Diarrhea

Updated on December 17, 2007
M.H. asks from Lincoln, NE
26 answers

So this may be a little TMI, but I just need some advice. My daughter has had MAJOR diarrhea since Tuesday (so for about 4 days) to the point where in almost every diaper it's running up her back. She has this about 4-5 times a day. Usually she only has 1 bowel movement a day so this is very unusual. It also smells like spoiled milk. I called the hospital last night and they said to give her Pedialyte for 24 hours (just to help replace electrolytes). What should I do if the diarrhea continues? She's not fussy at all or acting sick. Thanks!

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P.M.

answers from Des Moines on

Have you noticed excessive drooling or a Ella chewy her fingers or toys. Generally, this is a sign of teething, the excess silva due teething can cause the diarrhea. This can last for several days. You may even notice a lack of appetite. If you do not notice any other symtomns such as fever, I would chaulk it up to good old fashion teething. Pedialyte will help with reduce to potential for dehydration. I think she is going to be fine, it seems to persist beyond a week, I would take her into her pediatrician.

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A.B.

answers from La Crosse on

Hi there. My mom always gave me jello that hadn't set. I used it for my little girl and it also worked (or seemed to). Good luck, it's never fun.

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J.M.

answers from Sheboygan on

Take your daughter in and have her tested for roto-virus. My daughter got it when she was about your daughter's age, and ended up in the hospital for 4 days because of major dehydration. When a small child has diarrhea for more than a 24 hour period, they are at risk for dehydration. If she does indeed have roto-virus, she can be treated and will be fine in a few days. Good luck!

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M.M.

answers from Milwaukee on

if it is c. difficile make sure you clean everything really well as it is VERY contagious. I'd continue with pedalyte until her diarrhea is done. I dont know how much you have her eating but there is always the BRAT diet which will help her solidify things. Banana, rice, applesauce, and toast. We just got over this with our daughter not that long ago. Most hospitals would rather that you didnt bring her in unless she becomes dehydrated, then you should go in immediately. You could do as one of the other mothers mentioned to take a sample of her diarrhea to get it tested. The diarrhea itself is nothing to be worried about it's just the body trying to get rid of some sort of virus or bacteria and should be allowed to do that. Just be very careful again for dehydration. If she becomes lethargic or her mouth and nose becomes very dry or her behaviors change dramatically then go to the doctor. If she is the same activity wise and humor but just has this diarrhea then just continue to offer her plenty to drink and eat and use some diaper cream to keep from chapping. Good luck.

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T.F.

answers from Green Bay on

Sounds like it may be C. difficile, so you may want to collect a sample and bring it in for testing. She may need to be on an antibiotic to clear things up. Good luck.

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H.H.

answers from Cedar Rapids on

My daughter had that last year and we tried to give her pedialyte but she refused to drink it. She was acting fine and would drink milk and some water, but She became dehydrated and we had to take her to the hospital and have a IV put the electrolytes back in her body. So my advice is do what ever it take to keep Pedialyte in her because that was the worse a horrible experience. The diarrhea will adventuallly stop on it's own. They say your body is getting rid of what it needs to get rid of so not to stop it with medication. Good Luck. Happy Holidays!

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A.C.

answers from Lansing on

how old is she? when my daughter was 9 months she had the same thing due to the mixture of breast and powdered milk.

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A.H.

answers from Des Moines on

Put the baby on a newer can of formula. Take note of the batch numbers on the cans you have been using, They may have had production contamination. Try to find the company's website and contact them. Sterilise the nipples and bottles. Put them in boiling water for at least 5 minutes and let them air dry. Be very sure the soap is washed off both the nipple and bottle.Sometime the public water systems are not working as they should, especially if your area is dealing with weathe problems. Local water may meet the safety standard for adults in good health but not a baby or ill adult or older child. Good luck

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B.C.

answers from Pocatello on

If your daughter has been on antibiotics that could cause the diarrhea. Its a side affect that doctors and pharmasists sometimes forget to tell parents. My doctor always told me to offer bananas, rice, and yogurt. All of these help reset the tummy so that the diarrhea stops and life gets back to normal. The bananas are actually better for her when they are over ripe, this makes them sweeter too. It always seemed to work when I used it but the first thing is to determine if she is on an antibiotic first because that will cause it the majority of the time.

