Undigested Food

[Mother of Jibril]

Ok... so maybe this is no big deal, but I am curious.

My son is nine months old and starting to eat finger food. He's off dairy, gluten, and corn (no more eczema!) and so am I. Casein was doing a lot of damage to his intestines... I took him to the pediatrician when he started having blood in his diapers. That was back in April. I've read that infants heal very quickly and he seems to be perfectly fine. So here's my question... is it normal to see bits of undigested food in the stool of a casein-free, gluten-free, corn-free baby? He doesn't have any teeth yet, so I have to give him very tiny pieces. A few days ago he had a diaper with pieces of carrot. This morning was mushrooms. YUCK. Anybody could tell they were mushrooms... they were not digested at all.

Any ideas?

[Swansonjohnson]

My son (22months) who has on celiac gene but negative bloodwork at age one often has undigested food. Our pediatrician said he would not worry about it at such a young age because they often do not chew their food well. We will be doing follow up blood work at his 2 year check up as his older brother has celiac. I would watch it and maybe bring it up with your ped next time you are in but I wouldn't lose sleep over it. If you are really worried give them a call. After inspecting many a diaper I have never found that my kids digest carrots...they are almost always in the diaper...not sure about mushrooms...don't think I have ever fed my kids mushrooms that would be detectable.

[KaidensMummy]

this happens to my son as well. He is 2 yrs old & whenever I give him mushrooms they look like they are fully intact in his BM's...also other food he eats will look like they have hardly been digested, I asked about this & the doc said he has a digestive problem & his stomach does not create enough enzymes to break down his food properley. He said there was nothing we could do except keep reminding him to chew his food really well & to cut it up lots so it would be easier on his stomach.

[bear6954]

my non celiac daughter had food in her poop until she got her molars. My celiac son does not have his 2 yr molars yet and I see pickes in his poop frequently!

[lizard00]

I would agree with the chewing. My son is 3 1/2 and his poop looks like everyone else's. That was not the case pre-teeth. And he doesn't have any food intolerances (as of now! thank goodness). When he ate blueberries the first time it really freaked me out!

[MELINE]

......I am 30 years old and still find food in my stools...lol....

Well my doc gave me betaine hcl (a supplement to increase stomach acids) cause she said that because of candida our stomach doenst' produce enough acid to digest food. That was very helpful for me, and I started digesting immediately.

[Mother of Jibril]

I certainly do wonder if he doesn't have enough acid and/or enzymes... but how do you give that kind of supplement to a baby?

On the issue of teeth... the funny thing is that even when I grind his food with a food mill I still see little bits of undigested food. It just looks like confetti instead of chunks!