How to treat diarrhea in a child at 8 months

Diarrhea in an 8 month old baby can occur for various reasons. Before treating a child, the etiology of diarrhea is clarified.

When the first signs of an intestinal disorder appear, it is recommended to consult a pediatrician.

Medical indications

Loose stools in a small child are common and may be accompanied by additional symptoms. Diarrhea in a child of 8 months indicates a malfunction in the digestive system.

Before deciding what to do, it is necessary to find out the etiology of diarrhea in an 8 month old baby. Scientists have proven that minor dietary changes can trigger diarrhea.

Intestinal upset occurs in the case of an immature digestive system. A similar clinic develops against the background of an overload of the gastrointestinal tract with an increased amount of food or an incorrectly composed diet.

Homemade milk can provoke diarrhea in a child at 8 months. It contains components that are not similar to the composition of breast milk.

Therefore, a disproportionate amount of different food components enters the child's body.

If loose stools in a small child are provoked by non-compliance with the rules for preparing mixtures, it is recommended to replace artificial nutrition.

The most insignificant changes in the diet of a child at the age of 8 months include a change in milk formula and the use of water that is unusual for him.

Diarrhea in an 8-month-old child often develops as an allergy to the foods they eat. This phenomenon indicates their intolerance. Most loose stools can be treated easily and without complications.

A child aged 8 months may develop lactase deficiency against the background of a disturbed amount of this enzyme in the intestine.

Before deciding what to do, an LN form is established:

• primary;
• secondary.

Treatment of diarrhea is prescribed taking into account the cause of its development - an infectious process, atrophy, thinning. Lactase deficiency is accompanied by foamy and green loose stools.

The main symptom of diarrhea in a child of 8 months is rapid weight loss or slight weight gain. Before giving the child medicine to normalize the stool, it is necessary to pass laboratory tests.

Stool is often disturbed against the background of an infectious process in the child's body. Viruses provoke an acute intestinal infection, food poisoning.

To understand what to do for a child to recover, it is necessary to pass feces and other tests in order to determine the type of pathogen of the infectious process.

Sometimes the stool is disturbed in a child at 8 months of age while taking antibiotics. Such therapy easily provokes dysbiosis. To normalize the stool of the crumbs, the help of a pediatrician is required.

If you do not help the child, dehydration and general intoxication will occur. What to do in this case? Previously, the pediatrician cancels the medication intake.

Symptom-Based Therapy Principle

The consistency of the stool depends on the nutrition of the child at 8 months. Babies who are on artificial nutrition have a mushy stool. If it is soft and liquid, it is normal.

Before starting treatment, parents should remember that in a small child, the external characteristics of the stool change throughout the first year of his life.

Frequent bowel movements during the first weeks of a child's life are considered normal.

The stool may have a rich yellow tint with a sour milk smell. In this case, white lumps or mucus can be found in the feces.

In a two-month-old child, bowel movements are observed less often - about 5 times a day. In this case, the color and smell of feces does not change. From the 3rd month of life, the stool becomes less liquid, acquiring a dark shade.

An artificial child has a dense and thick stool of a light yellow hue and with a specific odor.

The following symptoms should alert parents:

• frequent bowel movements;
• the appearance of feces with a pungent odor and unusual color;
• pus or blood in the stool.

Most often, diarrhea is acute, suddenly appearing and disappearing in a few days. If other signs appear, a pediatrician consultation is needed.

Therapeutic manipulations

If a child has a watery stool, the anus area turns red, while tearfulness has arisen, the body does not tolerate any product.

To stop diarrhea, you need to return the baby to normal nutrition. With this therapy, the stool will return to normal after 7 days.

To make sure that diarrhea does not dehydrate the child's body, it is recommended to weigh it daily in the morning. If the baby's weight has not changed, the baby's condition is normal.

If the child's weight has decreased by 5%, moderate or mild dehydration is diagnosed. Against the background of a sharp weight loss, an additional clinic is provoked.

In the two cases discussed above, the child needs urgent pediatric care.

If a child has lost a tenth of their weight in a few days, this is severe dehydration. In this case, diarrhea should be treated in a hospital. Therapy is prescribed taking into account the accompanying symptoms.

It will take several weeks to restore normal bowel function. If diarrhea is accompanied by vomiting and nausea, solid and dairy products are excluded from the diet, and baby food is canceled.

If diarrhea is mild, the baby is fed only with breast milk.

At the same time, the baby is given an electrolyte solution:

• Naturalight;
• Pedialight.

These drugs are available over the counter without a doctor's prescription. But pediatricians advise to consult on the dosage required for each child individually.

In this solution, electrolytes and water are in an optimal ratio, which ensures quick replenishment of the lost volume of liquid.

To eliminate diarrhea, you will need 130 ml of solution per 1 kg. Babies who eat well may not need this solution. Mother's milk is able to replenish the lost volume of fluid without taking medication.

If the baby refuses breast milk, diarrhea is eliminated with the help of a solution and a special diet.

In the absence of contraindications, the child is given an electrolyte solution diluted with baby food or breast milk 8 hours after the start of therapy.

After 24 hours, baby food is normalized, and after 2 days, a return to the usual diet for the crumbs is shown.

To eliminate diarrhea and its subsequent relapse, you can replace cow's milk with yogurt. If the baby suffers from an intestinal infection that provoked diarrhea, lactose-free nutrition is indicated.

The reason this treatment is effective is temporary lactose intolerance. If diarrhea recurs after introducing solid foods into the diet, a milder diet is indicated.

They return to solid food after the appearance of hard stools.

It will take a long time to restore normal bowel function. Diarrhea can sometimes appear within 2–3 weeks.

More often, this bowel disorder is accompanied by abdominal pain. In this case, diarrhea can be triggered by pinworms. To identify them, it is recommended to donate feces for examination.

To quickly eliminate diarrhea, pediatricians advise against stopping breastfeeding during therapy. At the same time, you cannot drink the crumbs with boiled water or milk with sugar.

The water evaporates during boiling, which gives the solution more saturation. This makes the diarrhea worse.

In a severe case, it is recommended to exclude food for 2 days. In order for the baby to recover quickly, you need to feed him correctly. Against the background of therapy with only liquid, fasting stools can develop - a special type of diarrhea.

Its treatment is a lengthy process that must be done correctly. If you find out the cause of the intestinal disorder, following the instructions of the pediatrician, you can quickly normalize the stool and microflora.

Diarrhea in infants is considered a common occurrence, as children of this age are at a developmental stage. Their digestive system is very sensitive to different foods and dietary changes.

For prolonged diarrhea, it is recommended to consult a pediatrician. Therapy is prescribed after the etiology of the appearance of the symptom in question.

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