Poop Talk...Passing on educational info to parents
BEWARE...lol....grap hic detailing of poop follows ;)
So thought I'd just bring up something that has been ongoing with one of my dckids since he started last August. I get that there will likely be those of you who think I have crossed a boundary line, and that's fine but not really relevant to my post. Each to their own, I believe I have a duty to the wellbeing of every child in my care, even if that results in getting under a parents skin. I think the way I have gone about this was the best method and just wonder if others have experienced this issue professionally or personally or passed on info to parents before. I'm going to try and run quickly over the ins and outs and not get into to much detail over things that aren't to relative to this.
This guy is 18 months old and has been with me for 7 mths. He has always pooped a lot but within a month or two of being here was having 2-3 loose bowl movements nearly every day. It is to the point that even if I catch him doing it and change him within a minute of finishing that his diaper can not hold it. He didn't sleep well upon coming here and his parents really struggled to have the willpower to train him but mom was convinced he was in pain. She eliminated dairy after we had a conversation about how dairy intolerance is very common even in children this age, if not the most common IME, and I suggested she take it out completely and see if she notices a change. Well there was a big change and he was much happier. Still pooping a couple of times a day typically and still very loose although not consistently diarrhea like liquid, but still very loose and no form. His mom says there is no diarrhea at home, they call it pasty, although it definitely isn't a solid poop that just goes pasty from being squished in the diaper. I call BS on her claim as there is no way in the world this is only happening here, just makes no sense at all. Well in the last couple of months there is now undigested food present. I know there are certain foods that are totally indigestible and are just dietary fibre but I am talking every food type beyond that. A few months back he had horrific diarrhea and after a week of 3x a day and liquid mom decided to be all like "Oh we gave him a couple ounces of cheese and the odd spoon of yoghurt last week, maybe that's the problem." Err you think! He had teeth come in a few weeks later and she decided to blame it on this even though the total elimination of dairy again seemed to reduce the severity of his movements but still very loose. Regardless of the cause it still carries on.
Well I have a great line of communication with this mother, although she rarely takes my advice, first time mum, babies her child to an extreme not allowing any opportunities for independence and has an excuse for everything. I mentioned to her a couple of weeks ago how I had looked into probiotics knowing that they are good for healthy gut flora and aid in digestion. I did a lot of research for myself as I have bad heartburn and learnt I have low hydrochloric acid production in my gut causing this and in every article I came across there was reference to the links between poor digestive function, food intolerances, undigested food, and poor bowl movements. I asked if she would be interested in me forwarding this info to her as it was an interesting read, immediately making me think of her son and she was very open to that. I make sure that during every conversation that I reinforce that I do not want to come across as pushy and that she absolutely should tell me if this is something she doesn't want me to get involved with, but she is happy to look into it.
Unfortunately she just seems to be brainwashed like so many others that the family dr knows best about nutrition and supplementation when in fact, and I say FACT is, that they have little to no training WHAT SO EVER in this area. Her dr sent her to a dietician who was a waste of time, not a shocker, and the family dr is actually telling her specifically which formula to give her son which contains milk protein but is considered a safe alternative for children with intolerances. To much of a generalization in my opinion as every child is different, and I have mentioned to her that perhaps this is the cause of his bowl movement issues as he consumes a hell of a lot of it daily as it is. It makes sense for him to have a poorly functioning digestive system as he is not consuming any of the foods which contain the healthy bacteria which is fermented product and dairy. Most other sources are poor and don't even make it into our guts before it is no longer viable to be absorbed.
Anyway regardless of my opinion, I forwarded the links to her. I don't want to terminate for this, goodness no, but I can't just go on with being elbow deep in diarrhea on such a regular basis without saying something. This child will no doubt be malnutritioned as a result of losing so much water along with many other things and I owe it to him to speak up although no doubt it is falling on deaf ears.
Anyone else had to deal with a similar situation where you have had to educate a parent on such things, or you have dealt with similar health/poop issues?
I thought the links would be a better way of opening the door to info to her versus giving my opinion. I thought she may be more receptive from sources written by health professionals qualified to comment. I know not everyone shares the same opinions on lifestyle and not one model works for everyone, that's why I took this approach and so far no upset or angry parents!
