# why does my toddler poop so much?



## sweetieberlin

ds is 15 months, and he poops ALL the time!!

its not diarhea, but its sometimes up to 9-10 poops a day! could he be eating too much?

normal day food looks like-

breakfast- cereal and apple/banana sauce, or apple/seabuckthorn sauce

snack-jogurt or piece of fruit

lunch- half of avacado, veg. nuggets (with rice, veggies) jogurt or fruit

snack-cheese and fruit

dinner- noodles with meat sauce, or bean with pasta and meat soup and more applesauce (he loves it!!)

plus he nurses all day and night long!!

any reason he could be pooping so much? Is it normal?

Im getting tired of all the poop!

thanks


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## Mrsboyko

Are they big poops or just like turdlets? Hard pellets or mush? It sounds like he is getting a lot of fiber (apples and fruits). Is he dairy free (sounds like it)? Does he eat a lot of soy stuff? My DD was pooping a ton until like 7 months when we went totally dairy free. Now she is at a more normal 2-3x, though still a lot IMO.


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## hubris

DS2 has gone through phases where he pooped really often. Not 9-10 times a day, but still a lot of poopy diapers.

Your son is eating a lot of fruit, maybe it's the fiber? Not a bad thing, though.

Breastmilk has a laxative effect, that could also be one cause of the frequent pooping.

Sounds like a pain for you, but not unhealthy. Hope he consolidates those poops soon!


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## lexmas

Sounds like a food allergy issue to me. Maybe try cutting out dairy and see what happens (from your diet as well, since he can get it through breastmilk). When DS has dairy exposure he goes days without pooping, but it can have the opposite effect as well. Wheat could be another one, really food allergies could be anything but dairy and wheat are big ones. Good luck!


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## brightonwoman

Two thoughts:
one--it's healthy to have a bowel movement for each meal...so if a toddler is having 6-7 little meals a day, I would think it would be normal to have that many poops, kwim? (the 'once a day' is actually considered a form of constipation from what I've heard)
two--my boys (both of them) seem to just always poop a little at a time...this was murder when ds1 was toilet learning, because he was in the habit of just pooping a tiny bit at a time, so he'd poop this little almond-sized blob like 8 times a day, and the same thing happened on the toilet--tiny poops, but so many times a day that it was hard to catch them all.... I'm now seeing my baby doing something similar, namely that he'll have lots of little poos in the day, rather than just a couple of bigger ones.
I think it's a phase...ds1 learned to 'consolidate' his bowel movements and doesn't have to go 10 times a day anymore. Sometimes the baby has just a couple bigger poops and sometimes he has a bunch of tiny ones...I don't know how much is diet and how much is just being in a phase...

Oh, one thing...would you classify your baby as 'spirited'? One common trait of spirited children is irregular physical patterns, meaning sleeping, eating, excreting, etc are all irregular. It's a hard thing to adjust to, but it' snot unhealthy, it's just how they are.


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## Natosha

Wow that is alot. My son is 12 months and has 1-3 poops a day.


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## lexmas

Quote:


Originally Posted by *brightonwoman* 
two--my boys (both of them) seem to just always poop a little at a time...this was murder when ds1 was toilet learning, because he was in the habit of just pooping a tiny bit at a time, so he'd poop this little almond-sized blob like 8 times a day, and the same thing happened on the toilet--tiny poops, but so many times a day that it was hard to catch them all.... I'm now seeing my baby doing something similar, namely that he'll have lots of little poos in the day, rather than just a couple of bigger ones.
I think it's a phase...ds1 learned to 'consolidate' his bowel movements and doesn't have to go 10 times a day anymore. Sometimes the baby has just a couple bigger poops and sometimes he has a bunch of tiny ones...I don't know how much is diet and how much is just being in a phase...

I suppose this could be it as well, we EC so DS has no problem, "getting it all out" at once...he really empties out.







But if your DS is pooping lots of little poops (I think this might be common for diapered babies? I really just don't know, but I've heard it.) then it might not be a problem. If the consistency is fine and he's just pooping a little bit at a time, then you might not have anything to worry about. Now, if it's runny (especially with all that food) and lots each time, then I'd try eliminating foods. Hopefully you'll figure it out!


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## purple_kangaroo

I think that 9-10 BMs per day would technically be considered diarrhea if we're not talking little pellets. Where do they fall on the Bristol Stool Scale? If he is having that many BMs and they are in the 5-7 range, it would be considered diarrhea even if the stools aren't completely liquid.

I used to think that it wasn't really a problem BM unless it was actually watery. But after dealing with my DD's GI issues I've learned to look at (and chart) texture, content (i.e. chunks of undigested food, mucous, traces of blood, etc.), smell and frequency as well as just whether it was liquidy or not.

The standard definition of diarrhea is based on both texture and frequency:

Quote:

Diarrhea is defined as stool weight in excess of 200 grams per day. However, this definition is of little clinical value, since collecting and weighing stools is neither practical nor required except in a clinical research setting. A good working definition is three or more loose or watery stools per day or a definite decrease in consistency and increase in frequency based upon an individual baseline.
(200 grams is for an adult, I assume. I'm sure it would be less for a baby.)

