Caring for an Infant Suffering from Diarrhea

My children both had bouts of diarrhea when they were infants. It is quite common for this to occur at least once. In fact, infants can even experience diarrhea from something as simple as getting their baby teeth. The important thing is not to ignore the diarrhea and do nothing. You need to help your baby get better as soon as possible as infants can get very sick very fast.

Here are five tips on caring for your infant when they have diarrhea:

1. Keep your baby hydrated. To do this you want to make sure your baby is drinking all of their formula or taking a normal amount of breast milk. If your baby is also vomiting, she may not tolerate them. In that case you will want to give her some water or some Pedialyte. If your baby can't keep the water or Pedialyte down then you need to head to the doctors right away.

2. Change the baby often and use a diaper cream with each changing. Your baby won't start off with a rash, but he will get one relatively quickly if you don't protect his bum. Diaper creams do not only heal rashes, they prevent them. This is because they have a layer that protects the skin so the diarrhea isn't actually getting on the skin. A & D ointment is good for this.

3. Stick with the BRAT diet if your infant has reached the age of being able to consume food. At four months your child will be able to eat a pureed bananas, applesauce, or baby rice cereal. The dry toast will have to wait until after your child is one year of age. These foods are recommended during a bout of diarrhea.

4. Use yogurt that has live cultures. These are the good bacteria that will help fight off the bad bacteria causing the diarrhea. If your infant is under the age of 6 months then you may want to consult a doctor before you go this route.

5. Give your baby lots of love and attention. Your infant will not understand what is happening to them. They will only know that they don't feel good. As the baby's parent, you are the one who can actually comfort the baby with your presence. You won't be spoiling the baby by holding her and rocking her to sleep. The baby will quickly pick up their old routine once she is feeling better.

Warning:

If your infant doesn't urinate in over six hours, you will need to contact your doctor. The baby can receive the necessary fluids through an IV.

If your baby starts getting a fever this could be the sign of an infection that would require an antibiotic. Take the baby to the doctor for further evaluation.

Never give your baby anti-diarrhea medication. This is very harmful for babies.