Toddler Diarrhea

There's something going around. I've heard of GI virus which caused my DD to vomit and can cause loose stools for over two weeks. RSV is also popping up along with the Flu.

Hi! I'm totally LOL right now because my 17 month old is going through the EXACT same thing. The only difference is that he doesn't eat dairy. He's on a soy diet. I called my pediatrician on Monday and she said that it isn't uncommon for toddlers to have diarrhea for a couple of weeks and that it just takes them longer to get through it. She told me to cut the fruits and increase his veggies and starches and of course keep the BRATT diet going. I've been doing that and he's gone from 3-4x a day to 1 x a day. I remember my daughter having an episode like this when she was young, too. Good Luck! It is NO fun changing stinky messy diapers!!!!!!

I just responded to you but wanted to tell you I have a daycare too, and this went through my daycare last year. It's a viral diarreha , it's very water, yellowy, foul smell to it and it's actually very contagious too. It went through everyone here last year. Wash...wash..wash your hands, tell your daycare provider to do the same. Little ones that put things in their mouth, put those toys in the dishwasher and santitize them every night.

S.

I always thought to take a child of dairy products such as milk. Try child immodeum....that works really good.

Or the BRAT diet: banana's, rice, applesauce & toast (I think that's what it stands for. Do that for a day or two.

But the flu "bug" with this diarreaha has been hanging around on and off for a few weeks.

Good luck,
It'll soon come to an end.

R.,

I'm sorry your little one is feeling so bad! I have two older children (9 & 13) and have been through the gastro flu many many times, once even winding up admitted to Childrens Hospital because of it. I can honestly say that I have never heard of a Dr. recommending milk products during or directly after having the tummy flu, in fact my experience has been that Drs. advise against any dairy products during that time. I'm echoing the other moms here in saying to use the BRAT diet. Rotovirus is another common tummy bug that causes large amounts of diarrhea for an extended period of time. I would stop feeding him dairy products and go back to the BRAT basics and would also question your Dr. about the diagnosis . . . if they didn't take a stool sample, how do they know its not a bad virus like rotovirus? I really hope he is on the mend soon!

P.

My 2 year daughter is finally getting over the same base case of vomiting and then diarrhea. We had alot of luck on the BRATT diet too, as soon as we limited her to that it slowed down and now it is finally gone. Our doctor referred to it as a stomach virus that only toddlers usually can get, because there immune systems aren't as developed. No one else in our family, including our 4 year old has gotten it and I heard similar cases from other families. He will get better, but if you are not noticing improvement I would go see the doctor or get a second opinion. Good Luck!

I never heard it being called Toddler diarrhea before, but it is most definitely possible. My daughter had the same problem, and we saw a gasterenterologist who gave her the same diet. Said she had something called a low IGA level in her intestines, causing the diarrhea. She still has soft stool problems, but through the years it is no longer diarrhea. Take out the acidic stuff out of the diet, lemonade, oranges, tomatoes, ketchup too, spagetti sauce, these will continue to irritate the intestines. We used to give her pediasure soy, but I only see the regular on the shelves so you may need to call the Ross/Similac company to find out if they still have the soy. These helped a lot during her toddler years, as she was also lactose intolerant. Food allergies & lactose intolerance are biggies for toddler diarrhea.
A higher fat diet will increase the IGA level in the intestines, slowing down the digestive process to a more normal level, which will make the poop then more sluggish as it should be.

I would suggest seeing a pediatric gastroenterologist, who should also refer you to their nutritionalist, who will look at your child's diet and help you with a good route to take.

Here's a good link on Toddler diarrhea too that I just found.

http://pedclerk.bsd.uchicago.edu/toddlerDiarrhea.html

Toddler's Diarrhea
Case

The parents of a 14 month old boy bring their son to your office with a 2 month history of 2-6 loose, non-foul smelling watery stools per day. At times there is undigested food in the bowel movement. The parents have gone through multiple diet changes and now the boy is only eating a low fat , no dairy products, lots of fruit juices, and minimal protein diet. He has had an extensive workup including negative stool cultures for bacteria and viruses, negative stool for ova and parasites, and no polys or blood in the stool. How would you approach this problem?

Toddler diarrhea is a common pediatric condition. In infants it is referred to as chronic diarrhea of infancy and in older children as irritable bowel syndrome. Common clinical characteristics include:

Age between 6-30 months. Most are better by 4 years of age
2-6 watery stools per day. There can be periods of days without stools. Many stools contain undigested material and may drip down the child's leg from the diaper.
Normal weight, height, and head circumference growth curves without falling off
No evidence of infection
Stools are hematest negative
The child looks well and there is no evidence of malnutrition and no history of abdominal pain
Growth may be compromised if the diet manipulations that have been tried to control the diarrhea have not been enough calories.
There is often a history of colic, gastroesophogeal reflux, and family history of irritable bowel syndrome.
Differential Diagnosis
Malabsorption secondary to pancreatic insufficiency or intestinal mucosal injury
Children are frequently irritable and have loss of appetite
Stools are foul smelling and greasy
Poor weight gain and abdominal distention.
The child is often weak and displays decreased activity.
Anemia, hypoproteinemia, vitamin deficiencies.
Allergies to Food
Vomiting, diarrhea, and blood in stool
+ family history of atopy
Failure to gain and grow
History of eczema, reactive airway disease, urticaria, and allergic rhinitis
Loss of protein in the gut may lead to hypoproteinemia and edema
Lactose Intolerance
Genetic lactase deficiency is rare in young children and will manifest later on in life
Secondary lactase deficiency following gastroenteritis is usually transient and is improvedwithin 2 weeks
Giardia Infection
Foul smelling watery stools
Gassy and abdominal distention
Can develop into chronic condition and diagnosed by inspecting stool or duodenal fluid for cysts.
Usually waterborne but can be from person to person transmission
Cryptosporidium
Watery, foul smelling stools that may be mucousy.
Crampy abdominal pain
+ oocysts in stool specimen
Waterborne or animal or person to person transmission.
Pathogenesis
Increased colonic transit time and decreased inhibition of post-prandial transit time
Decreased fat in diet because of diarrhea that is needed to decrease transit time
Fluid load is increased because of fear of dehydration and this aggravates the condition
Increase sugar in diet that acts as an osmotic diuretic and causes more water in the gut.
Treatment
Increase fat in the diet
Decrease fluid in the diet
Avoid fructose and sorbitol- decrease fruit juices
Increase dietary fiber
Normal diet for age
Reassurance- this is difficult because parents have been to many physicians and are convinced that their child has a serious illness. It is important after making your recommendations to follow-up soon to reassure again and watch weight and height gains.
There is no role for medications.
The parents should be told that there is no serious sequelae and this is not a precursor to inflammatory bowel disease, chronic diarrhea as adults, or cancer
Most children are better by 4 years of age, and are better by the time they become potty trained.

