Please help, toddler poos getting progressively worse

[Mamap23]

So, my toddler (20 months) has always had loose stools, but recently they are getting very bad. Always getting sent home from nursery because of it, and belly seems to be bloated a lot. She gets mucus in her poos quite frequently, but the one she done today is just all mucus and I’m getting worried!
Have tried doctors suggestions of cutting out dairy and I have done an intolerance test and cut out all the various foods that that suggested and till not change. I have begged the doctors to do any sort of test to get to the bottom of what’s causing her gut issues but they say she’s too young. Have attached the latest photo of her bad poo. Going to try the doctors once more then give up with them if they fob us off again and go private! Any suggestions please would be greatly appreciated.

Has your child had any blood tests? Or stool sample tests?

my child had the same, calprotectin was raised a few times, but not enough for them to concerned. Bloods were ok.
Dietician recommended a probiotic, now their bowel movements are so so much better!

While you're waiting for further tests, you could try baby/toddler probiotics such as:

uk.biogaia.com/products/pharax

(This has the same probiotics as the baby gut health product, but in a higher concentration for toddlers.)

www.optibacprobiotics.com/uk/product/for-babies-children-30-sachets

If you complete the assessment at www.isitcoeliacdisease.org.uk that will give you a readout to take to the GP. Not too young for a blood test for coeliac.

Every time I have asked the doctors for a test they have said no she’s too young and won’t test until she’s 7 🙄 Its just too much now though and I’m going to go in tomorrow and be a lot firmer!
when you tried the probiotics, did it make the poos worse before they got better? We did try the bio Gaia ones for a bit but they made her poos very bad too but maybe we just need to persevere a bit longer?

Toddler diarrhoea?
My son had awful loose bm’s until he was about 2.5, which thankfully stopped so we were able to potty train.

We initially thought some kind of intolerance, but cutting out certain food groups made no difference.
He just stopped one day.
He’s 15 now and still occasionally has what he calls ‘a bad stomach’ but he’s a fairly anxious kid so I attribute that to anxiety.

My 3 year old twins have lots of loose stools. Used to be into double figures daily. Now its 3-5 a day. And often lots of mucus too. Lots of other symptoms too- tummy pain, head aches, reoccurring temperatures and poor weight gain.

They were diagnosed CMPA at 6 months and we have never reintroduced dairy. But this continues. They have had so many tests and seen lots of professionals. Findings were coeliac markers on bloods were raised but the endoscopy was normal. Bloods also show low iron. We had a review with 2 consultants recently and were told to repeat bloods at the end of the year. But there is nothing else that can be done. And we have to live with it.

Our dietician has reccomended having a low fibre diet and to reduce certain fruits (grapes and berries) and to not give squash or other no sugar foods/drinks.

In terms of nursery my GP gave me a letter explaining it wasn't a stomach bug that's causing these symptoms. So nursery no longer send them home for having loose stools and a temperature. I am however now worried about school as they start next year.

I looked to go private but couldn't find a gastro consultant that would assess/treat under 5s.

If your DC is otherwise well and this is the only issue, then it actually isn’t an issue. There’s nothing inherently dangerous about mucus in stool. I suspect there aren’t any useful tests to be done.

This is what I was told too they only investigated further due to having temperatures and weight loss. When they were 12 months old we were told it was toddler diarrhoea which is really common in under 3s.

If it is an allergy to dairy or something, it can be weeks or months before you see sustained improvement in poos.
It takes time for the gut to recover and heal.
I'd ask to be referred to the community paediatric dietician.
Mostly for further support on how to trial without and then do a challenge.
Also, it is a bit of a pita, but can you try excluding dairy for a longer period?
And just see if anything reduces- the poos might take a while but you might see an improvement in the bloating or their general settledness.

go into the Drs knowing what you want to ask for… I’d be asking for:
Calprotectin stool sample
generic stool sample
celiac screening blood tests
ESR / CRP
Complete Blood Count

and a referral to paeds to rule out IBD.

There's no reliable test for intolerances so I would proceeded with caution on that front
Any teeth coming through? My daughter has allergies and her teething poos - especially the molars were indistinguishable from her allergy poos
She did also end up with toddler diarrhoea and a low fibre, high fat diet with no fruit juice, dried fruit and limited fresh fruit helped.