TMI - Really Loose Toddler Poops

[Puddy73]

DS is two and he rarely has solid BMs. He's been sent home from daycare three times in the past month because of this, although he doesn't seem sick or uncomfortable at all. State regulations require daycares to send home kids who have more than 3 loose stools in a day and they can't return for at least 24 hours, which means two days of missed work for me each time. My job is flexible, but they do expect me to show up once in a while!

I've tried cutting back on fiber in his diet and I offer him lots of white rice, bananas and cheese, but it isn't helping. I have an appointment with his ped for later in the week, but I'm looking for any BTDT advice. Thanks!

[o_mom]

Mine have rarely had "solid" poop before 2.5-3 years. Heck, for all I know DS1 still doesn't because he didn't when he potty trained. Constipation has never been in our vocabulary.

It sounds like the daycare may not understand what to look for to spot diarrhea. I would ask his ped if they can write a note to say that those are normal stools so they won't exclude him. I talked to the ped about it with DS1 and really they said that it's not harmful and perfectly normal. They did suggest cutting out juice, but since we don't give juice to begin with I can't tell you if that would work.

[daniele_ut]

DS has had the same problem on and off for 18 months or so. His daycare sent him home several times in the beginning as well until they learned what his normal bowel movements were like. His ped hasn't been concerned about it, but did mention to cut back on juice. This actually helped quite a bit. I tend to offer him water or really diluted, but dh is really lazy about giving him juice and I didn't realize how much undiluted juice he was actually giving ds.

[MommyAllison]

DD has always been the same. We recently introduced sunflower seed butter (still haven't introduced most nuts) and it has really firmed things up (though not in a constipating way at all). So if you haven't already, maybe try that? We didn't introduce it for that reason at all, but it has been a side effect!

[Puddy73]

Thanks, everyone! I will try your tips. I had to submit stool samples to rule out worms (eeew!) or a bacterial infection, but I really think that it is just normal for him to be a little "loose." Now I just have to convince his teacher . . .