EBF 5 month old diarrhoea

[RedRobyn24]

Has anyone else experienced this please?

EBF baby 5mo, no bottles and no weaning has had 10-12 nappies a day for the last week. The GP thinks it’s viral gastroenteritis and she’s been checked over, no other symptoms just persistent diarrhoea that doesn’t seem to be calming down, if anything I think it’s getting slightly worse. I’m going back to them on Monday if there’s no improvement tomorrow.

If you’ve experienced something like this, how long has it gone on for? The GP expected it to get within 7 days but it absolutely hasn’t

My DS had something like this at 7 months old. Ended up lasting 9 full days. I was so worried.
He was on solids but couldn't eat because as soon as he did it would lead to more diarrhoea. He refused his foods as I assumed it was giving him tummy cramps. The big worry was that he also began refusing his milk (was combination fed and didn't want either breast or bottle.) Had him at GP who checked him over and advised on signs of dehydration - not producing urine, dry eyes/mouth/lips, listless - if any of these would likely need A&E. He was producing way less urine but still some, and overall form was OK. GP advised little and often with fluids, keep offering. And said 7 days is average but if gets to 10 days come back. It just suddenly stopped after 9 days thank goodness but I thought it would never end. About 10-12 huge bouts of diarrhoea a day and it would immediately pour out of his nappy and ruin clothes. I couldn't leave the house at all.
I really hope your little one is over it asap, any doubts at all just seek medical advice again. They are so precious it's just awful to see them unwell.

Does she seem otherwise poorly? Fever? If not, I’d consider teething as a possibility. Poos became very frothy, loose and smelly with teething.

There's more norovirus and rotavirus doing the rounds at present than is normal for this time of year. My (older) LO just had rotavirus two weeks ago despite being vaccinated.

If you are worried, ask the GP to send a stool sample off for testing and ask them to make sure they test for bacterial food poisoning AND viruses.

I mean it could be teething but it seems extreme if it were. God I hope it’s over soon, I have noticed she’s getting less of a rashy bum but I don’t know if that’s because I’m trying to do nappy free time or because her poops are less acidic. I’ve heard some people say this can go on for weeks even months so I’m really hoping that’s not the case. Day 9 today 😔

My dd was ebf. Just before her first teeth came through she had the most horrendous diarrhoea. It was bad. It's the only time she ever had nappy rash 🤷

She was fine. Keep an eye to make sure she's not dehydrated. If worried, go to GP and don't let them fob you off. Good luck

I’ve been to the GP a couple of times, it’s been 9 days of 12 diarrhoea nappies a day, so quite severe. I’m going to give them a sample on Monday, I don’t think this can possibly just be teething.

I'd highly doubt that much is teething. Sounds like a textbook bug. Poor little mite. Is she feeding much for you?

I’m feeding her as much as I can, I just took her temp and it’s raised again (37) but not a fever. She’s honestly ok for the most part, it’s just constant. Sometimes I give her nappy free time or I’ll just let her bum dry naturally after cleaning her up and it’s just coming out of her again. It’s like bubbles, yellow water and fatty bits. Sorry not very nice but also I never imagined it would go on this long, in my mind I thought maybe 2-3 days, it feels like it’s been so long. I’m so tired.

Sounds like you're doing all you can. No harm to link back in with GP like you said. I was told after 10 days to link back again.
My DS poor bottom looked burnt from how acidic the poo was, similar to what you describe in consistency too. 37 is still normal for baby so don't get too concerned about that. It's absolutely draining, physically changing and cleaning them so often, not to mention the exhaustion from constantly worrying.

If they are well in themselves and paracetamol keeps temp down then personally I wouldn't be too worried BUT babies can take a turn for the worse quickly so you need to keep monitoring closely and keep going back to the GP if you are concerned. Sounds like you are doing everything you can at this point. Whatever it is, it sounds nasty. I said teething because my DD was absolutely horrific for about 2 weeks (not just a bit of diarrhoea) I was convinced there was something seriously wrong (Must have been to the GP 3 or 4 times).

At this age, you can give Dioralyte/ORS as well as breastmilk; diaroltye do one suitable from 3 months that also relieves diarrhoea. But I would want the GP to OK first, personally.

Thanks I didn’t know that, I’ll definitely keep it in mind

Hi @RedRobyn24 , I know this was only a few days ago but have you seen any improvement?
Currently sat here writing this as I am watching my little one have some nappy free time and on day 8 of the same sounding problem!

