6mo Diarrhea for three weeks now

[Flowergirl89]

Hi, my DD is 6 months and has been having diarrhea for the past three weeks. At the beginning it caused an awful rash and thankfully that’s cleared but the horrible nappies haven’t stopped. She leaks through pretty much every morning and I’m going through loads of nappies a day. She’s otherwise happy, drinking like normal. I put off starting solids but then decided it could go on for a while so have been giving her veg purée one a day and not seen much difference. I took her to the GP who asked me to bring a stool sample. It showed up negative for infection but he called on Friday to say it showed her calprotectin levels were raised which means inflammation but since it’s hard to pinpoint what can cause it I should wait another three weeks before retesting. Sorry for the long ramble but just wondering if anyone else had something similar and if I should maybe be asking GP to retest sooner as another three weeks seems quite long.

That sounds stressful. Has there been any change in they're milk?

Is she teething ?

Temporary lactose intolerance? Quite common in babies after a bug. The solution for a formula fed baby is to switch to lactose free formula fora few weeks. I don't know what the solution is for BF babies.

I did switch from breastfed to formula fed but that was a good month before

It might well be the formula causing the irritation.

Have you tried her with a comfort formula?

But would it have taken so long for
the effects to show? She was on one bottle a day from a few weeks old so it was nothing entirely new!

The thing with the lactose intolerance is that it is very quick to check/fix. If you try the lactose free formula, it only takes a few hours to stop the problem.

It could've a temporary lactose intolerance as OP suggests but if it's Cow's Milk Protein Allergy it could well take awhile to show up, especially if it's non-ige.

Thanks for all your suggestions. Not so sure I want to switch to lactose free formula as she is happy on her regular besides for this issue. She’s a happy baby who thankfully doesn’t have any issues with wind or reflux etc

Try it out until tummy settles.

Yes, hate to say it but sounds like either lactose intolerance or CMPA. My (now) 5.5 month old had sudden diarrhoea at 4.5 months. Like you, had a stool sample which was negative. We are combi feeding so was given nutrimigen and have cut dairy/soya from my diet and her poos went back to normal within 48 hours. We’re now a month in and her bowel movements are as regular as they were beforehand, and I am weaning from breastfeeding.

Like yours she was (is) a happy baby with no real issues, except for the fact that for 2 weeks she was shitting through the eye of a needle. And tbh, bearing in mind babies have 4 things to do - eat sleep play and poo - it might be worth double checking her formula even if she’s currently “settled” on it, because if it is a problem you’ll then find out quickly and the diarrhoea will stop, and if it’s not you’ve ruled out an allergy that if ignored can get quite nasty!

Ok thanks for that advice, any recommendations for a formula? I’m barely breastfeeding at the minute, about two mins in the morning as I barely have any milk left. Do you think worth pushing gp to check her out for it?

I went after a week to my gp and they prescribed nutrimigen without a quibble. I would get an appointment to discuss the symptoms and ask for an initial prescription of treated formula ? For what it’s worth, my baby has been completely unfazed by the change in formula :)

If you are BFing I'd look at cutting out dairy in your diet too and making sure LO's diet is DF.

Barely BFing at this point, tried once a day but milk supply dwindled to almost nothing

Thanks. I’m going to caLl up tomorrow, I don’t like the idea of waiting another three weeks

You can buy lactose free formula without a prescription, and the doctors may well expect you to do that, rather than provide one. The major formula brands do them, so I'd just try the one that is the same brand as the one you're using.

Some of the very specialist formulas taste disgusting, so it may be worth trying to stick to as normal as possible (e.g. just lactose free or just cmp free), rather than going for a hypoallergenic, free from everything formula straight away.

We did take my DD to the gp when she had this and said we thought she had temporary lactose intolerance, but it was a MN suggestion that prompted us to try it. The gp hadn't heard of it, but called our local children's hospital who agreed that it was likely. A few hours later and she was fine again. About a month later, she was back on normal formula as it was genuinely temporary.

Thanks so much that’s so good to know!

Hi sorry I know this is an old message but my 4.5 month old (formula fed) has been having small amounts of diarrhoea for a week now after we every feed. I’ve had two phone appointments with the GP on days 4 and 5 of the diarrhoea and both times they said it’s probably a bug or virus and to wait 7 days and then being in a stool sample if not stopped, but I don’t think it is a bug as me and husband are fine. He has terrible nappy rash and they prescribed us cannesten for it but I now think it is an allergy. The doctor said it’s unlikely an allergy because of his age but reading this I’m not even more convinced it is. It’s so weird now it can suddenly happen at this age? He is so happy as usual, feeding fine and no temperature. He’s teething too. He does get a tiny bit grouchy when I changed his bum but I think because of the rash. Is it a permanent allergy?