Continually dirty bottom

[Mumsnut]

My dd is just 3; in the last two months, she has started to have her poos little and often: she will produce some, then 20 mins later some more, etc, etc. Her anus seems to ooze in between, to the extent that we dare not leave her bare-bottomed, and she will always leave smears in the bath .

She is definitely not constipated though: it isn't a matter of her having a hard lump with runny stuff oozing round it..

Has anyone come across this? I wondered initially if it was a by-product of her still being in nappies and pooing sitting down - I thought perhaps she wasn't 'clearing' her poo properly. Now I wonder if there is an allergy issue, or perhaps a physical problem.

Anyone have a similar dc?

are you 100% on the not-constipated thing? give her some sweetcorn and see how long it takes to come through - then you'll know for sure

Heh heh heh. I'm pretty sure, but will try anyway!

Does she eat well? Does she drink too much fruit juice?

Her diet is mainly healthy: she has one juice portion a day, plenty of fruit and veg (which I may cut down on) but generally gets a couple of sweeties a day as part of potty training.

She has never been a big eater of carbohydrate, and dislikes milk products except for Thomas the Tank Engine yoghurts.

I am NO expert but I wonder if your dd would need some more carbohydrates then? My DS gobbles up oatcakes, Krisprolls, digestive biscuits and generally most forms of biscuit or cracker!
Maybe you can try to find some more dry food that she would eat, and see if that makes a difference?

Fruit juice????? Why does that cause problems?? My dd has no problems with wees and is dry through the night. Started potty training in January and my dd will be 3 in July. Starting to get concerned as she does 'sticky' little smears of poo in her knickers and I sit her on the potty/toilet and nothing. Then, 20 mins later she does another 'sticky' smear in her knickers!!!! It can sometimes be 2/3 days between proper poos! Any help/ideas will be much appreciated.

Scrummy, that sounds familiar! DD has got much worse this last week; I am going to try the GP.

She no longer does anything like a proper poo, just these continual smears. I think perhpas there must be an impacted poo blockage that's go bigger as time goes on.

Hope all went well with the GP - how did you get on?
I tried the health visitor and she had a lot of suggestions - most of which I am already doing. She did suggest actively avoiding lots of milk and increasing fibre dramatically in her diet. Also blowing bubbles or something equally fun whilst on the potty. Not tried the bubble thing yet. We had a couple of days where all was well but have reverted back to 'sticky smears' and lots of washing as a result!

My DS (3) Does 2-3 tiny bits of poo a day with one or two more normal size poos a day as well. He seems to know when the big ones are coming and gets to the potty but the little bits just stay in his crack (sorry) till I discover them. Can't explain it but I'm glad to hear his bowels are not unique!!

We have had a Eureka moment, and think it is milk that is causing dd's smeary bottom. She was breast-fed for two years, and although she likes cheese, has never agreed to drink milk.

The smearing only began when she started eating youghurt a few months ago, and was dramatically worse at Easter when she had ice cream every day on holiday.

So we have cut out milk and I think there is an improvement in the smeariness, and also in her chronically runny nose.

Watch this space!

Interesting. My DS has been having mega breakfasts - cereal, two yogs, toast etc. And the smeary poos have been plentyful. Will try and reduce his dairy and see if that helps. Thanks.

Can I butt in on this one (sorry for awful pun!) Will be watchign this thread with interest as DS2 has been having exactly this problem for as long as I can remember. He's nearly 3, still in nappies because I can't face potty training. He poos continually, quite soft smears but ALL the time. As soon as I change his nappy, 20 seconds later he'll do another smear which will absolutely stinks, so I have to change him again. I am so sick of having to clean him up. He does absolutely love his milk, so I might try cutting it out and seeing if that makes a difference. I'm also wondering if it's something to do with him being incredibly highly strung? I just don't dare start potty training, but I know I'm going to have to face it soon

My DS is quite highly strung and has found the potty training stressful and tiring. Yesterday he went the whole day without pooing. There was a tiny peanut sized bit in his pants just before bath time but thats it. And this is a boy who poos for england. So I was concerned that he'd held it in all day. Today he has pooed in his pants all day. He hates us discovering it and gets very upset that he has to change his pants. He seems to be holding every thing for ages. Don't know if this is a natural progression or if he's developing issues with going to the toilet. Not much to be done about it I is there?

Bumbums, that's interesting that your DS is also highly strung - maybe we're onto something here! Not much help though. There really isn't anything we can do, is there? Yesterday was our worst day for a while - I had to change DS's nappy 9 times, and the rest of the time he basically reeked of poo . I know he's incredibly sensitive about it, because whenever I ask him if he's done a poo, he goes red and says no. Oh dear, maybe we need a support thread...!

Better day today. Two poos in potty and no sticky smears. A couple of wet pant moments. Can't believe I'm writing about this on a friday night. Surely I should have better things to be doing!!