Stools

A big benefit of being a pediatrician is all the photos of poop I get to look at on a daily basis. Based on this abundance of dirty diaper images, I like to consider myself an expert in poop.

Poop can come in lots of different colors and different textures and still be completely normal. I always ask patients to think of their favorite fall painting or photograph. Poop can be any of those colors: brown, orange, green, yellow, etc. Poop colors that are not normal are white, black, or red. White poops are often due to a lot of milk or starchy food intake but can also be due to a problem with the liver and should be investigated. Red poop can occur due to eating beets or Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, but if it looks like bloody poop, we should have that kiddo seen in clinic. And if the poop is tar-like and black in color, it may indicate bleeding in the GI (gastrointestinal) tract. 

Now poop texture and consistency is a fun dinner conversation topic as well. We try to keep kiddos poops a guacamole or softer consistency to prevent constipation. If your kiddo has little rabbit-pellet hard poops, this can be due to a lack of hydration, not enough fiber, or too many starchy-type foods in the diet. To get the poops softer, I ask families to try natural remedies like warm pear or prune juice, a few ounces a day for kids over 6 months of age, to help loosen stools. Pears and prunes are high in a natural sugar that does not get easily absorbed by the gut and will bring water along for the ride down the GI tract to help push and soften hard poops ready to come out. 

Also, the number of poops a kiddo can have a day varies greatly, especially in babies before we start solid food. A baby or kiddo can poop as often as 7 times a day or once every 7 days and still be considered very normal, as long as they are peeing every 2-6 hours and the poop before and after the long break is guacamole or softer in consistency. To consider a kiddo not pooping every day as normal, we should also not see any abdominal pain associated with not pooping if this is that kiddo’s normal gut speed.