DO YOU WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR CHILD’S HEALTH ??
? Look at their Poop! ?
Thinking a lot about what is going into your child’s mouth?
Do you ever think about what’s coming out the other end?
It might seem odd to check your child’s stool, but it is a great indicator of what’s going on inside their bodies. Poop reflects your child’s internal health and gives you clues as to what imbalances or deficiencies may be present.
SO WHAT SHOULD YOUR CHILD’S POOP LOOK LIKE?
An ideal BOWEL MOVEMENT should be at least once daily (preferably 3 times a day!), it feels easy to pass, is well-formed (not too hard, not too soft) and is medium-brown in color. Preferably there is no undigested food, no blood or mucus.
5 Things to look for what they may mean and simple steps you can implement at home
Undigested Food
Food particles in the stool mean that the food eaten is not being properly digested and its nutrients are not well absorbed. Reasons for this could be low stomach acid and/or digestive enzymes, food intolerance or simply your child not chewing food enough.
Be sure your child is not in a rush when eating and that they have the time to sit down and thoroughly chew and digest food. Additionally, investigating food intolerances with a blood test would be a beneficial next step as well as supporting your child’s enzymatic digestion with lemon water and/or digestive enzymes.
Floating and Shiny Stool
Stool that floats and often has a sheen means that there is fat in the stool and that your child is not properly digesting and absorbing fat. A digestive system that doesn’t have enough enzymes or bile acid being secreted is generally the cause of this. Dandelion root tea and digestive enzymes can help support the gall bladder and digestive organs to stimulate bile secretion; however, if this doesn’t resolve, it would be advantageous to look further at digestive function.
Constipation
Defined as infrequent, hard or painful stools, constipation could be caused by food intolerance consuming a poor diet, stress or functional/structural imbalance in the body. It is important to find the cause of constipation for your child so that you can treat the root of the problem and then you can support with probiotics, a healthy balanced diet, and an elimination diet, which may be easiest when guided by a trained doctor.
Loose Stools
Often described as diarrhea, loose stools can be scary for parents. Similar to constipation, there are many different causes of diarrhea so it is imperative to find the cause before immediately treating or stopping it. Some common causes of diarrhea in kids are an infection, food intolerances, stress or food simply moving through the body too quickly. Some simple ways to support the digestive system at this time are to use probiotics, eat fiber-rich foods and if an infection is present, which would need to be confirmed via lab testing, an anti-microbial protocol mediated by a trained doctor will heal the infection naturally and safely.
Blood
Seeing blood in the stool? This can be quite dangerous and is important to see a doctor when this occurs in order to find the cause. Blood can be multiple things, but most simply put, it is bleeding somewhere within the digestive system. A bloody stool needs to be addressed immediately to figure out the cause and begin to heal it before it gets worse
SHOULD I BE ALARMED?
Not all of these issues are cause for extreme concern or treatment, but if not understood, things could get worse. If you find anyone of these things in your child’s poop, it would be wise to address the issue so that they can continue to develop healthily and optimally. Are you questioning what you see, do not hesitate to contact our office. We can set you up with a Discovery Call to answer your questions and determine if you are a good fit to work with our Naturopathic Medical Doctors.
