22 Month Old with Loose Stools for One Month Plus

Maybe rotovirus. My daughter had this not long ago, hers was much worse, diarhea and vommitting, but could be.

she may have picked up a parasite that is now colonizing in her liver, gall bladder or intestines - the fever and then continued diarrhea indicate this to me - too much dairy of any kind can only make the problem worse by creating a mucus barrier in the intestinal tract that doesn't allow her body to absorb nutrition properly and if parasites are eating her food as well she isn't getting anything from them except waste material so naturally she will continue to feel hungry and keep on eating - she needs to have a safe and gentle herbal cleanse for her system NOW before this problem becomes a lifelong issue - I know an 18 year old girl who has had similar issues for many years and instead of helping her to cleanse her body and heal the damage her doctors are now wanting to do a colonectomy - your doctor is unlikely to recommend anything but pharmaceuticals which will only poison your daughter more - you should seek a naturopathic physician's advice or do research yourself regarding a good gentle fiber product that you can add to her diet as well as some pure herbal nutrition formulas - not vitamin pills from walmart - they are not absorbed by the body - if you are interested in more information about products I am familiar with feel free to contact me - save your daughter from a lifetime of health problems now while she is young - good luck

The first thing that comes to mind is a dairy allergy. Have you tried eliminating dairy?

Second, BRAT foods are not necessarily high in fiber. Is the rice brown and the bread whole wheat? Are you living her real apple slices, or a processed, sugary applesauce?

Finally, it could be gluten allergy. This is more rare and usually involves some uncontrollable stools, but it's still something that comes to mind.

Hi Holy

Please see a naturopath. I am very confident that they can help you with this problem.

Farid R., DC

H., check her mouth. Have her 2 year molars started to come in? My daughter just cut two molars (she just turned two, but they started coming in about 2 months ago) (the bottoms) and had exactly what you describe.

It could be teeting issues.

I was going to say maybe she is allergic to milk and then I finished reading your post. Have you taken her to the doctor about this? I think it could still be diarrhea even though it only happens once a day. Worth getting checked out. Or call the nurse line at your doctors office if they have one and see what they say. For it to be going on for a month I would be afraid she got some sort of parasite or something like that. Not sure though.

My daughter had a similar problem when she was just over a year. In her case, she'd initially had a mild ear infection (which we somehow missed) which left some fluid sitting in her ears. The infection itself was cleared up and there were no other signs that something was wrong. When I took her in to see her doctor about the loose stools, her doctor checked her ears, commenting that the messy diapers could be a sympton of an ear problem. Sure enough, her eardrums were bulging a bit, indicating fluid behind them. We tried clearing her ears by giving her a decongestent to get them to drain. That didn't work for her, so she ended up getting tubes to drain her ears. The loose stools stopped. More importantly, we got the fluid out of her ears; if it's allowed to sit in the ears for a long time it can cause permanent hearing loss. So I'd recommend having your daughter's ears checked if you haven't.

Hi H.,

There are pressure points on the front of the shin, if you rub the front of her shins in a soft circular motion it helps to stiffen the stools. Also, is she teething? If so it is very common for the stools to be loose while teething.

D.

Could it be that she's getting too much fruit juice? I notice that my 2 yr old son gets runny stools if I don't dilute it enough. Now he gets an 8 oz cup with a splash of juice for flavor. Yogurt or too much whole wheat bread also seemed to give him the runs. You could try limiting those for a few days to see if it helps. I'm convinced the BRAT diet isn't right for everyone. Bananas have the opposite effect for both my boys. The zwieback toast and baby applesauce helped though. Maybe give her more crackers or cereal as snacks to firm things up. My son loves cheese crackers and would eat them everyday if I let him. :)

The other ladies have valid concerns about the possibility of food allergies or a virus but follow your gut instincts. The fever is suspicious but if it was only for one day it might be unrelated especially if she's still teething. If you think there is something really wrong, just take her to the pediatrician. Best of luck. I hope this helps!

Hi H.,

My 3rd daughter had a similar situation when she was younger. Daily she would have very loose stools and a tummy ache along with it. She acted fine and ate normally. Our PEd, said her body was just trying to work out the kinks...back then I just believed him. But after learning to trust my own instincts about motherhood, I realized that she was probably allergic to a particular food or food group. She eventually grew out of it thank goodness! But if I knew then what I know now...:) There are several things you can do. Start eliminating one thing out of her diet for a couple of weeks. Wheat, dairy and soy are big set offs for allergic reactions. When you eliminate dairy make sure she is getting calcium, protien, and vit. D from other food sources. Or you can see an allergist. OR talk to your pediatrician, or naturapath about it.
Good luck.

A.

It may be that she is teething.

My daughter had similar issues (daily diarrhea), and had never really liked milk. She wasn't gaining weight either, so I ended up having her see a pediatric GI doc. Found out she had a condition called EE (short for esinophilic esophigitus) and was allergic to dairy and eggs. She also had a bacteria in her stomach called Cdyphilus (sp)caused by in imbalance in the good bacteria present in our stomaches. A round of (ironically) another antibiotic and some probiotics and her diarrhea stopped. Worth looking into, she's recovered nicely.

You might try bananas, and very little apple. Bananas tend to tighten stools, also cheese. Apple and other fruits are more often likely to loosen stools. Make sure she doesn't get dehydrated, so keep the fluids up. Good Luck!!

Try eliminating all dairy in all forms for at least 3 weeks and see if it changes. It could be a ssnsitivity to other foods too, but I would start with dairy and then try other foods, one by one. Gluten is getting to be a common one, that would be my second one to check but be persistent...read all labels carefully. If it is a food, finding out what it is can save so much distress for you and her later!

Hi H. -

Does your daughter like fresh/frozen fruit? Blackberries and blueberries have natural astringent qualities that will help reduce the "looseness" of her stools. You can make her a smoothie with the berries and banana and even add some whole oats and let her eat it with a spoon. It is not only good tasting, it should do the trick. You can also make herbal teas and let her have a small amount each day until the bowels return to normal. Mix herbs like raspberry or blackberry leaf, sage, chamomile and marshmallow or slippery elm in a container with a tight lid. Shake well. Add 1 teaspoon to 1 cup of boiled water and allow to steep for about 5 minutes. Strain and let her have about 1/3 cup 2 or 3 times a day until the bowels become more solid.

Blackberry/raspberry leaf - tightens & tones the digestive/reproductive system

Sage - astringent

Chamomile - relaxing and soothing

Marshmallow root/Slippery Elm - soothing and coating

Best of luck - if I can help in any other way, visit me at Chakra Botanika Herb & Tea Room in Payson.

Blessings,

M. M. Ernsberger
Certified Clinical Herbalist

There is actually something called "Toddler's Diarreha" My daughter had it at the same age. We did stool tests and everything, but this was the diagnosis. The doctor told me to make sure she was eating at least one yogurt a day, but since she won't eat yogurt I had to sprinkle acidopholis on her food daily. It's the same healthy bacteria found in yogurt and you can get it at any drugstore. I put it on whatever food she was eating and within 2 days she was almost back to normal. She wasn't "normal" for about 5 weeks until I did that. They can't taste it at all either!

The "toddler's diarreha" comes because they don't have all the good bacteria as adults do in their digestive systems, yet are expected to eat the same foods as us. Not one food in particular sets it off, but they just don't have a particular bacteria to help digest a certain food and their bodies have a hard time adjusting.

Try it! It was a God-send for us! Good Luck!