My 20 month old is going through the same thing! 2 weeks of diarrhea, and a little bit of a cough, but no fever and she seems fine, other than the cough and diarrhea. The past two days she has been having bowels in the middle of the night and it hurts her. Plus they are full of mucus and seedy. She had 7 bowels today! I am taking her in tomorrow to the doctors, because it hurts her and I just want to figure out what it is!

I too, would get a second opinion. That seems so long for such a little child to have that. My kid's ped. always put my kids on the BRAT diet, bananas, applesauce, plain rice and plain toast. And he always said NO dairy during this time. Dairy products are a stimulant, especially in kids and when you are ill- or so I was told. The Brat diet should do the hardening of the stools and it is easy on the tummy. When I was pg last year we all got the roto virus and we were all on the Brat diet. It does work. I would avoid dairy. Good luck and best wishes_ H.

Hi R.! Um, I think I would get a second opinion. Most doctors are not taught about nutrition and do not know most of the dynamics of food.

Personally, I would put him on the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, etc) ESPECIALLY bananas as well. Bananas are supposed to be the best thing for loose stool. I would restrict any other fruit because most of it can cause loose stool. You may want to make some jello and let him drink it will it is still liquid. Or have him eat it solid. Either way, the gelatin should help bind him.

Good luck!!

We've had on and off diahrea issues with my son, who is 18 months. The thing that helps the best is the BRAT diet. Bananas (they seem the best for him), rice (we use rice cereal, cream of rice, and plain white rice), apple, toast. We've actually had to stop dairy when his intestinal system was inflamed after diahhrea caused from a virus. He had developed a temporary lactose intolerance.

There are a number of bugs going around right now that have caused weeks of diahhrea. There really is no medication for any of it. The best bet is to use the BRAT diet, make sure to keep him hydrated (using Pedialyte too much can cause diahhrea too,) and be patient! It's no fun, but it will go away.

If the duahhrea continues after this, then it would be more reasonable to call it toddler diahrea and use the diet the MD recommended.

Good luck!

My son, who is 15 months old, just got over Rotavirus. It causes vomiting for a day or two and diarrhea that can last up to 4 weeks. This is what it sounds like to me....it was VERY foul smelling. Our pediatrician told us that everyone in the world gets it by age 2 and it is VERY contagious. There is also a very strong/severe strain of it going around this year.

Just be sure to keep your son from getting dehydrated. Give him Pedialyte and milk. We were told to stay away from juice until the diarrhea was gone because it can cause dehydration resulting in worse diarrhea.

i would get a second opinion....2 weeks with diarehha isnt right. http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/symptoms/diarrhea.html

see if you can see a specialist like a gastroentronologist...if he didnt just have the flu it might not be as serious, but it should be getting better by now.

good luck!

I WAS READING THIS AND ALL THOUGH I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY OF MY KIDS DIAGNOSED WITH THAT. I HAVE HAD THEM DIAGNOSED WITH THE ROTO VIRUS. WHICH CAUSES VERY FOUL SMELLING STOOLS. ITS SYMPTOMS SEEM ALOT LIKE THE FLU. IF YOU ARE GOING TO CALL THE DOCTOR BECAUSE THINGS ARE NOT ANY BETTER MAYBE IF YOU SUGGEST THIS AT HIS APPT. THEY CAN DO A STOOL SPECIMEN. BRING A SOILED DIAPER IN WITH YOU. IF HE HAS THEM REGULARLY. BUT YOU CAN PUT IT IN A FREEZER BAG AND FREEZE THE DIAPER TO ENSURE THAT AT YOUR APPT YOU HAVE ONE. IT SOUNDS NASTY TO DO THIS, BUT AT LEAST THEY CAN CHECK TO SEE IF HE HAS THE ROTO VIRUS.IT CAN BE TREATED WITH MEDICINE.WELL I HOPE YOUR LITTLE GUY GETS BETTER. THIS IS JUST A SUGGESTION YOU CAN GIVE TO YOUR DOCTOR IF HE IS NOT GETTING BETTER.

Never heard of it, but dairy products can actually make diarrhea worse, and really upset his tummy if he isn't feeling well. Try the BRATT diet, Banana's, rice, applesauce, toast, and tea. These are the best solution for diarrhea.

Oh, and find a new doctor! :)

Are you sure this is the actual flu which is upper respitory and fever? Sounds like the rotovirus or noro virus which is going around. If it's roto virus it's common to have diarreha for more than a week.

I have experiance with diarreha that doesn't go away and what worked for me was to take a sip of water every 15min. until my stomach could handle it. If I took a big gulp or chugged water the diarreha came right back.