Baby Pee and Wet Diapers—The Ultimate Guide

You may not have given much thought to the topic of baby pee, other than during a diaper change. But many parents have questions about their baby’s urine, such as how often a newborn should pee or what different baby pee smells and colors might signify. Our guide to baby pee answers all these questions and more! By the end, you’ll have a clearer picture of how many wet diapers you should expect from your newborn and when to contact your child’s healthcare provider.

How Many Wet Diapers Should a Newborn Have?

Within 24 hours after birth, your newborn will probably pee once, so you can expect one wet diaper. In the following days, and as your baby consumes more milk, the number of wet diapers increases. After about a week, a typical peeing routine for a baby will result in about four to six wet diapers per day.

Counting the number of wet diapers each day can help you understand your baby’s normal peeing routine and indicate how your little one is doing. There’s quite a wide range of healthy urinary frequency for a baby, with some babies peeing every one to three hours and others just four to six times a day. But in general, you’ll want to look for at least four to six wet diapers each day.

What Does It Mean if Your Baby Is Peeing a Lot?

If it seems that your baby is peeing a lot, that’s usually a good thing and typically means they’re getting enough to eat. In your baby’s first month, if you are breastfeeding and your milk supply is well established, six or more wet diapers a day generally indicates that your baby is getting adequate nourishment.

However, if you notice your baby is peeing a lot more than what’s “normal” (such as more than once every hour), look for other signs and contact your child’s healthcare provider if you have concerns. For example, children with a urinary tract infection (UTI) may pee more frequently or show signs of pain or discomfort while urinating, such as crying or body tension.

What Does It Mean if Your Newborn Is Not Peeing?

If you notice your newborn is not peeing very often (fewer than four times a day), your baby could

• be ill

• have a fever

• be managing the heat.

With illnesses, fevers, or hot weather, your baby’s output of urine may drop by half, which is actually quite normal. Once your baby’s health improves and the weather cools, your little one will likely return to their typical pee routine.

If your newborn isn’t eating enough, however, that’s another reason they might not be peeing very much. When you’re breastfeeding your baby, it can be hard to judge how much your baby is consuming. Look for other signs that your baby isn’t getting enough to eat, which (along with not peeing or pooping) may include the following:

• Lethargy. If your little one isn’t eating enough, they might be very sleepy or seem extra “easy” to care for.

• Prolonged sleep. If your baby is regularly sleeping for four or more hours at a time, it could be an indication of inadequate nutrition. It’s best to contact your child’s healthcare provider if this happens.

Of course, if your newborn is still not peeing after a fever breaks or heat wave has passed, when no illness persists, or after feeding, contact your child’s healthcare provider ASAP, especially if your baby doesn’t pee at all within a span of six to eight hours.

Newborn Pee Color

Baby pee looks similar to adult pee, in that the urine of healthy newborns has a light to dark yellow pee color. Darker shades indicate concentrated urine, which may mean that your baby is slightly dehydrated. But in general, a normal pee color for a newborn is a shade of yellow.

However, your little one’s urine may have a slightly different color from time to time. Many colors are totally normal and nothing to worry about, whereas others may indicate a problem.

You’ll find a baby urine color chart below, and we’ll also provide information about various shades of newborn pee, which can include tints of light yellow, dark yellow, pink, red, orange, or brown.

Light to Dark Yellow Baby Pee

As mentioned above, light yellow urine is healthy. It means your baby is getting enough nourishment and peeing regularly. The darker the yellow color, the more concentrated the urine. Although a healthy baby can have dark-yellow urine, this color could also indicate that your little one needs to consume more liquids to stay hydrated.

Keep in mind that babies younger than 6 months should drink only breast milk or formula to stay hydrated. Once your little one turns 6 months old, you can start introducing small amounts of water.

Pink, Orange, Red, or Brown Baby Pee

A pink, orange, red, or brown hue to your baby’s pee can mean a few different things. Some conditions are temporary, some are harmless, and some need medical attention.

Pink

It’s easy to assume that a pink spot on your baby’s diaper is blood, but this is often just highly concentrated urine. As long as your baby is peeing a lot, then there’s likely no cause for concern. However, if this color persists, contact your child’s healthcare provider.

For a newborn baby girl, a pinkish stain on the diaper could indicate blood in her pee, but it’s typically temporary and caused by the mother’s hormones. If your baby girl continues to have pink spots on her diaper or pink pee after she turns 1 week old, contact her healthcare provider.

