Toddler Poop With Mucous

by Jessica
(Ohio)

My toddler's poop is mucousy. Just recently she was constipated. Also, she hasn't had much appetite lately - this was teh same time as she was constipated. She is now back to feeling normal, with regards to appetite and constipation, but now her poop seems to be mucousy. Can you tell me why?

Baby Help Line:

Possible Reasons For Mucous In Toddler's Poop

You don't say if your daughter lacked appetite due to illness or due to her constipation. If she was ill, her stools can very well be mucousy due to a cold, for example.

Poor appetite can of course lead to constipation since the child eats, and possibly also drinks less.

If she merely lost her appetite due to constipation, it is common. When most children get constipated they will not eat. Their intestines and stomach get packed up so they don't feel hungry.

The intestines then produce a mucousy slime to help get the blockage out.

If the constipation or illness is now gone and your daughter is back to eating normal portions, her poop should also be back to normal within a couple of days.

However, if you don't know what caused her constipation, you'll need to figure it out to be able to avoid it going forward.

Why Toddlers Get Constipated (Usually)

Often, toddlers get constipated due to the introduction of some new foods or the increase of some foods that are making stools harder. Dairy products are a very common reason for constipation, for example. Rice cereal too.

You can try to:

Reduce dairy products,
Use oatmeal instead of rice cereal, and

Offer a lot of vegetables, fruits (except for bananas), and

Some whole-grain bread or brown rice and see if it helps.

Also make sure she drinks plenty of water.

If she continues to be unwell, constipated or have mucous in her stools for more than a few days more, I would take her to her pediatrician to make sure everything is fine.

Hope this helps,

Paula

Comments for
Toddler Poop With Mucous

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Jul 19, 2009

Mucous in toddler poop
by: KarenP

My son is two years old and just started daycare last week. This week his poop is loaded with mucous and has changed from a usual dark browny green to light light brown and very loose. He has no fever or other symptoms. Should I be concerned??

Jul 31, 2009

mucous
by: erica

my toddler is 2 years old and also has very loose stools which appear quite mucousy and light brown in colour. This started after he went to nursery and has been going on for sometime. im completely confused about what to do so if you find anything out about this type of problem can you post it onto here thanks, :-)

Apr 27, 2010

mucous in poop
by: Anonymous

If your child has mucus in his/her diaper there is a good chance that your child has some food allergies. Have him/her checked by blood test.

Aug 11, 2010

toddler poop
by: Anonymous

my son will be 3 in september.. and for the past several days he has been pooping about 7 times a day and his poop is loose and slimy... it is making his butt so sore and red it makes him cry it hurts so bad. he is eating normal playing normal .. everything else is normal..i even checked to make sure he was not getting any molars, and he is not. I am starting to get a bit worried, anybody else ever have this type of problem? and if so.. do i need to take him to the doctors?

Aug 11, 2010

toddler poop loose and slimy
by: Anonymous

My baby is two and half and has had this same problem with poop about 7 to 10 times a day real soft slimy and frequent his lil butt is red from irritation so I'm using burts bees and It works amazing but it burns a lil when you first but I think there is a bug. Going around

Aug 21, 2010

18 month with snot poop
by:

Our 18 month old girl has had diarrhea with mucus in it for 2 months now. We took stool samples a few days ago and are waiting for the results. Her pediatrician thinks she may have giardia, he is also testing for other parasites and food allergies

Aug 25, 2010

Same for my boy
by: Anonymous

My son is 14 months and has had the same. We went to the doctors a couple of weeks ago but he said it was a stomac virus. Since nothing had changed and he was still going to the bathroom 6 time a day I went to another doctor and she said to try soya instead of cow's milk for now. It did seem to help but he still poos three time a day not solid and with some sort of goo. Sometimes it's like there is still food that has not been digested in his poo. I am going to go back to the doctors soon if things don't get better. I don't get to worried because he is in great spirit and is not loosing weight.

Aug 27, 2010

my girl got mucous on her poop
by: Anonymous

I got a 2 yrs old lil girl and this past few days she's having a mucous on her poop and poop 7 to 10 times a day,but she still do all the things what she use to do everyday she eats ok she plays just fine but when she poop thats the biggest problem,she dont even want me to touch here butt or put anything on here butt coz its really hurt, do i need to take her to the doctor? pls im a new mom so i dont knw what to do.