I was reading a while ago that studies show many cases of "toddler's diarrhea" (chronic diarrhea in toddlers with no other symptoms) are caused by too much fruit and fruit juice.

Something you may want to look into is a sugar intolerance--lactose intolerance or fructose malabsorption (a.k.a. dietary fructose intolerance, not to be confused with hereditary fructose intolerance) would be the most likely possibilities, but there are other types of sugar intolerances or malabsorption as well. Of course there are other issues such as gluten intolerance that could be possibilities, but my guess would be it's just a matter of either lactose intolerance or too much fruit.

Apples and pears are the worst for fructose malabsorption, but other foods (even some vegetables and grains) can also be a problem, depending on the level of intolerance. Sometimes we crave the foods we don't tolerate well, and it sounds like he eats a LOT of apples. So that might be something to keep an eye on.

My DD's GI specialist said that anything that contains sugar can cause more frequent and softer BMs because sugar draws water into the intestines.

Baby E does much better if we give her more proteins, avoid too much sugar of any kind, and keep the amounts of fruit very small unless they are barely-ripe bananas or citrus fruits. We're pretty sure she has a sugar intolerance of some sort. 6 grams of sugar is enough to give her a bellyache and sweet-smelling softer stools, and her reducing substances stool test was positive (she had sugar in her stools). 2-3 blackberries will give her a stage 6 BM that smells like blackberries within 30 minutes, and larger amounts of more sugary fruits can give her severe watery diarrhea.

Does your DS like eggs? Adding eggs or meat to more of his meals and cutting back on the fruit and/or dairy products might help.


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## twopinknoblue

My DD (18 mos) was pooping nearly as frequently as your DS until we got her food allergy and intolerance issues worked through. Now she's down to a more normal 3-4 per day.

I would look into an elimination diet for DS and see what happens from there.


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## Mamato2and2

Quote:


Originally Posted by *brightonwoman* 
Two thoughts:
it's healthy to have a bowel movement for each meal...so if a toddler is having 6-7 little meals a day, I would think it would be normal to have that many poops

DH calls ds a duck b/c he eats and poops all day long! I'm not worried about it...it's a pain to wash that many poopy diapers but I can think of things that are worse.


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## sacredmama

Its all that fruit! Fiber is what makes us poop.


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## sweetieberlin

thank you all so much for the replies...

after getting your ideas, I came up with some thoughts...

he does eat fruit all say long, so Ill cut down a bit,

I checked the scale, it's def. not diarhea, I would say usually a 3 or 4

maybe once or twice its normal poop, the rest is maybe a large grape size.. and I always change him right away we were ec'ing before vacation and illness, but haven't got back into so much,

I think Ill cut back on the fruit, and see where that gets us, then if there's still problems, will try elimination...

I really hadnt given the fruit a thought so thank you!!

but no on the eggs.. he wont eat them at all..

and yes to VERY spirited...


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## lexmas

Has he always pooped like this? If you were ECing, and he used to poop less, he might just be pooping in tiny amounts because he doesn't want to poop on himself, so he poops a little and then stops because he realizes he's in a diaper, and then poops more later. That seems to be common for EC babies, heck, DS will pee a tiny bit and then realize, "Oh no, I'm getting wet!" and then hold it for as looong as he can before letting a tiny bit more out if we don't offer the potty. I'm sure he would do the same for poops, but he doesn't do those in diapers anymore. Hope you fix it soon!


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## sweetieberlin

This has just been since we got back from vacation.. it could be an ec thing, er were Ecing before vacation, but while on vacation (5 weeks) he didnt use the potty.. just a few times.. he also was sick and first time on antibiotics









I cut out the fruit yesterday, and so far he has only pooped 2 times, and its already 3pm.. he also went on the potty..

so could be either or, maybe both.. but hopefully its over..

thanks!!


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## eleanorm

I had something similar with my DS for about a year - also a big fruit eater (and still is). It only changed to once/twice a day when he started to use the toilet/potty. Since then he has had no problem 'controlling' himself without a diaper on.


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## ann_of_loxley

Well I dont know...but I just wanted to say my son used to poo alot as well! lmao
All my friends would comment on how much he pooed - because it was alot...it could anywhere from 5-10 times a day when their children of similar ages were less than that.

I never thought to be concerned about though. My son also ate more than their children. Plenty of fruit and veg and mostly dairy free (some cheese every now and then but thats all) etc... He has always had a very healthy diet and has always has eaten very well (he eats more than me!)...it all has to come out some place! lol

But it did change. I dont know when really...so I will say around 20 months of age he started to poo less (he now poos once or twice a day) and they looked more 'adult' like lol (whilst before they were 'shaped' but kinda soft)...(also we did ec and he graduated before then so that didnt make much difference for us! lol)


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