Child's loose stools after diarrhoea, when can she return to nursery?

[UnusualBear]

10 days ago my daughter had diarrhea for a couple of days - basically brown water. That stopped but since then her stools have been very loose, the texture of porridge. One or two times a day - same frequency as she usually poos.

She went to the GP on Thursday and they did an electrolyte blood test that showed no dehydration (plenty of wet nappies anyway) plus temperature, pulse etc all normal. They suggested it was a post viral thing and to come back if it hadn't cleared up in 2 weeks. They didn't do a stool sample, because the actual diarrhea had finished.

It isn't bothering her in the least - no pain, no nausea, no tiredness, nothing. She actually thinks it's quite funny and will laugh, saying that she's done a "splatty, stinky poo". She wants to eat normally but we've been sticking to rice, toast, plain pasta, no fruit except bananas. Nothing changed in her diet before this happened so don't think it's an intolerance.

Nobody else in the house has been ill, including her 20 month old sister.

I'm not massively worried because she doesn't seem ill and isn't dehydrated, but she is really disappointed about missing nursery for the second week in a row.

Any thoughts or advice please?

Loose stools are diarrhoea, so she hasn’t recovered and can’t go to school.

You dont need to keep restricting her diet so much. Is she having dairy products as you can sometimes have temporary lactose intolerance after a tummy bug which could contribute to looser poo.

Yeah, that's what I suspected - wishful thinking, I suppose

The basic diet doesn't seem to be helping much anyway, so might branch out a little. She doesn't drink milk anyway, but has been having the odd yoghurt. I'll give cutting that out a try.

My dd recently went through something similar and had diarrhea once per day for about 3 weeks but was perfectly happy, eating well and didn’t seem sick at all. Stool test came back normal but as she has been excessively tired for months the GP decided to run bloods and she’s tested positive for coeliac disease. Nursery were happy for her to attend after stool test was negative

Definitely increase fiber, a little extra every few days. If you look at the Bristol stool chart, poos classed as number 6 (like the porridge type you're describing) are due to infection or lack of fiber. If you think the infection has cleared and she's well, it probably is the diet needing to go back to normal.

Might be worth treating like toddler diarrhoea. Fatty food at the end of the meal is helpful. NHS guidance here https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/patient-information/dietary-advice-for-toddler-diarrhoea-parent-carer-information/