14 Month Old with over 2 Months of Diarrhea

Would you feel better with a second opinion? We saw a pediatric GI specialist (for my 10 year old) at St. Luke's - Dr. Jerry Rosenblum. We had a good experience with him. The other doctor in the office is Dr. Elizabeth Utterson. We have never seen her. The office is called Children's Gastroenterology of St. Louis. ###-###-####. My pediatrician gave us their name.

There are many reasons this could be happening. Allergies are most likely, and dairy and wheat seem to be two of the main culprits with symptoms like those. Another possibility could be Crohn's disease. But try taking out diary and wheat and see what happens.

One of my neighbors had two daughters diagnosed with "toddlers diarrhea", and they ended up both being allergic to wheat. When she found that out, she switched their diets immediately, and within a week, they were so much better.

Good luck!

Have you introduced something new into her diet in the last 2 months that she could be having a reaction to? My first thought would be an allergy of some sort. You could try taking one thing at a time out of her diet and see if it has any positive effect. I would also think about adding some yogurt to her diet..that can replace the bacteria that diarrehea washes out of the intestines.
One other thought..is your daughter on any medications of any sort that could be causing this?? A good person to check this out with would be your pharmacist...they know more about side effects of medications than your doctor normally would.
My gut feeling is that your Doctor knows what he/she is talking about. If they aren't concerned right now...I would relax a little...be vigilant..but...do not panic. Her lack of weight gain is more than likely due to the fact that she is just really starting to get active...walking and crawling a lot more...burning those calories.
Good luck!!
R. Ann

Diarrhea is never a good thing and it sounds like you are trusting your "mommy instinct" by knowing that your concern should not be dismissed. Constant diarrhea not only has the potential for causing dehydration but is likely very uncomfortable for your daughter. I would seek a second opinion from either another pediatrician or a GI doctor as diarrhea is often caused by a disruption to the digestive system. I wouldn't let it go. Good luck!

It might be alergies to food. Was there anything new added to her diet?

I didn't know I had a milk allergy until I was in my 30's, now I know that if I stay off milk I'll have normal bowel movement's otherwise it's not more frequent, but very liquid.
I agree with the day care provider, milk does affect people differently, I knew a child who was taken off milk because he fell asleep in strange places, totally different when off milk. Another mom decided to do the same and he went from someone that would be diagnosed with ADHD today to a focused child who didn't have constant movement. Also when my daughter was in Elementary school she had stomach ache's every day at lunchtime, when she stopped cereal every morning this stopped. Whether it's lactose or true allergies Milk is a good place to start, I'd bet the doctor changed her over at 1, 2 months ago!!

It sounds like the rotovirus.I would ask the Dr.to rule that out. Good luck and hope she heals soon.

We had the same thing with our daughter when she was 11 months old. We had started switching her from formula (regular) to whole milk and that's when our problems started. She had been eating yogurt and cheese for quite some time, so we did not think it could be the milk, but we switched her to soy milk and it went away within a day! She became a different person! It was amazing. She was never sensitive to breast milk or regular formula when she was an infant, but when we switched her to whole milk, she just couldn't tolerate it. Something about the proteins found in whole milk that is not in other products. Our ped didn't think switching would really help, but it wound up being the exact thing she needed. She is 3 1/2 now and we switched her onto 2% when she was 2 and she's been fine. She eats tons of yogurt and cheese and is extremely healthy. Good luck!

This happened to both of my daughters at around a year of age. We discovered that taking them off of whole milk and going to soy was the key. It was a very frustrating experience when it happened to the older one because she was getting sent home from daycare constantly. It only took a couple of days for the soy milk to do the trick. Her lactose intolerance wasn't significant enough for us to take away cheese or yogurt, though we did discover that we had to limit ice cream.

Shop around for a soy milk with a higher fat content...it takes a little looking but I discovered a store brand that fit the bill.

Has the frequency changed or just the consistency? We had loose stools when my son was over one year old for probably a year. However, the frequency did not change. We had him tested as well. They found nothing. No other symptoms. He was happy and healthy otherwise. I would be more concerned if he had been losing weight. I would also be concerned if the frequency had dramatically increased. This later resolved itself.

You might try adding a probiotic to her diet--probiotics are the good bacteria that are critical to the functioning of the digestive system--they help to break down food, make vitamins, and boost/balance the immune system. You can buy them in capsules and sprinkle on food or mix in juice (they're tasteless.)

We've found supplementing with probiotics are especially beneficial in cases of diarrhea or constipation, and after you or your child has taken an antibiotic or has been sick.

