Ongoing Diarrhoea in 4 Month Old

[Tinyflutterby]

My 4 month old baby has had constant diarrhoea for 3 weeks now and I keep being fobbed off by doctors saying they don't worry about this as long as the baby seems happy enough.

Sorry if tmi, but it's green, runny/mucosy blobs and doesn't really smell as such. It's so bad it has caused horrendous nappy rash.

It hasn't really affected his appetite, although he squirms a lot when feeding, but I think its because every time he feeds, he then poos.

We're talking at least 10 dirty nappies every day and I'm at my wits end as not only am I worried sick about what could be wrong with him, but it's getting to the stage it's impractical to leave the house and as I also have a 2.5 year old, he's getting fed up hanging around the house while all I seem to do is change nappies and clean up poo and hardly have time in between to do anything with him.

The situation has also been complicated by the fact that he got some kind of bug/virus over the weekend and was sick and had even worse diarrhoea than usual. He's now hardly feeding at all.

Anyone experienced anything similar? Thanks in advance.

[noblegiraffe]

My DD had diarrhoea for over 2 weeks when she was 10 months old. The doc sent off a stool sample for analysis in case of food poisoning but it came back clear. He thought it was just a virus and would clear up by itself and he wasn't worried as she was feeding ok and not losing weight.

It did just clear up by itself, but doc said if it hadn't, then after a month they'd consider further investigations.

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

What does he drink? I wonder if it's a milk intolerance, either a temporary thing caused by a bug or one only just starting to present itself.

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

They should send off a sample really. 3 weeks is a long time to have diarrhoea.

[tobiasfunke]

Ds had this from 3 weeks to 4.5 months. Green poos up to 8 times a day. But he fed well and was putting on weight. He was ebf. GP told me it was a slightly immature bowel which would sort itself out- it did.
I used bicarbonate of soda in the water I used to bath him and wash his bum after changes. It neutralises the acid. I also used metanium when the nappy rash was bad. He didn't have any food intolerances although I know another baby who was lactose intolerant who had the same symptoms but she didn't put on weight. I just had to put up with it as there wasn't really anything they would do as long as his weight gain was steady. I sympathise it was a total pain.
When he had diarrhea when he was an older baby it took a good few weeks to settle down.

[ilovepowerhoop]

is he breast or bottle fed?

[Tinyflutterby]

Thanks everyone. He's bottle fed on Aptamil. Ended up taking him back to the children's hospital today and they said temporary lactose intolerance caused by a bug. They gave me prescription Nutramigen, but of course he won't take it as it tastes awful. I phoned and they refused to give an alternative, so my hubby is away to try and get Aptamil Lactose Free to see if it tastes any better. The hospital told me to mix the prescription with his usual milk, but I tried that already and he still wouldn't take it. I refuse to faff about any longer while he's suffering. Just hope he'll take the Aptamil stuff.

Btw, he never had a stomach bug before this, but did have 2 x Rotavirus vaccination - now wondering if that could have caused this?

[WeDontDoPrincess]

My DD used to get awful nappies after vaccinations and just before any teeth erupted. She never had the roto vaccine, but that sounds like a likely culprit.

DD actually never had a 'formed' poo till she was about 20 months old. It didn't bother her as it wasn't diarrhea as such, just loose poos.

Hope the new formula helps.

[MrsSpencerReid]

Try just adding one scoop of the new milk and the rest normal milk, gradually increase the scoops and he shouldn't notice the change!! Well hopefully!!