At wit's end! DD's diarrhea & loss of appetite!

[jellytalk23]

DD(12mos) has had mild diarrhea for the last week. She hardly eats anything and still goes 2-3 times/day. They are loose, a bit watery, and this last one was mucous-y. She's already <3% on the growth chart and we have 4 weeks to bulk her up. Usually we aim for 3 meals and 2 snacks. With the loss of appetite, she will eat at most three bites of pasta, egg, or veggie per meal and that's it. But she is willing to eat a lot of fruit, today she ate up to 5oz of peaches. She does seem thirstier for milk/soymilk - 16-20oz a day (that's considered a lot for her). I don't know what to do to get rid of the diarrhea and am stressed out because I need to be bulking her up. I'm tired of cooking new foods, only to throw it away.

I called the pedi office last Friday and the nurse saiad it's prob the stomach virus. She was fussier last week and threw up last Thursday (only once all wk). But over the weekend, her temperament seemed better. But she's still NOT EATING! Could this still be the stomach flu? Help...

[Tondi G]

I could still be the lingering effects of a stomach virus. I know it takes me a little while to get a real appetite back after dealing with diarrhea and vomiting.

I would try the BRAT diet.. Banana, rice, applesauce, toast to try to help with the diarrhea. Crackers, pasta etc all kinda help with the poop issues.

Have you ever given her probiotics? Acidolpholus or bifidus ... the ones I have used are Jarro, Udo's choice or metagenics. You can buy them in healthfood stores or whole foods. they are in the refrigerated section.

AS far as bulking her up what did your ped suggest you do?

I have a friend who's DD has always been small but was dropping on the scale and her ped worried about it. She was told to add a layer of butter to sandwiches before the mayo and add some calories to foods by adding butter to vegis, pasta etc. To give her DD whole milk yogurt. to make smoothies with ice cream or heavy cream added to it. Avocado is a good fat too.

I think I would do everything I could to get the diarrhea under control and then worry about putting weight on. I'm sure your ped will understand if you tell them she had a tummy bug and it limited her eating for a couple of weeks. Good Luck

[jellytalk23]

Thanks for your suggestions and assurance. Today was day 9 of the diarrhea. Yesterday I started suspecting that the diarrhea might be due to teething b/c I finally got a good luck into her mouth and saw at least 2 teeth emerging. The diarrhea continues to be the same consistency, loose to watery 3 x a day with the worst one being the worst after the last "meal" of the deal, though I would hardly call that a meal. Her appetite is a better than yesterday but still pales in comparison to before. Oh when is it going to go away???

The pedi suggested putting butter on EVERYTHING to help bulk her up. Even offering DD half and half at times instead of just whole milk or at least supplementing with Carnation instant breakfast/Pediasure. DD used to love avocadoes and now she won't touch it! I'm trying to add more protein into her diet, so that even though she can't get milk fats (a lot of fats come fm dairy), she can hopefully bulk up a bit with the protein (egg, chicken).

I recently read that the BRAT diet is not as promoted these days b/c it's not very nutritious and it gives kids more to "catch up on" after their illness/diarrhea is gone. Any thoughts on that?

[bubbaray]

I've always had success with the BRAT diet after tummy bugs, both for myself and the girls.

Once she's better, you could add oils (canola is good, high in omega 3s) and higher fat dairy (high fat yogurt, cream, etc). Personally, I wouldn't do that until her tummy seemed more settled. Then again, I've never had a child on that end of the growth curve.

GL! Hope she's better soon!

[DrSally]

DS had bad diarrhea and no appetite for a week this spring. I know it's scary when they don't eat hardly anything for that long. He's higher in the percentiles for weight though, but he did lose 2 lbs that wee. I agree with the BRAT diet. Have you also tried culturelle caps (probiotics). Some people believe they shorten the duration of diarrhea. I couldn't tell if it helped with DS, but it didn't hurt.

[jellytalk23]

Well I did buy some probiotics, the granule kind and put it in her soymilk. She has been eating a lot for breakfast (5-6 oz) so I'm happy about that. And the first poop today was more normal and smelled more like the normal poops, so I'm hopeful? And continuing with the BRAT diet, although I'm so tempted to just give her some string cheese which I'm pretty sure she'll eat. I'll let you know what happens... Thanks for all the responses. Btw FYI, DD was 16lbs 12ozs at her 1 year checkup. Yeah can anyone beat that for low on the growth chart?

[DietCokeLover]

Have you tried offering her lactose free milk? The milk products could be aggravating her tummy. DS had diarrhea for about a week last week and we switched him to some lactose free milk and he seemed to start doing better. Also, pedialite popcicles seemed to help him keep hydrated.

[DrSally]

Well I did buy some probiotics, the granule kind and put it in her soymilk. She has been eating a lot for breakfast (5-6 oz) so I'm happy about that. And the first poop today was more normal and smelled more like the normal poops, so I'm hopeful? And continuing with the BRAT diet, although I'm so tempted to just give her some string cheese which I'm pretty sure she'll eat. I'll let you know what happens... Thanks for all the responses. Btw FYI, DD was 16lbs 12ozs at her 1 year checkup. Yeah can anyone beat that for low on the growth chart?

With those poop changes, sounds like she's on the road to recovery

[dcmom2b3]

Well I did buy some probiotics, the granule kind and put it in her soymilk. She has been eating a lot for breakfast (5-6 oz) so I'm happy about that. And the first poop today was more normal and smelled more like the normal poops, so I'm hopeful? And continuing with the BRAT diet, although I'm so tempted to just give her some string cheese which I'm pretty sure she'll eat.

Glad to see that she's doing better! Cheese usually has a binding effect, so it might help her poop firm up more (sorry, is there any delicate way to say that?)

Wanted to add that peaches (which you said she'd eaten a lot of one day) are on the list with prunes and pears as fruits that make babies poop, generally. I try steering clear of them when DD's bowels are loose.

[jellytalk23]

Wanted to submit an update: DD's poops started improving Tuesday (day 14 since diarrhea started) and since the poops have gradually continued to firm up. First, it was the morning poop that startedlooking normal again. Then, the second poop of the day. And today was the first day, that all 3 poops were solid... I was so happy to see a solid poop again!! I put the dairy back into her diet Monday b/c I really didn't think the non-dairy diet was helping/hurting and I just wanted her to get the calories and fats in.

I still don't know what the culprit was, but it sure lasted a long time! Oh and DD's appetite came back too!!! She woke up Tues and decided to start eating again. Hallelujah!

Thanks for all the help and support...