Help!! - diarrhoea

[mines]

OK folks, I'm sorry if this is seriously disgusting, but I'm getting worried here and would appreciate some perspective.

DS (four months) has succumbed to a bout of something gastric. No more vomiting than usual , but horrendous diarrhoea since Sunday morning.

Where normally he is a one nappy every other day sort of guy, we've been seeing 5/6 seriously liquid bowel movements per day(stand aside when changing, sort of thing).

Its now Wednesday morning (ie 72 hours) and there's no sign of progress. I have spoken to my emergency doctor helpline 3 times and been told there isn't much that can be done, just to keep him hydrated.

On the bright side, he appears quite happy (a little sleepier than usual, but nothing drastic) and he has no obvious signs of dehydration.

What I want to know is, how long can this last? Is there any obvious treatment to try? When should I get seriously worried.

A little further information - he is mixed feeding (3 feeds breast, 2 feeds bottle per day) and we were playing with baby rice for a few days prior to the attack. Don't think the baby rice can be responsible, as this is the second time we have tried it, having given him a week off to think about it after the first attempt.

[janh]

mines, are you giving him formula or expressed breast milk in the bottle feeds? If it's formula, are you continuing to give him that during the diarrhoea? From what I remember of feeding advice during gastric problems, with purely bottle fed babies, we were told to only give electrolyte mixtures until the diarrhoea stopped, however hungry the poor mite got. (It is OK to breast feed though.) HTH

[cherry]

I was told the same as janh when dd had gastroentritis (sp?) at 6 months. She lived on plain old cooled boiled water and Diarolyte for days, then I had to introduce milk starting with I think it was 2 parts formula to 8 parts water when I saw a marked improvement. I don't know about breastfeding though.

[mines]

You're right, janh, he's on formula right now. The doctor seemed to think that was ok, although did suggest making it rather weaker than normal.

Consequently he's getting around 75% of the normal powder to water ratio.

[pupuce]

Mines - can you increase the breastfeeds again (until he gets better) ? It won't take long to rebuild supply if you put him to the breast often.
Give him water as well.

[mears]

Mines,

Definately breastfeed him. Formula milk will aggravate the diarrhoea ( midwife and mother with diarrhoea eperience talking). He will probably take frequent feeds. If you feel he needs more then you could give him dioralyte ( ? spelling) - check the age on packet. Leave the solids. Has he been on mixed feeding for a while? If he has it won't be the cause.

Apart from anything else your breastmilk will give him the antibodies to fight off his gastric infection, if that is what it is. It is probably viral and although it can look pretty dramatic it will soon pass.

Once he is better you could reduce his breastfeeds again if need be.

If there is no improvement over the next 2 days I would make an appointment for your GP - they might ask for a stool specimen to get a proper diagnosis.

[Daffy]

My ds had bad diarrhoea when he was teething..could it be that do you think. My first son never had anything like it when he was teething but this one more than made up for it. I think it lasted nearly two weeks on and off. Did all the usual stuff like cut down on veggies and fruit to try and ease it (fibre content), gave him lots of fluids and watered his formula down. It did eventually stop when some of his teeth cut but it was bad, foul smelling and runny!

[mines]

Oooooh, that's a point, Daffy - ds has been dribbling and chewing on things for several weeks. Condition of bottom exactly as you describe - I have a strong stomach but it's nearly too much even for me.

Mears, thanks for the advice. Presumably would also be OK with EBM? I'm going to have a conversation with my nursery tomorrow about whether he can go back and he will need something in a bottle for then.

[louli]

My DS has had bad nappies for 3.5 weeks now. Last week he got his first tooth (1 yr old) but the nappies have continued 3-4 a day. Is this normal?