Orange, Red, or Brown

An orange, red, or brown tint may indicate the presence of blood in your newborn’s urine. Whether you have a baby boy or girl, blood in pee (after 1 week for girls) is not normal and usually means there’s a problem. The medical name for this condition is hematuria, and it can be caused by many things, including

• physical injury

• inflammation

• infection

• blood clotting

• exposure to toxins

• kidney stones

• medications

• high levels of minerals in the urine

• hereditary conditions

• immune system abnormalities.

If you suspect blood in your newborn’s urine and see a pink, orange, red, or brown tint, contact your child’s healthcare provider ASAP. If it’s hematuria, the provider can address it quickly.

However, once your baby is past the newborn stage and you’ve introduced solid foods, these colors could be a result of your baby eating something colorful, like beets or blackberries. Either way, you’ll probably feel better once you contact the healthcare provider, who will identify the underlying cause and make sure your little one gets any necessary treatment.

Red or Brown and Cloudy Baby Pee

If your baby’s pee is cloudy and accompanies a color change, it could be a urinary tract or kidney infection. A kidney infection is actually a type of UTI, so these can go hand-in-hand. Contact your child’s healthcare provider ASAP if you notice any cloudy urine, especially if it also has a red or brown hue.

“Brick Dust” Baby Pee

A common descriptor of a red-brown hue in baby pee is “brick dust. ” It actually looks a bit like dust from red bricks sprinkled into the urine, often mistaken for blood. When you see this in your baby’s pee, it could mean they’re not nursing enough or consuming enough formula. This “dust” is actually urate crystals, which will not appear once your baby consumes more fluids and nutrients.

Baby Urine Color Chart

Much like our color chart for newborn poop, we’ve created one for pee, so you’ll have an easy guide as to what your baby’s urine may be telling you.

Baby Pee Smells

Along with concerns about your newborn’s pee color, you may also wonder what it means when your baby’s urine is especially smelly. Sometimes, colorful pee and smelly pee indicate the same thing.

Strong Smelling Urine in Babies

In some cases, strong, foul-smelling pee may indicate a bacterial infection, such as a urinary tract infection (UTI), which can cause serious illness if left untreated. When a baby’s urine smells particularly strong, kind of like ammonia, look for signs of an infection, which include blood in urine, plus cloudy and smelly pee. Babies with a UTI may also have a fever, start peeing a lot more frequently, or show signs of discomfort while urinating.

Toddlers can get UTIs, too, and when that’s the case, they may complain about pain while peeing, need to pee frequently, or have accidents during or after potty-training. Consult your child’s healthcare provider if your baby’s pee smells foul or strong like ammonia, or if they have any of the above symptoms.

However, a strong pee smell doesn’t always indicate an infection. If your breastfed baby’s urine smells strong and is highly concentrated with a dark yellow color, your little one may be dehydrated. Giving your baby more fluids (just breast milk or formula until 6 months old) will typically do the trick.

Diet and medication can also be reasons that baby pee smells strong. Check in with your little one’s healthcare provider with any concerns about this.

Sweet-Smelling Pee

This may sound a little odd, but your baby’s pee might smell sweet like maple syrup. This odor indicates a rare, serious illness called Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD), which typically shows signs either within the first three days of birth or between 5 months and 7 years. It’s a metabolic disorder that stops the body from properly converting food to energy.

Diabetes is another disease that could cause sweet-smelling baby pee. Because both diabetes and MSUD are very serious conditions, contact your child’s healthcare provider if you notice a sweet smell to your baby’s pee.

The Bottom Line

As you’ve discovered, baby pee can sometimes be more complicated than just changing a diaper! Still, those daily diaper changes offer opportunities to monitor your baby’s health. Pay attention to the number of wet diapers, the color of your baby’s pee, and even the smell of your baby’s pee. All of these can reassure you that your little on is thriving or suggest that you’ll need contact your child’s healthcare provider. To sum it up:

• Urinary frequency. Most newborns should have at least four to six wet diapers a day, although how many your baby produces could end up being one every hour or every three hours.

• Urine color. A healthy baby has yellow pee—either light, dark, or somewhere in between. Pink-tinted pee usually means highly concentrated urine, whereas red, orange, or brown hues indicate blood, which isn’t normal.

• Urine smell. Baby pee can smell strong without any issues. But if your baby’s pee smells particularly strong or foul, it could be a sign of a UTI.

Now that you understand the ins and outs of baby pee, you’ll have a better idea of how many wet diapers will come your way and when your baby’s urine (or lack of it) indicates a problem. In the meantime, download the Pampers Club App and reward yourself for all those diaper changes with Pampers Cash!

