Teething and Loose Stools

My son ALWAYS got diarrhea when teething. He also ran a fever and got a rash on his face. I would keep an eye on it, and keep his liquids up so he doesnt get dehydrated, but wouldnt worry too much. Best of luck!

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Hi.
My son, who is two now, has gone through that each time the teeth seem ready to pop out. He's actually going through it right now with his 2 year molars. Very loose stool, and if his diet is bad during these days, it's "watery".
It seemed to last a couple days each time, then go away.
Good luck. I'd say it's normal for some little ones...
-J.

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We went through this as well... our doctor was similar in that he couldn't be certain that the two were connected, but in his experience they were. Essentially... swallowing too much bacteria-laden liquid was irritating the bowels. We just made sure to change his diapers frequently and watched for irritation. We also let the babysitter know so she wouldn't call each time it happened! She was great and reported that he didn't have a fever and wasn't "acting sick".

Try adding some rice cereal and bananas to his diet to "firm up" the stools. It worked for us!

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Although it is not impossible I was also wondering if you have changed his diet by adding some new foods. If so maybe go back to when you introduced solids originally and stick to the same diet for a few days so you can possibly rule out food triggers. Sometimes yogurt can make them go more often or different veggies and fruits, even a lot of dairy plays havoc on my stomach. It's worth a try through process of elimination try a bland diet (rice, bananas, apples, toast) for a few days and then reintroduce foods at a slow pace to see if the loose stools begin again.

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Hi A.,
Teething never seemed to affect my son's poops, but my friends daughter has horrible "blow outs" due to teething. Absolutely horrible. She was just here a couple of days ago and had to change her entire outfit due to a bad diaper!

Hang in there!! I'm sure it's no fun but imagine how those poor babies feel...getting teeth AND having massive diarrhea all the time. No fun.
L.

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My son went through this when he was about the same age and the loose stools lasted a long time (I don't remember exactly, but I want to say well over a month, maybe even 2 - 3 months until the molars came out). Then suddenly they stopped and he went back to normal. I felt that he was swallowing a lot of the drool and that is why he had those loose stools. I didn't really worry about it as he wasn't fussy and he was eating fine, gaining weight etc.

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Totally normal. This happened with all four of mine. It will go back to normal in a few days when the teething stops. I wouldn't worry about it unless it seems like it might be diarrhea and your baby might be dehydrated. From what you've said, that doesn't seem to be the case.

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My sons had fevers and loose bowels and drooling, but my oldest was a excessive drooler. My husband used to call him, Captain Drool. My last two didn't do that much drool, but the main thing with them was fevers. I learned recently that they are beginning to realize that fevers and teething are connected and the reason for that is, when the teeth are ready to push through, there is a hole there in the gums. The bacteria from foods and drinking gets in there and infect and the body's way to fight it off is through fevers. Drs were trying to tell me for years that there was no connection between those two and I was like you don't know anything and alot of them didn't have children. I knew my child and I know what comes with teething. I was interested in what one of the mothers was saying about the one of the immunizations that her son had caused the bowels to be loose. It sounded like to me that it was an allergic reaction to the immunizations. For you, keep an eye on it and if you need to do the test that she mentioned because I had to do that with my second son because he had a lot of loose bowels and it came out fine and nothing was wrong. You may have to check out with foods. If you are breastfeeding, see if it's what you're eating and check and see what you are feeding to me that may be causing the bowels to be loose. Remember fruits can make a person's bowels loose. You are a good mom for checking into it and keep going and maybe you'll find out but keep trying. My friend's daughter was having problems with something she was eating and it took a couple of years I think to find out that she was allergic to certain cooking oil so they have to buy a certain brand or something because her daughter could not take it. Then come to find out, the mother realized that her son and daughter were allergic to certain immunizations and they can't take that. You are doing a wonderful job checking and questioning. You'll always experience something new with each you have. God bless you and I know he's 8 months old, congrats on that and congrats you have two beautiful children that God has blessed you with.

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When my youngest was 4 months old, he started with very loose stools. They actually started right after he got the 2nd Rototeq vaccine. :( The doctor wanted us to let it go for a couple of weeks saying it happened sometimes. It didn't go away. Then he decided to do labwork which meant that every time my son had a poopy diaper, we had to use a kit that included a sterile spatula and containers and over the course of a couple of days collect a few different specimens to be sent to a lab. The doctor wanted to make sure there wasn't anything bacterial going on. In the meantime, he had me start my son on a teaspoon of applesauce with a half capsule of Culturel mixed into it. That was my son's first solids. Eventually it cleared up but it lasted a couple of months and then of course he got the last of the Rototeq vaccine at 6 months which messed him up again for another month or so. It was completely obvious that was what caused it for him and our situation had to be reported to the manufacturer.

I would see if the doctor's feels doing the labwork on his stools are necessary just to make sure there isn't anything bacterial going on. It's better to be safe than sorry. Also, I would have to look at the immunization scheduler again but has he gotten any new vaccines or have you tried any new foods on him? Ask the doctor about Culturel as well. Maybe he just needs some probiotics...only mix it with applesauce if you do it. Some other things can negate the probiotics. Check what exactly they want you to use as far as brand and amount. Our doctor had me just get the adult box and then I separated the capsules and measured the capsule halves so each had an equal amount in it. I put one half in the applesauce and the other in a container for next time. I think it was once a day but it's been a while.

Good luck.

L.

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Hi A.,
The same thing happened to my son - now 3.5yrs. He actually got blisters as the stools were so offensive. It actually would last for 2 days or so at a time and then stop. He only had the one bout of blisters as I started lathering desitin after this at every diaper change. My Pediatrician didn't think it was related but I know a few mums who swear by it.

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Yes, this is common and it happened to my son somewhat as well. Freuqent changing helps and liberal use of diaper cream to prevent a rash is better than having to treat it. My son got his first bad diaper rash when he was first teething. There are tons of good diaper creams out there but in my expereince the clear vasaline like ones (A and D ointment, Balmex skin protect, plain old petroleum jelly, etc.) make a barrier to prevent a rash and the white zinc oxide type ones (Balmex, Butt paste, etc)are better for treating it.

very common, just keep hydrating child.