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S.W.

answers from Lansing on

Hi M.,
First of all, I'm so sorry. Second I do not come with good news. Our "house" had the same thing last year. It started with our 3 year old and went to our twins (6 months at the time) It seems like they had it for 2 weeks and was just nasty. They seemed fine but every time the ate, they had a nasty diaper right after and sometimes in between. I took them into the ER and to the doctors many times and they said that they weren't dehidrated so they were fine and it was a bad "bug". It seemed like it lasted forever, but then it slowed and stopped. The only thing is that all 4 of our kids ended up with it, but the twins were the worst and had it the longes the other 2 were only a few days. So try to keep her hidrated and she should be fine, they said there was nothing they could give them to help it or make it stop.
Best of luck to you :o)

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B.W.

answers from Grand Rapids on

I'd take her in to an urgent care, or call your doc. 4days is way too long.
Better to get her in now, than wait till monday when she might have to stay for a few days :(

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J.O.

answers from Boise on

I see your daughter is right around nine months, this could also be related to teething, at least the start of teething, and like moms before said sometimes you just have to wait it out and keep her hydrated, if she becomes laethargic then you will want to rush her in, but is she is fine exceprt for the explosive diapers I would wait and let it run its course, it is gross and frustrating but most babies go through this at some point, I would cut back on the formula and give more pedialyte, if she drinks 6 oz's as her norm then give her 3oz's of formula and 3oz's of pedialyte, if it hasn't eased up any in three days then call your pediatrician again and let him know, Sorry there isn't more but sometimes these things just need to run there course.

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R.S.

answers from Appleton on

Push fluids like they said. That's the most important thing. It is probsbly just a bug that will pass with time. They can really hang around sometimes. I was told to give my yougest an antidiarrheal when he was quite small. I was suprised and was then told by sometone I trust a lot to not do it. You need to let their body flush itself out.
Something to watch for: strep throat. I was told that babies can't get strep and we found out that isn't true. My youngest got it as an infant and his only symptoms were diarrhea and 2 episodes of vomitting in the middle of the night. We discovered it was strep after I came down with it.
But, it's probably just a bug that will pass soon. Push those fluids and get medical attention if you have concerns. Better safe than sorry. Good luck.

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S.D.

answers from Boise on

I realize things have probably changed since my kids were little, but my second son had horrible diarrhea, and the doctor put him on the BRAT diet....bananas, applesauce, rice, and tea. Believe it or not, it worked! The combination provides the essential nutrients, while letting the digestive tract rest and build it's own fluora again. Let me know if it works...Granny Sanny

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S.H.

answers from Omaha on

Add a Y to the BRAT diet. Yogurt, it has the active cultures in it that also help get the intestines back on track. We just recently had a stomach bug go through and I use that diet every time and it really helps if you stick to it.
I have never used the Pedialyte and know some swear by it, but I have never used it on my kids ages 3,5,8, and 10 and stuck with mostly water or when nursing breastmilk and it was enough to keep them hydrated through days of diarrhea.
If she haasn't gotten better by Monday though I would say call into the doctor, they may want to see her to rule things out like others have posted.

S.

D.K.

answers from Sioux City on

I don't know the your child's age. It sounds like rodo(sp?) virus. It has to run it's course but you need to be careful she doesn't get dehydrated(sp?) begin the brat diet.

Brat diet:
Bananas
rice
apples or applesauce
toast

eat only those items until things start to firm up. Also provide lots of liquid. I used to drop the milk until the diapers were were more firm. If she begins to loose her energy and just wants to lay around take her in.

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C.D.

answers from Salt Lake City on

Helpful for me was baby carrots -- out of the jar, or you can cook your own and blend them up. Something about them is very soothing to the intestines.

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K.L.

answers from Salt Lake City on

I had a similar problem once, here's what my pediatrician suggested: 1/2 C rice cereal, 2C water, 1/4tsp salt. Feed that to her for a day or two and she should clear up. If shes on solid foods, rice, bananas, and/or crackers are also good. All of this is to solidify her.

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R.W.

answers from St. Cloud on

Both of my boys (five year old twins) had the flu in the last week. Only one of them had a fever, but they both puked a lot! My daughter (18 months) didn't throw up like they did, she just has had diarrhea (for four days now), and no fever. Your daughter may just have a mild flu bug.

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R.W.

answers from Jackson on

Have you given her any Dairy Products? Milk, Yogurt, Cheese? She may be lactose intolerant.

She might also have RotoVirus...who knows. She should probably be seen by a Dr.

