Diarrhea is a very common problem in children younger than
age five. It is usually mild and brief. “Acute” diarrhea lasts less
than 1 week.
It is a sudden increase in the number and looseness of
stools (bowel movements). One or two loose stools is not diarrhea, and no
treatment is needed.
Diarrhea is one of the important defenses of the body. It is
the way that the body eliminate certain infective organisms. Although one can
consider taking conventional drugs to suppress the diarrhea, they simply allow
the bacteria or parasites to remain in the body longer.
The main danger of diarrhea is “dehydration”. The younger
the child, the more quickly this can happen. If your baby is younger than 3
months, call your clinic for advice before beginning home treatment. If your
child shows signs of dehydration call the doctor.
In case of breast feed infants, they normally pass five to
six soft,or semi solid stools daily. This is quite normal and doesn’t
considered as diarrhea.
Causes of Diarrhea in Children :
- Bacteria such as E coli
- Viruses such as rotavirus
- Food allergies, such as with lactose products (milk or cheese) or soy protein
- Contaminated food or food poisoning
- Contaminated water
- Medicines, such as laxatives, antacids, or antibiotics
- Other infections such as an ear infection or urinary tract infection
- Teething, during dentition child puts any objects in mouth to chew and gets infected
- Overeating of fruits and vegetables especially unripe fruits.
- In bottle-fed infants, allergy to milk formulas
- Children are more prone to diarrhea in hot summer weather.
Signs and Symptoms of Diarrhea :
- Frequent stools, stool may be watery or with mucus or sometime bloody
- Nausea & vomiting
- Fever
- Irritability
- Gripping pain or colic
- Loss of appetite
- Symptoms of dehydration
As I mentioned earlier that diarrhea is not dangerous, it is
dehydration which can be fatal to your child. It can be moderate or severe.
Signs of mild to moderate dehydration :
- No urine for 8 hours
- Dry lips
- The inside of the mouth is dry or sticky
- Child is irritable with very little energy
Signs of severe dehydration :
- No tears when crying
- The inside of the mouth is very dry (no saliva)
- Eyes seem sunken
- Weight loss
- Child is exhaust with no energy
- Hard to awaken
- Confused
- Weakness (hard to sit up or walk, floppy)
Essential Care of Child at Home during Diarrhea :
- Give plenty of fluid n water to your child
- ORS should be immediately begun with the very first vomiting or loose stool. When ORS mixed with safe water and fed to the child, the ORS drink re-hydrates the body and supplies salt and other electrolytes in sufficient quantities.
- If your child is breast-fed, continue the feeding. It will give sufficient amount of water to your child.
- If your child is older than 2 years ,give light n easily digestive food if he/she asked like daliya, khichdi,oat meal etc.
- Call your doctor as soon as possible or take your child to health care center
Homeopathic treatment of Diarrhea in Children:
In homeopathy, the treatment is based on the presenting
symptoms of child like
- Consistency and character of stool
- Type of pain during diarrhea e.g. Pain before, during or after stool.
- Presence of mucous or blood with stool
- Child is thirsty or thirstless etc
Some homeopathic medicines used in diarrhea are : Ars alb,
Podophyllum, Cuprum met, Camphor, Aloes, Veretrum alb etc.