Aug 28, 2010

Cold or diet change
by: Paula (Baby Help Line)

To you who posted on Aug 27,

There are a number of reasons a child might have mucus in the poop. A cold, a stomach bug or possibly a diet change that includes something that the child's stomach can't really take. Have you introduced any new foods to her recently? If so, revert back to the usual diet, brand or whatever and see if the problem passes. If not, other possibilities are a cold or a stomach infection. Also, if your child recently got antibiotics, mucus is a common side effect.

If none of this applies or if your daughter appears ill, go see a doctor to get it sorted out. Also check if she has a rash, since she seems uncomfortable when you want to clean her.

Good luck,

Paula

Dec 27, 2010

Mucous and some drops of blood
by: Nick

hey there my son who is 20 months old he was having loose motions problem for 4 days in the mean time doctor suggest him entamizole 1tsp 3 times a day after 4 days nothing changed except my sons stool turned into dysentery including mucous and after one day it had some drops of blood in it then doctor stops the entamizole and suggest him the flagyle and negram 1sp of each 3 times a day and this dosage is started since last day and i have observed the change which is he is not having the severe cramps in lower stomach and rectum he was active and he is active but getting weak i just checked his feces it had no blood drops thanks God but it was loose and since he is having the upset stomach hisfeces colour is green why is that ?and i am not giving him the feed which is two times a day full bottle of nido stage 1 my doctor told me to stop the dairy products till his feces becomes normal and let me add this from past 2 days he is passing stool twice a day one in the morning and in the late evening i am so much worried i am a single parent and i have only son please help me what should i do and suggest me and one more thing we are giving him white bread n butter in morning and very soft plain rice with butter added in the evening before getting ill i used to give him whatever i eat like normal n little spicy food he loves it and please suggest me what to give him to eat in the normal days aswell

thank you very much

Regards

Nick

Dec 30, 2010

Improving
by: Paula (Baby Help Line)

Hi Nick,

I am sorry to hear that your son has been so ill. From what you describe, though, it sounds like he is getting better. Continue to keep a close look at his progress and feed him the way his doctor suggested. Taking away all dairy is often quite good when young children have diarrhea, because they can become lactose intolerant for a little while, making the diarrhea even worse. Also try to offer small meals, but frequently, to help his intestines get back on track.

In addition to what you already feed your son, you can try with bananas, and plain, full-fat yoghurt (no sugar) with added probiotics if you can find, but discuss it with his pediatrician; yogurt is much better for his tummy than any other dairy products. Other foods are apple sauce (not juice), white pasta and white potato are also good to mitigate diarrhea.

Avoid giving him any fruits that start with a P (peaches, pears et cetera), since they can make his diarrhea worse, as well as high fiber foods, apple juice and apricots.

Hope your son will soon be better,

Paula

Jan 15, 2011

changed baby
by: getting frusterated....

my baby will b 2 in a month and for about a month now she has had problems with pooping, she just literally woke up one morning and decided she wanted to change everything! she used to eat oatmeal everynite and she ate it for like 6 months type thing and she really seemed to enjoy it, then one nite she decides she doesnt like it and still doesnt, ive tried her with it numerous times, in numerous ways and still lost, now she doesnt seem to have much of an appetite at all now and she doesnt care to drink much either. i feel like i put my child to bed and woke up with a different one that looks exactly the same type thing....
she doesnt want to poop, if she has to and feels it coming she squeezes her lil cheekys together and holds it in and 2-3 days later im left with having to put a suppository up her bum and i dont like having to do that to her, ive taken her to the emerg and they said its common for this age but none of her friends are going thro this and they prescribed her a stool softener liquid. so i took her to a walk-in pedetrician and he gave me a prescription for a powder "laxative" im guessing is wut it was and a list of foods to try.
i appreciate the different food options to try her on but she wont eat anything! she wont even eat foods she used to love!!!
so last nite my mom and i had stuck soap up her bum and she pooped twice! yay! but this morning when we woke up she had pooped again during the nite and there was a bunch of green mucus in her poop and it was runny....is there sumthing wrong with her? am i doing sumthing wrong?? can sumone pls help??