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L.H.

answers from Des Moines on

My now 16 month old had a bout of this at about 9 months old. He acted completely fine but just had the most explosive diapers- we had to put a towel in his car seat because no diaper could contain it and if we had to go to the store or anything- it was just a mess. But, it started on a Monday- and at first he was having the same number of BMs/day (2 or 3) but as we approached Friday he was having like 6 of these explosive diapers- it was so much that through Friday night, I could hear him having a BM while he was sleeping and I'd have to go in and change his diaper in the night so it didn't make a mess or leave a rash. So Friday, Saturday and Sunday were the worst, then it settled down on Monday again and by Wednesday it was fine. During that time, we tried to give him easy things to eat (they call it the BRAT diet- Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and toast- please note applesauce not juice because juice can make it worse) in addition to his usual breastmilk and then we were told, I think, 2-3 oz. of pedialyte for every large diarrhea diaper changed. On the Friday-Sunday when it was at it's worst- we did the best we could to keep that amount of pedialyte in him (I don't think we actually did) but we were able to keep enough that he did not get dehydrated. One indicator we used was wet diapers- we would step up the pedialyte if it seemed like the number of wet diapers was dipping off. For example, at that time he needed a diaper change at mimimum every 3 hours- I know that Saturday we got concerned because he went 3 hours and stayed completely dry. Hope this helps and good luck!

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S.M.

answers from Lincoln on

M.,
I just went through this with both of my daughters (Ella too!) and my mother told me not to feed them ANYTHING until their stomach settled (at least 12 hrs) and then start the BRAT diet. It was so hard to do, especially when they are crying that they are hungry, but even if I only gave them a few crackers they would have diarrhea until I stopped. I guess mother knows best! :) I found it easiest if I didn't feed them from 7pm to 7am (since they were sleeping most of the time). If the diarrhea continues after that, or she gets dehydrated, I would take her to your doctor!

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M.M.

answers from Great Falls on

M., good advice from me who does not like using medication much, especially for babies, and which saved all such problems to all of my three kids when they were b, and forever, even for yourself:

to 'fight" diarrhea, please find in some store
WHOLE WALNUTS, not the ones cut and clened from shells, and then put in bags. WHOLE WALNUTS< shells and all. Get a bunch of them, and make sure you refill your supply whenever you're out.
Now, once you have them, break the shells, and take the nuts out. use the nuts for your food whichever way you wish,
but the SHELLS inside have a thin layer holding the nut in place, right? Do you know what I am talking about? You take all these inside linings (I do not even know what you'd call them), take all of them out of the shells, from inbetween the nuts, and keep them.
Now, for a little baby, like your dear angel, take about 5 of those inside linings (let's call them so), and put them in the little pot with about 1,5 cups of water. Put the pot on the stove, and heat it up so it starts ALMOST boiling, then turn the heat down, and stay near the pot, and look that it will be simmering there, not boiling. Once you get it quickly boiling for the start, do NOT let it boil anymore at all, only let it simmer there for about half an hour. Thus, you have a most wonderful harmless 'potion' that heals tummy aches and diarrheas in a most wonderful way.
Now, what you do is you need to let Emma drink it, but it does not taste anyhow, so she will not like it much, probably.
Let it cool down to a warm or lukewarm, and if the diarrhea is really bad, do not dilute, but once give the simmered walnutshell tea as it is. You may put a little bit of honey in it, just for a little better taste, but not much. She is so little she will not drink the whole cup rightaway, but slowly, she will, every time she will accept drinking bottle, just give her some. You will see it will work very soon.
If it's still not normal, give her next time not so strong walnutshell tea, but dilute it a little.
Also, while she will be healing, I wouldn't give her any sweet things.

:) to know how to solve the opposite problem, if she cannot go 'podi" longer than usually, then plum juice gets you 'loose' :).

I raised al my kids without any medication, in a very remote area in the Mountains. They are 25, 23, 17 now, all very healthy.

Good Day to you, girls, have a smile, and be good! :)

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M.K.

answers from Grand Rapids on

Hi M.,
I would definitely call your pediatrician! They will give you the best advice on what to do ;-)

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C.A.

answers from Boise on

The best thing for the runs is to remember "BRAT":Banannas, Rice, Applesause, Tea. These are easy to digest, and will help make the poo more solid. Give it a few days, and add a few foods at a time, incase it is something she has been eating. My daughter was constipated for a long time when she took the bottle. We gave her lots of fruit and juice to loosen it up, keep in mind that Juice will sometimes give a baby the runs. Stick to BRAT for now.

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S.F.

answers from Great Falls on

I know it sounds horrible but since there is no fever or other symptoms it is probably a virus and you just have to wait it out (that is what my docotr told me). My 23 month old daughter had the same thing for about 9 days before it finally finished. I took her to the doc and she said it just needed time to work through her system. My doctor suggested giving pedialyte and easily digested foods such as: applesauce, jello, soup broth, etc. Since your daughter is under a year you may want to have her seen just to be safe.

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