Food and poop question. The best kind of question.

OhSewCrafty

Right now we're battling a bit of strange eating/digesting behavior from C and not quite sure if its normal or not.

Normally, he eats quite a bit, but lately he has been almost eating as much as me! For instance, yesterday he ate a cup of oatmeal and half a banana for breakfast, a cup of yogurt with half a banana mixed in, a whole PB&J sandwich, and a cup of pasta/veggies with sauce for lunch, and a cup and half of beef stew for dinner -- in addition to a morning and afternoon snack and about 16 oz. of whole milk. He happily devoured it all.

In addition to the increased eating, over the last two weeks or so, he's been having multiple dirty diapers a day, especially after eating. And pardon the TMI, but a lot of times you can tell exactly what he ate the meal before if you know what I mean.

We saw his pedi today and she didn't really give us much information. She asked us to get some stool samples (FUN!) to be checked at the lab. She didn't really give her thoughts on the situation and wanted to wait for the tests, but I'm not sure what to really think of the whole thing. Worry or not to worry. He's not feverish, but has had some pretty cranky days lately.

Has anyone dealt with something like this? Could the increased eating be linked to the diarrhea?

Cheekers2010

Oh, my goodness! I would be so thrilled if G would eat even half a cup of yogurt for the whole day. I'm sorry-that is a terribly unhelpful comment but wow, color me flabbergasted.

As far as diarrhea, I suppose it could indicate that he isn't absorbing food as well as he should be. I'm not sure what else they'd be looking for.

OhSewCrafty

Trust me. I'm floored as well. This is the baby who stayed in the hospital for almost 2 weeks because he wouldn't eat. Now, the only time he has tantrums is when the food is gone.

I wonder if that's what it could be. I just don't get it. The doctor was like, "You should try either yogurt or the brat diet." Well, since he eats yogurt and a whole banana everyday....sure.... 

bosha711

Is it actually diarrhea, or is he just pooping more frequently? My experience with diarrhea is that it's actually watery & multiple times b/w meals.

DS poops like 3xs a day & often there are pieces of what he ate in it. I chalk that up to him only having 2 teeth & probably just mushes his food & then swallows it. I know Charlie has a lot of teeth, but it's quite possible, he just isn't chewing enough before swallowing?

From the food you listed, the only thing that sounded like a lot to me was his lunch. Maybe he's just going through a growth spurt? Or, he really liked what he was eating & he gobbled it up quickly, so he ate more in terms of volume.

 

Cheekers2010

OhSewCrafty:

Trust me. I'm floored as well. This is the baby who stayed in the hospital for almost 2 weeks because he wouldn't eat. Now, the only time he has tantrums is when the food is gone.

I wonder if that's what it could be. I just don't get it. The doctor was like, "You should try either yogurt or the brat diet." Well, since he eats yogurt and a whole banana everyday....sure.... 

I wonder if it's possible that he's going through a growth spurt.  G had some diarrhea like poop every day during his last one. 

OhSewCrafty

bosha711:

Is it actually diarrhea, or is he just pooping more frequently? My experience with diarrhea is that it's actually watery & multiple times b/w meals.

DS poops like 3xs a day & often there are pieces of what he ate in it. I chalk that up to him only having 2 teeth & probably just mushes his food & then swallows it. I know Charlie has a lot of teeth, but it's quite possible, he just isn't chewing enough before swallowing?

From the food you listed, the only thing that sounded like a lot to me was his lunch. Maybe he's just going through a growth spurt? Or, he really liked what he was eating & he gobbled it up quickly, so he ate more in terms of volume.

 

See, I hesitate to call it diarrhea because that's the definition I learned of it (what you said), but the doctor labeled it that. Its a ton of very loose, wet poop with undigested pieces of whatever he ate the meal before - food that should have been digested like shreds of meat and soft carrots.

YAY for poop descriptions.

