Toddler 'diarrhoea': anyone else going through recurrence please?

[Smittals]

DD is 19m and lately has had a few episodes of loose/runny nappies but not full-blown diarrhoea. She doesn't seem ill otherwise, but it's enough that her nursery asks that we keep her at home for 24hr. I'm wondering if it's because she's outside, digging in the garden, more than she used to be. I really don't want to protect her from all dirt and be brandishing antibac wipes all the time, and thought a soapy handwash before eating would be enough! Anyone else got the same problem? Any advice please?? Does it pass in the same way that the never-ending nursery colds did?

It definately passes. Annoying that your nursery is excluding her for it!

I found I had some luck by giving Yakult type drinks, but they're pretty sugary and processed.

Thanks NQC - I understand the nursery have to be careful, but it's certainly taking a lot of time out of my p/t hours lately. But I'm mainly worried that DD is not getting the nutrition she should be! Was the Yakult to help during an episode or was it a daily dose as protection?

We use it when his guts are unduly loose. I'm not sure it makes a difference, it could just be a matter of time.

I guess for us, we know the root cause is too much fibre in the diet - we don't tend to have white bread/rice/pasta.

I am pretty surprised at your nursery asking you to keep her at home, and I would be pretty annoyed.
My DD (now 2.4) has always been prone to "loose" poos, but as you say, it's not really proper diarrhoea. She is incredibly healthy and there is nothing wrong with her -but her poos are hardly ever solid. I think it's quite normal. Maybe you should talk to the nursery about it. I think it's pretty common.

aha - NVQ you might have got the answer -maybe it's got something to do with DD's love of rough oatcakes. Don't get much more fibre-laden than those!

LittleDorrit - I'll have a chat with nursery and see if they can accept that she's otherwise healthy, thanks for that.

instead of bug drinks, try solaray's ''babylife'' (www.positivehealthshop.com/itemdetl.php/itemprcd/SRAY-14043) it is a tasteless powder you can add to yoghurts or other cold foods. bug drinks are pretty useless for kids under 5 anyway as they have a different set of friendly bugs in their gut to adults and kids over 5 so the bugs in yakult are not the right ones. the sugar in those drinls also help the unfriendly bugs grow defeating the whole idea.
the runny nappies, have you changed foods recently? when my son came off of his mums breast milk, we had problems as we eventually realised he was mildly lactose intolerant and he ended up on baby soya milk which dried up his nappies very quickly. babies that age, runny nappies is usually due to a change in diet unless there are other signs of illness like temperature, redness etc etc etc