What does white poop mean? x-post

[coffee cat]

I apologize in advance for tmi, and the graphic nature/yuckness of this thread.

Poor little J, who is 16 months, has had diarrhea off and on since Saturday. On Sat he had a slight fever. Sunday no fever, no bm at all. Today he has had a least a couple of very wet/mushy bms but no fever. And they are very light in colour. Like an off-white. I vaguely remember that white means something. I'm also trying to decide if his lips look slightly blue-tinged or not. His hands and feet look fine--colour wise. I have a blue-tinge to my lips, so it could be hereditary...

Anybody know what the poop means? Should I be worried?

[SuzCa]

I looked it up on the net and the two conditions that came up were pancreatitis and gallstones. Neither sound like a common pediatric conditions, but I'd call the Dr and ask about it. Maybe the bm is mucous coated because of irritations? Anyhow, I hope J feels better soon!

[MarieL]

Well, to ask a simple question, what has he been eating? White corn, perhaps?

I only say this because I remember my sister calling me and freaking out one time about her DD's poop that was bright red. My niece was about 18 months old at the time. I asked her what my niece had recently eaten and she said, 'Uh, never mind....." She had been a little piggy with red jello.

I do know that often when my kids have had diarrhea, it's often light tan in color and that's nothing to worry about, too.

[coffee cat]

LOL, about the diet question. No, I don't think he's been eating anything that would change the colour of his bowel movements. We've done the BRAT diet a lot this weekend. This morning he had a waffle, some banana, and at lunch he had a sandwich. I've googled it myself (thanks SuzCA for the idea...duh to me) and it looks like it could be virus related. Since he's had diarrhea I'll just watch him. A stomach virus has been going through the daycare, just some of the kids have been vomitting plus the diarrhea. Maybe that's to come, yet?

I've got him double-diapered for the night. Fingers crossed I won't have a crib/kid full of poop in a few hours.

Poor wee soul. Daycare teacher said he seemed "off", lonely, at daycare today We're home tomorrow, hopefully he'll get lots of rest and fluids.

[Codycatsmom]

Chris,

Just sending hugs...Mia just had diarrhea for 5 days and after that there was one very light-colored BM, too. Wouldn't call it white but it was definitely not a normal poop color! This happened one other time right after a GI flu, too, so I'm not as worried. I hope all is well and that J gets over this bug soon.

Ccm

[MaryK-MN]

I know that GREEN means they've either eaten a lot of peas or blue jimmies on a donut.

White is probably the result of the the bland diet and diarrhea. Something in the back of my mind says low iron may be the cause - less red blood cells sloughing off and being eliminated.

[jow]

well when ever my kids had that color bm it was because they were going through " all I want to eat is cheese stage" scared me at first but when I gave them something else to eat it went back.

hopefully this may be the insite you need.

[TwoQTs]

I'm guessing its the BRAT diet. Or, the virus.

We had a very nasty vicious flu bug here & both girls had horrid diarrhea for about 10 days. The last couple days as it was starting to 'firm' up, they both had white poop. It gradually turned back to its normal color. The dr told us it was just the virus.. (asked when I had Emily in Emergency)

[Dawne]

matthew used to drink A LOT of milk and his poops were always light incolor. when he stopped drinking so much milk they changed.

[Lois]

It is probably related to diet and or the virus. See what happens. Hope he's better today and you managed to avoid the poop filled crib overnight!