ACK! diarrhea and toddlers...

Our 20 month old son has had diarrhea for close to a week now. He's not feverish or vomiting, tho, and he's eating normally. He's very happy and plays, runs around, and gets into the usual mischief... I'm more worried now as today (Tues 1st) I've noticed he now has blisters around his anus He gets diaper cream on his bum every time he is changed, that's been going on his his diarrhea has started.

He hasn't been eating anything new, either. Should I be worried? We've been making sure he's getting lots of juice to combat any possible dehydration.

Thanks in advance...

Poor baby....I feel sorry for him and you!

Sometimes "lots of juice" can actually be more of a problem than a help. Will he drink water instead? We have found if we give our son lots of juice, he gets loose bowel movements. I would try water for a day or so and see if that doesn't help.

As for the blisters, you also might want to use a plain washcloth instead of wipes, sometimes they can irritate the already tender skin.

And if it doesn't clear up soon, I think a call to the doc might be in order.

Supermom,

The babes usually drink 5 sippy cups of juice a day... that's 1 3/4 C of juice [I measured... ]. They have anywhere between 4 and 6, depending on the day and what they've eaten [anything that's spicy for them or dry like sandwiches]. The juice is all natural and healthy with lots of vitamins... not Koolaid or anything. The babe will drink water, whereas his sister can't stand it. She's like me, although I will drink it if it's ice cold, but prefer not to... yuck!

The baby wipes we use are non alcohol, non perfume and hypo-allergenic. The bum cream is zinc-oxide, we used Penaten cream on the other two... even the wickedest rash was gone in a day with that... but for some reason it doesn't work on the babe. Weird, eh?

I'd love to be able to leave him "hanging free" but not too keen on cleaning up any mess like that!! lmao Pee on hardwood floors is one thing... but I know my babe... there'd be footprints EVERYWHERE!!

He doesn't seem to be in any discomfort at all... even with his rash, but it hurts me just to look at it. Will switch to a cloth tho... am willing to try anything within reason to make him feel better!!

Thanks for the reply!!

He Teesa! What does his Ped say?

Anyone tried the pedialyte? Maybe it will help. I see that it may contain aspartame though... at least the old Pedialyte formulation does.

I have a 22 mos... he loves to run naked. We also have hardwood floors! When he pees, he'll "stomp" or sit and "splash" it... I keep lots of paper towels on hand,

Nothing to add about the diarhea... I'd keep a close eye on what he's eating and how much, to see if anything could be a contributing factor.

I guess I maybe didn't explain that right - hmmmm...giving it another shot.

Even though they may be used to juice, when they get started with diarrhea that can help to prolong it too, so switching to water can help to reduce/eliminate it and then when it's gone add back the normal amount of juice.

I know the last time that my kids had it, but this was a while back, so things may have changed, but my ped recommended nothing but bland (crackers, plain rice, plain potatoes, etc, etc) and nothing but water to drink for 24 hours. That seemed to clear up whatever was causing it, and then we just went back on a "normal" diet.

The other thing for his little bum that we used was a ointment called A and D - it was a clear, yellowish and it cleared up some of the worst cases of diaper rash that my kids ever had better than the zinc oxide.

Hope that helps and good luck

QUOTE

The other thing for his little bum that we used was a ointment called A and D - it was a clear, yellowish and it cleared up some of the worst cases of diaper rash that my kids ever had better than the zinc oxide.

I agree with this... The Hospital used A and D and gave it to us to take home I love it! My DH likes it better than the white stuff, does not like the look of it.

Aquaphor also works great on diaper rash. I read on another board about using Aquaphor, and I tried it and it worked like a charm. Different things work for different babies, so if the A and D doesn't work, give the Aquaphor a try.

Hi! I realize this post was almost a month ago but was wondering if the diarrhea was better? The reason being that my 18 month old has chronic diarrhea- it's been for about two months now. We saw the ped last Thursday. I looked up info when it was first starting and chronic diarrhea is the number one complaint to peds from age 3 down. When they eat normally and it is not causing problems(dehydration, malnutrion, etc) it can actually be called "sloppy stool syndrome" Sort of like IBS in adults.

Just wanted to tell you that JUICE WILL MAKE DIARRHEA WORSE! It doesn't matter if it's not Kool-Aid. There is no such thing as "healthy" juice which is why the AAP doesn't even recommend juice- it's pure sugar water and sugar acts as a laxative. My daughter gets one cup of "juice" a day- 3/4 water with 1/4 of white grape juice. My 7 month old doesn't get any!

Anyway, I just wanted you to know about the juice incase the diarrhea is still going. With the sloppy stool syndrome it is actually recommended on cutting back on ALL fluids dramatically. I'd talk with your ped if it's still happening.

Good luck

Mirinda(lurking from Ivillage since they screwed up our boards!)
DD Myrick 10.23.01
DS Lance 9.21.02