diahorreah in children (2 and 3)?

Question

Hello,

I have two young boys (2 and 3) and they've had upset stomachs now for around 2 weeks with diahorreah on and off.

I'm making sure that hands are always cleaned and they are very clean children and am struggling to know what to do with them.

Can anyone suggest good food to feed them or any "soft" medication I can give them to improve things.

This is a UK question so please UK answers

Answer 1

Hi sorry to hear about your boys and their upset stomachs.
I am a nurse who working with health visitors at a GP surgery and I can tell you that this is a bug going round at the moment.
It seems to go on for ages - some days are better than others then it all seems to come back again.

My daughter (8) had it for two weeks but she's better now. To be honest nothing I gave her to eat seemed to help very much but you could try giving them a plain diet - toast,
non fibrous cereal (rice crispies.rather than weetabix ,that kind of thing)
Tomato soup with toast fingers.
Rice
small amounts of chicken,
pureed apple.
Apple juice is good as it gives some calories and isn't too acidic.
Avoid anything very fatty or greasy like chips ,eggs,lots of cheese,
lots of milk.

Keep meals small don't try and get them to eat much at one time.

I don't know if you can buy Imodium for children over the counter ask at the local chemist.you should probably avoid any medication if you can as it really only masks symptoms.But it can be useful if you need to do a journey or go out.

Take heart they will get better and probably quite soon. That first solid poo will seem like a miracle!!

Answer 2

Poor things!! Well, looking at the replies already on here, taking them to your GP is exactly the correct thing to do. Even in an adult 2 weeks is too long. For this to be going on this long I expect that you GP will request samples to check that there is nothing more sinister!! My daughter. now 3, had a very upset tummy Oct. '05 and although my GP told me all was ok, as a nurse I knew something wasn't quite right so I did a sample and had it tested for myself, it turned out she had caught something called 'cryptosporidium' which is a tiny parasite that lives in the gut. Her symptoms went on for 3 months. So, don't hang about get them to your GP!!

Answer 3

You should take them to the doctor as young children can get dehydrated very quickly, plus they have mild medication (like diacalm) which will stop it.

Try and keep them off of too much fruit and veg for a day or two as the roughage can make things worse.

Make sure they drink plenty.

Answer 4

To be honest i would take them to the gp, as 2 weeks is al long time for this to be going on.

In the meantime make sure they drink plenty of fluids, and bananas are good for binding so that should make them stop, but if its a bug, you need advise from gp, or phone nhs direct

Answer 5

their is a very nasty bug around so that might be the problem ... but i suppose you now that ! digestive biscuits are good no milk though that will make it worse really just plain food bread an jam no marg or butter simple food with out grease cook by oven it will get better just hang in !! medication for two an three their is none!!

Answer 6

Try the brat diet which is bananas rice apple and toast. They can eat a combination of them and of course water no dairy products till clear for 48hrs if no better contact yory dr

Answer 7

Hi there, I really feel for you, My 2yr old had a really bad tummy for about a fortnight last month nothing we fed him really helped but we got some re-hydration sachets from boots that just had to be added to they're normal juice...... (and he couldn't taste the difference) We gave him one sachet after each messy poo and it really helped make sure he didn't get dehydrated.
Pop into boots or another chemist and ask for their advice they'll be able to recommend something for your little lads, I really hope they get better soon........ Good luck honey xx

Answer 8

Two weeks? Thats kind of a long time to be going with the poopies.
I would get those boys to a doctor ASAP if they were mine.

Answer 9

Call their advice nurse for medical advice. Two weeks is too long for diahrrea and upset stomach.

They'll tell you the exact type of food or whatever to do for them.

Answer 10

if their dehydrating try dioralyte, it replaces the salts lost, plenty of fluids, check with gp, its not normal for it to go on for so long, my son has a gluten and dairy allergy, which causes diarrhoea, its probably not that if its both of them, as they could be passing a bug from 1 to the other