Short answer: In the first ten days, your baby feeds often, passes black meconium that changes to yellow poo, loses a little weight and usually starts gaining again, and may look a bit yellow from jaundice. You'll be recovering, bleeding, and riding a wave of hormones — many parents cry a lot around days three to five. Newborn checks and screening tests happen in this time. Know the warning signs for you and your baby, and get help early if you're worried.
The first ten days can feel like you're doing almost nothing and living through the hardest stretch of your life at the same time. Here's roughly what to expect, so you don't spend every day wondering if something is wrong.
Days 1 and 2
- Your baby may be sleepy, with small feeds of colostrum. Expect to feed often — at least 8 to 12 times in 24 hours.
- Poo is black and sticky (meconium). Expect 2–3 wet nappies in the first 48 hours.
- Your baby will lose some weight; that's normal.
- You may feel wired with adrenaline despite being exhausted.
Days 3 to 5
- Your milk usually “comes in”: breasts can feel full, warm and tight.
- Your baby may wake and want to feed much more often. That isn't a sign of too little milk; frequent feeding is how supply builds.
- Poo changes from black to green to yellow. From about day five, expect at least 6 wet nappies a day and at least 2 soft yellow poos.
- Hormones shift dramatically. Feeling tearful, anxious or overwhelmed for a few days — the baby blues — is very common.
- In the UK, the newborn blood spot (heel prick) test is normally done around day five.
If there's one day you think “I can't do this”, it's often around day three. That's hormones talking, not a forecast.
Days 6 to 10
- Feeding may start to find a little more rhythm.
- Your baby should be gaining weight steadily by around two weeks, after the early dip.
- Your bleeding gradually becomes lighter and browner.
- In the UK, a health visitor usually does a new baby review at home around day ten. The newborn hearing test is often done in the first weeks, sometimes before you leave hospital.
- The umbilical cord stump dries and drops off by itself in the first couple of weeks. Keep it clean and dry; you only need to wash around it if it gets dirty.
Look after yourself
This period isn't a preview of the months ahead; it's an exceptional time. Arrange help for when early support winds down — someone to cook, do the washing, or hold the baby while you sleep. Keep visitors few and short.
When to get help — your baby
Contact your midwife, health visitor or GP (or NHS 111) the same day if your baby:
- has fewer wet nappies than expected, or dark urine;
- is very sleepy and hard to wake for feeds, or won't feed;
- has jaundice that's getting worse, or pale, chalky poo;
- has a temperature of 38 °C or higher, or feels unusually cold.
Call 999 (UK), 911 (US) or 112 (EU) if your baby has difficulty breathing (grunting, very fast breathing, sucking in under the ribs), blue or grey skin or lips, is floppy or can't be woken, or has a seizure. Yellow skin in a baby under 24 hours old also needs urgent assessment.
When to get help — you
Tell your midwife or GP straight away, or call your emergency number, if you have very heavy bleeding or large clots, a high temperature with a tender tummy, pain or swelling in one calf, chest pain or breathlessness, a severe headache with vision changes, or thoughts that frighten you.
These ten days are a one-off. They pass — and you won't remember most of them.
Related reading
Month by month: The First Year (PDF, English) guides you through your baby's first twelve months.
Sources
- NHS — Breastfeeding: the first few days; NHS Best Start in Life — Milk supply.
- NHS — Newborn blood spot test and Newborn hearing test.
- NHS — Jaundice in babies.
- NHS — When to get urgent medical help for babies and children under 5.
- NHS — Your body after the birth.
Written by the Bloom Guides editorial team. Last updated: 20 October 2026. General information only — not a substitute for advice from your midwife, health visitor or doctor.