Toddler with Diarrhea

Renia,

Does Philip drink Milk?? If so you should consider switching to Soy, my son was a premie suffered many digestive problems.

I finally listen to a friend a switched; no more digestive, ear, ezcema, or breathing problems!!!

I'm a serious skeptic so this was really hard for me but good news it works and it tastes good too. I use the less expensive brand usally the Wal-Mart brand, they have choc., vanilla & plain.

You said he had diarrhea, but then you said one stinky movement every other day. It could be just the stress of having a new baby in the house, but if he's only have a movement every other day then that's not diarrhea.

Give him soup, it happened to my son. Dr told me to feed him soup. So I did, the diarrhea went away in 2 days. Good luck.
If that doesn't work, I would have him at the Dr's ofc, he can
become dehydrated.

Hi my name is M. D. Could it be that he is cutting his two year molars. Check that might be giving him the diarrhea.

my niece had the same problem. turns out it was to much fruit that was doing it. we drastically cut down on her fruit intake. just what was recommeded by the food pramid for that age. it cleared up the problem. hope this helps.

Something is causing the diarrhea. I would back him off all usual foods and go with bland diet - crackers, dry toast, clear fluids (not soda!), mashed bananas. You might even try some Pedialyte. After a day or two, start introducing one or two items at a time. Pasta (no sauce at first). Take it easy on the meats.

If the diarrhea comes back, look at the last foods introduced. You might want to try some yogurt with the live cultures. He might be missing one of the naturally occuring ones (bacteria) in his digestive tract. Has he recently undergone an antibiotic treatment? It may have killed off the bacteria.

I've had six children and have had this happen on occasion. They are grown and fine now!

Good luck! Remember if all this doesn't help, see his pediatrician.

First advice, stop giving him apples, applesauce and apple juice, for one week, if diarrhea does not stop after that, go on the brat diet, bananas, rice or rice cereal, applesauce (no sugar added) and dry toast, also give him pedialyte to keep him hydrated. My son refuses to eat rice so I would bake a potatoe and cut the skin off and give him 1/4 of the potatoe along with a banana. Check about his 2 yoa molers. Hope this helps!

My second child had diarrhea for over a year when she was a toddler. I had to collect samples of poop and mix measured amounts in "test tube" type things for my doctor to run tests. All of the tests came out normal and my doctor said that "loose stools" might just be normal for her. More than a year after this all started, she took an antibiotic for something else and the diarrhea cleared up and has been normal ever since. (she is now 6 years old) It appears that she must have had some bacterial problem eventhough it did not show up on the tests. Something is causing it. Keep looking. Good luck!

first i need to know what kind of food are u giving this child. well with experiance dont give him that much beef. no pork. lots of fruit. bananas especally. lots of veg. not much meat portions at all. i have found out hot dogs are getting people sick. if u feed this child any cold foods. cook it first. sandwich meat. hot dogs. etc. when the child has direa. give gaterade, crackers, and bananas, no solid foods. know if this stuff dont help. take the child to the dr. there might be somthing serious wrong. hope all goes well.

What about juice, soda pop, coolaid? There is a lot of sugar in those items. Could be citrus fruit. I work with little people every day that is the same age as your child. Every time we have mandarine organges or something with tomato sauce in it I see it the next day....oh my! Im thinking that it is a food allergy or sensitivity at least. Does it cause a rash? Does your child complain of an upset tummy? Does your child have sensitive skin? I have seen children break out around thier mouth when they eat ranch dressing or ketchup.
Just some things to think about.

SWITCH DAYCARES!!!!!!
You should contact your doctor to have a test, but there is a virus that is carried in daycare and schools. It comes from less that sanitary conditions and the whole place should be shut down and be fumigated. After years of daycare woes I doubt I am far from right. It has always come back to some worker not washing their hands prooperly between children/diaper changes. Or, worse yet handeling food.

Wht do you suspect it's diary products? There are so many other "allergens" it could be.... different grains, fruits, eggs. It's a bear to try and figure it out.... Good luck!

Try removing all wheat products, but do not re-introduce milk products until you know what it is. He may have Celiac disease. Vanilla Rice Dream is a good product for those alergic to lactose. Anne

There is a parasite of the bowel called giardea. It produces very fowl smelling stools. It is highly contagious and he probably got it from someone in daycare. Good luck !

D.

