How to treat diarrhea in a newborn? This is a common question. Let's take a closer look. Any problem in a baby that new parents encounter is always a cause for panic. And diarrhea is no exception. Liquid stool, even for an adult, is not only unpleasant, but also a dangerous symptom, and for a child who has just been born, it can even become dangerous.
While the baby is in the womb, his gastrointestinal tract is not populated with necessary and beneficial bacteria for extrauterine life. During the birth process, moving along the birth canal, the newborn manages to “swallow” these bacteria and microorganisms.
In the first time after birth, an active attack of the baby by the bacterial flora from the outside takes place: even slight contact with the skin of the mother becomes the source of the population of the baby’s body with new microorganisms. No sterilization of everything around is able to completely protect the child from acquaintance with the bacterial environment of the world. The body of the newborn is actively and intensively inhabited by new bacteria.
In order to protect the child from new bacteria that are potentially hostile to him, doctors recommend immediately after the birth of the child to put it on the mother’s chest, because it is with colostrum that the antibodies contained in colostrum and subsequently in breast milk get into the baby’s intestine against a number of infections . This is a very important condition for the normal functioning of the digestive tract of the newborn and the state of his health in general, since the baby’s immune system is passive in the first 6 months, it does not yet have its own antibodies to many diseases.
Breast milk provides passive protection of the baby from infections, in particular from rotavirus infection, which often causes intestinal disorders of babies.
How to determine if a newborn has diarrhea?
Before determining what exactly is diarrhea, it is necessary to know the features of the bowel movement of a newborn and a child of the first year of life, because among mothers of newborns there are very frequent worries about what is diarrhea and what is an absolute variant of the norm.
Frequent and loose stools in children of the newborn period and children in the first months of life are not necessarily an indicator of a disorder in the body and, especially, a disease. In the first month of life, the frequency of bowel movements can be up to 10 times a day on average. Very often in babies, bowel movements occur immediately after feeding.
If the baby is only breastfed, the stool looks externally porridge yellow, the shades can be from brownish to greenish, with small white spots. Normally, the stool has a sour smell.
Diarrhea in a newborn baby is very dangerous.
Artificial children often have green feces, the smell is usually more pronounced than in children exclusively breastfed. The green color of the feces of the artificers is explained by the presence of iron in the mixtures, which the newborn's body is not yet able to absorb in full. This is for adults the green color of feces is a signal of pathology, and for newborns, this color is the absolute norm. Not everyone knows what diarrhea looks like in a newborn.
We noted above that in the first month of life, a child walks “in a big way” up to 10 times a day. This is not a sign of diarrhea!
In the second month of life and later, the frequency of the stool decreases, although the variable boundaries of the norms remain quite open, some have stools every three days, and some still defecate 8-10 times a day.
Modern pediatric practice is increasingly refusing to fix the stool frequency norms. Given the normal state of health, good weight gain, relatively calm sleep, active behavior of the child during wakefulness, the frequency of the stool does not matter.
Why does a newborn have diarrhea?
Change in stool color: pathology or norm
In the first months of a child's life, changes in stool color can occur for various reasons. For example, in children on artificial feeding, switching to another mixture can cause both an increase in stool and, on the contrary, constipation. The liver of newborns is not yet able to work any stable, hence the reaction to any changes in the composition of the diet, whether it is a change in the mixture or a change in the diet of the mother, which immediately affects the composition of breast milk. If the fat content of breast milk decreases, the stool changes to greenish. Also, if the child does not suck out the back milk, but receives only the front, this leads to an increase in stool and coloring in a greenish tint. But what is diarrhea in a newborn?
The reason for a visit to the doctor are cases when a child has frothy stools, an unpleasant odor, an abundance of mucus (small impurities of mucus are the norm), which can be the cause of an infectious disease.
When the first symptoms appear in a newborn, yellow or green diarrhea does not need to be expected, because in infants many diseases have a fulminant form and their body is simply not able to even properly signal pathological processes.
We will try to systematize cases when a child needs to be shown to a doctor on an emergency basis:
- the stool is much thinner, more frequent and more abundant than the day before, the general condition of the child worsens;
- streaks of blood in the stool are visible;
- vomiting, even single - is already an occasion to pay attention;
- signs of dehydration appeared: fontanel sunken, dry lips, eye hollows, the amount of urine decreased, diapers dry, dark urine, drowsiness and lethargy;
- the child refuses liquid, and diarrhea is observed within a day;
- within a few hours, the child does not experience urination;
- there are no signs of dehydration, but diarrhea lasts more than a week;
- elevated temperature - above 38 degrees;
- there are signs of severe abdominal pain.
Reasons and treatment
It is not always possible to say clearly what caused diarrhea in a newborn. This may be an infectious disease, nutritional error, and other factors that we will consider below. Depending on the cause of persistent diarrhea, treatment may vary.
Infections
An infection of a bacterial or viral origin can cause diarrhea. In such cases, diarrhea usually begins abruptly, pronounced abdominal pain, temperature, as well as vomiting, usually multiple, join. Green diarrhea may appear in a newborn with streaks of blood, as well as mucus and foam.
Infectious diseases of newborns have a particularly severe course. For this reason, hospitalization is necessary, any delay or assistance in an insufficiently professional form is fraught with fatal consequences or at least getting into intensive care.
Bacteria and viruses affecting the intestines of children are numerous. One of the most common is rotavirus infection.
What else can cause diarrhea in a newborn when breastfeeding?
