My little girl is 4 years old, but has had issues with having loose stools lately. January 21st, we treated our kids to an ice cream at McDonalds and 2 hours later my daughter had major diarrhea. We took her to the DR, said she could find nothing wrong. We did a stool sample and just found out all of those were normal. No one else is getting sick, no fever, no weight loss, no dehydration, no mass in belly, no nothing. She has a tummy ache every now and again which is relieved by going to the bathroom and gets more irritable in the afternoons, that is it! My question is does anybody know what the next step would be?? Could this be anything else that anyone has experienced?? I am at a loss and feel very sad for my little girl, she wants to know why she can't have what her brother is having.
The DR office called a total of 4 times yesterday with the last call being the end of this hopefully. The DR does not think that this has anything to do with dairy simply because she has had milk products no problem for 3 years. She does have a sensitive stomach and I just try to nip it in the butt so I gave her childrens Imodium AD and the DR actually said that probably did not help her system and thinks that is what set it off, plus me giving her a fiber diet most of the time. Bottom line he said to put her back on a normal diet and give her Cultural (probiotics) morning and night, and said if it did not get better by Monday to call back to the office. We started it last night at dinner, and this morning when she woke up, her intestines got rid of a little tiny bit of icky then a long normal poop! I almost threw her a party! The probiotics should get her intestines back to normal! Thanks to all who have responded, I think I needed some support from those who might have been there.
My daughter had loose stool for a couple of days and I gave her 1/2 TBSP of Pepto before bed and she was better in the morning. I know it says not to give to kids under 6 but I did not give her much. She is 3 1/2 and I wanted her to be better.
How do you know it was the ice cream if it only happened once? Could just have been an upset tummy. Could you let her try ice cream again and see what happens? Then you would know for sure that's the culprit. Then you should probably see the doctor and check her for allergies to dairy. Does milk and yogurt affect her the same way?
Put acidophilus powder in a drink or if she can swallow a pill then do so. Ask her Dr or the pharmacist. My daughter had diarhea for 2 weeks following antibiotics. Her pediatrician said she lost her 'good' bactieria in her system. I got packets of acidophilus from the pharmacist. It's 'behind the counter'. In 1 or 2 days she was back to normal.
This is the same type of 'stuff' in a lot of yogurts. I'm not mentioning yogurt as a cure because I get an upset stomach when I eat it.
Hope she is well soon,
I know how scarry that must be for you. It may be lactose intolerance. A person will usually have issues anywhere from 30 min to 1 and half hours from eating or drinking a milk product. hope this helps. Her tummy is trying to tell you something so keep looking:)
Maybe she's developing a food allergy. Try to keep track of which foods cause the problem and then go back to the doctor armed with a food log.
D. Kimbriel
Grandma to 2 beautiful boys
I don't have anything specific to add but wanted to share several things.
You might find the book Prescription for Nutritional Healing helpful. It has guidelines for finding food allergies and it has lots of info.
The other thing I wanted to share is a little story about my daughter. I would occasionally serve fish which she had no problem with until she turned about 10 or so. Then after eating fish one evening, she threw up. We didn't get it. So, about a month later, I served fish again and she threw up again. We put two and two together and didn't fix fish for her anymore.
Fast forward - now she's 17. She was visiting with some friends and they were serving "Chicken of the Sea" noodle casserole, which she ate. She spent the night throwing up again and learned the hard way that TUNA is not really chicken. She's a literalist. We all had a good laugh, and I stayed up with her and patted her back while she tossed her cookies.
It does sound like your daughter might be sensitive to something she ate. Research is the key! :)
Best to you!
It may be food intolerance rather than an allergy. Keeping a log of what she's eaten can help in trying to pinpoint the culprit. Don't get hung up on dairy - it could be something considerably less obvious, like a preservative or food dye. Once you know what it is, it's easier to avoid (obviously). Good luck!
Does she have problems with other milk products. She could be lactose intolerant.
Hi H., your daughter may just have a sensitive stomach. Ice cream from dairy queen or McDonalds does the same thing to me. I wouldn't refuse her the treat, just make sure she's near a bathroom for a few hours afterwards. The loose stools won't hurt her, they can just be annoying. Another suggestion, if you can get real ice cream instead (basken robins, braums, etc) or sherbet it may not upset her stomach.
That sounds like a food intolerance to me too, as others have suggested. Try the food/symptom log to pinpoint the culprit. Also go online to check the ingredients of that McDonalds "ice cream". You might be sure it's dairy, but is there really all that much milk in what she ate at McDonalds? High Fructose Corn Syrup is causing more allergic reactions in children that are hard to pinpoint because this nasty sweetener is in so many processed foods you wouldn't necessarily expect to find it in.
Don't let the pedi tell you there is nothing wrong if you really think there is. You know her better than they do, and while it might not be anything life threatenning (and therefore of great interest to a doctor), striving to improve your child's life from good to better is not an unreasonable goal for a parent.
Good luck.
You should keep a diary of everything she eats and record times of any upset stomach or loose stools. It may take a week or two to see the pattern. It could be the protein casein (dairy) which has many names on labels. It could be gluten (wheat). It could be MSG. Good luck.
Hello H.,
are you giving her any probiotics and perhaps staying away from milk products? if the lining of her intestine is irritated maybe milk (and or lactose) products are not giving her a chance to heal. get some probiotics (children's chewable, etc) increase her omega 3 consumption and also her vitamin D. most important of all, follow your gut! (no pun intended) what are the chances that ice cream had some bacteria that is still wrecking havock in her? I'm sorry if I sound too much like steven spielberg... I do know there are some restaurants where we do not eat because we barely make it home and we have to run to the bathroom. good luck! ~C.~
Hi there:
It sounds like she is lactose intolerant - did the doctor suggest or test for that? My mom has it and that is exactly how it acts with her. If she's drinking milk and eating ice cream and such take her off of it ALL for a week and see what happens.......good luck!
If it continues, you might want to check out www.helpforibs.com. Great website full of information and help for people with symptoms like your daughter. The website creator/owner suffered the same symptoms her entire childhood.
The info is free but the products cost a dab. Well worth it. You can buy a couple of them at the local Health Food Store, but not sure of the quality.?? Her products last a loooonnnngggg time. I would purchase hers first and then if I had to restock at a later date, then try the Health Food store stuff. That way you can compare costs and quality.
Note: I do not advocate the hypnosis or yoga junk she promotes and sells on the website, but the rest of it is great information to help you deal with these symptoms.
Praying you find your daughters pathway to health/wholeness really quick. ; )
Ok, first of all, you know your child better than any one else, so dont let people convince you that there isn't a problem if you know there is.
If you have talked about this with your pediatrition, and they feel that it is not an issue, it may be a one time thing. Could have been just a little upset tummy. IF it has happened on more than one occation, she may have a food allergy, or a gastrointestonal issue. My son has multiple GI problems as well as multiple allergies including food allergies. It may be just that simple. It is nothing to really fret over until you know what the issue is. Try introducing the foods you think are upsetting her tummy one at a time. (Not in the same day, and make sure all of the other food she eats that day are things that you know are not upsetting her tummy) Keep a journal of it for a few weeks until either you see a problem or you dont. That way if you are still concerned, you can call one of the other specialist, and be even more prepaired. (Believe me, they will ask you to do that after the first visit any way, so this will give you a step up and will help you and the dr find answers sooner.)
Good luck!
Sounds like a dairy allergy
