Clay coloured and very smelly stools in 9 month old - anyone else?

[sandy_rose]

Has anyone else had this with their little one? Our baby had a stomach upset about a month ago, and then about a week of foul smelling clay coloured stools after that. Apparently this can happen following a tummy upset, but the GP took a stool sample which tested negative for bugs etc.

The GP referred us to a paediatrician at Kings and said to avoid all gluten (as this had been recently introduced) and dairy (introduced day before the start of strange poos) until we'd seen the paediatrician. We went for the appointment on Friday, and frankly it was a bit of a joke. He basically said there's nothing to worry about, our girl was growing fine and not displaying symptoms of celiac disease or lactose intolerance (well, she has barely had any dairy or gluten at all so why would she?). We were sent for some blood tests (liver function) and told to re-introduce a normal diet and come back and see him in 6 months if we were still having problems. Well, within 4 hours of having a small piece of rye bread she was vomiting and we're now back on the smelly white poos!

We're not sure what to do next, as we've had nothing but bad experiences with the paediatricians at Kings in the past (problems at birth, thankfully resolved itself despite a lot of interference by various 'specialists').

Anyone else experience these smelly stools and did it resolve itself eventually?

[mumof3girlies]

All our children have had pale poos after tummybugs - it's to do with the bile they often vomit whilst ill and this effects the colour of poos, but I would say the time frame is more like within a week - 10 days, not a month. I recommend going back to your GP and badgering them that you are not happy with whats going on/care so far.

I work within the NHS and sadly you do have to keep going back until you're satisfied with the result. Good luck x

[candj]

My children have had this after tummy bugs, as well. It takes one to two weeks to resolve itself (perhaps slightly longer for our younger one) in our experience. Agree with above, if you're not happy and your little one is not happy or well go back to your GP. Otherwise, I'd say just wait as it will resolve itself.

Good luck.

ps- I can recommend a private paediatrician if you are desperate - PM me.

[KBN]

Just to say that my brother (now a strapping 28) has coeliac disease, and had very similar stools to your baby (yellow, clay consistency, and stinky in a not quite normal stinky way), and it began to show itself at about 9 months.

I would seek a follow up if the problem doesn't go away, and especially if you think it seems worse after gluten (which is in wheat, rye, oats and barley) just to make absolutely sure that it is not coeliac disease. If it is, it is no great disaster - just avoiding gluten, which is not too troublesome these days, but if it goes undiagnosed for a while it can be unpleasant for wee one.

I hope it all clears up soon, and that it is just a bug after all!

[sandy_rose]

Thanks for your responses. Her stool sample came back normal last time so apparently not caused by a bug. Definitely not stinky in a normal way, poor thing. This time she didn't seem unwell at all until a few hours after having the rye bread, she did have a small piece of cheese the day before. She's absolutely fine now after 3 days back on gluten and dairy free diet. It just seems as though something doesn't add up and I'd rather have her diagnosed before taking her off major food groups permanently or long term. I'm also hoping to stop breastfeeding in the next few months, or at least cut down on the number of feeds but I'm slightly stuck as to what to feed her instead at the moment.

We just felt as though the paediatrician thought we were wasting his time and he didn't take a proper look at her or ask about any family history at all. I've asked for another stool sample anyway so will see if that comes back normal too.

I'll keep badgering the NHS and if I'm

[sandy_rose]

Sorry meant to say will definitely think about going private if we don't get anywhere, many thanks candj.

[EDmummy]

Something that might help is keeping a food and symptom diary during a period of feeding your baby the foods you are concerned about (2 weeks should be sufficient but any of our medically trained forumites may be able to advise on length of time). This type of evidence will give you a good, strong history to give to any subsequent clinician you see.

Does your baby have other symptoms like bloating, restlessness etc., after eating the suspect foods? Having been through a milk allergy with one of mine it did take at least a month or two of 'collecting' evidence to offer to our doctor before an alternative diet was found. Personally, I was reluctant to put him on an exclusion diet until I had sufficient evidence as I was aware of damage that could happen putting him on an exclusion diet without the sufficient support to supplement the exclusions.

[BB100]

I'm surprised your GP told you to exclude certain foods without referring you to a dietitian. If you are cutting out dairy or gluten you should have some professional nutriton advice.

[sandy_rose]

The exclusion diet was while we were waiting for the appointment with the paediatrician. The Gp also told me to take her straight to a&e, which I thought was slightly OTT but then agreed a referral was the right way to go.

[antonia p]

Hi

All three of my children are intolerant to milk. They are under the care of kings. One of my sons had pale yellow poo that smelt very bad, very, very bad. At 7 months he spent severel hours a night crying in pain. The docters repeatedly told me he had a tummy bug and it would simply go away. He began losing weight and had dark bags under his eyes. The doctors were unhelpful but I did eventually end up at Kings.The Doctors were very good and said these were classic simptoms of milk intolerance. My children are not allergic to milk so do not react to allergy tests. They( and I) cannot break down milk protein ,so lactose free formula does not work as lactose is the sugar not the protein

good luck, if you need more info please just get intouch

antonia pollock

[EmilyE]

The tricky thing about diagnosing coeliac disease, is that you have to be eating gluten in order for it to show up. They say from 6 weeks before the test, though in some cases less (not sure how being a baby affects things...). There's a blood test which is good though not 100% reliable. To be 100% certain, you have a biopsy. But it probably would be worth it to see if it is coeliac, which you never grow out of, or an intolerance, which you could.