What does toddler poop look like

There's water, leftover food - fibre, protein, and other bits and pieces — plus other waste products the body needs to get rid of. One important bit of this 'waste' is bilirubin, a breakdown of red blood cells released into bile from the liver, and the major pigment for making our poo the classic brown colour.

Whilst everyone tends to notice the smell first, when we talk poo we usually describe colour and character. Yep, poo is usually a classic shade of brown, but that doesn't mean that poo from other colours of the rainbow isn't normal.

That's because what we eat has a massive influence on the colour of what comes out the other end. For example, green foods like spinach and kale the hardest working vegetable will turn poop a shade of green. Red foods like beetroot are sure to create a red hue not to mention a red stain to the toilet water. Then there are countless food colourings that add a little sparkle here and there. Sometimes poos are a little lighter in colour because they've moved through the body a little quicker, so less of the dark pigments are picked up to colour them.

This is normal too. Up until the late 90s there wasn't a universal language for describing poo - families and doctors clearly struggled to accurately describe the character of their poo. Whilst colour is relatively easy to classify, the shape and character prove more challenging. In order to create an effective communication aid, a hard-working team of experts at the British Royal Infirmary developed the Bristol Stool Chart.

The Bristol Stool Chart is a medical aid that classifies poo into seven categories. It enables us all to easily describe what's coming out, monitor illnesses, and observe effectiveness of any treatments employed. It's also a whole lot easier and less confronting for us to point at a picture than try to come up with an accurate description of what's sitting in the toilet bowl.

In a nutshell, we think of Type 1 and 2 indicating constipation; Type 3 and 4 the 'ideal' poops that are easy to pass, look like a smooth slippery sausage, and don't have any excess liquid; Type 5 tending towards too sloppy and diarrhoea; with Type 6 and 7 indicating diarrhoea.

Now whilst I don't agree with parents inspecting every motion their kids pass, some familiarisation with what constitutes normal and abnormal can go a long way to reassuring you. And if you are going to inspect, being armed with the Bristol Stool Chart will give you a little more confidence.

You're after that 'ideal' looking poo, but that's not to say every other type is something to panic about. The aim is for us all is to pass Type 3 and 4 poops the majority of the time, but occasionally things get a bit harder or a bit softer — and that's ok.

The other point to consider is how well your child is. Happy bouncy playful kids who are living life to the full, developing and behaving normally, are very unlikely to have anything serious going on — no matter what their stools look like.

So if this sounds like your precious one, then don't spend too much time with your nose in their business. But if they don't seem their normal self, then perhaps a persisting change does warrant a trip to the doctor. If the majority of poos are tending towards constipation, then it's time to act — get your kids more active, drinking water, and eating more fibre.

We can soften most kids stools into the 'ideal' range by adding sorbitol containing fruits such as apples, pears, and especially prunes to their diet. Plus good hearty cereals work well too — think breakfast cereal. If your child becomes constipated or goes more than two days without a soft log shaped stool, an enema may be given. The most commonly used enemas are pediatric Fleets enemas or homemade saline enemas made by adding one teaspoon of salt to one pint of water.

As your child approaches school age, achieving continence becomes very important for social reasons. If a child does not have a well established bowel program by this time, the child and parents must realize it may take several months to get a program working. It is important to keep providing your child positive support. If your child has not been on a bowel program before or has not been successful with previous efforts at bowel training, it is helpful to obtain a two to three week record of bowel patterns.

This record should include the number of accidents, when they occur, the consistency of stools, and degree of constipation. This information will help determine what type of program might be most successful with your child.

Before starting any program, it is important that the bowel be cleaned out. Your health care provider will recommend a clean out regimen. If your child has had chronic constipation, it may take several months for the colon to return to its normal shape. If a good stool consistency has not been obtained, a high fiber diet, adequate fluids and the use of a bulking agent such as Benefiber or Miralax should be introduced. Children who are not constipated and have 2 or less stools per day are often successful with a habit training program.

The habit training program is a program in which the bowel is trained to empty at the same time each day. This is done by having the child sit on the toilet and push at the same time each day. After a meal is often a good time since the child can take advantage of the natural elimination reflex that occurs after eating. Some children may need to use a suppository or an oral medication such as Senokot to help train the bowel to empty at a scheduled time.

Children with frequent 3 or more stools per day or hard, ball-shaped stools may be more successful with an "enema continence program".

This consists of administering an enema on a daily basis, at the same time each day. Once an enema continence program is implemented and successful for several months, you may try to wean your child off the enemas. Do this by reducing the enemas to every other day rather than daily and begin habit training on the alternate days. The goal is to use fewer enemas as the child increases the number of bowel movements on the toilet with pushing.

In children with very lax sphincter muscles who are unable to retain a regular enema, a special enema tube called the Enema Continence Catheter may be used. This enema is used as a daily cleansing program to achieve continence. The catheter is a tube with a balloon at the end that can be inflated in the rectum. This allows fluid to remain in the colon. This procedure is done on the toilet. This surgery creates a channel to the bowel that can be catheterized.

This channel will be used to give enemas, which will produce a predictable bowel movement. Please keep in mind, no one bowel program works for all children. Each child needs to have a program modified to his or her needs. Through modifications, "fine-tuning," and consistent praise, your child can be successful. Contact us.

Bowel Management. The following sections provide information about a bowel management program for each stage in your child's life: Bowel management during infancy Bowel management for toddlers Bowel management for children five and older Bowel management during infancy During infancy, the goals of a bowel program are to maintain normal stool consistency soft and easy to push and to have an average number of stools per day.

Developmental issues There is a wide variation in stool patterns in infants. The role of diet in bowel management When you introduce solid foods or change from breast milk to formula, you will notice changes in your child's stools. You can prevent or treat constipation in infants by: Being sure your infant is getting plenty of fluids such as water and fruit juices.

Offer prune juice, one to two ounces per day, straight or diluted with an equal amount of water or apple juice. Skip to navigation menu Skip to content. High Priority Alert. Close alert. Informational Alert. Stools - Unusual Color. Is this your child's symptom? Stool color that is strange or different than normal Normal stool colors are any shade of brown, tan, yellow or green The only colors that may be caused by a disease are red, black and white Dark green may look like black, but dark green is a normal color Causes of Unusual Stool Color Almost always due to food coloring or food additives.

Stool color relates more to what is eaten than to any disease. In children with diarrhea, the gastrointestinal GI passage time is very rapid. Stools often come out the same color as the fluid that went in.

Examples are Kool-Aid or Jell-O. The only colors we worry about are red, black not dark green and white. Red medicines like Amoxicillin. Sometimes, other medicines that turn red in the GI tract such as Omnicef Foods.

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