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- Asthma
- Bronchiolitis
- Chickenpox
- Colic
- Common Cold
- Constipation
- Cough
- Croup
- Diaper Rash
- Diarrhea
- Ear Infections
- Eye Infections
- Fever in Children
- Fifth Disease
- Fluoride
- Head Injuries
- Head Lice
- Immunizations
- Lead Poisonings
- Lyme Disease
- Nosebleeds
- Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, Poison Sumac
- Poisonings
- Scabies
- Sensitive Skin or Eczema
- Sore Throat/Strep Throat
- Thrush
- Vomiting
Caring for Children: Diarrhea
Diarrhea means an increase in the number of stools or their water content. Diarrhea can be caused by many things - including viral infections, bacterial or parasite infections, bacterial toxins (food poisoning), or food intolerance. Diarrhea caused by an infection starts suddenly and often is accompanied by abdominal cramps, vomiting, and fever.
Most infections in children are viral. Rotavirus commonly infects infants. It causes vomiting for about a day and then diarrhea for three or four days, followed by gradual improvement. It may take two weeks for the stools to become entirely normal again. Norwalk virus infects older children and adults. This illness lasts one to four days and is characterized by occasional vomiting, abdominal cramps, and moderately severe diarrhea.
The main complications of diarrhea are dehydration (loss of water) and body salt (sodium, potassium) imbalance. Dehydration is unusual unless your child is having ten or more stools per day or vomiting everything for a day. Dehydration is also unusual in children older than three years.
There are no medications that cure viral diarrhea. Over-the-counter antidiarrheal medications are not recommended for children under age two, and should be used with caution in older children. They do not stop the body's loss of water and salt if an infection is present, and they often worsen the intestinal injury. Pepto-Bismol contains salicylate (aspirin). Salicylate (aspirin) use has been associated with a fatal disorder, Reye Syndrome, and so should not be used in children and teenagers.
During the first few days of illness, infants may continue to drink formula or breast milk if vomiting is not severe. If the infant is stooling more often than every two hours, offer extra fluid - additional breast milk, formula, or a commercially available electrolyte solution (Pedialyte, Infalyte, Rehydralyte). Older infants, toddlers and children may continue to eat if they are hungry, and should be encouraged to drink extra fluids.
Contact the pediatrician if:
- Diarrhea is not improving by the fourth day of illness.
- Abdominal pain is severe.
- Blood is seen in the stool or vomit.
- Signs of dehydration occur: fussiness, decreased tears, dry mouth, sunken soft spot of the head in an infant, sunken eyes, no urination for six to eight hours.
- You are concerned.
