My daughter has has a cold for about two weeks with a runny nose. Now for a week she has had REALLY bad diarrhea. We have actually switched her back from pull ups bad to diapers b/c it's been so bad. She has exploded out of a few diapers.
My question is when do I call the pediatrician? She has no temperature, only a slight cough when sleeping (probably from being stuffed up), bad runny nose, and the diarrhea. We are trying to keep her hydrated with a lot of water and pedialite. (I just had to pause in writing this to change another one.)
I should also add that nothing has changed in her diet during this time.
So, hopefully some other moms/nurses/doctors out there can let me know when I should become concerned and call the ped. Thanks in advance.
Talked to the nurse at the Dr's office. She said nothing to worry about at this point as long as she's not dehydrated. Keep giving her plenty of water and pedialyte. Cut back on other fruits but she can have bananas and applesauce. Also, white breads and grains (not wheat or brown). Apparently there is a stomach virus going around, some kids are throwing up others have diarrhea. Since my daughter is in good spirits and isn't showing any signs of dehydration, she said to just keep doing what we're doing and if it isn't gone in a week or gets worse, to take her in.
Thanks everyone, I'll update if anything changes!
Hi A. M. You should call her peditrician as soon as you finish reading this. You don't want to take a chance of her becoming dehydrated. You have to very careful with children this young. So call her doctor now to see what he recommends.
i'm going with the other moms. My ped (who we just saw a couple days ago) says 5 days for a fever but 3 for stomach problems such as this.
Good luck! I hope its just the flu or something that will go away on its own and SOON!!
After a week of diarrhea, the time to call is now. It can never hurt to have a doctor check her out, it can hurt not to. Please stop reading this and call her doctor.
You should have called by day 3... diarrhea can completely deplete your hydration, screw up the electrolyte balance and be toxic to the system to boot.
I am a Nurse and children can die from diarrhea - no joke. Take her now.
BRAT diet - bananas, rice, applesauce, toast (or turkey). And pushing fluids as you already are. No fruit or fruit juice, no dairy.
I could be a virus, and it could be partly due to the mucus dripping into her stomach and messing up her colon. Very common.
That said, I'd call the pedi - a week is a long time. I wouldn't take her in unless they advise you to, but it's Friday and you don't want a big problem over the weekend.
As long as she's well hydrated, and there's no other symptoms, there's no need to see a dr. There's nothing he's going to be able to do about it.
If dehydration happens then she'll end up in a hospital with an IV to get her rehydrated again.
Our pediatrician told me years ago sometimes when a gut gets irritated it'll stay irritated long past when the initial source of irritation has resolved itself. That means diarrhea can go on for 3 or 4 weeks.
Keep up with the pedialyte and the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apple sauce and toast). Change her frequently. Watch for diaper rash.
It will get better sooner or later. Hang in there!
I think a week of "the runs" in a 2 yo is time to call the pediatrician.
Could she be getting her two-year molars?
I know we live in different states, but this is going around! I know about three other people whose kids have had the same thing and my 2 year old JUST got over it- as in TODAY is our first diarrhea free day in a week! He was the same- started with a cold, had a fever for a couple of days, then if just went to the runs- he had them for 6 days straight, same as your daughter. SInce I knew a virus was going around, I didn't call the ped...actually, I had decided last night that if it hadn't stopped by this morning, I would call. I did the same as you- made sure he had plenty of water and gatorade (won't drink pedialyte). Good luck and hope she gets over it soon!
I would call and let the pediatrician know just to be safe. He/she may know of some foods that may help the diarrhea stop and may want to run some tests to make sure there is no infection of any kind. My daughter had long term diarrhea once when she was a baby. She had no other symptoms of illness & no signs of dehydration so the pediatrician didn't see her until she had it for 14 days. It turned out she had a cyst in her abdomen that required surgery. So, if it were me, I would call the pediatrician and let him/her decide if she needs to be seen. Good Luck & I hope she gets better soon! I know that isn't fun for any of you!
PB8 from Nutrition Now. We give this to our kids nearly every night and they are regular as regular can be. We open the capsule and dump 1/2 - 1 in their mouths. It's fabulous probiotic that contains 8 different strains. All of my friends use it for thier babies to their kids and can't beleive how fast this stuff works, after trying the pedicatric versions that contain maybe 1 or 2 strains.
You should be able to find it locally.
Maybe you could try going to a good health food store & getting a infant probiotic. it comes in powder form & chewable. It puts the good bacteria in the stomach to fight the bad bacteria. also, organic raw Apple cider vinegar is excellent in fighting viruses & cures diarrhea. I normally add a teaspoon of it to about 4oz. of grape juice for my toddler. I hope your toddler gets well soon.
Some bananas in her cereal might help, but I would still call her doc just to be sure. Glad she's taking in lots of fluids.
Keep us posted...
Blessings....
Call doc (I am not one, btw):
- some kids get diar. when teething, but this sounds excessive.
- could be giardIa lamblia (something they pick up in sandboxes, etc.). Doc Doc would check stool sample and prescribe something if nec.
Good luck!
I would call the pedi because it's been a week already. It sounds like you are doing all the right things to keep her hydrated but if it's not clearing up, maybe there is something going around the pedi can give you to help clear it up? I know if it's a virus there may not be anything you can do about it....but it seems like after a week it should have started to clear up.
Good luck to you and your little girl!
Try to give her probioticcs, I open the capsule of culterelle and put 1 in her yougurt everyday, if she has the runs I give her 2. They really take care of the intestine and tummy.
I would go ahead and take her. A normal cold would not give her diarrhea. She may have a stomach virus as well. A week is a long time for a two year old to have diarrhea. My kids have never had it longer than 2 days. You could call a pharmacy and ask what you could give her to help other than fluids. Is she eating good?
