Most babies, especially newborns, have experienced indigestion-related diarrhea. Indigestion-related diarrhea in babies is mainly caused by improper feeding, food allergies, or exposure to cold. Many parents can only judge the symptoms of their baby's diarrhea, but cannot determine when their baby has certain symptoms, whether it is indigestion-related diarrhea. What should you do if your baby has indigestion-related diarrhea? Today, let's take a look at the best treatment methods together with experienced pediatric experts!
※Symptoms of indigestion-related diarrhea in babies※
The stool has an acidic odor and foamy appearance, which is mostly caused by indigestion of carbohydrate foods such as grains and yams. When there is excessive intake of fat, the stool appears greasy. If there is excessive intake of protein from fish, meat, poultry, eggs, etc., the stool will have a foul smell, similar to the smell of rotten eggs. This suggests that parents should pay attention to and adjust their feeding habits.
※What to do if your baby has indigestion-related diarrhea※
1. When a baby has indigestion-related diarrhea, if the number of bowel movements is not excessive (3 to 4 times a day), there is no vomiting, fever, and the baby is lively with a good appetite, you can continue to feed the baby as usual, but the amount of food should be reduced appropriately. The baby can also eat foods that contain pectin, such as carrot soup, apple puree, and boiled rice soup (fry 50 grams of rice until golden, then boil it into 500 milliliters of rice soup), to enhance the intestinal absorption ability. Nutrients can be supplemented with breast milk or diluted skimmed formula milk. Once the stool turns yellow and is no longer thin, you can gradually return to the original diet.
2. For babies over 5 months old, they can consume rice paste, porridge, fish puree, egg yolk puree, breast milk, or formula milk.
3. If a child over 1 year old has acute watery diarrhea, attention should be paid to supplementing with oral rehydration solution while continuing to provide food, such as rice soup, diluted formula milk, oil-free egg drop porridge, fish porridge, and apple puree.
4. If the child's diarrhea persists despite dietary adjustments, it is necessary to go to the hospital to have the stool tested to identify the cause and prevent malnutrition caused by long-term diarrhea affecting nutrient absorption.
If a baby's diarrhea continues, it is natural for parents to worry. However, when a baby has diarrhea, it is not recommended to fast in order to avoid malnutrition. At the same time, it should be noted that soups and porridge can only serve as supplementary liquids and cannot replace food. Babies have weaker immune systems than adults and recover from diarrhea slowly. Parents need to be patient and believe that with their careful care, their baby will recover soon!
