What To Do If My Newborn Has Diarrhea

Watch For Diaper Rash

Lots of wet poops can irritate your little ones skin. Change her diaper frequently, clean her bottom with plain water instead of baby wipes and try to let her backside air-dry when possible before putting a fresh diaper on.

You can slather on diaper cream when you notice redness, or start using it preventively. And wash your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap after each time you change her diaper.

Immediate Action Required: Call 999 Or Go To A& e If You Or Your Child:

• vomit blood or have vomit that looks like ground coffee
• have green or yellow-green vomit
• might have swallowed something poisonous
• have a stiff neck and pain when looking at bright lights
• have a sudden, severe headache or stomach ache

Severe pain:

• always there and so bad it’s hard to think or talk
• you cannot sleep
• it’s very hard to move, get out of bed, go to the bathroom, wash or dress

Moderate pain:

• makes it hard to concentrate or sleep
• you can manage to get up, wash or dress

Mild pain:

Causes Of Diarrhea In Babies

Diarrhea in babies has many potential causes. Here are some of the most common ones.

Viral infections. A rotavirus is the most common cause of diarrhea in children ages 2 and younger. Fortunately, the number of children who get this intestinal infection has dropped significantly since the introduction of the oral rotavirus vaccine in 2006. “Vaccinated children can still get rotavirus, but they tend to have milder symptoms and recover faster,” says Dr. Safder.

Antibiotics. About one in 10 children who take antibiotics develop diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain. “In addition to targeting bad bacteria, antibiotics kill off healthy bacteria in the gut, which can lead to stomach upset or diarrhea,” says Iona Munjal, M.D., director of the Pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York. If you think antibiotics are causing your baby’s diarrhea, talk to your doctor before stopping the medication. Stopping antibiotics early can lead to antibiotic resistance and cause a bacterial infection to return.

• RELATED:The Baby Poop Guide: What’s Normal, What’s Not

Parasites. Infants in daycare centers have a higher risk of contracting giardia, an intestinal infection caused by parasites. Exposure occurs when babies put fecal-contaminated toys, food, their hands, or other objects into their mouths. Most children get better without special treatment.

Read Also: How Many Oz Newborn Eat

Diarrhea In Babies And Toddlers

• When should you take your child to the doctor for diarrhea?

Is your pint-size poop machine outputting more than usual? Is a lot of the mess winding up on her back rather than in her diaper or the toilet seat instead of in the potty?

Diarrhea in babies and toddlers has a variety of causes, and frequent, watery poops can make her uncomfortable and cause diaper rash.

Diarrhea can also lead to dehydration, which can be harmful to your little one. Monitor your childs wet diapers or the number of times she pees in the potty. Babies should pee every six to 12 hours and toddlers should pee at least a couple times a day.

Thats why running the runs out of town is your mama mission and knowing whats causing diarrhea in your baby or toddler can get you closer to curing her. See if these symptoms match up with what your sweeties experiencing, and then check with your pediatrician for an official diagnosis and get-well plan.

How Is Diarrhea Treated

Viral diarrhea goes away on its own. Most kids with bacterial diarrhea need treatment with an antibiotic. Parasites always need treatment with anti-parasitic medicines.

Kids who aren’t vomiting or becoming dehydrated can continue eating and drinking or breastfeeding as usual. Continuing a regular diet may even shorten the diarrhea episode. You may want to serve smaller portions of food until the diarrhea ends.

Don’t give your child an over-the-counter anti-diarrhea medicine unless your doctor tells you to do so.

Also Check: How To Take Care Of Newborn Puppies Week By Week

What Foods Should You Feed A Baby When He Has Diarrhea What Foods Should You Avoid When Baby Has Diarrhea

Please offer your baby small meals when he has diarrhea. Offering smaller meals will allow babys digestive system to work slowly. The tiny intestines and still fragile digestive system will take a bit of time to get back on track and healed. Dont worry if it takes 3 to 4 days for your babys stools to get back to normal healing takes time.

Be Prepared To Answer Your Veterinarian’s Questions

Being able to answer your vet’s questions about your cats diet, environment, habits, behavior and knowing the details about your cats diarrhea will aid in narrowing the list of possible causes.

