can we talk poop?

eshee8198 · March 2014

Specifically, consistency? DD rarely has a firm BM. It's not liquid, but it doesn't hold any type of shape and it's certainly not the ploppable poop I was promised by the CDing masses. In fact, the only time it was ploppable was shortly after we started solids.

I thought of this the other day when DC called to say she was constipated. Coincidentally, we had run out of milk, so I had sent her with watered down juice either that day or the day before.

What's normal vs. not normal? Could it be milk related? It's a pain to spray all the diapers, and she's prone to blowouts, but I hate to cut out milk it's somewhat normal. Oh, she's also been on probiotics before, and that only seemed to make things worse.

WWS12D?

MRoxy0628 · March 2014

I just wanted to chime in that my LO's poop varies from day to day. Sometimes it's more ploppable and sometimes it's softer, but yes for the most part at least some of it holds some type of shape. I think it depends on what she eats each day. My friend whose daughter has a milk allergy always had very watery poops.

bosha711 · March 2014

Milk has binding qualities, so if you stopped giving milk, I don't think that would be the reason for constipation. Unless, like pp said, there is a sensitivity/allergy.

DD's poops are almost always firm unless she's sick or teething.

Flamingemu · March 2014

I never thought that milk could be a factor once she got over her sensitivity to it. Now I feel kind of dumb...

L's poops are not solid. They are usually mushy and hold no shape. My kid eats a ton of veg though. I always just equated it to that.

Holly_1007 · March 2014

It depends on the day and what he has eaten,right now they are a mushy mess but he is teething and has a stuffy nose, so tons of extra mucous and saliva. They are about 50/50 plop able, but we don't CD so I guess that is irrelevant.

eshee8198 · March 2014

She does eat a ton of fruits and veggies, and she's been teething for about a million months. Maybe that's just it.

I wouldn't say they've held any shape, except for that one day of no milk, for at least the past 9 months. I don't know if that changes anything. The day that daycare described her as "constipated" was only because she was crying and straining when she had her BM...the poop itself was ploppable but not hard.

Thanks, ladies! She doesn't seem bothered by anything so maybe I should just stay the course.

MrsKipper · March 2014

I get so excited when I open a poopy diaper and it's a firm ball that only needs about 2 wipes. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen often and it's always a soft mess in every crack and crevice. And sometimes it's 3 times a day. If she's had bananas or apples then it'll be more firm.

I miss the "sweet" smelling little breast milk poops.

crene84 · March 2014

DD has had issues with constipation (possibly because of her kidney issue/problem retaining liquids) so we give her a prune every morning and other things throughout the day to help, but she either has one mushy solid or a bunch of little pellets.

opaque1997 · March 2014

So this is interesting to me because with our allergy we had the reverse. Em suffered with constipation (think crying / screaming EVERY bm - Bm every other day at best.. hard hard hard poops) for a year - we had her on miralax almost daily and I kept asking and asking and they kept saying - eh this is normal / common.

As soon as we took her off egg (after allergy diagnosis) - it stopped. I mean - overnight. In fact now if she gets constipated I start searching to see if she had egg.

Are there any other symptoms? Skin (eczema or rashes or red cheeks?) - I presume LO enjoys the milk and other milk products? Are there foods you thought they would like that they avoid?

Other parents I know have issues with carrots and / or apples (its more a sensitivity issue then an allergy) - perhaps it depends on the juice you sent? Does LO normally drink juice?

watercolor5 · March 2014

DD has softer poops more often than firm ones. She eats a ton of fruits and veggies, and has almost given up milk herself, though she does eat a lot of yogurt and cheeses. I feel like I'm always trying to tweak her diet to keep a good consistency (the kid is given bananas all the time.)

I don't consider it a problem/diarrhea unless she's getting wet enough poops to irritate her skin, or if she's pooping more than twice a day. Once a day/somewhat mushy seems to be her healthy norm. I didn't notice much of a change when she gave up the milk in favor for water.

eshee8198 · March 2014

opaque1997 said:

So this is interesting to me because with our allergy we had the reverse. Em suffered with constipation (think crying / screaming EVERY bm - Bm every other day at best.. hard hard hard poops) for a year - we had her on miralax almost daily and I kept asking and asking and they kept saying - eh this is normal / common.

As soon as we took her off egg (after allergy diagnosis) - it stopped. I mean - overnight. In fact now if she gets constipated I start searching to see if she had egg.

Are there any other symptoms? Skin (eczema or rashes or red cheeks?) - I presume LO enjoys the milk and other milk products? Are there foods you thought they would like that they avoid?

Other parents I know have issues with carrots and / or apples (its more a sensitivity issue then an allergy) - perhaps it depends on the juice you sent? Does LO normally drink juice?

Are there any other symptoms? Skin (eczema or rashes or red cheeks?) - she did get a rash when she first started drinking milk - her pedi guessed that it was milk. She frequently has red cheeks, but I just figured it was teething.

I presume LO enjoys the milk and other milk products? She does not, actually, seem to enjoy milk. She MAYBE drinks 8 oz a day, but she's also still nursing. She doesn't like alternative milks any better. She does love yogurt and cheese though.

Are there foods you thought they would like that they avoid? She doesn't like carrots, oddly.

Re: the juice - she never drinks juice - it was actually the first time I've offered it to her in months. I think it was pear juice - but it could have also been apple. I think I diluted it 3 parts water to 1 part juice.

Pokedot · March 2014

I didn't read any of the other responses so forgive me if it's a repeat but DS's poop can vary from day to day. Sometimes he struggles a bit and other times it's more like whipped frosting. Last night at the dinner table he was farting up a storm. I actually blamed DH a couple of times, oops but it seemed like he was struggling a lot. Red face, grunting etc. We changed his diaper and it was very soft. Sometimes he has a hard time going than other and the consistency isn't always the same.

It may have been the juice and her body reacting to something "new" in her system. I know when DS has something new or he hasn't had it in a while his poops are consistent with the change of food.

opaque1997 · March 2014

SO totally up to you.. but I'd actually suspect the milk - yogurt and cheese have different lactose enzymes - Milk has 5? (I'd have to go look it up) depending on the cheese / yogurt they have more like 1 - 2 so its possible she has a partial issue with one of the enzymes and you are seeing the fall out of that.

DO you notice more snot?

Odd that pear juice would have caused her to back up - NORMALLY pear juice will make you go.. and go fast (currently using it for constipation)

Milk dislike could be that she's still nursing and bm is so much sweeter - or it could be telling you - this makes me feel yucky. Em never liked baked goods - cake, cookies, etc. I presume its due to the egg in them - she'd eat them and feel bad.

danabsd · March 2014

I wouldn't consider our poops plopable. Blowouts are rare but they are definitely not super solid. It's never really concerned me and I doubt it's milk related.

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