Strong Smelling Urine In Babies

Strong smelling urine in babies

New parents quickly become experts in changing nappies. After all, they change wet or dirty nappies several times every day. Parents often take a lot of notice of what they see in their babies’ nappies too, because it’s one way they can tell if their baby is getting enough milk.

From around day five onwards, a baby having at least five wet nappies is one reliable way to help determine if a baby is getting enough milk, especially if the urine is pale in color.

But what about if your baby has strong-smelling urine? Is it something to worry about? Here are 4 reasons why your baby might have strong-smelling urine.

#1: Baby’s strong smelling urine may be normal

Strong smelling urine in a baby may be normal if:

• Your baby is otherwise well
• Your baby is showing reliable signs of getting enough milk
• Baby’s urine is pale in color, despite being strong smelling.

Although the urine of babies tends to have little odor, as they grow older it may start to smell of ammonia. Or perhaps someone else who doesn’t usually change your baby’s nappy isn’t used to the smell. Or maybe you got a whiff closer to your baby’s nappy than you have before.

Nonetheless, if you’re concerned, it’s always a good idea to see a doctor – at the very least, your peace of mind will be worth it.

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#2: It may be a urinary tract infection

Canadian researchers found parent-reported foul-smelling urine in babies was associated with a urinary tract infection (UTI). This does not mean strong-smelling urine always means your baby has a UTI. In this study, around one-third of the time when a baby’s urine was foul-smelling, there was no UTI. 

If your baby has strong-smelling urine, it’s a good idea to get a doctor to examine your baby, especially if your baby also has a fever or seems out of sorts.

#3: It may be something you ate

If you’re breastfeeding, it’s possible that something you ate could influence the smell of your baby’s urine.

Anecdotally, some breastfeeding mothers have reported that eating a lot of asparagus, onion or garlic can make their baby’s urine smell differently.

Other breastfeeding mothers have reported that when they’ve taken antibiotics, its has temporarily changed the smell of their baby’s urine too.

#4: Smelly urine may mean your baby needs more milk

Another reason why your baby’s urine may be strong-smelling is that they may not be getting enough milk. If a baby isn’t drinking enough milk, this makes their urine more concentrated, stronger smelling, and less pale in color.

If you’re concerned your baby may not be getting enough milk, seek medical advice without delay.

If you’re breastfeeding and you discover your supply is low, there are ways you can increase it.

Strong smelling urine is unlikely to be teething

Sometimes strong-smelling urine, as well as a wide range of other signs and symptoms, gets blamed on teething. However, evidence to support the link between teething and strong-smelling urine doesn’t exist. Before assuming any of your baby’s signs and symptoms are the result of teething, it’s important for any issues to be investigated by a doctor, so there’s no delay in starting the appropriate treatment if required.

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Armed with information about possible reasons why your baby might have strong-smelling urine, take a deep breath, as now you hopefully have a clearer idea and plan of what action you may like to take.

You may also be interested in these BellyBelly articles:

• Baby Poo! 11 Interesting Facts Parents Should Know
• Baby Poop: What’s Normal And What’s Not

Possible Causes of Smell, Symptoms and Solutions

Your baby’s urine smelling strongly and foul-smelling may be a signal for urgent medical attention. The cause of such an unpleasant situation may be natural causes, for example, the introduction of new foods into the diet. However, it is best to make a diagnosis and prevent the development of a possible disease with medical treatment, if necessary. For many diseases of the internal organs, an unpleasant odor in the urine of the baby is characteristic.

What should a baby’s urine smell like

People often wonder why a baby’s urine smells so strong. In a healthy young child, it should be free of impurities, without a specific and pungent odor. A few months after birth, complementary foods are introduced to the baby, as a result of which a mild, unobtrusive odor appears in the urine. The urine of formula-fed babies usually has a stronger odor than that of breastfed babies.

Urinary tract infections in children: therapy, prescribed medications,…

Parents should constantly monitor how the urine of the child smells. This is especially important until the baby has reached a conscious age and cannot report his health problems himself.

The smell of baby urine is a kind of indicator of the state of the child’s internal organs and the functioning of the body as a whole. That is why, with any change in the color of urine or the appearance of an unpleasant odor, you should consult a doctor for advice. This will help keep the baby healthy, as well as prevent the development of an infectious disease.

Causes of changes in the smell of urine

To answer the question of why a child has a strong smell of urine, you should know that in children who have reached the age of 12, the smell of urine changes dramatically. The reason for this phenomenon lies in the change in the work of the endocrine glands. The restructuring of the hormonal background in adolescence greatly affects the vital activity of the body, including the urinary system. Also, the cause of an unpleasant odor can be physical overwork. If the unpleasant odor from the urethra is similar to ammonia and acetone, then the child should be taken to a specialist in the field of urology.

