Son with Diarrhea

Don't give him medicine! He's not old enough. My daughter had Rhotovirus at that age, and she had diarhea for 1 whole month. You have to keep him hydrated, and you might switch to bland foods for a while. Your doctor will probably tell you the same. Good luck!

I was always told that there's nothing you can give a child and that you needed to let it run it's course. I was even scolded by a dr. once for taking immodium. He said it's our bodies natural way of trying to get rid of something and that we shouldn't stop that. Now whether that is always convenient or possible is another story.

1. B.R.A.T. diet
2. No sugars or juices or dairy.
3. Breast milk only (or formula) no cow's milk.
4. Probiotics...a must!
5. Plain yoguart...no sugar or fruits added.
(Dannon has a regular fat one...low fat and fat free is not the best).
6. Pedialyte...try to find one without artificial sweeteners.
If you make your own...(I saw a recipe on one of your posts)... use natural sea salt.

Please let us know what works for you!

It is something that just has to run its course. You can give him some Pedialite and mix it with like Sprite or 7-Up. They actually did this in the ER when my daughter was like 6-7 months old. She had diarrhea for like 7 days when I took her. This is what they gave her and told me that it was fine to mix it this way just so she would drink it and the soda would help her stomach feel better. You can put some Vaseline on his bottom to keep him from getting a rash or chaffing. Try to keep him as comfortable as possible. I hope this helps!

Our pediatrician told me that unless dehydration is imminent to let it run its course. As long as he's urinating, and the urine is not dark, he's not dehydrating. Bump up his fluid intake with Pedialyte if he'll take it. My daughter wouldn't take Pedialyte, and when I tasted it, I understood why - even with the fruit flavoring added, it's not tasty. We gave her Gatorade cut half and half with water. Don't give a baby straight Gatorade - it's very high in salt, since it's designed to replace not only water, but salt lost through excessive sweating.
Diarrhea and vomiting are the body's way of trying to quickly get rid of something in the digestive tract that doesn't belong there.
He recommended Immodium for really severe diarrhea, but I don't recall the dose for little ones.

Don't give your son Immodium. Wait until you hear from your doctor. He will be able to recommend something safer either over the counter or give you a prescription.

You do have to let it run its course, but there's definitely things you can do to make that happen quickly. Lactose free formula/milk will help a lot, since his body has lost the enzyme that breaks down the lactose in dairy products. Babies usually don't want to give up their bottles of milk even when they're sick and can't tolerate them! Ask your pediatrician if they have a sample size can on hand that you can pick up since you won't need much. When he's back to normal you can gradually start the regular formula/milk again and the rest of his diet. Also the BRATS diet works great, which for a 7-month-old could easily include the bananas, applesauce, and rice cereal, but he needs mostly fluids and less solids to help his digestive tract start digesting everything again. Yogurt with the live active cultures does help, too. Hang in there........ it will soon pass after you try this!

Absolutely not! Liquids only. Doctor should see him if 3 or more bouts. Babies dehydrate quickly.

I would let it run its course. To my understanding you are not suppose to give a child imodium. My daughter had just turned two when she got really sick with vomitting and diarrhea. The doctors told me to give her nothing. The best you can do is keep them hydrated. (Thats where we ran into problems, she was vomitting and pooping so much that she dehydrated very quickly and ended up in the hospital for 3 days on IV fluids...even in the hospital..no meds except for fever reduction) I think the rule is no wet diaper in 8-12 hours take them in. In an attempt to keep my daughter hydrated we started using a syringe 5ml of water/pedialite every 15minutes, squirting the liquid to the back of the throat. Hopefully you will never have to do this with your little one. Hope he feels better soon. ~M

I have tried the yogurt and it does work. I also fed her bananas to help stop her up.

i have not tried imodium, but as long as you are giving him pedialite or gatorade he will be fine. i think you just let it run its corse and give pleanty of liquids so he does not get dehidrated. give him bananas and it may help to harden up his stools. good luck hope it helps

