Contents
Diarrhea in a small child: causes and treatment. Video
A small child, especially a first-born, seems to young parents an insoluble puzzle. Often they cannot understand why he is crying, why he does not eat, why he sleeps so much or little, and whether he is developing correctly. When a baby falls ill, an inexperienced mother immediately panics and may confuse ordinary physiological phenomena with a serious illness, for example, perceiving diarrhea as a reaction to food.
Diarrhea in a child: how to treat a baby
Causes of diarrhea in newborns
The newborn is vulnerable to the environment. Any deviation in the diet can cause stomach upset. For example, breastfed babies are very sensitive to changes in their mother’s diet. The introduction of kefir, prunes, dill, bran, carrots, beets into the menu can cause a response in the baby’s body. These products have a laxative effect and can provoke diarrhea. In this case, the mother must be very careful.
If there was loose stool once or twice, if the baby does not show anxiety, does not cry, the stomach is soft, then most likely there is no reason for panic
Watch him the next day, removing from your diet the foods that caused stomach upset in the newborn. If the diarrhea does not recur, everything is in order. Just try to eat less dairy products, some fruits and vegetables that are high in fiber.
If diarrhea recurs for several days in a row, has an unpleasant odor, heterogeneous consistency, bloody spots – this is a cause for concern. A pediatrician’s consultation is essential. He will find out the specific cause of the child’s frequent liquid feces.
Depending on the accompanying symptoms of diarrhea, these can be:
- dysbiosis
- poor digestibility of lactose
- rotavirus
- salmonella, parasites, fungi that have settled in the baby’s stomach
- metabolic disease
- immune deficiency
- defect of the digestive tract (most often congenital, not acquired)
- genital infections (vaginitis, inflammation of the foreskin in boys)
- angina and all kinds of acute respiratory viral infections and acute respiratory infections
If the baby looks agitated, cries, pushes, the stomach is hard and these symptoms last for four hours or longer, you should definitely call a doctor
Need a doctor’s advice in the case when the baby is bottle-fed. The cause of diarrhea may be the wrong mixture or the wrong feeding regimen. It can be difficult for a mother to figure it out on her own, so you should seek advice from a professional.
How to treat diarrhea in a baby
For babies who have recently been born, most drugs are contraindicated. Therefore, the remedies that can be used to treat diarrhea should only be prescribed by a doctor. And if changing the diet, choosing a different mixture, did not help to cope with an upset stomach, you need to move on to drug treatment.
The pediatrician can prescribe “Smecta”, as well as drugs that help restore the intestinal microflora of the baby and populate it with beneficial bacteria.
The dosage of funds, as well as the duration of their intake, the doctor will determine after receiving urine, blood and feces tests