Jan 18, 2011

mucus
by: danielle

my 4 yr old tonight had pooped his pants we thought he had purposely pooped his pants cause he always goes by himself on the potty the only times he has pooped in his pants is when hes outside playing and doesnt take the time to go in and use the potty. when we stripped him down to bath i didnt see poop i thought it fell out so i was looking for it and then took a closer look and his underwear was just full of slime mucus and his daddy was upset and i told him i think he couldnt help it this time cause he didnt see it and didnt want to he gets disgusted with poop but should i be concerned/

Jan 19, 2011

Stomach bug
by: Paula (Baby Help Line)

Hi Danielle,

It could be a stomach bug or something he has eaten. Don't worry too much, this is the season for all such infections. And the facts that your son pooped in his pants isn't very strange, he might have felt a need to release some air. You'll know within a day or two if he is ill or not.

Best, Paula

Feb 20, 2011

Incorrect Advice
by: Anonymous

No doctor, unless sure that your child is lactose intolerant should even tell you not to feed cow's milk to a child, especially a child under 2 years old. When feeding a child soy milk they are losing out on so many nutrients and therefore need supplements to ensure they are getting enough.

Just an FYI for anyone out there who is lactose intolerant, goat and sheep milk are a great substitute to cow's milk. Goat and sheep milk don't contain the lactose that the cow's milk does that can cause the problems. That being said soy, almond and other such milks are not actually milk. They are created liquid from said products without the same nutritional value.

Feb 28, 2011

for "getting frustrated"
by: Anonymous

my son started doing the exact same thing when he was about 2 - trying to hold his poop in and refusing to go. Same pinching of the cheeks, he would need suppository or time and then he would HAVE to go and it would be huge and very painful. 4 years later he is on a regular bowel schedule.

Here is what you do - they have to get cleaned out first, enema or suppository. Next you have to have them on a powder laxative int he morning with their first drink ( my son started with the adult dose per the GI doc and has tapered down to a teaspoon) It needs to be drunk within 10 min that's why my son had it first thing, usually no problem drinking a glass of juice first thing. don't put the laxative in milk, it does weird things tot he consistency. your child should have a bowel movement every day - at first very loose and over time it firms up. we also instituted "potty time" in the late afternoon/early evening as the laxative kicks in about 8 hours after he took it. this is a long process and i know a few people who have had the same thing.

Mar 25, 2011

protein intolerance
by: Martha K.

Both of my children have suffered from a milk/soy protein intolerance (MSPI). They could tolerate NO milk or soy products! In severe cases (like my children) MSPI can cause a baby to SCREAM in pain for up to 20 hours a day and it can make their poop green, with mucus in it, and sometimes they can bleed from it too.

With some children it is discovered within a week after they are born and with some it is not discovered until later, even up into their 2nd year in life. A lot of children out grow it between 1 and 3 years of age. It is not something a lot of doctors know about.:( You can read about it in a book titled "Colic Solved" written by Dr. Vartabedian. You can also find info online about MSPI.

I have recently found though that a product called Digestive Health made by Core Health Products is EXTREMELY helpful. It has enzymes and probiotics in it. The reason that my children can not tolerate milk protein is because they do not have enough enzymes to break it down. With the Digestive Health pills they have improved 90%!!! :) I am told by the owner of Core Health Products (Shan Stratton) that the reason so many children and adults have digestive problems or acid reflux is because they lack enough enzymes to break down their food. You can look up the Core Health website @ www.corehealthproducts.com if interested in trying them.

Apr 23, 2011

cows milk
by: Anonymous

There are more negative attributes to cows milk than positives. we do not NEED cow milk. We are the only species that take milk from another mammal after 2 yrs of age

Apr 26, 2012

XRAYS
by: Anonymous

My toddler has the same thing going on and it turns out that he is so constipated that the slimy lining in his intestines are trying to help push that poop out and that is what is coming out. Also, he has loose stools coming out around the constipated poop, and he has been throwing up because the food has nowhere to go but up. He has been fevered because of the toxins in his body. It was first mistaken for the same things as you have all said. Ask for tummy xrays. They were a saver for him!

Feb 28, 2013

Baby poop
by: Ruth

My baby is 10 months.his poop is greenish smely mucus like with white patches what might be the problem

Feb 28, 2013

The possible cause of green poop with mucus
by: Martha K.

That certainly sounds like your little might not be properly digesting dairy (and maybe soy) proteins. That is what was wrong with my children and they had mucousy green poop and also blood mixed in sometimes.

You might find my blog of interest. I created it so I could share with other parents what I found to help my children's reflux and food intolerances. help4acidreflux.wordpress.com

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