To ask you to... describe diarrhoea!

[PlayNoBill]

Describe diarrhoea, and I mean literally!

I have had a letter from my 14 mo DS nursery asking all children not to attend if they have had D or V for 48 hours. Totally respect that, but his nappies can range from the consistency of an Ella's pouch to sausage meat. If I were to quarantine him every time he had a 'bad' nappy we would never leave the house!!


I have looked at the Bristol Stool Chart and I would say he ranges from a 3 to a 6 most of the time, but never a 7! Is 7 more like scotch broth, lentil soup? He had that once when he had a temperature and other symptoms so yes we did stay at home then.


Interested how others would describe diarrhoea as supposed to a 'bad' nappy.

I don't consider sloppy to be be diarrhoea but anything liquid I suppose. If it runs out instead of plops out then its diarrhoea.

It also depends how many. Once/ twice a day like Ella's pouch fine, but every nappy and I would exclude.

I would say a 7
OR a 6 that is particularly offensive (different colour or smell)
OR a couple of 6s in a short time

DD's nursery have a '3 strikes' policy i.e. after the third bad nappy in a session it is deemed to be diarrhoea and parents are called, they don't necessarily call for 1 or 2 if the child seems otherwise well as it could be teething or a food that disagreed.

No idea I'm afraid, but if the poo troll's still around, this will make him/her soooooo happy

That did occur to me- hence mainly sticking to the Bristol stool chart and not delving into any further details!

I agree, my son who is 5, poo can range from sloppy, to solid, it depends on what he's eaten, and if he's had too many sweets. If I kept him off for 48 hours each time he's had a sloppy poo, he will not be in school, and we would have a serious attendance problem. If he keeps running to the toilet more than 2 times, than I keep him off.

Watery. And I'd guess with other symptoms too like a mild temp or signs of tummy pain

Depends if they're ill with it or if they've just had too much fruit. You can tell if it's a bug or just a soft poo. Common sense really.

I would define diarrhoea as two or more type 6 or 7 stool in 24hrs. Some places include type 5, which I think is unreasonable.

That said, if can be difficult to define a stool which has been mushed into a nappy! If I wasn't sure, I would use increased frequency and unexpected change in colour/smell to be indicators of diarrhoeal disease.

One of my University lecturers used to say 'it's only diarrhoea if you can sook it through a straw!'

*sook = suck in Scotland

I don't think DS ever did a solid poo while he was at nursery! He had food allergies which despite being managed through an exclusion diet, did have an impact on his output. He was very rarely ill, so nursery ignored the contents of his nappy (vest, trousers, and socks...) as an indicator of his health and paid more attention to his appetite (normally ravenous) and general behaviour.

A sniff test was never necessary. His brew was instantly recognisable. We were reminicing about him and the baby bath recently

When I had basic medical training to live in a country with limited health facilities, we were told by a qualified doctor that you don't have diarrhoea until you have at least 4 loose stools in 24 hours. I confess loose wasn't clearly described, but that's been my starting point ever since.

It comes out of your bum
Like a bullet from a gun
Diarrhoea

When yiu're driving in your Chevvy
And your pants are getting heavy
Diarrhoea

Poo troll, anyone?

I would define it by the smell tbh.
dc had 'toddlerhea', so loose stools often, but they were 'normal' for dc, def not diarrhoea.
nursery were aware and ok and on the rare occassion dc had a bug I kept them home.

Like others we had very runny nappies here and she went in as normal - then at 11 months she went on a formula strike, we gave her soya (all we had in house over Christmas) and it was like flicking a switch. Suddenly nappies were more solid, she was happier and she slept. I would look for a pattern and see if there is an intollerance lurking somewhere. Often just avoiding the food for six months or so is enough. The nursery were happy when we cut out dairy. She can eat anything now.