Dealing With Diarrhea of your Baby
Diarrhea is a dirty and frustrating problem that most babies will have to deal with at least once. If it is not life-threatening, most doctors will simply have you deal with it for a few days until your baby’s system begins to recover.
The biggest danger with diarrhea is that your baby will become dehydrated. If your baby has diarrhea and isn’t urinating normally, or doesn’t make tears during crying, or has a dry mouth, call your doctor immediately. Otherwise, try some of the following tips to deal with diarrhea.
- Help your baby stand up as soon as he or she begins pooping. This will help keep the mess in the diaper. If you have time, set your baby in the bath tub during the poop and then just rinse him or her off afterwards. Changing your baby on a towel will also help contain the mess.
- Offer your baby lots of water and/or Pedialyte to replace lost fluids and electrolytes.
- If your baby is eating solid foods, avoid giving him or her many fruits and juices. These will make the stools even runnier (if possible!).
- Foods that are healthy and will help stiffen the stools include mashed potatoes, pasta, breads, and bananas. Breast milk is always healthy for a baby!
- Avoid foods that will irritate the bowels like spicy sauces.
- Consider the cause of the diarrhea. Often, it is caused by a virus or bacteria. If your doctor prescribes an antibiotic make sure you finish the entire prescription. If you don’t have a prescription (either because it is unnecessary or caused by a virus), consider using garlic. Many cultures and health-food specialists think garlic is anti-viral and anti-bacterial. Try a garlic-rich soup to feed your baby garlic and replace water and electrolytes.
- As your baby’s stools stiffen it will take a while for the whole system to return to normal. If your baby is old enough feed him or her yogurt or keifer (with live bacterial cultures) to help.
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