Ds 5 had a stomach bug a week ago but stool consistency and frequency still not back to normal.

[Camlinmagic]

Hi All, we went to London eye on Saturday and Sunday noticed ds 5 had loose stools but no other complaints. Then again on Monday morning loose stools but otherwise fine. When he got back from school he was very tired and just lying on the couch after another visit to the loo and slight temp 38C to 39C gave him capol for the night. And been off school for 2 days. But the stool are still loose. Have tired the BRAT diet plus some yogurt but going no where. Have any of you or kids experienced this and how long before his stools return to normal. Any help advice is appreciated 🙏

Hi OP, yes my DC have had the same. If they’ve had a bad bug, it knocks their stomach for six and it can take a while for it to recover. Avoid wheat and dairy and see if that helps. Zinc is great at repairing the stomach lining.

Get him some probiotics like biokult to help restore his gut flora.

You can get secondary lactose intolerance in the weeks after a stomach bug. Try dairy alternatives for pure levels of dairy (milk, yoghurt and ice cream etc) for a week or two.

Thank you for replying. My son has already lost weight within 1 week I feel so awful and a terrible parent as why did I take him to this tourist place. I just wanted him to do or remember something for the term break 😔

@Poppsidoppsi it's a nightmare with these tummy bugs. I have cut out dairy but not wheat as to give some bread/toast. I do give him multivitamins which has some zinc but do you mean additional or any specific tab or food. Love to know.

@JustCleaningtheBBQ I did start some yogurt but don't this it has any live cultures will give it a try anything that gets my boy feel better and me great 😃 will yakult or Actimel help.

@Superscientist thanks for replying
I have added yogurt as give him rice and Greek yogurt as the rice is too dry on its own.

@Camlinmagic my DD would get horrendous after-bug stomach issues. My kinesiologist advised zinc (you can get it as tasteless liquid which you put a few drops in water a few times a day) is the best at sorting out stomach problems. I would definitely stick to bland things and use probiotics as someone else mentioned and make sure DC is having a good multivitamin every day. It can take a while though for the stomach to return to normal. Once, with DD when she was about 4, a particularly nasty bug actually triggered coeliac disease (it can lay dormant until activated by a sickness bug). Prior to that though, she would have pate like poos for a couple of weeks after a stomach bug.

Try a soya or oat yoghurt instead x

Lots of kids have real issues with dairy for a long time after a tummy upset.

Best thing to do is cut it out for a few weeks to let them recover and introduce it back slowly. Get some probiotics into his diet as well to help him.

@Poppsidoppsi thank you for replying
This morning he's again had very loose stools gave him some Rich Team biscuits I have ordered zinc & Bio kult probiotic from Amazon as my local boots / superdrug didn't have them. Did you give your DD zinc with food or between meals ? And was it on top of her regular multivitamins ?

@Superscientist thank you
Not sure I have seen non dairy yogurt but will head to Tesco later today. Can I give him oats in oat milk, he has been asking his porridge 😞 will give him toast for lunch.

@Ostryga thanks for replying
Will start both tomorrow as they arrive

I am dreading sending him to school tomorrow he's missed 2 days last week and ideally would want him to stay back but don't know why the school is so strict about attendance even if the kid is unwell they advice to send them in and will call to pick up if not able to attend. It feels I as a parent am not capable to decide. Just feel their attitude towards attendance is totally changed after covid.

Also missed out on asking you All if you'll ever have bananas it is advised in BRAT diet but my MIL said not to give it. And no offense but when I 1st told her DS has tummy bug he instant reaction was 'What did you give him' took me on a total guit trip. But our London trip was just train travel + visit and back home for lunch no Mcd or restaurants.

*guilt

We call it oats in oats sauce and absolutely! It's the only way we make porridge now!

The two biggest brands of alternative yoghurts are alpro and coconut collaboration. I see them even in quite small shops. The oatly barista oat yoghurts are a bit dusty so I would avoid them. jörd have recently brought out a new oat yoghurt which is really nice. I have been freezing them for my daughter as an alternative to mini milk ice lollies they have very similar flavourings.
Benecol and actimel both do probiotics oat drinks but I think you might need bigger stores for these. Some of the yoghurts might have probiotics in but I'm not my daughter is allergic to the other ingredients

@Camlinmagic i gave her 5 drops of zinc in a bit of water 3 times a day before each meal. I hope your DS is better soon x

My DC have had this after a stomach bug. It’s not unusual sadly.
I second cutting out dairy for a while and reintroducing very slowly and sticking to very bland foods.
Also you do what is right for your child re school. Do not let their rigid attendance policy override your natural instinct to keep him home. No way would I be sending my child to school with loose stools. Be strong for him.

@Superscientist thanks a ton !
I did get the Jord drink and gave him oats in it this morning. Also Alpro non dairy yogurt. Today again his consistency was loose and also smelly.... sorry 😐
Have booked a phone consultation with the GP let's see what they say.

@Poppsidoppsi thanks a ton !
The zinc liquid & Bio kult is about to arrive today 🤞it's works

It will take a few days to have an effect. It takes up to 72h to see a reaction with intolerance and delayed allergies. Hopefully you see some improvements over the next few days. For some typical time frames, we have just tried and failed to reintroduce dairy into my daughters diet. She failed on Monday with several loose stools. We are now 6 days on and the consistency has improved not to normal but less bad. The frequency is still above normal. I would expect continued improvement over the next week and hopefully back to normal at the end of the week

GP sound a good shout! Good luck x

Spoke to the GP who thinks it more likely a bug asked to do a stool test to check if bacterial. Was fine with addition of probiotics and suggested to be off dairy completely so non dairy drink or yogurts are fine.

@Superscientist hope your DD feels better soon. So as of now we are off dairy completely. Just need his gut listen now and doing the right thing