Toddler Diarrhoea

[themadsinger]

Our 31 month old son has now for the last 3 or 4 weeks been having consistently loose poos, often 4 or 5 times a day. There is also normally some slimmy / jelly matter mixed in or coating the poo. We have taken him to the doctors twice now and have been told that it is toddler Diarrhoea. This is apparently caused by the large intestines not being fully matured and therefore not extracting sufficient water from the feaces as it passes through. We have been told it is just a matter of waiting until he grows out of it.

The problem is firstly that it is making his bum very sore to the extent that he has a tantrum when you try to change him because he knows it is going to hurt. Secondly, he had been doing incredibly well with the potty training. Until this started, he hadn't soiled his nappy / pull-up for 5 or 6 weeks. Now we have to change him in the night most nights and he seems to have almost given up on the potty because most times he cannot get to it quick enough.

I feel so sad for him I want to cry. The other day at nursury he went up to one of the girls there, having soiled another pull-up, and said, almost in tears "I done it again".

Anyone have any experience with this and/or can suggest anything we can do to try to help him.

Thanks

My 3 year old DD2 has had this for 14 months now. We have tried cutting out dairy etc... but nothing really seems to work. She's now under the paeds for assessment. Worthwhile having a word with your doctor.

Also, I've been told that some forms of toddler diarrhoea are caused by juice. Sorbitol I think?

We haven't been able to even begin to potty train DD2 yet because of this!

Good luck.

oh my dd has this- we thought it was constipation, as we read that sometimes the blockage of stool causes leaks of loose poo to come out periodically.
Her bum is agony- and she screams "no mammy dont clean me its sore"
she also has no control over it and was constantly soiling knickers.
Wees are great, but was have made the decision to go back to pull ups so that we not constantly changing knickers.

Its really hard isnt it.
I just dont know what the cause is and therefore how to treat it.
She is currently on Lactulose which makes poos softer, but if she has diarrhoea then this will make it worse surely

Anyway has put stop to potty training for poos, but what the hell do we do for her sore bum?

My ds who's 3.5 went to see a pead about his - was told that he wasn't drinking enough. We kept a food and drink diary for 2 weeks and he has a high fibre diet and wasn't drinking enough so the fibre wasn't absorbing water and passing straight through. His is still there but is significantly better than it was.

Good luck - my suggestion is to keep a food and drink diary and if you are still worried take this back to the doctors.

Poor little mite. DD has had it on and off mildly, though not so bad as your little one
Stopping milk completely for a few days has usually helped, don't know if its worth trying. Also acidic fruit like oranges and grapes always made her bum even more sore, so we avoided those.

Sorry can't help more, hope it improves soon.

Ds didn't have it quite as badly as this (onle 1-2 times a day and some days none at all) but the poos were often like you describe and if not very very loose and runny. It lasted from the age of about 2 (or slightly younger) until he was 3 years old.

Have you tried a baby barrier cream for his bottom? . We used sudocrem for ds when he was having this problem and it did help a bit. You do need to apply it every time he has a bowl motion though. Would the nursery be willing to do that.

I'm sure you know all this this but there is some advice on diet here.
www.drhull.com/EncyMaster/D/toddler_diarrhea.html

and also this gives reassurance about the differences in symptoms between this and more serious problems along with some dietry advice pedclerk.bsd.uchicago.edu/toddlerDiarrhea.html

It didn't help much with ds but his problem wasn't quite as bad as this.

My ds had this a lot. We found cutting out fruit juice for a while, especially apple juice, helped. We'd cut down on milk too, though he loves it so didn't stop altogether. HV suggested those pro-biotic drinks. Less wholewheat food and more white bread/rice. Bananas might make things more solid.

My daughter is 2 years and 3 months. She is lactose and soya intolerant and has toddler diarrheaa. She is potty trained for wee but soils herself numerous times a day, so much so that we have had to put her back in pull up nappies. She seems to have no idea when she needs to go, when she is going or even when she has gone. She is desperate to wear pants but I just can't handle the mess 3-8 times per day. Any ideas please?

I have just started to potty train my son and today he soiled the bathroom floor and later the lounge carpet- he just had no control over it coming out and he has been more often than normal today so i had to abandon the potty training today
His stools do seem to be different from one day to the next tho. yesterday he did nothing and today it was loose and full of undigested food which it quite often is, other days he just goes once or twice and its soft but well formed so I think it might be something im feeding him. A lot of people are saying fruit juice can cause it- my son wont drink anything else! Maybe i'll try watering it down a lot more and see if that helps.