Diarrhoea in 10 month old - told to give no milk...

[SydneyB]

Poor DS, 10 mths, has had diarrhoea for about 5 days now. No other symptoms apart from horrid nappy rash so I took him to GP to get some cream. She gave us some hydrocortisone cream and recommmended stopping his milk until it clears up but I was the under the impression that milk was the most important thing for him until he's 1? He's on solids but doesn't really drink a lot of water and still has 3/4 bottles of milk over 24 hrs and I'm worried about him dehydrating (and getting hungry!) if I stop the milk. Anyone else had a similar experience?

It's true, sadly

what he needs is electrolyte, you can make your own (can't find a recipe atm) or get a prescription for Dioralyte. He won't like it much but it keeps his fluid levels up.

Oh man.. not sure how he/we are going to get through next 24 hrs with no milk...

Dioralyte - you can buy it over the counter (but it will be free if you get a prescription)

You should find he will drink it even if he is reluctant - he will be thirsty! Good luck

Thanks Ponders. But, umm, what do I give him at bed time and at 4am when he usually wakes for milk? A steak?

It's hard but dairy will prolong the diarrhoea.

Hope he feels better soon.

Steak sounds good. Or vodka.

It's a long time since I had a baby so I'm very shaky on the details but they did drink it - it may have taken a while before they accepted I wasn't just teasing...but waking in the night for milk is more a habit than anything at 10 months, so if you're really lucky, this might even stop him bothering to wake you in future!

Can't bear going back to doc again - will they let me buy dioralyte over the counter in a 10mth old?

the up to date advice is to give milk feeds as normal so if he wants the milk give it to him. You can also buy dioralyte in the supermarket straight off of the shelf. From NHS direct: Continue breastfeeding or bottle-feeding

If you are breastfeeding or bottle-feeding your child and they have diarrhoea, continue if they will still feed (use their normal-strength feed if they are bottle-fed). Rehydration drinks should also be given if necessary.

(p.s. when ds had a tummy bug at this age I did stop his milk for a couple of days but he was only having 2 milk feeds per day so he wasnt quite as bothered as he could have been).

Yes they'll sell it to you.

Oh right. Not sure what to do now... why don't the doc at least say the same as nhs direct??

I had to take dd2 to hospital last year (aged 1yr) as she had a terrible upset tummy/severe runs....they told me to continue with offering milk/foods/drinks.....they said that it didnt really matter and that these things just have to run their course.....

Maybe I'll see if we can get to bedtime without any milk and see whether he'll go down or not. The diarrhea doesn't seem to be bothering him, its the sore bot.

I found Sudocrem brilliant for easing the sore bot!

Yep, have been going through tons of it and GP prescribed me a massive tub too so that's good for the coffers. We also have canesten and hydrocortisone cream so hoping it clears up. You think I'd be able to remember this kind of thing from when DD was his age but of course I can't!

Hurrah hurrah, the bot has dried up! Caved into milk at 5am this morning but doesn't seem to have had an undue effect. Now just waiting for recently potty-trained DD to catch it...