All the best to you!

T.

Have you had her tested for food allergies or Celiac Disease?

Hi S.,

My oldest son had constant diarrhea for a long time when he was about 2 also. We took him to the doctor and they kept saying he just had a virus. Finally I took him to a different doctor and she felt that he had giardia. So she put him on the medication while we waited for the results of the fecal test. The results were negative but within 12 hours of taking the medicine, I could tell a huge difference in his diarrhea. He must have had a parasite that responded to the giardia medicine.

Maybe going to a different doctor will bring a new perspective and help your little one start feeling better very soon.

A.

I had this 19 years ago with my daughter. I got fed up and switched to a new peditrician and she took her off all food with preseratives and dyes and in 3 DAYS she was so much better. Fresh or frozen, no ketchup, spaghetti sauce (anything with dyes). It can't hurt to try this. We did try the whole soy milk thing too but that wasn't it. She is 20 years old and totally fine now.

S., We've been dealing with this same issue for over two years now with my son. I woul definately go to a GI Dr. My Ped. was telling me the same thing. But I kept taking him back. Finally I saw a different Ped. in the office and she did a stomach x-ray and determined that he was literally full of poop. She said there wasn't even room for air. This causing leakage (diarraha). So we started giving him Miralax every single day for a month. Then we stopped the Miralax to see how he'd be. But unforatunely it's right back to the same stuff after a week. So I finally got him into a GI Dr. at Children's Mercy. She ran some blood work and has me still doing the Miralax in a higher dose for three months. Were suppose to go back next month for further testing since the blood work all came back fine.

It's very frustrating not knowing what's going on with our child. And I hate him being on Miralax so much but it's the only thing that keeps him somewhat confortable. Our Ped. was telling me he was drinking to much juice too and my son doesn't drink it either. We do have to limit his milk intake now to only 16 oz a day.

Good luck with everything.

at what age did you switch her to dairy products? Through my childcare services, I've seen children with diarrhea &/or vomiting issues due to dairy allergies...not at the time of the switchover, but well after - as in one child began 4 months later. The dr explained that it simply took that time period to buildup in the child's system....& that each person with allergies can react within a different time frame. My own son enjoyed P.B. regularly until he became over-sensitized at age 5......& I became sensitized to peanut at age 46!

Before I responded, I read the other postings. They're all dead-on perfect: the weight loss is neglible & could be due to a higher level of activity. This is quite normal for children! In fact, my oldest son weighed 21 lbs at 9 months, & then only weighed only 24 lbs at age 2. He went from a roly-poly baby to an active toddler with minimal weight gain & lots of height growth.

The BRAT diet is excellent for working with diarrhea...as is yogurt. These methods work especially well when used in conjunction with removing all dairy from the diet. Soy milk & Pediasure (or Gatorade) instead of milk & juice.

Food dyes can also cause issues...my oldest was allergic to one of the red/yellow dyes...we were never able to i.d. which one. At the dr's recommendation, we simply limited his consumption of these dyes. & it was present in oddball items: his allergy med, one certain brand of hotdogs!, & quite a few juices/koolaid products...not to mention fruit snacks & other items. (but it was also a different time period....20+ years ago. Food formulas have since changed.)

There are a couple of other food products which can create diarrhea: soda (carbonated drinks) & anything with an artificial sweetener. Also an abundance of fiber can cause problems OR a lack of fiber....which is why it's so important to balance food intake!

Good Luck....& I think another ?? would be: when you say diarrhea, do you mean loose b.m.'s once/twice a day OR do you mean copious amounts of diarrhea diapers daily??? It makes a huge difference when trying to diagnose causes.

I can't tell you what it could be but I would definitely tell you not to give up - go to another doctor if you have to. That is not normal. I have 2 children (6 & 19 months) and have never had that issue. I can imagine that's its not good for her body and you need to make sure that she's hydrated enough - have you tried pedialyte to help with that? Again, I would keep checking with doctors. Good luck.

When our little girl turned a year and her Dr. switched us to whole milk from formula she had terrible diarrhea. It was very frequent and very runny and her little bottom was so sore. The strange thing was was that she had no symptoms or other problems with foods prior to the switch to whole milk (ie cheese, ice cream, ect.) We had to "detox" her from ALL dairy for about 2 weeks or so until her tummy and bowels settled down and then we started reintroducing items back to her and we started her on soy milk. Whole milk and yogurt seem to be her only triggers at this time. Our Dr. said she may outgrow it or she may be sensitive to certain dairy product and we'll just have to learn what those are. Hope your little one is better soon!