Its hard to say whether its a growth spurt since this has been going on for a few weeks now. He usually does pretty well chewing his food and while he does eat it quickly, he seems genuinely hungry. We always wait a little bit between courses to make sure he's getting a "full" signal, but he always wants more. He is literally a bottomless pit.

I forgot to mention that suddenly he has horrible diaper rash. Daycare has been changing him every hour to try to keep up with it and we do the same at home (except overnight, obviously), but his poor butt is raw. He's never had rash this bad before! I feel awful!

OhSewCrafty

Kellog+1:

OhSewCrafty:

Trust me. I'm floored as well. This is the baby who stayed in the hospital for almost 2 weeks because he wouldn't eat. Now, the only time he has tantrums is when the food is gone.

I wonder if that's what it could be. I just don't get it. The doctor was like, "You should try either yogurt or the brat diet." Well, since he eats yogurt and a whole banana everyday....sure.... 

I wonder if it's possible that he's going through a growth spurt.  G had some diarrhea like poop every day during his last one. 

It would be the first time this has happened for him, but who knows. Things change so fast with these kids! lol

bumpuser260585

J has been the same way lately, but without the diarrhea. He eats almost as much as ido at a meal, then wants a snack an hour later. He's drinking about 25 oz of milk to. I think he went from baby to teenager over night. Hopefully the stool sample will let you know if something is wrong, but my gut reaction is growth spurt. Teething can also cause loose stools, so that might be a factor too.

OhSewCrafty

SpitsNGiggles:

J has been the same way lately, but without the diarrhea. He eats almost as much as ido at a meal, then wants a snack an hour later. He's drinking about 25 oz of milk to. I think he went from baby to teenager over night. Hopefully the stool sample will let you know if something is wrong, but my gut reaction is growth spurt. Teething can also cause loose stools, so that might be a factor too.

This. I'm asking for a Costco membership for his 2nd birthday. 

Thanks. I hope it is nothing and we're just being ridiculous. 

On a side note, I am sick of spraying out blow out after blow out from our cloth diapers. Gaaahhhhh

lrn327

Sorry C's been through such a time lately even though it sure doesn't sound like it bothers him!  I know it can be trying on mom though!  My C poops a lot I think too, usually 4 times/day.  Occasionally there is some pieces of undigested food too and he eats very little in comparison.  I'm hoping it's just a growth spurt like PPs said.  Since your C is the oldest Dec LO, you get everything first before the rest of us!

enjoylife

OhSewCrafty:

SpitsNGiggles:

J has been the same way lately, but without the diarrhea. He eats almost as much as ido at a meal, then wants a snack an hour later. He's drinking about 25 oz of milk to. I think he went from baby to teenager over night. Hopefully the stool sample will let you know if something is wrong, but my gut reaction is growth spurt. Teething can also cause loose stools, so that might be a factor too.

This. I'm asking for a Costco membership for his 2nd birthday. 

Thanks. I hope it is nothing and we're just being ridiculous. 

On a side note, I am sick of spraying out blow out after blow out from our cloth diapers. Gaaahhhhh

 

I agree with pp about possible causes.  Have you tried cutting up some fleece liners and put some non CD safe cream on him to help with the rash? Plus bonus the liners will help catch some of the poo too.   Hope all the tests turn out negative and you just have a tiny teenager on your hand.... there are some days A is a bottomless pit as well.  he likes to swallow a lot of his food whole or only take a bit out of it.  Always unnerves me when I see his beans, blue and blackberries, corn and sweet potato a couple days later.  He even knows the word "chew" and makes smacky bitey faces when I say it but if he's got his hands on good food he just shovels it away.

OhSewCrafty

enjoylife:

OhSewCrafty:

SpitsNGiggles:

J has been the same way lately, but without the diarrhea. He eats almost as much as ido at a meal, then wants a snack an hour later. He's drinking about 25 oz of milk to. I think he went from baby to teenager over night. Hopefully the stool sample will let you know if something is wrong, but my gut reaction is growth spurt. Teething can also cause loose stools, so that might be a factor too.

