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Diarrhoea - how long does it usually last, and how do you deal with nights?

Hi ladies,



My 20 week old little girl has had diarrhoea for 9 days now and she's still going 6-7 times a day (mainly at each feed, but there isn't usually a huge amount when she goes).



One Dr said it might be because we introduced foods too early (butternut squash puree for two days including the day it started, nothing from them onwards), another said it's a virus (which I've heard is what they all say..) and the HV said she didn't really know and that it will pass in its own time.



She's not dehydrated and is fine in herself so I'm not really worried about her (she also gained 7oz last week, so her body is obviously not struggling with it either!), I just wondered if anyone knew how long these things usually take to pass? The HV said they can take quite a while as they tend to feed off the milk a bit.



Also, what do you do at night times when your LO has diarrhoea? She goes to bed at 6/7ish, then tends to wake up 12ish hours later and she'll have always done a poo in the night; usually quite a big one too as we often have leaked outfits. I *think* she does it when she wakes up though as they're still usually quite wet.



I know I could go in every hour to check or something but I feel that it wouldn't really benefit either of us being woken up that often, and we've been using bepanthan as a barrier cream. She has got a teeny bit of nappy rash but there's barely anything there, when it looks a bit we've been using metanium.



Anyway, any tips etc would be much appreciated - not the nicest post for the morning I know!!



K xx

Replies

  • My LO is eight months, she has had it twice (both since being weaned). The first time it lasted 8 days and she ate no food or milk and drank bottles of dioralyte. It cleared up on its own accord. The doc said it was a virus which I believe.



    This time we are on day 6. I think it is just starting to clear up. This time she will eat somethings like weetabix and yoguart, which is no good as dairy makes it worse but she is screaming for food. She also wants lots of milk and never usually drinks much but will not drink dioralyte at all.



    At night I leave her unless she wakes, at which point I give her a sniff and change if need be. The first time was the worst, I was changing her and the bedding 2 or 3 times a night! I wouldn't wake her. LO will wake if tey are uncomforable. Methanium is brilliant for nappy rash.



    Hope it clears up soon xx
  • Hey, my little one has been poorly too. As long as your l/o is hydrated, thats most important. I tucked a blanket in over the sheet and lay him on that so if he leaked through you could just whip the blanket off and not have to change the sheet. No nappies contained it because it was so runny. Just a thought but you can get waterproof nappy covers for reusables. Maybe one of these over a nappy could help?image
  • Hiya hon,



    Have they tested a sample to make sure it's not bacterial or anything? Erin had diarrhea for two and a half weeks and the first thing my doc did was get a sample tested to make sure it wasn't bacterial, which would have to be treated with antibiotics.



    I think hers was some sort of virus, it cleared up on it's own in the end but took a while, and a whole lot of nappies! She was going about 15 times a day at one point!



    We didn't have any problems overnight though.



    Hope she gets better soon, it's not nice when our little ones are poorly.



    xx
  • Thanks everyone. She's down to 5 poo's a day as of yesterday, so I'm hoping that it's going to start making a move soon.



    I think she must be going when she wakes up in the morning as otherwise I would imagine it would bother her more, as she wakes up chatting and only starts crying after a few minutes which is due to hunger more than anything. She gets very angry if I try to change her nappy instead of feed her so I end up having to feed a very pongy baby before finally getting rid of the smell!



    They didn't test for anything Lucy, but funnily enough one of my NCT friends' little girls came down with it on exactly the same day. She went to the doctors on the same day as me and was given a sample pot and some diarolyte, whereas I was told it was viral and will go away on its own.



    I was wondering if it was due to the food we'd started giving her but I'm having my doubts now as it's gone on so long and it seems a big coincidence that one of her buddies has it too. She see's the other baby quite often so it wouldn't be a huge surprise if they had the same thing. She sent away a poo sample and should be getting the results today so that might shed some light at least.



    Her bottom seems to be holding up okay with a layer of bepanthan after each nappy change so hopefully the nappy rash side of things will be okay. It's looking a little red but not very.



    One of the doctors I saw did say we could put her on diarolyte with no milk but said he thought it would just make her feel worse as she'd been so hungry.



    Thanks for your replies, fingers crossed it's coming to an end. xx
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