TMI alert. Baby poop.

[twinkletits99]

My son is 17 months old. Every 2/3 weeks he is up at night squirming around and waking up every hour or so upset. The next day he won't eat and will be utterly miserable. He will eventually poo and it's the most disgusting thing I've ever smelt or seen. It's always a mixture of what looks like diarrhea and pebbly type poos mixed (sorry). Afterwards he will be ravenous and cheers up. I've tried writing down his foods and trying to find a correlation but I can't. Does this sound normal? Or am I missing something?

Sorry. Didn't mean to post in AIBU. Will report.

It soubds as though he gets a bit blocked up and then struggles to clear it.

What's positive is that he is clearing it. My GDhas a bowel issue and the best thing to do is to let it happen naturally.

You could give him sweetcorn after tgis, has happened, then stop until another episode and see if there's any in it.

DS did this from 6mths-15mths. We had to use Movicol and he just eventually grew out of it.
Movicol works but it does tend to take a very very long time to gradually reduce and wean them off.
Have you tried prunes/pear/peach? Or a little fresh oj diluted in warm water?
Obviously speak to a health professional first to rule other things out, but constipation is very common in babies and toddlers.

I don't think it's constipation as he always goes once or twice a day and he still had 2 normal poos yesterday. It's hard to know when it's going to happen as it's always a night that it starts to bother him. He literally screams in pain and writhes around. I can't get him to eat or drink anything until he's been to the toilet. It's almost like he's unwell and goes all clammy until he finally goes. Very odd.

So most likely the hard poo is backing up in his system and because it’s dry, it’s taking a long time to come out. What happens sometimes is that newer liquidy poop can leak round the hard poop blockage further up the system. He’s most likely constipated- don’t let the presence of liquid stool fool you! Chances are he’s very very backed up.
What’s his liquid intake like? Is he getting the very maximum daily intake? It’s surprising what a difference this can make. What food does he eat?

He drinks a lot. I always have two beakers of drink full and he helps himself. He drank a lot over the past couple of days. He is also still breastfed and because I am home with him a lot recently he feeds more than usual at the moment. It's just the smell... It's not human 😅

It’s good that he’s drinking enough! Any bleeding? I think I’d make a doctors appointment for him just in case.

Definitely sounds like constipation. Could be too much fibre with not enough fluids ? Or certain foods like potato/ chips can sometimes block them up. If it's constipation, then as another poster said liquid poo will leak around so it might not be caused by what he ate 12-24 hours
, before but by something earlier on the week.

I found when I was breastfeeding my toddler he didn't drink enough water.

Well, you learn something new every day. Won't be taking him to the docs as don't feel it's serious or necessary. I probably would if it was constant or every other day. Just curious if anyone else has experienced this. He did eat two packets of pom bears yesterday which he never usually has (yes, desperate mum trying to work and look after toddler at the same time) - maybe that was it!

Take him to the doctors and get something to help clear the blockage and soften his poo. Otherwise you run the risk of him becoming frightened of going because it hurts and withholding which exacerbates the problem.

Ex nurse here who used to work in HVing. Sounds like constipation. Google impaction and overflow.

Don’t ignore this. He needs treatment. If you ignore chronic constipation is can lead to all sorts of long term problems.

Increase fluids (breast milk and water), fruit, puréed prunes/pears/plums and speak to the Drs about some movicol and luctulose.

Good luck

Well, you learn something new every day. Won't be taking him to the docs as don't feel it's serious or necessary
You really should be taking him. With the greatest respect, I assume you’re not medically trained ? As a PP said, it can lead to hesitancy which can make the problem worsen or continue long term. Hard stools can cause anal fissures which hurt like an absolute bitch and will cause bleeding.
Hope he feels better soon

My DD would poo 10 times a day and was the most vile smelling poo ever! After 18months of telling my GP going 10 times a day wasn’t normal we got referred to the hospital. Turns out she has poo stuck the side of her bowels meaning her bowels can’t produce mucus and therefore can’t shift it or sometimes produce too much mucus and anything she eats just goes straight through her digestive system. Would explain why she’s so small with very little hair and nails etc.

She now takes a large dose of laxatives every day which means she now only poos once/twice a day. Unfortunately because my GP didn’t believe me the time delay to treatment caused some damage to her bowels and it will likely be several years of treatment before she is fully better (were nearing two years of treatment this summer).

From what you’ve described he sounds constipated. I’d go along to your GP and get them to feel his bowels. In the meantime fresh orange juice, lots of water and fresh fruit should help him to get it out.

X

Going to ask family member tomorrow who is a GP. Thanks everyone. Didn't think it sounded GP worthy. What a fool I am.

Not a fool at all- if you’ve never seen the issue before, it can be hard to know whether something is GP worthy or not. Hopefully it can be sorted out ASAP and your poor son will feel better (and you won’t have to deal with the smell!)