This. I'm asking for a Costco membership for his 2nd birthday. 

Thanks. I hope it is nothing and we're just being ridiculous. 

On a side note, I am sick of spraying out blow out after blow out from our cloth diapers. Gaaahhhhh

 

I agree with pp about possible causes.  Have you tried cutting up some fleece liners and put some non CD safe cream on him to help with the rash? Plus bonus the liners will help catch some of the poo too.   Hope all the tests turn out negative and you just have a tiny teenager on your hand.... there are some days A is a bottomless pit as well.  he likes to swallow a lot of his food whole or only take a bit out of it.  Always unnerves me when I see his beans, blue and blackberries, corn and sweet potato a couple days later.  He even knows the word "chew" and makes smacky bitey faces when I say it but if he's got his hands on good food he just shovels it away.

That is just too freaking cute. These kids - such little stinkers. :-)

We've been using extra strength Desitin with liners for a few days - the hippie CD safe stuff just wasn't cutting it! And you're right - it does help with the poo clean up. lol

 

theuntaggablek

No great conclusions or solutions here, just commiseration. Our lo seems to be pooping in great volume in the past week or so, and in the same gross (ah, I recognize that from dinner last night, i think) way. And we also cloth diaper, so yes, yuck. I'm a bit worried about our lo now that I hear your pedi said that constituted diarrhea. I thought it was just more frequent pooping.

Didn't somebody say they noticed more pooping with more cows' milk a few days/weeks back?

OhSewCrafty

ken&kendra:

No great conclusions or solutions here, just commiseration. Our lo seems to be pooping in great volume in the past week or so, and in the same gross (ah, I recognize that from dinner last night, i think) way. And we also cloth diaper, so yes, yuck. I'm a bit worried about our lo now that I hear your pedi said that constituted diarrhea. I thought it was just more frequent pooping.

Didn't somebody say they noticed more pooping with more cows' milk a few days/weeks back?

I'm sorry you're in a similar poop boat. 

Change in poop with cow's milk is definitely common, but C has been on it for over two months now without an issue. He was on antibiotics recently, so maybe that got him out of whack? Who knows.

All I know is that its a lot of poop. 

[Deleted User]

Um, your kid's diet sounds like mine.  Daycare is always impressed with what a great eater she is.  And, yes there are chunks in the poo.  I think it's a combo of things - 1) they eat quickly.  They being Charlie & P.  2) They don't chew very effectively, so it's not all getting digested.  NBD.

The poop thing we are dealing with too.  I think it's more acidic which is causing our diaper rash.  We just keep slathering on the bum cream & it works well to OK.  Might I suggest using sposies for a week?  Maybe the change in absorption might help to at least change things up.  Plus, it will give your walls a splash break. 

PS - corn stays corn. 

belizeitornot

have you introduced any new food recently?  

increased amounts, i don't know. (we randomly have this issue and i have never really figured out the cause behind it except for this time i think it's WCM)

still whole pieces of food, i'd still go with the thought he's not chewing it enough. i know we often see whole pieces of carrot, cheese, blueberry etc that should have been chewed up but i think H just gets tired of chewing and gives it one good gumming and then down the hatch.  the other issue could be if something is upsetting his system and it's trying to move all the food through (this is really TMI but think about when you have a stomach bug, nothing stays put for long after eating...) so it never gets fully digested before moving on out.

diaper rash could be irritation from all the extra pooping, or could be yeast. i think i recall hearing that it's not uncommon for a yeast diaper rash to appear after a round of antibiotics....

poor charlie! hope it gets figured out soon!

jnicolen1

O's poops had gotten nice and solid...until i switched to whole milk.  now they are mushy and yucky and super messy in the cloth diaper.  i always use a bummis flushable liner and never spray.  they come out of the wash clean.

yesterday i gave him half WCM and half rice milk instead of straight WCM....today his poops were more solid again.  not sure if its a coincidence but im going to keep it up for a few days and see how it goes.

good luck...runny poops are yuck!