Your Baby Week Twelve

While diarrhea is often caused by common viral infections in older children, like rotavirus, newborns and younger children can also often have diarrhea from formula intolerances or allergies. Even breastfed babies can have diarrhea from food intolerances, usually to something that their mother is eating or drinking that is passing into her milk.

Treatments for Diarrhea

Since diarrhea is such a common symptom, it is a good idea to understand the recommended treatments for infants with diarrhea, so that you are prepared if your baby gets sick. If your baby only has mild diarrhea and/or just occasional vomiting, these treatments will usually include:

• continuing to nurse or formula feed your infant
• offering baby a few ounces of extra Pedialyte or other electrolyte solutions whenever he has diarrhea, in addition to his regular diet of breastmilk or formula
• avoiding giving your baby drinks with a lot of added sugars, like juice
• getting your baby back to an age-appropriate, unrestricted diet (breastmilk, formula, baby food, etc.) as soon as possible

Although Pedialyte and other electrolyte solutions are usually recommended when children have diarrhea, it is important to realize that they don't actually make the diarrhea go away. Instead, they are given so that your child doesn't become dehydrated.

If you are only able to feed your child Pedialyte for more than about 12 hours or if you baby has symptoms of dehydration, then you should talk to your pediatrician.

Dietary Changes for Diarrhea

If you think that your baby's diarrhea is from a dietary issue and not an infection, especially if he isn't in daycare and no one else is sick, then talk to your pediatrician about what to do next. This might include restricting milk and dairy products in a breastfeeding mother's diet or changing a formula-fed baby's formula.