Diarrhea in babies: symptoms, causes and treatment

Diarrhea is a common digestive disorder, including in newborns. However, do not underestimate this condition because in infants at an early age, the risk of complications of diarrhea may be higher and can be fatal. Therefore, parents need to know a complete explanation and how to deal with diarrhea or diarrhea in babies as below.

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What is the condition of diarrhea in babies?

Generally, normal baby stool looks soft and slippery. It is not uncommon for newborns to have frequent bowel movements after each feeding.

However, diarrhea in infants or babies experiencing loose stools can be seen when there is a change when they pass stool.

Quoted from Healthy Children, there is a possibility that the baby will experience diarrhea or loose stools when defecating more than usual and looks watery.

It is possible that watery stools or diarrhea can also occur up to 5 to 12 times a day.

This condition is common due to an infection in the digestive tract. However, diarrhea in babies can also go away on its own and don't last long.

Signs and symptoms of diarrhea in infants

It has been explained previously that babies who have diarrhea occur due to an infection of the digestive system, which causes the baby to defecate more than usual.

However, the symptoms of diarrhea in babies are not limited to defecating. Here are some of the most common characteristics of infants with diarrhea:

1. Remove water continuously

According to Seattle's Children's Hospital, newborn babies do frequent bowel movements.

However, you can distinguish the symptoms of diarrhea in this baby with regular bowel movements of the frequency.

Babies who drink breast milk will defecate, normally they will defecate 6 times a day.

While babies who are given formula milk will defecate 8 times a week.

After entering the age of 2 months, the frequency of your little one's bowel movements will decrease; babies drink breast milk 3 times a day and babies drink formula milk 1 to 2 times a day.

If the frequency of defecating exceeds this normal limit, it could be that he has diarrhea in babies.

2. Liquid stool even slimy

The feces of babies who drink breast milk are soft and can occasionally be watery, while babies who drink formula milk have much denser stools.

If your child's stool is slimy, more fluid, and has a foul odor, this is a symptom of diarrhea in babies.

3. Other symptoms

In addition to the symptoms of baby diarrhea or diarrhea above, there is a possibility that he will also experience other symptoms, such as:

• Fever in children
• Decreased appetite
• Nausea and vomiting
• Losing weight
• Dehydration

Then, you can also see the baby becoming more fussy because of the discomfort in his stomach.

It is also important to remember if the characteristics of a baby with diarrhea or diarrhea for each child can be different. It is possible that your child has experienced something else not mentioned above.

Keep an eye on children's health problems and it never hurts to consult a doctor.

What are the causes of diarrhea in babies?

The causes of babies experiencing diarrhea are quite diverse. Generally, this condition occurs due to drinking milk or bacterial infection in the intestine.

Reporting from the Mayo Clinic page, possible causes of diarrhea include:

1. Bacterial or viral infection

Babies have immature immune systems. This makes it very susceptible to infection, especially from parasites, bacteria and viruses.

The reason is, babies have the habit of putting their hands in their mouths or biting objects around them.

If the hands or objects are exposed to germs, it is certain that germs enter the body easily and cause diarrhea in babies.

If the baby is defecating and vomiting, this is usually the cause of diarrhea in the baby as a result of infection.

Pay attention when he shows symptoms of dehydration such as dry mouth, changing diapers less than 6 times a day, and sunken eyes because it can be very dangerous.

2. Diet

Another cause when diarrhea occurs in babies is inappropriate diet or milk intake.

This is common in infants who consume formula milk and have lactose intolerance conditions.

Then, babies aged 6 months also often experience diarrhea. Usually, this occurs because of a reaction from the digestive system to new foods such as solids.

3. Having certain medical conditions

Diarrhea in babies can be a sign of certain medical problems. Here are some medical conditions that cause diarrhea, including:

• Celiac disease is a disease that causes the baby's body to not properly digest gluten, such as wheat.
• Irritable bowel syndrome is a disease in which the baby's intestines are not working optimally.
• Have an allergy or intolerance to certain substances, for example lactose (sugar found in cow's milk).
• Rare diseases such as cystic fibrosis, eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders, Hirschsprung's disease, and neuroendocrine tumors.

In order to find out the cause of the baby's diarrhea, the doctor will ask about symptoms, medical history, and even recommend medical tests such as blood tests.

Diarrhea can be a very serious condition in babies. It's best to let your doctor know if there is a change in the time he has a bowel movement.

Diarrhea in babies can lead to dehydration

Children and infants under 3 years of age who experience diarrhea or loose stools can become dehydrated.

Diarrhea in babies has not reached the stage of dehydration if he still looks active, cheerful, and still drinks water even though he continues to defecate back and forth.

These signs indicate that your child has lost about 5% of his body weight, but this is still considered normal.

However, quoting the Indonesian Ministry of Health's website, in addition to observing common diarrhea symptoms parents are also required to be able to recognize signs of dehydration in babies.

As an illustration, you can see the image below:

The following is an explanation of the symptoms of dehydration in babies who experience diarrhea or loose stools:

1. Symptoms of diarrhea with mild dehydration

When diarrhea has caused mild dehydration symptoms, the baby will look more fussy than usual. His eyes are few celong also kept asking for a drink out of thirst.

Signs that the baby is already mildly dehydrated due to diarrhea can also be seen and felt from the skin. The trick, lightly pinching the skin of the child's stomach and hold for 30 seconds.

If the skin quickly bounces back in 1 second, the turgor is still good. Meanwhile, if it returns in 2-5 seconds, the baby's skin turgor is somewhat less.

Turgor is an assessment of the degree of dehydration of how good the elasticity or elasticity of the child's skin.

This condition indicates that your little one has lost 5-10% of their body weight.

2. Symptoms of diarrhea with severe dehydration

Severe dehydration due to diarrhea will make the baby look lethargic and limp, as well as lazy to drink. His eyes are also very sunken.

Skin test of the child by gently pinching the stomach and releasing it after 30 seconds.

If the skin returns to its normal state within 5-10 seconds, the turgor is less. When more than 10 seconds means the turgor is bad.

These signs indicate a child's body has lost more than 10% of their body weight.

How do you deal with diarrhea in babies?

Before panicking, there are alternative medicines for diarrhea or children's diarrhea that parents can give. However, this medication should only be given to children 2 years of age and older.

As for babies, a change in diet is enough to deal with diarrhea or loose stools, but in some cases they also need medication.

Do not give diarrhea medicine to babies unless your doctor prescribes it.

Therefore, at the age of infants under 6 months of age, it would be better if the treatment was directly supervised by a doctor.

Here are the treatments and ways to deal with newborn diarrhea, such as:

• Give her regular intake of breast milk or formula milk
• If your baby is vomiting, you may need to feed him less but more frequently.
• Give electrolyte solutions such as ORS that are recommended by the doctor to prevent dehydration,
• If you give formula milk and the baby still has diarrhea for more than 2 weeks, you should change the variant.
• Give drinking more water to babies over 6 months of age.

Take it to the doctor immediately when your baby has had diarrhea for more than 24 hours, or if diarrhea persists with any of the following symptoms:

• Dehydration
• Gag
• Fever
• Bloody bowel movements in babies

It is important for you to treat it as soon as possible if you think that your baby's diarrhea is caused by an infection.

It is necessary to make a special diagnosis of certain signs of infection. Then, your baby may need to be hospitalized for intravenous fluids.