There are different characteristics for when diseases cause small intestinal diarrhea versus large intestinal diarrheas, and the diagnosis and treatment for both are generally different. Here are some details to pay attention to when you suspect your cat has diarrhea.

Also Check: What Do I Need For A Newborn Boy

What If Home Treatment Doesn’t Work

When in doubt, when concerned, or when the diarrhea extends beyond a day or two, despite your best at-home efforts, your best bet is to have your cat and their poo evaluated by your veterinarian. No amount of internet searching and no number of trial and error home remedy attempts can compete with the comprehensive history taking, thorough physical examination, diagnostic testing, and the ability to prescribe safe and effective medications or supplements that only your veterinarian can offer.

The Causes Of Diarrhea In Newborn Puppies

Newborn puppies rarely suffer from diarrhea if their diet consists solely of the mothers milk. Allergy to breast milk is also a rare pathology, which should only be diagnosed by a veterinarian. If the puppies are on artificial feeding, the development of an allergy is more likely.

The problem is that the first symptoms of allergies are invisible, when it comes to newborn puppies.

In order to prevent any diseases and development problems, puppies should be inspected daily and regularly weighed. During the examination, special attention should be given to the condition of mucous membranes and exposed skin areas. Usually, when an allergic reaction occurs itching, but because the puppies can not scratch their skin looks a little reddened. Swelling of the mucous membranes, increased separation of tears and saliva can also indicate an allergy.

Allergic reaction to artificial milk is associated with individual intolerance, that is, it can only be observed in some puppies from litter. Treatment of allergies in newborn puppies is inappropriate, because the health risks exceed the likely positive effect. Puppies of allergy sufferers are transferred to another type of food, for example, milk powder of another brand, baby formula for babies or goats milk, diluted with boiled water.

Read Also: How Frequently To Bathe Newborn

Causes Of Acute Diarrhea

• Virus . An infection of the intestines from a virus is the most common cause.
• Bacteria . Less common cause. Diarrhea often contains streaks of blood.
• Giardia . More likely in child care center outbreaks.
• Antibiotic Diarrhea. Many antibiotics cause mild diarrhea. This is not an allergic reaction. Keep giving the antibiotic. Call your doctor if any serious symptoms occur.
• Serious Causes. Most bacterial diarrhea goes away on its own. A few can cause a severe large bowel infection . C. difficile is a serious cause that can occur after being on strong antibiotics.
• Serious Complication: Dehydration. This is the health problem where the body has lost too much fluid. .

Effects Of Baby Diarrhea

Diarrhea makes the body lose too much water and minerals called electrolytes. That leads to dehydration. Babies can get dehydrated very quickly — within a day or two after diarrhea starts — and it can be very dangerous, especially in newborns.

• Peeing less often
• Acting fussy or irritable
• No tears when they cry
• Unusual drowsiness or sluggishness
• Sunken soft spot on the top of the baby’s head
• Skin that isn’t as elastic as usual

Also, call the doctor if your baby has diarrhea and is less than 6 months old or has these symptoms:

• Fever of 102 degrees or higher
• Belly pain
• Blood or pus in their poop, or poop thats black, white, or red
• Sluggishness
• Vomiting

Also Check: What To Get For Newborn Baby Gift

Why Cats Get Diarrhea

There can be many causes of diarrhea in cats. Typically, cats will vomit or have diarrhea due to:

• Eating something toxic or a foreign object
• Too many table scraps or fatty foods can upset your cat’s stomach
• Food allergy
• Rapid food change
• Intussusception this is a type of intestinal blockage where one part of the intestines telescopes into itself
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Metabolic disease: kidney disease, pancreatitis, thyroid disease, diabetes, and others
• Viral, fungal, or bacterial infections
• Reaction to medications

When fecal matter moves through the intestines faster than normal, and there is decreased absorption of water, nutrients, and electrolytes, the result is diarrhea. It is a symptom of diseases or other issues like toxins, foreign body ingestion, etc., that affect the small intestines, large intestines, or other organs outside the gastrointestinal tract.

