Is this normal? Or should I be concerned?

[nwatt]

I wanted to see if anyone else had experienced this...

Background: We started baby-led weaning when DD was 6 months, and she is now 8 months. She LOVES to eat. So far we have stuck to fruits, veggies, and small amounts of meat. She has a history of dairy and soy intolerance, but we have been been dairy and soy free for months. She is also on a probiotic, but I think that it is not agreeing with her, so I am switching her today.

The question: When DD poops, I can usually identify pretty much every bite that she has eaten. Every once in awhile she will have a poop that looks like a "real" one that can roll off her diaper, but usually it is very loose has bits of food floating in it. (Sorry, I know this is gross.) Has anyone experienced this before? Should I be worried that she isn't digesting this food yet? I am going to ask at her well-check next month, but I was wondering if this is something that I should bring up before then?

Thank you so much!!

[akind1]

What sort of food is it? some things just don't really get digested, even in adults, like corn, and the skins on beans, etc. if you saw a whole bean I might wonder if she was chewing well, but corn comes through pretty much intact, iykwim.

[Tummy]

OT, but I have always wondered how the heck peanuts and corn re-construct themselves inside your belly before being 'let out'.

As far as the OP question, are you seeing intact pieces of food, of what seems to be digested reminiscence of food? How are you feeding it to her... mashed until nearly liquid/puree or chunky?

[nwatt]

She definitely is not chewing well. It is pretty much all veggies that I will see... carrots, sweet potato, zucchini, green beans, pieces of broccoli. Things that are softer, like pears, bananas, and steamed apples, I usually don't see. I also usually don't see the meat that she eats. They do look to be the size of bites that she takes that she must not really be chewing.

[nwatt]

Tummy - We give her larger pieces of soft steamed or roasted veggies that she picks up and feeds herself... basically finger foods.

[Abraisme]

It's totally normal. My DD's poo goes from being sort of solid, to being full of undigested bits. My best friend's son didn't fully start digesting his food until around 18mo. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[tzs]

dont know if it's normal but we have the same thing. especially with chunks of "harder" foods. i know i saw mango pieces yesterday and tomatoes today.

[Jayray]

We have the same issue here. DS was having some weight gain issues, so his ped recommended I try to give him more easily digestible foods--so I try for more squashy things now. But of course I think I'm still going to see skins of things, but before I was seeing whole lentils and such.

(I had also started giving him grated raw carrot and apple (which he liked!) and saw those whole in the poo--no nutritional value there other than fiber!!)