Normal? (poop question!)

[bluejaunte]

(xposted in toddlers)

My 2.5 yo usually poops 1-3x daily (usually twice, morning/afternoon). Four things have changed in the past week and now he's pooping 6-8x/day OR MORE.

-- He's started on probiotics.
-- He's no longer eating gluten.
-- He's toilet learning hardcore.
-- He's getting lots more fiber, as he's actually drinking fruit/spinach smoothies now FINALLY.

I'm thinking a combination of the four -- the gluten's clearing out (and man, he had some wacky diarrhea for the first 48 hours or so off of gluten!), the probiotics and fiber are helping his guts get going, and the toilet learning is making him try to poop (and often succeed) every time he's on the toilet.

Also he's eating A TON lately. Probably has something to do with that too.

The poops are very normal looking -- formed, mild-smelling, etc. Some of the best looking poop I've seen come out of him really. I'm just sort of weirded out by the VOLUME of it. I've read somewhere on MDC that upwards of 3x/day in a toddler is abnormal and bad for some reason. But if they look normal, is it okay?

And is it likely to slow down after he gets used to the probiotics/fiber/GF? I ask because it's making toilet learning muuuch trickier than when there were a reliable 2 poops a day on a pretty even schedule.

[writteninkursive]

Some people don't handle probiotics well. They were a total lifesaver for my chronically constipated daughter, but when we gave them to my older daughter, it was just constant pooping, sometimes diarrhea. She is clearly better off without them. If the pooping so much doesn't stop in like a week or so, I'd lay off the probiotics for awhile. Maybe give him one every other day instead of every day?

[Marnica]

Funny my 2 yr old had the opposite.

was pooping 6 times/day , and it not not well formed....until we went off gluten and some other allergic foods. Now it's twice a day and its far more "normal" looking.

He's always taken probiotics and never had an issue.

Maybe the strain in the brand he is on is not the right one for him...or he's on too much?? I would doubt going gluten free would make a child poop MORe. Usually its the other way around isn't it??

[bluejaunte]

Weirdly, they do seem to be working for him. His poop is much less acidic and nasty smelling, more formed, etc. Plus he's digesting stuff better -- corn and watermelon used to come out looking just like they went in, but not so much now. My only complaint is the volume of poop, although that seems to have slowed down a little today. Hmm. I'm going to lower his probiotic dose and see if I can hit a middle ground. Thanks!

[JaneS]

Raw spinach doesn't have nutrients available, it's better cooked and must be given with saturated fat, preferably butter with the vitamin A that's needed in order to absorb the nutrients. Raw spinach is also a goitrogen.

And fiber is not necessarily a good thing for delicate guts, as humans we don't have the cellulase enzymes at all like say cows which eat tons of grass do.

I would just wait and see. The smell and digestion improvement are definately what you want so that doesn't sound concerning. My DS had a big clean out too when we finally got him on the right probiotics, but 6-8/day is really a lot. I haven't seen that and that meets the medical definition of diarrhea.

What probiotics are you using?

[bluejaunte]

The poops are all well-formed and solid though. More so than they were before the probiotics. That's still diarrhea?

Yesterday I think he pooped a bit less. Maybe 4 times. (He's also eating like a little piggy lately, so that may be part of it.) I think I'm just giving him too much probiotic, combined with he's clearly cleaning out after coming off of gluten (which I hear is pretty common). I'm dropping his dose down a bit and will keep an eye on it.

Interestingly, three people remarked independently yesterday that he's gained noticeable weight the past week. Guess I'm doing something right.