Kiddie Poop, Part 1: What Do You Do When Your Child Has Diarrhea?

Every parent will face the day when their child has a runny stool without any warning. Sometimes your child will vomit, have stomach cramps or get a fever prior to or with the diarrhea. Fortunately, most symptoms of diarrhea will go away with time and diet changes and without medication because most cases in the United States are caused by a viral infection. If there is a high fever, frequent bowel movements, any blood in the stool, severe cramping, persistent vomiting or any urinary changes, you should immediately contact your pediatrician.

The best way to treat diarrhea is to change your child's diet. Medications--prescription or over-the-counter--are very rarely needed. If your baby is under 1 year old and still breastfeeding, then breast milk is usually the best way to improve her symptoms, even if you are also sick. If you feed your child formula or regular milk, then switching temporarily to soy milk or lactose-free milk may help. For toddlers and older children, the "B.R.A.T." diet is recommended: "B" is for bananas, "R" is for rice or rice cereal, "A" is for applesauce (but not apple juice), and "T" is for toast, bread or crackers. Avoid other fruits and juices, especially melon and pitted fruits. Water, infant electrolyte solutions or diluted sports drinks are helpful to replenish the fluids being lost in the stool. Making sure your child is producing a normal amount of urine is one the easiest ways to know if she is hydrated. If your baby is in diapers, it can be difficult to know when there is urine mixed with watery stools. When in doubt, see your doctor immediately.

Runny stools are highly contagious. Stopping the spread of infection is very important and requires a lot of hand-washing. The virus is passed in the stool and even a small amount of poop can spread the disease. Keeping your child out of daycare or school while she has symptoms will be appreciated by the staff and other parents. As a parent and a pediatrician, I can tell you that sending your child to daycare or preschool with diarrhea will usually result in another round of diarrhea when the germs are passed back to your child. Do yourself and the other parents a favor and keep your child home.