How to get 6 month old to take Dioralyte?

[unknownn]

Hey, never used Dioralyte before. My 6 month old has had diarrhoea for 3 days. So have been recommend to offer him Dioralyte to keep him hydrated as he's really down on his fluids. Sorry if this is silly but the back of the box says to make up 1 sachet with 200ml of water. Which is fine but my boy is hardly drinking anything. So I would probably have to use a syringe to get it in him. Does he need to be drinking all of the 200ml in one sitting or can I spread it out over the day? Or will that not be effective? Will giving him a teaspoon per hour say, be effective enough? Thank you for any advice here x

Is he ff or bf? If bf does he feed straight from the boob?

He's formula fed

Syringe it, just 5-10mls every 10 mins to begin with. I hope he soon bounces back

I was told to give 5ml every 5 mins by syringe. But also the A&E doctor said that there are studies showing that apple juice is just as effective for mild dehydration in children, and if was much easier to give so we did that instead.

I agree with the syringe technique. Squirt small amounts towards the back of his cheek every 10 mins

@Wobblecushion @Ratfinkstinkypink @Wibblywobblybobbly thank you! So would you keep giving it in the syringe until he has the whole lot? X

Also is having that much water okay at his age? It's usually not recommend for them to have that much water in one sitting? So I'm a bit worried about that

Babies up to the age of 2 (this medicine should only be given under the guidance of a doctor):

• The doctor will calculate how much to give your baby, depending on how much they weigh. This is usually about one to one and a half times the amount of fluid your baby normally has in 24 hours
• Initially, if you are bottle feeding or giving other foods this should be stopped
• If you are breast feeding, continue to feed normally. Your baby may need less breast milk so you may need to express some of your milk
• If your baby is being sick, you can give 5-10 ml (one or two teaspoons) every 5 minutes. This can be gradually increased until they are able to drink normally

From their website

Official advice is sips with meals at that age but I'm sure considering he needs rehydrating that the more the better! Especially syringed and spread out

The dioralyte is to help rebalance his electrolytes and is OK to give under the guidance of a doctor. Has the doctor told you how much to give?

It’s not just water it has the solution in it. He is dehydrated and needs water, syringe it in slowly.

I'd give it when he's sleeping from a bottle. Remember doing that for my son when he was about 8 months. He drunk it all.

Thanks everyone

Make it up as directed, keep it in the fridge. syringe it in a bit at a time stirring before each syringe is taken. Lasts for 24 hours in the fridge once made up. Give a tsp at a time. One every 10 mins or so if he’s keeping it down. you can increase if he’s managing it, just be wary of not going too fast because if he throws up you are back at square 1.

I have spent far too many long bloody days and nights trying to get fluids and dioralyte into poorly babies and this was the method given by our paediatrician. DS caught norovirus when he wasn’t quite a year. I did not know at that time that the first stomach bug babies get can last 10 days or more …. It was 11 in total. Absolutely wretched.

A older child or adult need water to drink because they are eating lots of dry things that don't contain water, so they need moisture to counteract those things. A baby, exclusively milk feeding, will get the liquid they need in the milk and have nothing dry to counter that, so they need no water.

An upset tummy will reject anything more rich than water, prolonging D+V, which is why you shouldn't give milk, but clearly in a baby, withdrawing feeds would withdraw all fluid too. You give water, so their stomach isn't further upset by milk, but they don't dehydrate because they have no water in them.

I hope your LO is well soon