Poo question

[cori]

My DS 2.8 seems to be having trouble with his bowels. He doesnt seem constipated as such,he goes almost every day. Lately he has been straining though. Also his feaces is quite a pale colour, some times there is undigested food. He also says that his bottom is sore.
I will probably take him to GP soon. I just wondered how normal is it to continue to have very light coloured feaces at this age.

[jamiesam]

My ds, 3.1 does sometimes have rather pale poo - personally I put it down to days when he has a lot of fat in his diet. Big guess, could be completely wrong. Undigested food - peas, sweetcorn or raisins, yes, otherwise never really noticed anything. However, sore bottom? Inclined to agree it might be worth a visit to GP - unless another mn knows better...

[ChicPea]

My DD of 2.1 has had light coloured poo for months. I put this down to a high fibre, non-processed food (except gluten free sausages and frankfurters), very fresh food diet which she has.

[Jimjams]

light poo can indicate fats not being broken down properly (especially if it floats as well). I mentioned it to ds1's nutritionist and he said it may be that he wasn't producing enough bile (he's autistic and his guts are a mess). It comes and goes with him a bit though. If he's otherwise healthy I think its safe to ignore, but any doubt perhaps make an appointment to get it checked.

[Jimjams]

BTW ds1's diet is stunningly dreadful(eats less than 10 different food items and the majority are processed carbs)- so certainly not the same as chicpeas!

[cori]

D.S is otherwise healthy. He has lots of energy and is a good weight. His diet is nkt very good though. Refuses to eat vegetables and most fruits. So he probably needs more Fibre.
He doesnt seem to be in a lot of pain, but says sometimes that 'bum hurts'
What would cause the fats not to be broken down?

[cori]

GP wasnt much use. Put light coloured feaces down to drinking too much milk ( Huh?!?). However she did give me a specimen jar to collect a sample, if it continues.

[handbagaddiction]

Cori,

I'm glad you've raised this thread. dd (13 months) old does seem to strain quite a bit when pooing too - she also seems to produce what dh called 'pellets' more than anything else!! more recently, they have also been very pale in colour. She's always been prone to deliver pellets depsite dirking stacks of water but the pale colour has coincided with her moving off formula and onto cows milk! I reckon she probably gets through 14-15fluid oz of it a day so maybe there is something in what the doctor said??

[Stripymouse]

Agree that light coloured poo can be high fat diet - my HV told me this. Another indicator of high fat diet is when it floats (charming I know but there you go!) Watch his diet and if he is eating well enough - if you are worried about his general health or if it doesn?t clear up fairly soon I would speak to your HV/GP

[handbagaddiction]

I'm all worried now about the high fat thing and poo colour - all the posts have got me thinking (sorry to hijack here Cori). Do you think I should be reducing the amount of milk dd drinks or should I just leave it as is it given that she is pretty healthy otherwise...?

[Stripymouse]

If she is straining and producing pellets, the chances are that she isn?t getting enough fluid in the day and is slightly dehydrated. Is she willing to drink from a beaker cup and help herself to water on top of the 14oz? My 12 month old is just starting this and it is a huge help in getting extra fluid into her.
As for the colour, this is going to be diet dependant and so maybe look at what she is eating and check that you think it is fairly balanced bt. protein, fat, fibre, carbs etc.
If you are worried, keep a food and drink diary for a week and take it to your HV to discuss what to do next.

[handbagaddiction]

Stripeymouse,

Thanks for the response. She does drink loads of water during the day from beakers so I have no worries there - even though she still does pellets!! She also has a really good varied diet - she's at nursery 5 days a week and I have their 4 week menu well in advance so I have no concerns about the nutritional content. They cook all the food their fresh every day in their own kitchens, no salt, no chocolate, no fat, nuts, beef, etc. and there's always loads of fruit and vegetables.

She does eat loads of avocado at home with us though - probably her favourite food at the moment. high in fat I know but a 'super food' too. Could it be this that's tipping her over the edge??? Or just the complete transition to cows milk from formula over the past month?

[cori]

DS diet isnt fantastic. Am trying to think of ways of introducing more fruit and veg. He drinks about 2 beakers of full fat milk a day.
When can you change to semi skimmed? GP mentioned the milk thing but not about fats in general. Yes and poo does seem to float( charming) Maybe this is the problem. I am going to keep a food diary to get a better idea of what he is eating.

[Skate]

I thought pale poo was a sign of low iron?? Wouldn't this fit with move from formula to cows milk as formula has iron in it but cows milk doesn't?

Maybe I'm totally wrong as noone else has mentioned this.

[cori]

mmm, low iron can any confirm this. DS doesnt eat red meat unless it is in sausage form

[Tickle]

Cori - my two bigger ones love frozen peas... they just pick them off the plate while they are waiting for their meal (I'm pretty relaxed about the order in which they get things!)

My ds (4) also has som probs with digestion - we've tried with a paediatrician here in Denmark who was worse than useless. ds has haemarrhoids (sp?) that look silver when you wipe his bottom, but the doc seemed unconcerned and they don't seem to cause him any discomfort. So don't know whether to pursue it or not.
Interesting about the fats Jimjams, may start keeping a food diary.