BRAT Diet

Hi--My kids aren't fans of the BRAT diet, either. I usually just let their instincts guide them on what they want to eat. But the reason I responded to your request was that last time my son got sick I bought some acidopholous tablets made for kids. That seemed to work. I know they sell them at Whole Foods and at co-ops. Good luck!

Poor baby, will he eat some yogurt? That could help.

I also always use Townhouse crackers instead of toast when my little guy has an upset stomach.

My friend use to make chicken noodle soup then drain the broth and give that to her toddlers and they loved it. I can't see why a little meat would hurt. Just find some that isn't to fatty or greasy. Lunch meat would probaly work good. How about animal crackers or gold fish crackers?

I'm not sure, but perhaps some chicken, nothing with a lot of seasoning, but I doubt that having a little protein would hurt! Does he like noodles? Maybe chicken noodle soup? Poor baby! He should pretty much immune to everything now.

Hang in there!

I second the ACIDOPHILUS suggestion. Whenever my daughter has diarrhea for whatever reason we add ACIDOPHILUS to her diet. I buy it at Walgreens or Walmart (you can buy packets from the pharmacist - no prescription necessary) and add it to whatever he is eating or just buy capsules, break them open and use it that way.

Here's a link to find out more about it:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T080400.asp

Our pedi suggested it to us and it really works. Will he eat apple pieces as an alternative to applesauce? How about a smoothie of yogurt and bananas? My daughter hates rice too so no help there.

We've been there! A couple tips: Get chicken rice soup and drain the juice. I've also used Cream of Rice cereal and mixed it with baby food meat. You could do that with regular rice and maybe even baby food rice cereal. I've mixed the baby rice cereal with anything I could think of. Some low fat bland meat did not seem to make my 18 month old have any problems. Diary and high fat things did though. Also, my doctor explained that you can count crackers as toast. Saltines seemed to work really well. They have them as Oyster crakers as well. My son loves cut up apples, but I noticed those seemed to go through him only as well as he chewed them up. Still, I'd give it a try.

Good luck!

One thing that works great for my kids is just to cut out the milk and push the juice. Milk can make the diarrhea worse but the juice helps. (just not prune or pear juice :o)
Good luck,
J.

The Brat diet helps alot when it come to recovery from the stomach flu...when they have been throwing up alot. If the issue is loose stools then the intestinal bacteria balance has been thrown off and you need to replace the "good" bacteria. This goes esp when they have been on antibiotics. Plain yogurt is the best way to replace that (one a day). Try to eliminate sugar as much as possible i.e. juice, jello, etc because this accelerates loose stools in little ones especially (thats why they recommend juice for constipation in kids). There are some other homeopathic ways of replacing, but I have never had any luck with picky toddlers. good luck!

The most important thing with diarrhea is that he stay hydrated. Feed him whatever he wants to eat even cheese : ) That diet is not a cure for diarrhea it is just a very bland soothing diet to feed sick kids. If he is on an antibiotic that could be the real source of the diarrhea and in that case it is just a waiting game and something you live through. Good Luck.

Check into Gluten Intolerance. This is a bigger issue than doctors think. If this looks like an issue for you try gluten-free. Eliminate anything that contains wheat, rye, barley and oats...this is tricky...but your son can eat the meat he loves! My daughter is gluten intolerant and had all the symptoms and issues you have listed above plus a few. She is gluten intolerant. IF this is a issue and not addressed can have serious complications down the road.

Check it out here...

http://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodid=1422&p_ca...

If you want additional help please contact me.
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Great advice Tina!! I wanted to add a bit to that. The BEST kind of yogurt is homemade. It has sssooooooooooooooo many more of those good bacteria. Store bought yogurt is fermented for 4 hours and thickened...and sweetend with sugar that feeds bad bacteria. Homemade can be fermented up to 24...the longer you go the more cultures. You can get a yogurt maker from bed bath and beyond (order in store or online) for like $15.00. Some of those kitchen stores carry a model that lets you make little individual cups. Flavor it with fresh fruit or even canned packed in juice. Pineapple coconut is my favorite. Tip: Fresh pineapple has bromelain which is a natural anti-inflammatory. For extra sweetness add Stevia Plus www.sweetleaf.com instead of sugar...can get it at walmart by the artificial junk and reg sugars. (this stuff has Fructo-oligosaccharides...which further feed good gut bacteria)

R.-

I don't have a great suggestion for you - however, I will say that my daughter was the same - not real happy with BRAT or the lack of variety - but it was a big mistake for her to try anything else too soon. Just made for more diarrhea. Also, I'm sure you know to keep away from any/all dairy/milk for at least a week? Our MD told us that, also a big deal for my daughter, as she was really into cheese, cottage cheese, and milk at the time.

Good luck1
T.

When my kids both had the rota virus and were on the brat diet it was hard too. My son loves me also and the doctor had said cook chicken breast was okay for them. So, I cooked up a few and just warmed them up as needed. Have you tried cooking rice and then putting some like cream of chicken soup in it. I used to mix the rice and soup together and then take and cut up the chicken breast and feed my son a bite of chicken with a little bit of the rice on the spoon as well to get him to at least eat a little of it. I also let my kids snack on crackers (ritz mostly and also goldfish crackers) through out the day to help keep something absorbent in their stomachs. Dry cereal was another good snack that I used and to this day they eat it cereal all the time dry. We now use it as a snack instead of eating chips or junk food. Instead of apple sauce have you tried cutting up an apple into pieces and letting him eat it that way?? Another thing I had done before also was buying some jars of bananas (baby food) and spreading in on toast instead of using butter or jelly and the kids really liked that. Stick with some pedialyte and try to avoid juice and milk when possible. Another thing you could try that my doctor had recommended to me was a little 7up or sprite to drink. Well, I hope some of this may help ya out. Its tough seeing kids sick. My son has been sick for over a month now too between sinus infection, ear infection, the flu, pneominia. On top of it he has asthma so its made it harder for him. But, we take it a day at a time. Thats all we can really do. I hope your little guy gets better soon.

Wow...poor little guy...and mom too. I know how frustrating it is when our babies are sick. I was also put on the BRAT diet recently. As a 40 year old woman I found it to be very frustrating so I can imagine how your little guy must feel. I had to modify it for myself too. I just stayed as bland and absorbant as possible. Even though they said to stay away from dairy...I found that a simple cheese sandwhich settled very nicely for me. Best of luck with this and I hope he is feeling better soon. God bless.

Our pediatrician recommends the 'hangover' diet. Greasy foods - bacon, eggs, french toast, etc. Will your son eat those?

We just went through this as well...it is no fun. We actually kept our son from eating as advised by the ER nurse. Little did we know that would make it worse. Yogurt is great for this, it helps fight the bateria. Once we gave our son food, we introduced a little at a time, we gave him cheese crumbles, yogurt and plenty of it, toast, pancakes, and lots of starchy foods like potatos, carrots, oatmeal. I was told by the Urgent care nurse that protein is good as well along with starchy foods. Good luck, our bout of diarrhea lasted about a week.