Hi,
I have a 17-month-old son who has always been a prolific pooper, at least 3-5 times/day. While he was nursing, I found that if I ate dairy his reflux (in the form of congestion) was worse. As he started eating solids and I introduced cheese, I noticed some correlation between his having trouble sleeping and eating cheese. I decided to try to eliminate dairy and when I did his bowel movements went down to an average of 2-3 times per day. However, his bowel movements are still not formed at all. They are still very loose and he frequently has leakage up the top or out the sides. There is also a lot of undigested food (mostly veggies and raisins). I'm thinking my daughter's were formed by this age and am wondering if he's got some GI problems or if I should be more careful about keeping him away from dairy (he loves it, of course, so I sometimes give him a bit of ice cream or cheese if we are eating it). I am also wondering if this is a typical symptom of dairy sensitivity or should I ask to have him tested for other allergies or GI problems. It does not seem to bother him at all. He sleeps and eats extremely well and never seems to be in any discomfort. Thanks!
Hi, H.:
Take the baby to ped and get him checked out.
Raw goat's milk is better for baby's. Do you have a goat dairy near you?
Good luck. D.
My son is very similar. He only poops 1-2x/day, on average, but he's 2 1/2 yrs old & I can litterally count on one hand the # of times he's had a solid, formed b.m.. They're always so squishy & smelly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man!
I've mentioned it to his doctor before but she doesn't seem concerned (I'm bringing it up again @ the next visit though) & he's been tested for every allergy out there (except maybe gluten-intollerance, b/c the tests for that are pretty unreliable (unless they biopsy the bowel. No thank you!)).
Have you tried eliminating gluten? You could give that a try.
Either way, you're not alone! Hope you both find some relief!
Raw goat's milk is better. I raised two of my kids on that. As far as allergy testing I believe they will not do that as he is too young. They told me that I have to wait till my son is 6 so I have 4 more years to go. He has different problems with diarrhea and so on and think dairy is the problem but don't have that confirmed. If you can try goat's milk I would. If not available try looking at walmart. Some carry it and it is with the soy milk in a purple container. Is spendy but worth it.
My son had similar issues until he turned 3. His dairy sensitivity was pretty obvious and I began to eliminate from my diet (b/c I was nursing)at 2 months. I tried to be very diligent about avoiding dairy b/c I'd read that it would help them to grow out of it sooner, but he still had completely unformed poops until he was potty trained. I could tell immediately when he had gotten dairy though by his poop (this is disgusting, I know, but it had a distinct smell and seemed like grains of sand were mixed in). He'd then get a terrible diaper rash and we'd battle that. With him it was pretty easy to not include dairy in his diet b/c he had never been introduced to it. He drank soy and rice milk, ate soy yogurt (blech!) and got his calcium through broccoli and other veggies, etc. Since he was my first child I didn't think much about the unformed poop until his daycare teacher asked me about it one day. His doctor said not to worry about it. Miraculously when he turned three we took him for allergy skin testing (earlier blood test showed mild sensitivity to dairy)and the skin test showed no reaction. The allergy doc had us introduce lactaid and he did fine. We than introduced regular milk and he did fine with that too. It was bizarre how it all of a sudden just went away right about the time he was potty trained. So, hopefully you will see things improve soon. My son didn't seem to be in any pain either and never complained about his stomach, etc. Good luck!
