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Children's health

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Original poster

Week 3 of diarrhoea

12 replies

2children2cats · 06/10/2013 17:21

Ds is 9 months old and has is going into his fourth week of diarrhoea. The dr has taken a sample and there are no bugs present, he is his usual chirpy self, no temp, rash etc and doesn't seem to have lost weight (although he is a poor deprived 2nd child who hasn't been weighed since 6 months).

It is getting ridiculous though, he had 4 dirty nappies before 9am, 3 between 9 and 2pm and then another 3 since then. TMI sometimes there is loads of poo and other times it is like he has just sharted, sometimes it is mucousy, sometimes watery, the colour varies but ultimately he has not had a solid/normal baby poo since the beginning of September.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what to do, other than stop feeding him?!

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FossilMum · 06/10/2013 21:04

Did it start within a week or so of a stomach bug or round of antibiotics? Could it be secondary lactose intolerance? Suggest go back to GP with these questions as it's been going on so long; I imagine he'll be in danger of losing weight if it goes on much longer.

Original poster

2children2cats · 06/10/2013 22:20

He hasn't had any antibiotics yet, and no noticeable stomach bug- he isn't a sicky child, it only ever comes out the other end!

We were wondering about lactose intolerance, out dd is wheat and dairy free but the dietician told us to put ds on a normal diet. I bought some lactose free formula today, just to give it a whirl and see.

If things don't improve I will try and get another doctors appt. My poor baby

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Original poster

2children2cats · 26/10/2013 21:25

It is now nearly November and ds is still suffering with diarrhoea (it is week 7 now I think).

We temporarily put him on lactose free milk and whilst this improved the consistency of the poo the frequency (8 times a day) was not effected. The weirdest thing is that the poo smells of what he eats I.e. feed him fish and max 2 hours later his nappy is reeking of fish, it is bizarre and he has not had egg for a while!

We have seen the doctor twice and he has agreed to refer him to the paediatrician (and hopefully the dietician) but to do this he has had to go back onto normal milk and he has had to start eating food with wheat in (we normally all follow a wheat free diet at home seeing as dd and dh are both wheat free). It is hideous the poor baby is crying and grumpy, his bottom is sore from the constant pooing (12 times today) and he isn't sleeping very well, I don't think we can keep it up until a hospital appointment comes through. Do you think it is feasible to do it for a week to 'collect evidence' and then revert to normal until 2 weeks prior to the appointment? One positive is that he doesn't seem to have lost weight.

OP posts:

bundaberg · 26/10/2013 21:31

i think to get good results in the test you have to be feeding him the things that are making his tummy upset unfortunately :(

Original poster

2children2cats · 26/10/2013 21:35

You have confirmed my worst fears bundaberg

OP posts:

bundaberg · 27/10/2013 09:20

yes it's horrid, but they need to be able to see the effect of it on the gut (or something along those lines)

hope you get it sorted soon, must be miserable for all of you

gallicgirl · 27/10/2013 09:26

Hopefully the appointment will come through quickly. GP said we'd be waiting 12 weeks for a paediatric appointment and we actually got one in 2 weeks.

Pancakeflipper · 27/10/2013 17:05

Once you have been referred, phone up the consultant's secretary and ask about cancellations - we reduced a 3 month wait to a 4 week one and the Secretary was really trying to get us in quicker.

Lots of luck.

Original poster

2children2cats · 27/10/2013 19:21

Thank you. I feel so sorry for him and at 3am, 4am and 5am it is so difficult to stand firm when anecdotally I know I just need to stop giving him milk and he will sleep through. He has a check up with the health visitor tomorrow so I will mention it all to her too.

OP posts:

Pancakeflipper · 27/10/2013 23:00

I am not convinced that you need to have your child having dairy whilst you wait to see a consultant. Because the first appt is usually a going through the history and observations. We didn't put DS2 back on dairy.

mawbroon · 28/10/2013 19:03

DS1 was like this. It was a dairy intolerance, never knew for sure if it was lactose or protein. I cut it out completely which helped a lot. He was breastfeeding still, so I wasn't too worried about excluding dairy.

After this, he got every stomach bug going and didn't grow out of it until he was 4.5yo

But he's 8yo now and strong as an ox and fit as a fiddle

skinnyrascal · 30/10/2013 22:18

Unfortunately it probably is best that you keep him on a normal diet. It means that any tests they decide to do when referred are reliable and also will mean less delay if you then need to put back on full wheat and dairy containing diet before tests are done. Unfortunately in long run I think it may be best - hard though it is for your DS and your family. There is no point is unneccessarily restricting his diet if he doesn't need it - especially when so young- in terms of ensuring full nutrients. Best of luck

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