My son's poo isn't normal please help.

[Mumma2Ro]

Hi mummas!
so my 11.5 month old has always had watery/soft poos. he does 5 or 6 a day, regularly explosive & they are always yellow/green never brown. he has never done a fully formed poo. I've mentioned it to the HV a couple of times since 6 months old and have been told it's because he's being weaned as well as teething (9 teeth in 6 months). Yesterday we went to get weighed and he hasn't gained weight since April. the HV suggested maybe a dairy intolerance & referred us to the GP. GP didn't want to prescribe us special milk, instead suggested a dairy free diet and replacing formula with a milk substitute. After some research today I bought Oatly Barissa milk. My mum thinks it's teething and a result of eating a lot of fruit. My friend thinks it's cos he drinks too much water (2 cups a day).... I just don't know! I have tried to include a picture of his poo from this morning but can't figure out how to......
Any suggestions tips or advice? Thanks in advance.

Do you give your son the ready made formula bottles at all?

My daughter who is 11.5 months was doing this for ages, so I asked my HV. She asked if we gave her the ready made formula often, which we did as we were always out and about and found them much more convenient. Basically the ready made formula makes their poo's more watery. The HV said they often suggest that mums with constipated babies, give them formula in the form of the ready made stuff. So we cut those down and her poo consistency changed almost immediately.

Obviously this may not be relevant to you if you haven't used the ready made stuff. Other than that, and the usual teething, colds etc, I can't think why this would be happening.

thanks for you reply. No we don't use the ready made bottles we use hipp organic powder x

My baby has CMPA (cows milk protein allergy). Sounds like that is what your baby has too.

I'd recommend you join the CMPA support group on Facebook and ask there for advice. If you search CMPA support you'll see it come up, it's the main group you want (there are sub groups for specific topics).

This website is also very useful: cowsmilkproteinallergysupport.webs.com/symptoms

Also I should add that in general, dairy free formula is only prescribed until age 1, so I can understand why your GP won't start it now. At age 1 we will switch from Neocate formula to Oatly Barista, you can just start on the Oatly now.

We order it from Amazon (we have an auto delivery thing set up for 2 packs a month).

We have seen a dietician and a paediatric dr and they said to keep baby totally diary free for 6 months to give the gut a chance to recover, and then we are to do the milk ladder which is a gradual re-introduction.

If I were you I'd switch to Oatly barista, cut out ALL other dairy and I'd go back to the GP and ask for a referral to a dietician. It can take months to see a dietician so in the mean time come over to the FB support group (tbh the mummies on there are more helpful than most dieticians!!) xx

Oh also these are the alternatives we use:

Vitalite instead of butter
Koko dairy free yogurt instead of normal yogurt
Oatly barista instead of milk
Violife block instead of cheddar

We've also tried the Tesco dairy free soft cheese and their fake Parmesan.

We use Tesco own brand biscuits (their Jaffa cakes, rich tea and bourbons are all DF)

You'll find heaps more tips on the FB group

that's amazing thanks so much! can I ask what symptoms your baby had?? I will check out that Facebook page now x

ANother vote for cows milk allergy. My DS has this - we didn’t get an official diagnosis until he was about 3.6 and it made potty training impossible. Take him to a GP (and if needs be make a fuss - I had to go four times before we were referred to a dietician).

Is he bloated with it? And windy? These are other telltale signs of CMA.

he does fart a lot but not sure it's excessive. and he does have a little pot belly but again nothing that I think isn't normal

There’s some info here on CMPA. Sounds like you’re about to join us avid label checkers

Definitely sounds like CAMPI. My daughter went dairy free at 11 1/2 months. Remember to give multivitamin now he is not having formula.

Try dairy free for a couple of weeks and it if improves ask for a referral to a dietian.

Just as a different view. (Not that I’m suggesting CMPA is wrong - I know nothing about it). But my daughter had runny poo with painful stomach from weaning up until around age 2 when we cut gluten from her diet and that has made a huge difference.

I’d give the GP a go. If you get referred to the dietician, the first thing they will do is test for a gluten allergy/intolerance as this can cause irreparable damage to his digestive system. They will normally ask you to keep a food/poo diary so I’d start doing this from the beginning. You mentioned fruit in your OP, so there’s a chance certain types of fructose could be irritating him rather than dairy but if you keep a diary and then cut out anything that seems to aggravate the problem you’ll be streets ahead before you see the dietician. Also think about how much calcium he is getting if you cut out dairy. Certain cereals and milk alternatives are fortified with calcium but you might also want to give a calcium supplement (check the label though - ironically most kids calcium supplements contain milk!!). Also you can get kids probiotics which might help settle him.