Normal baby stool can look a lot like an adult's diarrheal stool. Healthy baby poop is often soft and runny, and (especially in the first month) quite frequent. One 2-week-old with 10 runny stools a day may be perfectly healthy, while another 4-month-old with 3 stools a day, all firmer than the other baby's, may have diarrhea. So how can a parent tell?
Look for a sudden increase in the frequency of the stools. Each baby has her own stool frequency pattern that changes slowly over time. If it changes noticeably within only a few days, she may have diarrhea. Any baby who has more than one stool per feeding should also be suspected of having diarrhea, even if this isn't a sudden change. Also look for a sudden increase in the water content of the stool. Other signs of illness in your baby, such as poor feeding, a newly congested nose or a new fever, make the diagnosis of diarrhea more likely.
Diarrhea can be a symptom of several things in an infant. Due to the already soft texture of a baby's feces, it can be difficult to distinguish what is normal and what is diarrhea. Although loose stools on occasion are nothing to worry about, a sudden change of bowel movements that become watery and frequent is considered to be diarrhea.
A baby's frequency of bowel movements changes as he gets older. As a newborn, he may have a bowel movement up to ten times a day. An older baby will have much fewer, depending on what he has eaten and what is normal for that particular baby. Only you know what to generally expect from your baby.
Should your baby have diarrhea, the causes are most likely not to be anything severe. However, make sure that he is taking in enough fluids to prevent dehydration, a serious condition in babies. Your pediatrician may recommend that Pedialyte be given until the diarrhea clears up. Try to keep his bottom as clean and dry as possible in order to prevent diaper rash.
Many cases of diarrhea in an infant are caused by a food intolerance or a stomach bug. If the baby has just begun a new food, do not give him this food again until you contact his doctor to discuss the diarrhea and maybe give him a culture. If a culture proves that the condition is a stomach flu, there is very little to do except let it run its course. Do watch that he is regularly wetting diapers, though.
A mild case of diarrhea isn't something to cause great alarm unless it is accompanied by other symptoms of infection. If baby is acting ill, lethargic, vomiting, running a fever or has blood in his stool, contact your doctor. Also, do not assume that teething is the cause of your baby's diarrhea. When in doubt, speak to the pediatrician.
Diarrhea is common in all newborn babies. As they can not speak so the crying is the only way that they can express discomfort. Diarrhea leads to dehydration and also gradual degradation of overall health of a baby.
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