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Well, first off, potty training would be my number one factor, especially in a 3 year old. If the kid is old enough to eat whole fruits and vegetables, they are old enough to be potty trained. Fruit and vegetables are acidic and I personally would not want a diaper filled with acidic poo against my cheeks for any period of time. That is probably where the "diaper rash and irritated" comes into play.

Does the child need much smaller pieces of fruit to chew so they arent being swallowed to large as to be coming through "whole"? Sounds like a trip to the gastro is in order as well as a new Ped.

Raw food (especially acidic stuff) can be hard to digest. Why don't you try eliminating the raw fruit and see if that clears up the problem? Fresh fruit isn't bad for you but is not essential, especially in winter - removing it from his diet shouldn't hurt as long as cooked vegetables are included to ensure he's getting vitamins. (I would also recommend taking him off conventional dairy to see if that's exacerbating the digestive issues, but I don't want to sound like a broken record.)

Okay, here is what I have done in the past: Gluten free diet & testing - eliminated that issue; Dairy free diet & testing - eliminated that issue; canned vs fresh diet - only my opinion, dr does not agree this could be a problem. So, about toilet training - he does not talk. (I adopted two siblings and they both have been delayed in speech.) He will not tell me about his needs. Sooooo my concern is the "sandy" consistency of the BM - how could that possibly be normal? If it is okay to do without fruit then I will eliminate it completely from his diet. Thanks everybody.

I discussed, in a previous post, my personal history with doctors - including gastroenterologists - totally disregarding the possibility that diet could be causing decade-long digestive problems (including episodes so painful that I physically could not stand up), which problems cleared up almost immediately when I changed my diet. Like I said, I don't mean to be a broken record - but both my experience and the testimony of a classmate of mine, who finished med school but did not go into practice due to her concerns with the limitations of the Western model - have shown me that Western medicine does not consider diet an issue, even with digestive problems.

Of course, it's a bit more scary when it is your child, to try the "wait and see" approach. But eliminating fresh fruit for two weeks or a month, just to see if the problem clears up, is not going to harm him, if you make sure to up his intake of (cooked) vegetables to compensate. Canned foods have almost all the vitamin C eliminated, but roasting, steaming, or blanching freshvegetables leave much of the nutrient content intact (and by making the food more digestible, make the nutrition more available to us). Dark green leafies (avoid relying on spinach and chard due to oxalic acid) are especially powerful when it comes to nutrition, and in combination with orange vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes, provide quite a complete nutritional profile - much more complete than fruit.

Fresh fruit is totally optional in any of our diets. The standard American diets tends to overrely on it for vitamin C and roughage, but vegetables are much denser nutritionally, and do not come along with the high sugar content of fruit.

This isn't a discussion for this board.
Go see another doctor and take some advise from producestories when you go. It could be allergies - and all kinds of stuff that's not going to be solved on this board.
Good luck and keep us posted.

Take the advice of those who've recommended seeing a new doctor. This sounds a lot like a common condition usually referred to as "toddlers diarrhea" -- it is believed to be caused by diet. It also sounds very much like the typical manifestation of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in very young children.

Both conditions are easily diagnosed with a few tests to rule out other more serious conditions (e.g., blood sugar, fecal sample, etc.). They are also treated with dietary changes -- usually increased fat, reduced fluids, restricted intake of fruit juices and sugary drinks, increased fiber from whole grains and vegetables, and possibly a fiber supplement. They typically require no medications. IBS may be outgrown, but not necessarily. Toddlers diarrhea takes care of itself (usually gone by kindergarten if I recall correctly).

As pointed out, fruit is not essential, provided the child is consuming adequate quantities of vegetables.

Again, you definitely should see a new pediatrician, particularly in light of your child's developmental delays.

Do not try to diagnose and treat him yourself (aside from withholding fruit and fruit juices which obviously are causing distress). These gastric symptoms could be related to another more serious condition requiring more aggressive interventions.

Good luck.

I have to agree with Nonny, in part because--apart from those of us who happen to be physicians or in some similar area of healthcare (and I wouldn't be surprised if there were a couple on SE)--we really aren't qualified to give reliable advice on such a serious issue. You definitely need to find a physician who takes diet seriously--they do exist--because this situation is clearly awful for both you and the child.