Stool, also called feces, is usually thought of as nothing but waste - something to quickly flush away. But bowel movements can provide health care providers with valuable information as to what's wrong when your child has a problem in the stomach, intestines, or another part of the gastrointestinal system.

Your child's doctor may order a stool collection to test for a variety of possible conditions, including:

• allergy or inflammation in the body, such as part of the evaluation of milk protein allergy in infants
• infection, as caused by some types of bacteria, viruses, or parasites that invade the gastrointestinal system
• digestive problems, such as the malabsorption of certain sugars, fats, or nutrients
• bleeding inside of the gastrointestinal tract

The most common reason to collect stool is to determine whether and what type of bacteria or parasite may be infecting the intestine. Many microscopic organisms live in the intestine that are necessary for normal digestion. Sometimes, however, the intestine may become infected with harmful bacteria or parasites that cause a variety of conditions, such as certain types of bloody diarrhea. It may then be necessary to examine the stool under a microscope, culture the stool, and perform other tests to help find the cause of the problem.

Stools are also sometimes analyzed for the substances they contain. An example of stool analysis includes examining the fat content of stools. Normally, fat is completely absorbed from the intestine, and the stool contains virtually no fat. In certain types of digestive disorders, however, fat is incompletely absorbed and remains in the stool.

Collecting a Stool Specimen
Unlike most other lab tests, stool is sometimes collected by the child's family at home, not by a health care professional. Here are some tips for collecting a stool specimen from your child:

• Collecting stool can be messy, so be sure to wear latex gloves and wash your hands and your child's hands well afterward.
• Many children with diarrhea, especially young children, can't always let a parent know in advance when a bowel movement is coming. Sometimes a hat-shaped plastic lid is used to collect the stool specimen. This catching device can be quickly placed over the toilet bowl or your child's rear end to collect the specimen. Using a catching device can prevent contamination of the stool by water and dirt. If urine contaminates the stool sample, it will be necessary to take another sample. Also, if you're unable to catch your child's stool sample before it touches the inside of the toilet, the sample will need to be repeated.
• Another way to collect a stool sample is to loosely place plastic wrap over the lid of the toilet. Then place the stool sample in a clean, sealable container before taking to the laboratory. Plastic wrap can also be used to line the diaper of an infant or toddler who is not yet using the toilet.

Fishing a bowel movement out of the toilet does not provide a clean specimen for the laboratory to analyze.

The stool should be collected into clean, dry plastic jars with screw cap lids. These containers can be obtained from your health care provider or through hospital laboratories or pharmacies, although any clean, sealable container could do the job. For best results, the stool should then be brought to the laboratory immediately.

If it is impossible to get the sample to the laboratory right away, the stool should be refrigerated, then taken to the laboratory to be cultured as soon as possible after collection. When the sample arrives at the laboratory, it is either examined and cultured immediately or placed in a special liquid medium that attempts to preserve potential bacteria or parasites.

Your child's doctor or the hospital laboratory will usually provide written instructions on how to successfully collect a stool sample; if written instructions are not provided, take notes on how to collect the sample and what to do once you've collected it. If you have any questions about how to collect the specimen, be sure to ask. The doctor or the laboratory will also let you know if a fresh stool sample is needed for a particular test, and if it will need to be brought to the laboratory right away.

Most of the time, disease-causing bacteria or parasites can be identified from a single stool specimen. Sometimes, however, up to three samples from different bowel movements must be taken.  Your child's provider will let you know if this is the case.