The baby’s urine also smells strongly due to some natural cause, such as infrequent diaper and diaper changes. In addition to the smell, failure to comply with basic hygiene can lead to more serious consequences, namely, provoke hives, skin diaper rash, dermatitis, and unpleasant allergic reactions.

Factors affecting the smell of urine

Parents often wonder why their child’s urine began to smell of foreign odors. The following factors can provoke this:0003

• Changing baby’s diet. With age, the infant is introduced to new foods, such as vegetables and fruits, which have their own specific flavors. They can greatly affect the smell of urine, making it more pronounced, sometimes even pungent.
• Dehydration. It is very important for the baby to drink enough liquid. Exhaustion of the body can occur as a result of acute poisoning with food or poisons. The body, as a result of intoxication, releases a large amount of a not always pleasant-smelling liquid.
• Lack of vitamin D. Usually such a useful element in the body is not enough if the child spends little time outside. Sometimes this leads to the development of rickets. One of the symptoms of this disease is the pungent odor of the fluid that is excreted by the genitourinary organs. Also, a lack of vitamin D leads to a decrease in appetite, increased sweating and poor hair growth.
• Taking strong drugs and antibiotics. Antiviral drugs are partially or completely excreted through the genitourinary system, giving the urine a specific odor. After the course of drug treatment is completed, all indicators return to normal.
• Breastfeeding. In this case, the smell of urine may be due to a change in the mother’s diet. White cabbage and asparagus can significantly change the smell of urine.
• Colds. With rhinitis, SARS and bronchitis, urine always begins to emit an unpleasant odor. The body is exhausted as a result of the fight against infection. After complete recovery, the smell of urine disappears completely.
• Hepatitis. A sign of this serious illness is an unpleasant odor and dark color of urine.
• Diabetes. Patients with this disease usually have colorless urine. The frequency of going to the toilet increases. Urine has an ammonia or vinegar smell.
• Pyelonephritis or cystitis. With such diseases, sometimes urine dramatically changes its smell.

Ammonia smell

Mothers often wonder why their baby smells like urine. Many doctors by smell can guess what disease a small patient suffers from. For example, if an ammonia smell is noticed, then most likely this is a pronounced sign of a violation of the urinary tract. This disease occurs as a result of improper functioning of the endocrine glands. In the blood, and then in the urine, a large number of ketone bodies are formed. Most likely, the patient suffers from diabetes mellitus or acetonemia. The characteristic symptoms of diseases are: the child’s complaints of thirst, pain when urinating, dry skin and a sharp loss of body weight. If the above signs are absent, but the child’s urine is dark when urinating, this means that a focus of infection has appeared in the urinary system. To get rid of the disease, you will need to undergo antibiotic treatment.

Urine smells like ammonia or has other odors. What does it mean?

Smell of acetone

If the child’s urine smells of acetone, this may be due to excessive mobility of the baby. Under heavy loads, ketones are formed in the urine, which cause such an unpleasant odor. In this case, no treatment is required. To get rid of the smell, it is enough just to adjust the child’s daily routine so that the baby is not overexcited during the day. Sometimes the cause of the acetone smell can be stress caused by various reasons (divorce or constant quarrels of parents, change of housing or environment in the playroom). Sometimes a child may need the help of a psychologist.

Smell of burnt sugar

If a child’s urine smells strongly of burnt sugar after urinating, this may be a sign of a disease called leucinosis (branched chain ketonuria). This disease occurs as a result of a genetic predisposition and manifests itself from the first days of a baby’s life. The system responsible for the production of enzymes reduces its activity. Amino acids inside the body are not oxidized, resulting in a characteristic smell of urine. As a treatment, a rather long treatment with medications is required.

Other smells and possible causes

If the child’s urine smells like fish, this indicates a genetic disease. Not only urine can exude an odor, but also the sweat of a child, and even exhaled air.

A strong, mousey odor is most likely a congenital disorder called phenylketonuria. One of the signs of the disease is the accumulation of amino acids and metabolic products in the urinary tract. If you do not see a doctor in time, the disease can damage the nervous system.

How to identify a urinary tract disease

Often the child’s urine smells as a result of kidney and bladder disease. One of the most common causes of pathology is inflammatory processes inside the body. Fighting pathogenic organisms, human immunity secretes white blood cells to fight the disease. Due to the fact that the immune system has not yet formed in children, the disease can continue to progress. You can understand that the child’s body cannot cope with pathogenic organisms by the following symptoms:

1. The patient rarely visits the toilet.
2. Urine is cloudy and sometimes mixed with blood clots. May have curd sediment.
3. Urination is accompanied by pain in the abdomen and in the lumbar region, there is also pain in the genitals.

What to do to avoid smell

“Why does my baby’s urine smell?” – This is one of the most common questions for new mothers. If the smell of urine in your baby has changed, has become sharp and unpleasant, then you should not be afraid and diagnose him. If the next day everything returned to normal, then the cause of this phenomenon, most likely, was overwork or a new product in his diet. If the smell persists day after day after each trip to the toilet, then you should consult a pediatrician. The health care facility should take a urine sample to determine the content of the following substances:

• uric acid;
• ketones;
• leukocytes;
• proteins.

If a child has inflammation in the organs responsible for urination, then it is necessary to inoculate a biological sample in a nutrient medium. Then, according to the number of colonies formed, the doctor can conclude that there are or are no infectious foci. Also, when a pungent odor appears in the urine, a blood test is prescribed for the presence of sugar in the body.

Disease prevention

To avoid problems with urination in a child, it is necessary to give him clean water. Sugary drinks should be completely eliminated from the diet. If a high body temperature occurs and with severe vomiting, it is recommended to drink special saline solutions, they can be found in pharmacies. Often children refuse such medicines. In this case, the child must be given a medicinal solution in a tablespoon every 20 minutes. After recovery, the smell of urine and the general condition of the body should return to normal.

As a preventive measure, doctors recommend protecting your child from emotional upheavals and heavy physical exertion. In order for the child to be healthy, one should strictly adhere to the diet and drink plenty of water, especially in the heat.

How to detect and treat ketonuria

If your baby has ketonuria, experts recommend giving a drink with a small amount of sugar. It can be fruit juices or just water with sugar. To detect this disease, you can purchase special test strips at any pharmacy, which should be soaked in the urine of a child. If the child has ketonuria, then the indicator strip will be colored.

Pediatric urology-andrology

Urological problems in children can often be almost asymptomatic , but they can greatly affect the quality of a child’s future adult life. Parents should pay special attention to the health of the genitourinary system of the baby and regularly show the child to a pediatric urologist. This will detect any abnormalities or disorders at the initial stage and prevent the development of serious disorders of the urogenital area in boys and girls.

What problems do we solve?

• Scheduled inspections. Children are not protected from diseases of the genitourinary system. Sometimes these ailments are asymptomatic, and children are not aware of them. Annual scheduled examinations by a pediatric urologist will help to diagnose the pathological condition in time and prescribe effective treatment.
• Inflammations . Inflammatory processes of the genitourinary system occur due to hypothermia, improper hygiene, and also due to poor nutrition. Often accompanied by itching, burning, redness in the vulva.
• Cloudy or discolored urine. If the child’s urine has changed: color, unpleasant odor, turbidity – this may indicate serious changes in the state of the genitourinary system. In this case, it is necessary to show the child to a pediatric urologist.
• Injuries of the external genital organs. Mechanical injuries of the external genital organs can be accompanied by edema, pain and are a serious problem due to the complex anatomy, especially with associated injuries. In this case, the help of a pediatric urologist is needed.
• Painful urination, urinary incontinence. May occur as a result of hypothermia, improper use of diapers, bacterial or viral infection. To prevent the disease from becoming chronic, it is necessary to visit a pediatric urologist as soon as possible.
• Anomalies in the development of the external genital organs. It makes sense to contact a urologist if a boy’s scrotum is asymmetric: due to an increase in one of its halves or due to the absence of testicles in one of its halves, or in both. With curvature of the penis or in the absence of disclosure of the foreskin, with its redness or swelling. With an abnormal appearance of the penis and associated problems with urination. As a rule, when it comes to newborns, correction of congenital defects and anomalies is relevant. Some of them (such as hypospadias) do not require emergency treatment and are corrected at an older age. Such a pathology in boys, like varicocele, becomes noticeable only at the beginning of puberty.

Symptoms

Try to closely monitor the child’s well-being, listen to what he complains about. Seek immediate medical attention if you experience any of the following symptoms:

• Redness of the skin of the external genitalia
• Burning and itching, painful urination
• Discoloration, odor, cloudiness of urine
• Enlargement of one or both halves of the scrotum
• Redness or swelling of the foreskin
• Urinary incontinence

An appointment with a pediatric urologist begins with a conversation and examination. Urologists of the children’s clinic “Health from the Diaper” act carefully and delicately, they will not scare the baby and help the teenager overcome embarrassment. Often the urologist requires additional examinations. After collecting all the data, the doctor makes a diagnosis and prescribes treatment.