Child Having Soft Poop, Developmental Delay And Autism. What Cure Should Be Done?

Posted on Fri, 11 Jan 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 Answered on

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi my 2 year old son has very soft poop. he only goes once or sometimes twice a day but it is a big squishy mess. i've tried cutting gluten, dairy, soya and corn from his diet with no change to the poop so far. he has developmental delay and probable autism. He is tall but thin for his age. What else should i cut out? could it be too much fibre?

Answered by Dr. E Venkata Ramana (7 hours later)

Hi,
Thank you for your query.

As your child is having soft poop and he is passing once or some times twice a day, it does not seem like diarrhea. But this type of stool may occur in children with excessive consumption of fluids and fruit juices.

If your child's fluid intake is more (>150ml/Kg/day) it should be restricted to 90ml/kg/day.
If he is consuming excessive amounts of fruit juices, those should be restricted.

Sorbitol, a nonabsorbable sugar is found in XXXXXXX pear, and prune juices and can cause loose stool.
Apple and pear juices contain higher amounts of fructose and glucose and cause loose stool.

If any carbohydrate intolerance is there a trial period of lactose free or sucrose free diet can be advised.
But the duration of the passage of this squishy soft poop is important and the total dietary history may suggest any clue to the cause of this type of stool.

Hope I have answered your query, if you have any further query, please feel free to share.

Thank you.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E