What Does A Normal Baby Poop Look Like?

[Ollie's Mom]

While my husband and I are trying to figure out what may be bothering our son (we strongly suspect gluten, and after today it seems we may have to add eggs to the list), I have been wondering:

What does a normal baby's poop look like?

Like a 12 month to 18 month old... what is a typical poop? What colour is it? What is the consistency in the diaper? What is the smell like?

Our son's BM's range from yellow to green to brown to almost black... from runny to mashed-squash-like to toothpaste-like to grainy-playdough-like... the smells range from not-so-bad to omg-what-died-in-his-diaper...

So, for those of you who have a kid who is healthy (non-celiac, non-gluten intolerant, non-sensitive to foods) what does their typical BM look like? Do they vary much? And how does it compare to your celiac/gluten intolerant/otherwise sensitive child's BMs?

Sorry if this is an icky question, but I'd love to hear what experienced parents have to say. And besides, it seems there are lost of discussions about BMs around here...

[rosetapper23]

My daughter's poop was well formed and usually some variation of brown--not grainy or runny at all. Now, my son, who was diagnosed with celiac at age 16, had poops that were, well, let's say they were somewhat explosive. He would fill his diaper with mushy, somewhat green-colored or black-colored runny stools. His stools were never solid or well formed. Even though my daughter didn't have these symptoms, she has had other celiac-related symptoms her whole life....and I firmly believe she also has celiac. However, her stools were never a problem as a baby. As an adult, she tends to be somewhat constipated. My son, on the other hand, always experiences diarrhea when he gets glutened.

[beebs]

My son who has been unwell since birth has horrid stools - lost of times completely undigested meals, heaps of oil, fatty steaatorhea, and mucous in them. Really large as well - compare with his healthy twin who varies in colour and size and smell....but they just were never even close to being as bad as his twin.

Its really hard to say cause healthy stool can seem bad - but also there could be so many reasons for it as well - like over growth of bad bacteria, bugs etc. The main difference being that the one with the bad stools is also sickly...

Have your child had any tests on his stools to see if he is absorbing fat properly or to rule out bugs etc?

[jebby]

I have three young children, non of them have celiac or gluten sensitivity, and their poops have been all over the place in terms of consistency, color, texture, odor, etc during late infancy and the toddler years. Mushy, formed, brown, green, loose, foul smelling, peanut butter like, have all occurred at various times. I would be most concerned if a child was to consistently have abnormal poop, I.e. Almost always explosive, or full of mucus, or always greasy. Either way, it sounds like you should discuss with your pediatrician. When I worked in an outpatient pediatrics clinic, I had parents bring in poopy diapers to show on a regular basis, your child's doctor should be used to this.

[pricklypear1971]

I must have asked that question a million times.

They vary depending on diet.

My son had a problem with milk and perhaps soy as an infant. he ranged from horrible D to horrible C until I stopped giving him cows milk or soy formula and I stopped ingesting milk and soy (breast milk). He also had terrible stomach cramps and was raging mad, and had reflux.

Eliminating milk, soy solved the problem. He still had bouts of D, usually not C.

It is TBD if he has gluten issues.

[M0Mto3]

My LO that we suspect gluten issues has always had horrendous bms, until she started on a gluten-free diet. They were always funky, but never consistantly the same issue (some were black, some were mucousy, some were pale, some looked fatty). The biggest difference I saw off gluten was the frequency changes. She went from 3-5 bms that went through to her clothes to 1-2 bms that were a variety of colors, but did not go through to her clothes. It is hard to say what is normal poop for a small child, but going more than 1-2x/day every day is not normal.