No changes! Day 14 today and ther poo has gone from being normal stools just 10-12 of them, to being almost fluorescent yellow water with fatty curds and for the last 3-4 days it’s not gone green (like the colour of mushy peas) with the consistency of slime still 10-12 nappies a day. A stool sample was sent off on Tuesday but STILL hasn’t come back. I cut out dairy from Tuesday in an attempt to do something that might help but it’s made zero difference so far and it’s day 4 of no dairy. It’s really starting to get me down to be honest

i hope yours doesn’t go on this long, ill keep you updated if you like. I’ve combed the internet trying to find someone who can give me some answers but im none the wiser 😔

Ugh you’re joking 😔 it’s awful for them, but I feel the same way.. I am exhausted! We are barely leaving the house because of the constant bum changes etc and I don’t want him to be uncomfortable either. The last normal poo he did was Wednesday last week, since then they’ve been how you’re describing them now. Yellow etc but watery and mucousy too.
The last few mornings it’s been slimey green and that’s the stuff I’ve sent off to be tested… not hopeful we will hear back any time soon.

My little one has CMPA and was originally breast fed but has been on prescription milk for a while now and has been okay until last week so I don’t think it’s that for us, but could be wrong.

Waiting for a call back from the dr today as his nappy rash has gone bad again from it all and the metanium has stopped working and almost ran out .. and I won’t be able to get any more of that!

Please do keep me posted 😞

How are things @TinyTyrantTamer? We got her stool sample back as everything being normal meaning they didn’t find any harmful bacteria apparently. She’s still pooing around 12 times a day but I noticed today that they weren’t all green, the ones in the morning were but as the day has gone on they’ve got a bit more yellow… hoping this is a good sign. Still dairy free but the bread I was eating had soy in it so now I’m going to make sure I’m soy free as well.

Things are still the same here @RedRobyn24 . Day 10 today and no end in sight just yet. His are the same, green in the morning and then yellow… but due to his CMPA formula, green is more normal for us over yellow.
Spent most of the day with his nappy off to try and heal that too.
We haven’t had his sample back yet but I’ll check again with them by EOD tomorrow, but I suspect they will probably say the same as your dr.

Morning @RedRobyn24, is it too soon to ask for any updates? Almost at the week two mark for us now!

Day 19 here and no change

I spoke to another GP on Monday night and he seemed completely stumped that this had been going on for so long

He said at this age it can take them longer to right themselves but it’s certainly unusual for it to have gone on for so long

So we’ve sent off two more stool samples to be tested for even more things, I’m so grateful that they’re trying to figure out what this is, I’m exhausted as she’s pooing in middle of the night 3-4 times, so I’m not getting much sleep. I don’t expect a result from the samples until next week.

I’m sorry your still dealing with this too! It’s horrible, it just seems to go on and on

How is his nappy rash?

I have now given up dairy, soy (apparently with dairy allergies soy often goes hand in hand) and I’ve stopped drinking caffeinated tea because I was having quite a lot and thought maybe this would make a difference!? Nothing so far but I’ve had the worst headache for last two days, presumably from caffeine withdrawal

I’ll let you know when the stool samples get back if they find anything

Have you spoken with the GP? Did anything come up on the stool sample you sent away?

Wow, 19 days! Day 13/14 here for us. I can’t see this changing any time soon for us either.

We are also up a few times a night to change his bum too. His nappy rash is, thankfully, looking a lot better… but it has done this before and then gone worse again! Trying so hard to keep it down.

Do you know what other tests they will be checking for now? I am tempted to ask for the same. His sample came back today the same, all ‘normal’.

Cannot WAIT for the day he is doing normal poos 1-2 times a day, I feel like I took those days for granted 😂.

No I don’t know, I think they’re testing for quite a lot though because of the two samples. Are you GPs not investigating further?

My LO have four bouts of D&V between April and May, we never got an answer for what the first three were (samples got lost from the third bout, which is when I went to the GP).

They tested for:
Parasites - they looked for eggs, stuff like giardia, cryptosporidium (outbreaks on farms...)
Viruses - adenovirus, rotavirus, norovirus
Bacteria - common food poisoning bacteria

The fourth bout of D&V was vaccine-breakthrough rotavirus. That one caused high fever and projectile vomiting, followed by 3-4 days diarrhoea.

Those tests above still aren't an exhaustive list - there are other diarrhoea viruses but only specialist hospitals like Great Ormond St, Alder Hey do them regularly - which I think is why GPs assume it's a virus if tests come back negative.

No, they sent a text with the results and that was that. I think I will message them in the morning and ask for further tests! Everyone keeps telling me it will be because he is teething but this just seems excessive as it isn’t just a few days or the odd few nappies!

@TinyTyrantTamer

i think we may have had some change today, she’s only been 3 times so far normally by this time she’d have had between 6-8 dirty nappies. Unfortunately they are still quite green and don’t look normal. But it’s been consistently 10-14 dirty nappies a day until now so this seems like something is happening.

Although now of course I don’t know if it’s because of the changes in my diet or if something is working its way out of her system 🙄

That’s brilliant @RedRobyn24… has it continued to slow down?
perhaps slowly you can re introduce the changes you’ve made and if you see her tummy go bad again you can nip it in the bud quickly!

The last two nights we’ve had significantly less wake ups for nappy changes, which has been a huge relief, and in the day definitely 2-3 less changes over the last couple of days. So I am really starting to hope his is slowing down too!

Do let me know how you’re getting on, I have my fingers crossed for you!