Most
children should continue to eat a normal diet
including formula or milk while they have mild
diarrhea. Breastfeeding should continue. If your
baby seems bloated or gassy after drinking cow's
milk or formula, call your pediatrician to discuss
a temporary change in diet. Special fluids are not
usually necessary for children with mild illness.
Children with moderate diarrhea can be cared
for easily at home with close supervision, special
fluids, and your pediatrician's advice. Your
pediatrician will recommend the amount and length
of time that special fluids should be used. Later,
a normal diet can be resumed. Some children are
not able to tolerate cow's milk when they have
diarrhea and it may be temporarily removed from
the diet by your pediatrician. Breastfeeding
should continue.
Special fluids have been designed to replace
water and salts lost during diarrhea. These are
extremely helpful for the home management of mild
to moderately severe illness. Do not try to
prepare these special fluids yourself. It is too
easy to get confused by some of these complex
recipes. You could accidentally make a bad fluid
for your baby. Use a fluid that is made by one of
the reputable manufacturers. The three most widely
available products that you will find in nearly
every pharmacy are:
- Pedialyte (Ross Laboratories)
- Infalyte (Mead Johnson Nutritionals)
- ReVital (PTS Labs)
Other brands of special fluids are available and
equally effective. Many drug stores have their own
generic brands of special fluids. Ask the
pharmacist for assistance.
If a child is not vomiting, these fluids can be
used in very generous amounts until the child
starts making normal amounts of urine again.
If your child develops severe diarrhea, he may
require IV fluids in the emergency department for
several hours to correct dehydration. Usually
hospitalization is not necessary. Immediately seek
your pediatrician's advice for the appropriate
care if symptoms of severe illness occur.
While this illness runs its course, here are
some general do's and don'ts that you should keep
in mind:
DO
- Watch for signs of dehydration which occur
when a child loses too much fluid and becomes
dried out. Symptoms of dehydration include a
decrease in urination, no tears when baby
cries, high fever, dry mouth, weight loss,
extreme thirst, listlessness, and sunken eyes.
- Keep your pediatrician informed if there is
any significant change in how your child is
behaving.
- Report if your child has blood in his stool.
- Report if your child develops a high fever
(more than 102ºF or 39ºC).
- Continue to feed your child if she is not
vomiting. You may have to give your child
smaller amounts of food than normal or give
your child foods that do not further upset his
or her stomach.
- Use diarrhea replacement fluids that are
specifically made for diarrhea if your child
is thirsty.
DON'T
- Try to make special salt and fluid
combinations at home unless your pediatrician
instructs you and you have the proper
instruments.
- Prevent the child from eating if she is
hungry.
- Use boiled milk or other salty broth and
soups.
- Use "anti-diarrhea" medicines
unless prescribed by your pediatrician.