Inaccuracy in nutrition
In infants, intolerance of certain food products or their components may be noted, as a result of which intestinal upset in the form of diarrhea is observed. This intolerance concerns the nutrition of a nursing mother. Very often there is intolerance to cow's milk proteins, as well as gluten - a protein that is part of cereals and, accordingly, contained in products made from them: bakery products, cereals, etc. The constant use of such products by the mother leads to prolonged diarrhea in the child, the result is underweight, allergic manifestations, flatulence, abdominal pain and, accordingly, general anxiety.
Such conditions, as a rule, do not require any special treatment. All manifestations disappear as soon as the product is excluded from the diet. The only thing is that it is difficult to determine what exactly is the cause of stubborn bowel disorder and a source of intolerance.
We noted above that the cause of stool changes in the direction of the disorder is the improper organization of breastfeeding. For example, frequent breast changes during feeding lead to the fact that the baby sucks only the front milk, not reaching the back. In the absence of rear milk, front milk cannot be digested normally, since lactulose, a special enzyme for digesting lactose in front milk, is contained in the rear milk. As a result, the front milk passes too quickly through the digestive tract and is not digested properly, which causes a pronounced loose stool and its greenish color.
Antibiotics
Diarrhea in a newborn can be caused by antibacterial drugs.
Everyone knows the fact that antibacterial drugs do not have quantitative and qualitative selectivity of action. They destroy not only harmful, pathogenic or conditionally pathogenic, which caused the disease, but also other, useful microorganisms. As a result, the natural balance of the intestinal tract suffers greatly, which causes diarrhea. Especially in young children, this is noticeable. Probiotics and prebiotics such as Bifidum-Bacterin and Bifidum-Bacterin Forte, Linex, Acipol, etc. are prescribed as prophylactic drugs to preserve and restore the intestinal flora simultaneously or after a course of antibiotics.
Teething
Unfortunately, there are no exact medical grounds and evidence for a connection between teething and diarrhea. There is only rich empirical experience of the existence of a huge number of cases when profuse salivation accompanies the process of teething another tooth and is accompanied by diarrhea and even temperature. Doctors tend to associate stool changes with copious salivary flow into the intestines.
Surgical pathology
Rapid stools may be a sign of appendicitis, for example. In children not only of the newborn period, inflammation of the appendicitis is accompanied by symptoms from the gastrointestinal tract. How to treat diarrhea in a newborn?
Treatment of diarrhea in infants
Diarrhea in itself is a protective reaction of the body, the purpose of which is to remove toxins from the body. But persistent diarrhea entails dehydration, not only nutrients, but also electrolytes are eliminated from the body at a catastrophic rate, and the water-salt balance is disturbed. Intestinal bacteria also injure the walls of the intestine, its fluffy part, so there is no proper absorption of fluids and other components. In the case of a confirmed infectious and bacterial cause of diarrhea, the doctor prescribes antibiotics.
Dehydration is very dangerous for the child's body.
If a newborn has diarrhea, what to do should be known to all parents.
Rehydration
To eliminate the consequences of dehydration in children up to a year, it is possible to use such drugs as Humana Electrolyte, Oralit, and Hydrovit.
The dosage of solutions is calculated based on 100 ml per 1 kg of body weight of the child. It is necessary to drink after each act of liquid bowel movement or vomiting.
The very common and well-known "Regidron" is prohibited for use in children up to a year, since the concentration of active substances in it is high for infancy. If the above drugs are not available, you can resort to "Rehydron", only you need to dilute it in twice the volume of water.
You can also prepare the recovery solution yourself: 3 teaspoons of sugar + 1 teaspoon of salt per liter of water.
It is necessary to strictly follow the instructions for the preparation of solutions, observing the proportions. Inadequate concentration has no effect, and high concentration will only worsen the condition of the baby.
Children over 6 months old can be given dried fruit compote. If necessary, the child should be drunk by force, from a pipette or from a syringe without a needle. Dehydration can be aggravated, and then its consequences will be eliminated already in the hospital through droppers with glucose, which is much more painful for both the child and the parents.
Sorbents
The well-known Smecta has a very good absorbent effect and permission to use from birth. Despite the popularity and frequent assignment, this drug can not be used for certain types of diseases. For example, with rotavirus infection, it is not recommended. Therefore, it is worth emphasizing once again, in the case of newborn children, arbitrariness is out of place, all appointments should be performed only by a doctor.
Nutrition for newborns and infants with diarrhea
Unlike adult patients, who are recommended to refrain from eating on the first day of the disease, fasting is contraindicated for children. It is very important for newborns and infants to restore the digestive tract and ensure the supply of food the sooner the better.
Breastfeeding babies continue to receive breasts on demand. Rehydration solutions are given between applications to the chest, preferably every 5 or at least 10 minutes, 1 teaspoon. You can even give 0.5 tablespoons, but only if often, a large amount of liquid at a time often causes vomiting.
Artificially fed newborns receive the mixture approximately 6 hours after the first portion of the rehydration mixture, the concentration of which is first diluted by diluting the resulting solution with water in 1: 2 proportions (for example, 1 glass of solution in 2 glasses of water). After some time, the proportions can be brought up with equal volumes.
Provided that the condition improves, the usual diet can be returned after 2-3 days.
If diarrhea is not strong and the condition of the child is not severe, then you can feed in the usual way, provided that you are rehydrated with rehydration solutions.
If the diarrhea is severe, accompanied by severe dehydration, the doctor will recommend going to a hospital where the fluid will be infused intravenously.
As we noted above, in children of the newborn period and the first year of life, diarrhea is a common phenomenon. You need to be able to distinguish pathological changes in the stool from its normal variable forms.
We examined whether there may be diarrhea in a newborn.