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Why Is My Toddler Passing Gas And Having Frequent Bowel Movements?

Posted on Sat, 15 Feb 2014

Question: My daughter is 18 months old , very healthy and active baby. But she has always been on 10th - 15th percentaile of her growth chart. She is very tiny (height & weight) , her eating pattern is normal , she eats in small quantities. She poops 3-4 times a day and passes gas most of the time. She weighs 8.5 kg currently. Kindly advise if its normal and also please let me know if i need to anything differently for her to grow well.

Answered by Dr. Arun (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: What was her birth weight and was she preterm? Detailed Answer: Hi Thanks for writing to health care magic. Your baby is in the lower range of normal. Only below 10th percentile is considered abnormal. More important than the actual percentile is her growth graph. If there is steady increase along the slope of the curve, it's good. But if her curve has been flat for few months it needs to be addressed. Let me know if she was preterm / term baby and her birth weight. If your kid is active and playing well do not worry. Try iron supplements along with vitamin for 3 months to improve appetite. If you are non-veg give one egg everyday fully boiled. You can start non-veg soups too. If you are veg , give balanced diet which should include rice, dhal, ghee, vegetables and fruits. Add ghee to almost each food item. You can give all home foods like roti, kitchdi ( calorie rich ), rice plus dhal . Try almost all you eat everyday at home, but in soft form. Avoid chocolates though. Try deworming her with albendazole. I usually advice my patients to take 5ml once every 6 months. Try iron , multivitamin supplements for atleast 3 months. It would do a great deal to increase food intake. Hope this helps. Wishing your kid great health Regards Dr Arun

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Arun (23 minutes later)

Thanks so much Doctor !! Answer to your questions:- She was 3.4 kg at birth , she was not preterm , mine was C section For first 3 months she was gaining good weight though her curve have never been flat or dropping but its never been on the higher side as well. She has been taking iron supplements since she was 6 months old , her appetite is good. She already has all the food items you have listed in the email.(morn - Full cream milk , Breakfast(upma , dosa , avlaki etc) , after nap quarter chapati with curd & 1 variety fruit, khichdi for lunch , after nap Full cream milk one cup , and 2 variety fruits ) cheese egg /chapati/rice as dinner. She doesn't like boiled eggs but i give her omelette every alternate day. i haven't given her any junk/outside food . So she dosent know chocolate yet. i will try deworming.

Answered by Dr. Arun (14 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Try egg everyday Detailed Answer: It's good that she is already on good nutritious diet. Try eggs in any form everyday and deworming too. Why don't you check her hemoglobin level? If it's below 12 it's better to supplement iron for another 3 months. Regards Dr Arun

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad