Short answer
In the Hanafi school a baby's urine is impure, boy or girl, even if the baby only drinks milk, so it must be washed. A baby's spit-up that is less than a mouthful is not impure and can be ignored; a big vomit is. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools allow sprinkling water on a milk-fed baby boy's urine.
The urine of every baby is a heavy impurity and is washed. Vomit is impure only if it fills the mouth; less than that is not impure, following Abu Yusuf, which is the relied view. Breastfeeding does not break wudu, and breast milk is pure.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- The urine of a baby boy under two who has had nothing but milk only needs water sprinkled over it; a girl's is washed. All vomit is impure.
- Hanbali
- Same as the Shafi'i school on a milk-fed boy's urine.
Explanation
A woman brought her baby son, who had not yet eaten food, to the Prophet ﷺ. The baby urinated on his clothes, and he called for water and splashed it over the spot without scrubbing it. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools take this, with a hadith that a girl's urine is washed and a boy's sprinkled, as a lighter rule for milk-fed baby boys. The Hanafi and Maliki schools understand the splashing as a light wash, and treat all urine the same.
Practical rules for parents (Hanafi):
- Urine on clothes or body: wash it. More than a dirham (about the hollow of the palm) must be washed before you pray.
- Diaper leaks on a sofa or mattress: clean the spot as you would a carpet (see cleaning a carpet).
- Spit-up: small amounts of milk the baby brings up are not impure. You can pray in clothes with spit-up marks.
- Large vomit: a mouthful or more is impure; wash it if it covers more than a dirham.
- Drool: pure.
Breastfeeding does not break the mother's wudu, and breast milk is pure. Holding, feeding or changing your baby does not break wudu either; only wash off what is impure.
Parents of babies deal with small marks all day. Wash what you know is impure, and do not chase doubts. See types of najis for how much is excused.
The evidence
Sahih al-Bukhari 223
Sahih... فدعا بماء فنضحه ولم يغسله ...
"He called for water, splashed it over the spot and did not wash it."
The hadith of the milk-fed baby boy; the schools differ on whether splashing is a lighter rule or a light wash.
Sunan Abi Dawud 376
Grading to be checked... يغسل من بول الجارية ويرش من بول الغلام ...
"A baby girl's urine is washed, and a baby boy's urine is sprinkled."
The basis of the Shafi'i and Hanbali view.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Taharat, chapter on impurities and their purification. The urine of a boy and a girl alike is impure.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Taharah, nawaqid al-wudu. What does not break wudu is not impure, so vomit less than a mouthful is pure.
- al-Majmu' (Nawawi), Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on removing impurity. Sprinkling for a milk-fed boy's urine.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.