Re: What is normal stool?

[Guest guest]

,

Hang in there. Many of the kids here did not have " obvious " GI issues.... no

diarrhea or constipation. Still, many of them have had improvements in

behavior, speech and cognitive areas. It's much too early for you to be

worrying about your results.

A " normal " stool will be nicely formed.... not too hard, not too soft.... easy

to pass. Usually one BM per day is the norm.... so more frequent, smaller ones

might indicate something is not quite right there.

If he's not chewing well, you might consider pureeing his food at this point....

at least whenever he'll accept it. The most important thing is to keep

everything easy to digest.

Patti

What is " normal " stool?

The good news is that my son's voracious appetite seems to have

mellowed and he's not constantly demanding food.

I know this sounds like a really stupid question, but what exaclty

is " normal " stool? I know it's only been a day and half of doing

the intro diet properly, but I am starting to wonder if I am way off

base. My son's stools are neither mushy nor hard. They seem normal

to me. So far, the diet has not impacted them. It was only when he

was eating all that dried fruit that we had any kind of issue and

that was quite minor. I didn't initially think that he had any GI

problems because he's never suffered from diarrhea or constipation.

But someone told me they could still have issues even if they are

not obvious. The only thing that may be abnormal is that he poops

frequently - as in, 2 or 3 times a day and sometimes more than that

and often I notice undigested foods in there, but I attributed that

to him just swallowing without chewing. His frequent poop does seem

small-ish to me, though I don't know what a proper amount would be,

but I wonder if that is an indication that he's not emptying his

bowels.

Anyway, I am feeling discouraged even though it's so early in,

because when I read about SCD I felt such a ray of hope for his PDD

and now I'm wondering if his PDD has absolutely nothing to do with

his bowels at all and I'm on the completely wrong track. Has anyone

had a child with normal-ish stools on this diet? Or am I wrong and

his stool isn't normal after all?

Thanks so much for any advice!

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much! I appreciate your help so much. He had a very

dark, almost black stool this afternoon so something is apparently

happening, unless that's just from the diluted grape juice? I had to

chuckle at myself a little bit as I find myself examining my child's

poop and wondering what I can learn from it and if there isn't some

class or something that will tell me what the different colors, etc,

mean, LOL. I am removing the cooked carrots because I think maybe he

is dealing with constipation after all and I will see if I can get him

to take an epsom salt bath, but that's really pushing my luck.

[Guest guest]

I had to

> chuckle at myself a little bit as I find myself examining my child's

> poop and wondering what I can learn from it and if there isn't some

> class or something that will tell me what the different colors, etc,

> mean, LOL.

>

>

>

There is a website about different color stools.

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/gettingdiagnosed/a/stools.htm

Although we've had some colors not listed. I don't think they discuss

die-off type problems. I hope it's helpful anyway.

Sharon in OH

-wife of Adam - Crohn's 2004, SCD since June 2006