Stupid question from veteran parent ;-)

[Pollyanna]

DD is 16 months and she has never had a formed poop (sorry TMI). I didn't think much about it when she was still nursing but she weaned herself about a month ago and still has very loose stools about 3 to 4 times per day. She is gaining weight but is a peanut compared to her 4 older siblings. I know it seems silly to be concerned about this but something just doesn't seem right. Maybe her tummy is having trouble with milk? She does not drink juice, only about 16-20oz whole milk per day and maybe about 6 oz of water. Has anyone else had this issue?

[JaneDoe]

Yes, we have this issue with my middle DS. He has always pooped a minimum of 2-4 times per day and much more when he was an infant.. It is apparently normal for him since his weight gain is tracking well. However, he is still not potty trained, specifically he refuses to poop in the potty. He seems to have issues wih pooping. I've wondered since he was born about his frequency and now I'm wondering whether his potty training issues and his poop frequency could be related.

[HouseofWool]

Tara - since dairy is an easy culprit to identify, what about cutting out the obvious dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt) for a bit to see if that helps. I know that when I was givng Sophie an 8oz bottle of 2% at bedtime, she had very loose stools all the time. Since I have changed that to a bottle of vanilla soymilk, it is a better. Will your DD take soy or rice milk? The vanilla is pretty tasty.

[peggyfromwastate]

My baby is the only one of the 5 who has had hard stools-- the other ones were more like what you describe for your baby. I would wait for a while before doing any diet changes, because I know how tough it would be to cut milk at this point. I guess I would ask the pediatrician at the 18 month check if there are any concerns, but other than that, probably do nothing unless your baby seems like she's in some kind of pain. If it's just a matter of looser poops, that problem resolved itself with my non-lactose intolerant kids by the time they were ready to potty train.

[Ladybug122]

I had this issue with DS when he was about that age. He had rather loose stools for many months into his toddlerhood. Always gained weight and the pooping never really bothered him. To be honest, the pooping didn't bother me, either, until he got the world's worst diaper rash...hence a visit to the pediatrician. The ped said to cut out food types (juice, milk, fruit, etc) one at a time to see if it made a difference. After a month of diet alterations, nothing changed. He was eventually diagnosed with "idiopathic diarrhea of toddlerhood" or "I don't know why your kid has diarrhea, but it's not bothering him and he's growing fine so don't worry about it."
Like I said, this lasted for months...maybe 6? maybe more? He was pooping 2-5 times a day.
Even today, at age 4, he poops at least once a day and it's usually on the "less formed" side. I guess it's just how his body works.