Does Your Baby Have Diarrhea?

Here is a guide on how to detect if your baby has diarrhea at home including some management and preventions.

What is diarrhea?
Diarrhea caused by a virus is a major cause of infant gastroenteritis. The most common viral pathogens that invade the GI tract include rotavirus and adenovirus. Diarrhea in infants is always serious because infants have such a small Extracellular Fluid reserve that sudden losses of water exhaust the supply quickly. The loss of extracellular sodium leads to decrease in plasma volume. and possible circulatory collapse. Renal failure may also result.

Breastfeeding may actively prevent diarrhea by providing more antibodies and possibly an intestinal environment less friendly ti invading organisms and so should be advocated.

Diarrhea rarely afflicts breast- fed infants, although their normal bowel habits often are mistaken for the condition. Breast- fed babies have softer, more frequent stools than bottle- fed babies- more than a dozen a day are not unusual. Bottle- fed babies generally pass fewer stools a day.

NOTE: Lactose intolerance may be developed after diarrhea. This means you baby or child cannot take formula or breast milk. Such an infant will need to be introduced to lactose- free formula initially before being returned to the usual formula or to breastmilk.


Prevention
  • Have a baby proof clean environment
  • Wash hands before preparing baby's food
  • Sterile bottles
  • Have your baby immunized
  • Make sure anything baby puts in his mouth is clean
  • Breastfeed if possible

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INFANT NORMAL STOOL AND DIARRHEAL STOOL

NOTE: Iron supplement can change stool color darker.

Frequency
Infant normal stool: 1-3 daily
Diarrheal stool: Unlimited number

Color
Infant normal stool: yellow
Diarrheal stool: green

Effort of expulsion
Infant normal stool: some pushing effort
Diarrheal stool: Effortless; may be explosive

pH
Infant normal stool: more than 7.0 (alkaline)
Diarrheal stool: less than 7.0 (acidic)

Odor
Infant normal stool: odorless
Diarrheal stool: sweet or foul smelling

Occult blood
Infant normal stool: negative
Diarrheal stool: positive; blood may be overt

Reducing substances
Infant normal stool: negative
Diarrheal stool: positive

Sings and Symptoms

Mild diarrhea

  • Fever 101F to 102F (38.4C- 39.0C)
  • Anoretic or irritable
  • Appear unwell
  • 2-10 loose stools
  • water bowel movement per day
  • dry mucous in mouth
  • rapid pulse
  • warm skin

Severe diarrhea

  • Fever 103F to 104F (39.5C - 40.0C)
  • Rapid and weak pulse and respiration
  • Pale and coll skin
  • Listless and lethargic
  • Dehydrated- depressed fontanelle, sunken eyes & poor skin turgor
  • Bowel movement every few minutes

Note: Severe diarrhea needs medical attention and immediate treatment. Please refer immediately to your doctor or pediatrician.

Management for mild diarrhea

Mild diarrhea is not yet serious and can be cared at home. Yet again it is always best to notify/ consult your physician.

NOTE: 1. Do not use over the counter drugs such as Loperamide (Imodium) or Kaolin and Pectin (Kaopectate) to halt
diarrhea. These are too strong.
2. Wash hands after changing diapers to prevent spread of infetion.
3. Notify physician if fever, pain or diarrhea worsens.
4. It is best to call your doctor if your baby is below 6 months.

Fever

1. Place a cool cloth (not ice) on the forehead.
2. Dress in lightweight clothing.
  • Use summer pajamas or
  • remove all clothing but the diaper.
3. Give Acetaminophen
  • Consult doctor or pedia first.
  • Dosage- oral: 10-15 mg/kg every 4-6 hours as needed; may repeat 4-5 times a day; donot exceed 5 doses in 24hours.
4.Check if allergic to drug.
CAUTION:OVERDOSE can lead to severe liver toxicity.

5.. Check temperature (normal: 36.5- 37.5)
WARNING: do not obtain rectal temperatures to assess fever, can cause stimulation and initiate more diarrhea.


Dehydration
  • Stop feeding to rest GI tract, but it is necessary for only a short time. During this time give them a pacifier to suck if this seems to comfort them.
  • At the end of approximately 1 hour, begin oral hydration solution such as Pedialyte in small amounts- 1 tbsp every 15 minutes for 2 hours, then 1 oz every 2 hours for the next 12 to 18 hours. For breast- fed infants, breastfeeding should continue
  • Wet infant's lips with a moisturizing jelly (Vaseline) if they appear to be dry.

Sores
  • To prevent sores spread petroleum jelly over the buttocks or diaper area to prevent irritation.
  • If sores are already present do not use petroleum jelly or other ointments, and keep the child/ infant as clean and dry as possible.

If, after two or three days, stools are returning to normal, put the youngster back on a regular diet.

3 comments:

preeti said...

Diarrhea is common in all newborn babies.As they can not speak so the crying is the only way that they can express discomfort.Diarrhea leads to dehydration and also gradual degradation of overall health of a baby.

Melissa said...

My child gets diarrhea once a week on average. The doctor couldn't find any cause even after running several tests. Is it possible that diarrhea "just happens" from time to time?

Liszton McCartney said...

If the diarrhea has led to dehydration what should be the first treatment to be done?

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