My doctor told me not to give my son any medicine to stop diarrhea & he was 2 years old. Most of the time it just needs to run it's course. I would definitely not give it to a baby. Do make sure he gets plenty of fluids, especially pedialyte. You do not want him to get dehydrated & have to go to the hospital & be put on an iv. My son felt so sick he wouldn't drink it & when he did it caused more diarrhea. He got dehydrated, of course. If he won't drink much, give just a little bit at a time every 5 minutes if you have to. Treat diaper rash with every change with a good ointment. I used Boudreaux's Butt Paste or A&D. I did give my son yogurt. It's supposed to help replace the good bacterias in the intestines that are lost when they have diarrhea. This can also help prevent a yeast diaper rash. Don't know if your son is old enough for yogurt yet, but they do have a brand for babies, called YoBaby. If the diarrhea persists you should take him to the doctor & they may want to do some tests to see if it's something more than a stomach bug. Hope your little man gets better soon.

The biggest concern with diarrhea is dehydration. Pedialyte is perfect for this, or you can make a home recipe. I got this one from "Baby 411" by Denise Fields:

1 cup water
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp jello powder, if desired (for flavor)

Stir until everything is in suspension. I never added jello powder, and my infant drank it down just fine. This can save you a lot of time and money. To make a pint, just double amounts; to make a quart, multiply by four. Some people would rather buy Pedialyte because it has a few other things added to it, but my husband (a registered nurse for five years) says this recipe is the basic survival hydration recipe and is just fine for keeping fluids up during bouts of diarrhea. So you would give a bottle or two intermittently with breast milk or formula.

Also, to avoid serious diaper rash from the diarrhea, Boudreaux's butt paste and a dusting of baby powder is messy, but very effective. :)

Bananas should help, & give him pediolite (sp?) too. & Vaseline on his little rear to protect the skin from rash. Don't give him any meds without consulting your doctor.

Have you tried the BRAT diet - bananas, apples, rice and toast? They are the primary things you should feed a child with diarrhea to help settle his stomach, but continue to encourage fluids.

A good thing to remember is BRAT - bananas, rice, apple, & toast. A good "dosing" of those usually will help to bring a bout with diarrhea under control.

I suspect that the doctor will recommend against Immodium - it can cause dehydration, even in adults. I have used a product called Culturelle. It is a capsule filled with powder that contains probiotics - good bacteria - to restore the balance in the digestive tract. I'm not sure if you can use it on a child this young, but I can't see why not. It is just good bacteria. You open up the capsule and dissolve the powder in juice. You may have to ask your pharmacist about it. It's not perscription, but, for some reason, they often keep it behind the counter in the pharmacy.

In the meantime just make sure he is getting plenty of fluids and keep his bottom well protected or you will also be dealing with bad diaper rash.

Good Luck!

All I know is to try to continue getting him to drink - that's key that he gets enough liquid to replenish what he's losing. And also to give him a drink called PediaLite. Get one that is clear (not colored) as if he starts throwing up it will be orange/purple/etc colored & hard to get clean! Take a sip of it yourself to see what it's like bc I've always had trouble getting my 2 12 yr old to drink that stuff - I think it doesn't taste so great. I've also given him regular Gatorade, but this has sugar & PediaLite is supposed to be better for them. Goodluck!

try some pediolite. you can get it at the store where baby formulas are at. it does help. C.

We just went through this with a 4 month old and I took him in just to be sure he was not getting dehydrated. He was having a dirty diaper either during a bottle or directly after. His had lasted 7 days and when we went to the doctors office he recommended pedilyte or the Gerber brand which is cheaper and he said most kids liked better, substituted for water in his formula if he wouldn't take it alone. He is already on lactose free formula so that helped and I just made his bottles half strength. He also recommended Acidophilus or Culturelle for Kids. It has the probiotics that can help with their digestive system. We got the Culturelle and after 2 days on it his diarrhea is pretty much gone.

Good luck and I hope your baby feels better soon!