Is he drinking straight applejuice or any juices? My 2yo little boy did the same thing. We finally figured out that it was because we were giving him straight juice. We put about half water and half juice now and NO problems. He also loves raisins and I had to limit the amount of raisins that he has. Good Luck.

is he allergic to wheat? that is exactly what happens to my JDBug when she had wheat or ANYTHING with GLUTEN in it... she may have a wheat or gluten allergy.... it's worth investigating....

good luck!!!

H.
Mama to Jaidyn

My second daughter has a very sensitive system and anything that makes a normal person regular makes her loose/diarrhea: peaches, raisins, plums, pears, prunes, apple sauce, spinach, ect. So maybe look at the dc notes and see if he is eating anything like that on those days. Maybe he just has a sensitive system and more fibery fruits and vegs would be better: bananas, beans,ect. Good luck!

Hi R.,

First congrats on your new bundle of joy!

I was doing some searning on diahhrea and this is what I found:

Diarrhea is not usually harmful, but it can become dangerous or signal a more serious problem. You should see the doctor if you experience any of the following:

diarrhea for more than 3 days
severe pain in the abdomen or rectum
a fever of 102 degrees or higher
blood in your stool or black, tarry stools
signs of dehydration

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is There Any Food That Can Stop Diarrhea?
There is no food that can stop diarrhea; however, there is food that you should avoid when you have diarrhea. This includes:

Milk and milk products, such as ice cream or cheese
High-fat or greasy foods, such as fried foods
Very sweet foods, such as cakes and cookies
Foods that have a lot of fiber, such as citrus fruits.

It is best to avoid milk and other dairy products for 7 to 10 days after the diarrhea improves; a mild case of lactose intolerance often follows cases of diarrhea.

As you recover from diarrhea, the best foods to start eating are easily digested, high-carbohydrate foods such as boiled potatoes, plain rice, crackers, and toast.

For children, the pediatrician may recommend what is sometimes referred to as the BRAT diet, which consists of:

Bananas
Rice
Applesauce
Toast.

What Happens If the Diarrhea Does Not Stop?
If the diarrhea does not stop after three days, call your healthcare provider. Call your healthcare provider sooner if you have:

Severe pain in the abdomen or rectum
A fever of 102 degrees Fahrenheit or higher
Blood in the stool
Signs of dehydration.

If your child has diarrhea for more than 24 hours, call your child's healthcare provider. You should also call your child's healthcare provider if your child has any of the following:

Stools containing blood or pus (or black stools)
A temperature above 101.4 degrees Fahrenheit
Signs of dehydration, such as:

Dry mouth and tongue
No tears when crying
No wet diapers for three hours or more
Sunken abdomen, eyes, or cheeks
High fever
Listlessness or irritability
Skin that does not flatten when pinched and released.

Hope this is helpful...
W. Q

What you are describing does not sound like diarrhea to me. Diarrhea is frequent (several times in a day) and extremely loose. What you are describing is a stinky bowel movement. If it is truly diarrhea, he should be taken to the doctor.

I had that happen with my first child and her doctor told mw to try the brat diet and it cleared it up for her in like less than 2 days. The brat diet consists of b.- bread, r.- rice, a.- apples or apple hulls, & t.- toast. It worked for her like i said and i hope it works for your child also. Good luck!!!

have you tested for celiac? It's a gluten/wheat intollerance. In most cases, it's just a change in diet.

Have you tried increasing his fiber intake, with fresh vegetables and whole grain breads & cereals? That should help "bulk him up" and regulate him to everyday. Also, too much fruit juices and sugary foods could be the culprit. Get him trained to enjoy plain water while he's young and you wont have as much of an issue when he gets older. The fresh water will also flush his system and help to remove the toxins in his bowel. Be careful of the Gatorade tho, it contains an extreme amount of sodium, and you could be trading one problem for another...

At 8 months old teething (the big molars) can also be the culprit.This is not a hand in hand mind you, but over the years many a mother has had this association between the two. What is most important is to try to remember when the onset of the problem began and start there. There are many types of bactiria based food poisoning that can remain in the system and cause problems for a long long time in people and diarrhea is a sign to take notice of and be concerned. A simple fecal float test will confirm/eliminate this concern and should be done immediately as this can cause serious long term problems.
Other culprits can be cleaning products used on his pacifier/toys, the floor he crawls around on.
If you introduced foods to him such as fruits, vegtables, prunes, beets etc. Although good for them should be given in moderation and in conjunction with a binding food such as bananas, (eggs, although not recommended for this young age), cheese. Ice tea will also cause diarrhea. Fried foods such as french fries or any fast foods that may have been prepared in oil that has not been changed can cause this at any age but especially in very young children.
If he is still on formula, it may be time to slow that down and increase solid foods as this could be contributing to the problem and his body may be ready for more digesting.And not to cause worry, but hands that are not washed diligently at a daycare and go from one diaper change to another can cause the problem as well, just something to think about. Please talk to your doctor immediately as a month is a long time to go without identifying the cause. Diarrhea can be a very debilitating condition that can cause so many other health issues. JF

