Tummy troubles 11 mth old - need suggestions!

[barkley1]

DD has had very loose/diarrhea-like stools for 3 weeks (ever since both kiddos got a little tummy bug - lasted 1 week for DS age 3). She is breastfed, plus solids like babyfood fruits and veggies, puffs and whole wheat bread here and there. Normally, her stools were really well formed for a breastfed baby.

I have tried the bRAT diet and probiotics, neither of which have made much difference. I thought we were seeing improvement two days ago when she actually had a "normal" (for her) stool, but it was apparently an anomoly.

Over the phone, the ped said he didn't think it was a bacterial in the gut issue, b/c the probiotics didn't help. He offered several suggestions:

1. continue to breastfeed, do BRAT diet (but switch to fresh but ripe bananas, instead of babyfood bananas), and add powdered fiber to her food to bulk up the stools

or

2. switch her to a sensitive formula for a week, and see if it is the sugar/lactose that is causing the diarrhea; pump in the meantime, and then go back to breast when all is resolved

or

3. since she is 11 months old, give her whole milk for a week to see if that helps - he says a lot of times when breastfed babies wean to whole milk, they get constipated. maybe this would firm up her stools. Pump in the meantime, go back to breast when all is resolved.

4. Give her some Kaopectate. He does NOT like giving babies this young Immodium, but says that Kao will do them no harm.

I will mention I am planning to wean in a few weeks, so I really don't want to do option 2 or 3.

I understand that the gut can be fragile after a tummy bug. in fact, DS was way over the bug part but his stools just wouldn't firm up until we gave him a tiny bit of Pepto, and it seemed like once his bowels got a chance to heal, it was all good from there. So, I understand the reasoning behind Option 2 and 3, but in a way, I'm not sure they make sense.

Help! WWYD?

[Green_Tea]

Is she unhappy? If she's acting fine, I'd go with option 4 and see if it works or just wait. I'd also continue with the probiotics/try a new strain or brand. Can't hurt, might help.

[nfowife]

This happened to my DD1- went on for like 2 months. We could never figure out what the cause was. It wasn't true diarrhea because it wasn't multiple times a day- The frequency stayed about the same as normal. Also she was not acting sick at all. I did work to up fiber. At 11 months I would not intro formula. If she is acting fine and the frequency is about normal I'd probably just continue the status quo until you wean, with a focus on fiber.

[magnoliaparadise]

Not to hijack this thread, but Barkley1 can you tell me what you meant by 'normal for her' stools? My (breastfed plus some solids, like yours) 10 month old always has diarrhea looking stools and I have just assumed it was normal! I am having a bad mothering moment feeling... now I am wondering whether she has always had diarrhea (though rarely more than once a day, so technically not according to nfowife's definition)...

[barkley1]

Well, she IS acting fine, but the frequency is up quite a bit - today seems to be the worst in a week or so - 4 times so far.

To answer you magnolia - her usual BMs were like a "patty" - almost nothing to wipe they were so well formed, but not hard. BUT, oddly enough, my DS, who was on formula from 5 months on, had pasty-consistency poop until he was 2.5!!

If DD was a newborn, these stools would not alarm me at all. It's just the change from such a formed stool, I know this is not normal for her. I think i will try some Kaopectate, maybe fiber, and hang in there a few more weeks. By then she'll have her 1 year check up and we can go from there.

Any other suggestions are welcomed!!! Thanks!

[annex]

My DD had a virus as a baby that lingered as loose stools for a long while. Eventually it ended when I eliminated dairy from her (and mine since she was BF) diets for 2 weeks. I don't know what the scientific cause is, but I've had to do that for her a couple times as she got older too. Her gut just seems to take longer to heal, and taking dairy out speeds up the process.