What is normal toddler poo?

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

DS who is nearly 2yrs has always had quite loose, runny poo, rarely constipated. Is this because he is being breastfed? I thought that by now his poo would be more formed, like an adults? I'm just thinking how messy potty-training is going to be when we get around to it with the runnyness of his poo. Is this normal?

Is the poo a normal colour? If it's whitish then you might want to get him checked out for gluten intolerance.

Yes it's a normal colour. Varying shades of brown depending on what he has eaten and he has one poo a day usually.

Does he drink much juice/eat lots of fruit? Toddler diarrhoea is common as they often have a preference for those things. Although if he is only going once a day, that doesn't sound too bad!

He rarely gets juice to drink, water and milk and soemtimes a weak cuppa tea. These are his staples and he doesn't eat much fruit TBH, maybe once or twice a day if I can get him to, usually less often. So would you say this is diarrheoa then? Is it ususal to have it all the time?

Well good that he's clearly not overloading his system on fruit, at least you don't have to worry about changing that!
I wouldn't necessarily call it diarrhoea if he only goes for a poo once a day... obviously with that you tend to go quite often too.

Is he otherwise healthy? Any tummy aches or very faddy eating? It could just be that he naturally passes runnier poo/has a fast system, and they'll get firmer as he gets older. It might be that he has a little too much fibre for him personally (weetabix, brown bread?)

Or perhaps a probiotic, maybe he needs some extra healthy bacteria in there? Could you maybe try cutting out dairy for just a couple of days and see it makes any difference. Probably not lactose intolerance but you never know. x

DS2 is 2 and his poo has always been on the loose side. Not runny but definately more like what you's associate with younger babies. He's never had a solid poo in his life.

He is quite a faddy eater and I would say his diet is quite heavy on the carbs so would have expected firmer poo's

I can't believe I've just come on here to post a very similar thread...my 2 and a half yo DS has had poo that can only be described as having the consistency of baby food from jars and it smells very 'ripe' (barf)!! This is going on for about a month now. He has a poo once a day and is still in nappies (thank God!).

I spoke to GP about this and he said not to worry too much about it especially as he was a bit poorly a few weeks ago with high temp and even looser nappies so might have been left with a bit of irritability. He very fond of fruit and probably eats a bit too much of the stuff but it's better than other sugary snacks i suppose.

Anyway, I was going to ask a worm-related question, (will explore every avenue before believing the simplest explaination!!) can you actually see threadworms in poo if you look closely enough..(microscope at the ready..), he has no signs of itching at night but I just wanted to make sure that this soft poo isn't caused by worms.

He's in good form and eating well so he's not sickly or lost appetite.

Sorry about the hijack but as we're sharing a theme I thought it might help...

Yes you can see thread worms in poo and you wouldn't need a microscope either as they are about a cm long and white. I shouldn't think they would cause runny poo but they would cause an itchy bottom. You can look for them in the evening, around the anus, when they are most active as they come out and lay their eggs at this time.

Hmmmm...not worms then.....any change with you?