Toddler D&V-Day 6 and no end in sight!

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I'm panicking because we are now on day 6 of a case of D&V, and I cannot really afford to be off work many more days. Not in the least worried in the sense of how ds (age 2.5) is doing, as he's eating and drinking and acting normal most of the time. He will get tummy cramps and sometimes cry, and this is always the signal for a bout of diarrhea which he continues to do 1-2 times per day. The worst was over last week after the first 48 hours, but it is just lingering no matter what we do. Sticking to a bland diet and already called GP who has suggested a stool sample.

How much longer do I ride this out? I know it's 48 hours after last diarrhea but when I asked nursery about it they said other kids were only off 1-2 days, max 3-4 days, and even NHS guidance says most kids are over it in 5-7 days.

I presume youve cut our milk protein and dairy as rhis can make it linger

Yes, sticking to stuff like bread, bananas, oatmeal (made with oat milk so no dairy).

Try eggs and rice. That can help.?

He won’t eat eggs or rice. We’ve managed apple, banana, oatmeal, bread and crackers, so definitely stuff recommended for recovering tummies but no improvement.

Mostly curious how long others had to deal with toddler d&v and if anything helped in the end besides just time. Getting super anxious about the amount of work I’m missing at this point and it’s so frustrating too because he’s totally well and eating/drinking other than that daily diarrhoea.

Is it just mushy stools or is it still pouring out? My LO had four D&V episodes within two months last spring, we were back and forth to the GP and only every four an answer for one of them (rotavirus, that was bleak).

With prolonged diarrhoea, if it's mild it could be residual inflammation in which case the GP could sign your child off as safe to return. If it's still copious or very wet, you need a stool test and the GP needs to send for viruses, bacteria AND parasites like guardia and cryptosporidium. This may mean several tubes.

You could also try the recommendations for toddler diarrhoea, cutting out dairy isn't always beneficial - giving a small block of cheese at the end of a meal (or a Babybel) can help, the fat in the cheese slows down the digestion of the meal and helps the gut extract more water from it, which can firm the stools up.

You can also get Dioralyte double action with rice flour, similar effect.

Have you tried probiotics? I had a horrible virus over new year and the diarrhoea lasted about 6 days. The only thing that improved it for me were probiotics.

He’s finally getting normal poo which hopefully continues. His stool sample came back normal so hoping GP can approve him to return to nursery.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! To the pp who mentioned probiotics I’d thought about this too but gp didn’t recommend it.