Cochrane (Early skin-to-skin contact for mothers and their healthy newborn infants), National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (NICE Guideline CG37: Postnatal care up to 8 weeks after birth), World Health Organization (WHO) (Recommendations on newborn health), Raising Children Network (After baby is born: what to expect in the first few hours), Australian Breastfeeding Association (Breastfeeding timeline)

Learn more here about the development and quality assurance of healthdirect content.

Last reviewed: September 2022


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