What causes diarrhea in babies and how is it treated?
Diarrhea, which can be defined as watery stool consistency and increased stool frequency due to the disruption of fluid and electrolyte balance in the digestive tract, is a health problem that can cause extremely serious problems, especially in babies.
It can be said that approximately 5 million people die due to diarrhea every year in the world and 80% of them are infants. On the other hand, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries, approximately 15% of children die before the age of 3 due to diarrhea, and diarrhea is one of the serious life-threatening problems in these countries. It can be said that this health problem is more common and more severe in children who are undernourished. Therefore, in order to avoid diarrhea problems in the baby, healthy eating habits should be followed and the baby should be monitored for signs of diarrhea in all cases.
How to stop diarrhea in babies?
- If diarrhea occurs in a baby who is younger than 6 months and is exclusively breastfed, breastfeeding should be done more frequently. Even if supplementary food has not been introduced yet, you can give your baby boiled, cooled, warm water and support fluid balance to stop the diarrhea problem during this period.
- If the baby is taking supplementary nutrition, plenty of fluids should be given after each watery stool. It is sufficient to give 1 tea glass of liquid to babies under 2 years of age, and 1 glass of liquid to children over 2 years of age.
- It is important for babies who receive supplementary nutrition to also consume foods such as soup, yoghurt, and freshly squeezed fruit juice (peach, apple, carrot).
- In babies with diarrhea problems, even after the stool consistency returns to normal, care should be taken to consume fluids for 2 weeks, and the baby should be fed 6 meals a day, at small intervals and frequently.
Regardless of the color of the diarrhea in babies, if watery stools last longer than 3 days, if blood or dark stains are seen in the diarrhea, and if there is a vomiting problem, urgent health care is required.
What causes diarrhea in babies?
- The most important causes of diarrhea in babies can be listed as nutritional disorders, intestinal infections, food poisoning, antibiotic use and allergic causes.
- Particularly in infants, if the nutrition is not age-oriented and needs-oriented, it may lead to diarrhea problems. Overfeeding the baby, consuming foods that are not suitable for the baby’s age, and switching to supplementary food are the biggest reasons that cause nutritional diarrhea in babies.
- Diarrhea due to antibiotic drug use is one of the frequently encountered symptoms in babies. If your baby is being treated with antibiotics for any purpose, you should get information about the treatment process from your doctor and monitor your baby for critical signs of diarrhea.
