I've been trying to sort this out for a while, so I'm going to toss it out there and see if any of you have some new thoughts.

Callum has been having very soft, messy bowel movements for quite some time now. It is not diarrhea, just really yucky. For those of you who use cloth, it's the kind of yucky you *cannot* clean off a diaper. (This is part of the reason I don't have him in cloth right now.) I recall Liam going through a time like this when he was about Callum's age... I don't know if it is a food thing, a toddler thing, or something else. Any thoughts? If it was an easy fix, I'd be doing something about it. I just don't know what to do. TIA!

Does it hurt him... like tummy aches or does he complain at all?

Does he drink a lot of juice? that can cause runny stools. I'd cut out juice, up the fiber and see if it helps..

It doesn't hurt. And we're not big on juice here - at most he gets a little splash to just colour the water iykwim. Ignorant question coming... wouldn't upping the fibre add to the problem?

uping the fiber would and bulk to his stools and possible firm them up also dairy (lactose intolerance) causes loose stools.
Erin

It doesn't hurt. And we're not big on juice here - at most he gets a little splash to just colour the water iykwim. Ignorant question coming... wouldn't upping the fibre add to the problem?


No, fiber is undigestible matter and is what adds "substance" to stools.

It's true fiber is recommended for constipation, the reason for that is when you are constipated you often have hard, small, dense stools (which indicates not enough fiber, because fiber-filled stools are more bulky) Fiber actually "sweeps" and cleans the side of the intestines and stimulates the intestinal lining to produce the lubricants that help move things along as well as to push it along. you don't have enough fiber if there is no "bulk" coming out, but just liquid. So it's good whether you are constipated or are too loose, lol.

The other thing you could watch is fat, b/c if it seems like his loose stools have a lot of bile or fatty deposits in them, he could just be eating too much fat/oils... which overstimulates the intestines, especially when the bile is released to help digest it. (when you don't get enough fat, you get constipated, when you get too much, you get loose stools. unlike fiber... which when you don't get enough could cause either LOL)

Kim ~ Trevor was like this all.the.time. One reason we didn't use cloth. It would have been an absolute mess! He ate a very balanced diet (most of the time!) and was just always like that.

Thanks gals. We'll experiment with a few things and see if it makes a difference.

Kate... Liam was this way too. I've wondered if it is just an age thing as opposed to diet because our kids are not picky about food and eat a fairly balanced diet as well.

My kids always went thru that when they were teething...?? Could it be that?

My kids were both like this after a certain age. This is one of the reasons that I didn't use cloth very much despite starting off with good intensions in this area. I asked our doctor about it and she said that some kids are just like this and didn't make any suggestions. Both of them were eating a relatively healthy, balanced diet. However, it is worth seeing if some adjustments to the diet have some affect. I did find that if my kids ate banana it was better.

I've been trying to sort this out for a while, so I'm going to toss it out there and see if any of you have some new thoughts.

Callum has been having very soft, messy bowel movements for quite some time now. It is not diarrhea, just really yucky. For those of you who use cloth, it's the kind of yucky you *cannot* clean off a diaper. (This is part of the reason I don't have him in cloth right now.) I recall Liam going through a time like this when he was about Callum's age... I don't know if it is a food thing, a toddler thing, or something else. Any thoughts? If it was an easy fix, I'd be doing something about it. I just don't know what to do. TIA!

My Addie's BMs are the same way. Our ped recomended to up the dairy in her diet, specifically cheese and milk. It seems to have helped.

Gen, it *could* be teething, but from experience with my kids, that would have to be in addition to something else. This has gone on for so long there is no way it could be *just* teething.

Jo... it's good to know I'm not the only one who has been down this road. I've practically eliminated dairy from his diet for the last couple of weeks just to see if that has an impact, but it doesn't seem to have done much of anything.

Which leads me to what you said, Kara. I think we'll just dive back into dairy and see how things go again. Thanks for your replies!