When To Visit The Doctor

Your child should see a doctor if they:

• are six months old or younger
• are vomiting and have diarrhoea, especially if they’re not drinking much
• have a lot of diarrhoea
• have diarrhoea that hasn’t improved after 10 days, or is getting worse
• cant keep fluids down
• show signs of dehydration, including
• dry lips, mouth and tongue
• sunken eyes
• unusual sleepiness or lack of energy
• fewer wet nappies
• not passing as much wee as usual or passing a small amount of dark yellow wee

Diarrhoea

The Government’s principal advisor on health and disability: improving, promoting and protecting the health of New Zealanders.

You May Like: How To Keep Newborn Baby Sleep At Night

Diarrhea Can Cause Nutrient Deficiency

The small intestine is where cats absorb most of their nutrients from what they ingest. Therefore, when the cause of diarrhea relates to the small intestines, your cat is missing out on a lot of the nutrients they would normally gain from their food. In addition to diarrhea, issues of the small intestines usually cause vomiting and weight loss .

Tests To Determine The Cause Of Diarrhea

Because diarrhea usually is due to an untreatable viral or bacterial infection, it is therefore usually not necessary to test the stools to determine the cause. By the time anyone really starts to worry and think about testing, the diarrhea resolves. Your doctor may want to test the diarrhea if it is bloody or continues for more than 2 or 3 weeks. Here are the common tests your doctor may consider. They require you to pick up a special sterile container from the lab first. Ask the lab for any special instructions on collecting or storing the specimen before you bring it in:

• Routine culture this will look for a variety of intestinal bacterial infections such as Salmonella and E-coli.
• Ova and Parasites the lab will look for a variety of parasites in the stool sample.
• Rotavirus antigen this will detect the most common cause of diarrhea infection in infants and young children. Usually your doctor can diagnose this infection without needing this test.
• Giardia antigen this is a parasite, and is a fairly common cause of abdominal pain and diarrhea. It wont be found on O and P test.
• Hemocult test this checks for hidden blood in the diarrhea, which can help your doctor determine the cause.

Recommended Reading: Can You Give A Newborn Gripe Water

How To Treat Your Newborns Diarrhoea

• Try to keep baby home for plenty of rest .

• Carry on breast- or bottle-feeding your baby if they’re being sick, try feeding smaller amounts, more often.

• Baby diarrhoea leads to dehydration so try to top baby up with fluids more often. Give babies on formula small sips of cool boiled water between feeds in a separate bottle. Dont dilute their normal feed as this can affect their nutrition. If breastfeeding offer extra feeds throughout the day.

• Do not use anti-diarrhoea medicines for babies or infants unless directed by your GP.

If you are concerned or unsure, speak to a healthcare professional such as your GP, health visitor or public health nurse. If you feel your baby is unwell and you notice any signs of dehydration, fever, vomiting – or if diarrhoea has lasted more than 24 hours – always get your GPs advice. Our Careline team are also able to help.

Diarrhea In Breastfed Babies: How To Tell

• Diarrhea in a breastfed baby is sometimes hard to tell.
• Normal breastfed stools are loose . Stools are yellow, but sometimes can be green. The green color is from bile. Runny stools can even be bordered by a water ring. These are all normal stools.
• Breastfed babies often pass more than 6 stools per day. Until 2 months of age, they may pass a stool after each feeding. But, if stools suddenly increase in number and looseness, suspect diarrhea. If it lasts for 3 or more stools, the baby has diarrhea.
• If the stools contain mucus, blood or smell bad, this points to diarrhea.
• Other clues to diarrhea are poor eating, acting sick, or a fever.

Also Check: Which Similac Is Best For Newborns

Does Your Child Need To See A Doctor About Diarrhoea

If your child is under three months old and has diarrhoea, always see your GP.

Its also a good idea to see your GP if your child:

• has chronic diarrhoea
• has blood in her poo
• is losing weight.

Take your child to a hospital emergency department straight away if he has diarrhoea and:

• shows signs of dehydration that is, if he isnt passing urine, is pale and thin, has sunken eyes, cold hands and cold feet, is drowsy or is very cranky
• cant keep fluids down and has severe stomach pain or stomach pain that wont go away
• shows signs of being very unwell.

You know your child best, so trust your instincts if your child doesnt seem well. Signs that your child has a serious illness that requires urgent medical attention include severe pain, drowsiness, pale or blue skin, dehydration, troubled breathing, seizures and reduced responsiveness.

Top Four Causes Of Diarrhea

Don’t Miss: How Much Ml Should A Newborn Eat