You may want to try acidophilus (you can get it at GNC). The brand I like to use is Kyo-Dophilus. I like it because it doesn't have to be refrigerated. Acidophilus is bacteria that lives in everyone's gut. It help us digest food, and you lose them if you are on antibiotics. The dose for a 2 yr old is 1/2 of a dose for an adult. What the body doesn't use, it will just dispose of. I give it to my son with Gatoraid, but you can just sprinkle it on food. When my son gets diarrhea I also give him physillum (Metamusel). It helps both constipation and diarrhea. The physillum helps balances the amount of water in your gut for diarreah, and gives your digestion track fiber to help with constipation. I hope this helps...I know it doesn't solve why it is happening. (I wish this site had spell check...forgive my misspelled words)

I also went thru something like this when my daughter was smaller (I think she was closer to 3 at the time). We tried eleminating things from her diet to see if it was a food allergy.

Turns out the little villi things in her intestines don't work quite the way they should. They absorb sugars about twice as fast as protiens, carbs, vitamins or any other thing. The doctors at first told me she was diabetic because her levels kept going off the charts after she would eat, then bottom out to a more normal level after a few hours. Even a glass of milk would set her off to a certain degree.

If your child tends to get a bit more hyper then the other kids after eating, you may want to check for diabetes with a simple test strip that you pee on. (this doesn't mean your child has diabetes, but can indicate what foods get absorbed first) It might be a clue to something that is totally unexpected. When the body has more sugar than anything else being absorbed, it will give ya diarrhea.

The thing my daughter has learned to do about her problem is eat something very high in protien (plain beef jerkey or a piece of meat) then wait about 10 min before eating a normal meal. The protiens at first kinda gear up her intestines to grabbing more protiens before the sugars. (she does still eat things that are lower in sugar.. but not to the point of sugar free diet)

I don't know how common my daughter's problem is.. I don't know if it might be your son's problem.. but doing a few at home checks with test strips doesn't cost much and can save you years of hyperactive and ADD problems as well as the bathroom problems. My suggestion is invest in a small package of test strips and try one before and directly after and then a half hour after eating (might need to do this over more than one meal.. kids don't go potty on demand like adults) A normal healthy digestive system shouldn't change much after eating.. if your child happens to be digesting the wrong things first, it will show a spike on the test strip.

I hope that all turns out well for you and your son. God Bless.

Hi, R.,

Doctors are not trained much in nutritional issues - it's a much overlooked part of their medical training. So, if it were me, I'd take him to see a dietitian or nutritionist. The diarrhea is a problem for more reasons than potty training. When a person gets diarrhea, food moves through the body too quickly for nutrients to be properly absorbed. Diarrhea also dehydrates the body, of course, which is more serious for little ones than the rest of us and in severe or prolonged cases can be very serious. So you definitely need to see someone who specializes in nutritional health and address this as soon as you can.

Good luck.
L.

I had the same problem with my daughter when we were trying to potty train her. She had a real hangup with pooping on the potty and would hoard it. Because of that, she would have yucky diarrhea every other day. Once she got comfortable with going poop on the potty, the diarrhea stopped. I don't know how far you are into the potty training process, but that could be a possibility. Good luck to you, I know it can be frustrating!

Try sprinkling acidophilous (good bacteria for the colon) on his food.

We had a LOT of problems like this and it works! I sprinkle it on my son's food whenever we take antibiotics now to stop diarrhea before it starts.

Good thing is, it's natural, not a drug. Won't clog him up unnaturally. It simply replaces the good bacteria in the intestinal tract. We use "Culturelle" and you can find it in Walmart. Get the capsule form whatever brand you buy because you want to sprinkle it over the food if he can't swallow pills.

Ask your doctor before trying anything new, but I'll bet he says "couldn't hurt."

Has your toddler been on antibiotics? I would give yogurt try. It may be that his system needs the probiotics whether he's been on antibiotics or not.

Has your toddler cut his two year old molars?

If not; this could be the culprit. They can cause a runny foul smelling diarrhea off and on until they are cut.