Baby Snot Colour Guide: When to Worry | Parenting Hub
Clear, yellow, green, brown — here's what each snot colour usually means in babies and when to see a doctor.
Snot colour mostly reflects how long a cold has been brewing — it isn't a reliable sign of bacterial infection.
Colour guide
Colour reflects immune activity, not severity.
- Clear — early cold, allergy or teething drool
- White or cloudy — congestion, mid-cold
- Yellow — immune cells fighting the virus (normal mid-cold)
- Green — same process, deeper in (still usually viral)
- Brown — old blood from a dry nose or recent nosebleed
- Bright red — fresh nosebleed (see nosebleeds article)
When to see a doctor
Look at the whole picture, not the colour. See your GP if the cold lasts beyond 10–14 days, returns with fever, baby is feeding poorly, or breathing seems harder.
When to seek help
- Foul-smelling one-sided discharge — suspect object in nose
- Persistent green discharge with fever beyond 10 days
- Any signs of breathing difficulty
Common questions
Does green mean antibiotics?
No — green snot is part of normal viral cold recovery in most babies.