Toddler's Diarrhea---how to help?

May 11, 2015 10:10 AM

We're looking for suggestions to help toddler's diarrhea

Our grandson is nearly three years old, and lives in Basel, Switzerland while his father does post-doc studies there. Over the past few months he has developed "toddlers' diarrhea"---several loose stools per day. My daughter and son-in-law have taken him for all available medical tests, but no cause has been determined. He is otherwise healthy, and is not at all underweight. As you might expect, this problem makes toilet training more difficult.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Various dietary changes have been tried, with no success.

Could there be emotional factors at work? His brother was recently born, last week---a big change in his life. He's been aware that his brother was on the way, from the first sonagram.

Any ideas would be welcomed, and thanks in advance!

posted by ragtimepiano to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

Being upset can cause loose stools, yes.

If you want to try yet another home remedy people have suggested, what always works for me and everyone I've known is lemon juice. Not on anything, just squeeze a lemon into a spoon and swallow. Just one spoon. Just once. Still, I don't know if you can get a toddler to do that.

I offer no scientific basis or explanation for how this works, but someone gave it to me when I was a kid and it worked and I've been using it ever since and spreading the word. It could just be a placebo effect, in which case it might not work on a toddler, but there's no real harm in giving it a shot. Brush teeth afterwards. Lemon juice is obviously acidic.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 10:20 AM on May 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

Chronic diarrhea in otherwise healthy toddlers is a known thing which often goes away on its own by age 4-5. And as semi-medical term (colloquial), "toddler's diarrhea" can actually refer to diarrhea caused by drinking lots of fruit juice, which has laxatives fructose and sorbitol. Does your grandson drink a lot of juice? If the doctor isn't worried and all the tests say your grandson is fine, and he's growing well, it doesn't seem like there's any reason to worry - lots of toddlers have diarrhea for unknown reasons and grow out of it without any trouble.
posted by Cygnet at 10:30 AM on May 11, 2015

IANYD but the old home remedies that come to mind are cheese and raw potato. You should, of course, check with his pediatrician. I'd be more worried about the raw potato, he probably already eats cheese.
posted by BoscosMom at 10:53 AM on May 11, 2015

'Regular soiling (often mistaken for runny diarrhoea) may indicate that a child has bad constipation with impaction (a blockage of faeces). ' - this is pretty common actually, and 'holding it in' can be a coping behavior for toddlers when their schedule has become more irregular and hectic, ie because of a new sibling...
posted by The Toad at 11:05 AM on May 11, 2015 [2 favorites]

This is not the question you asked, but depending on where your grandson is with toilet training, the birth of a new sibling is an excellent reason to take a break from it for a while. We put it on hold for a few months when Nanopanda was born (Micropanda was also nearly 3) and did not regret that in the slightest.

Also, yes, check juice intake levels and check for constipation.
posted by telepanda at 11:16 AM on May 11, 2015

I would suggest pureed sweet potato or pumpkin. Not only a fibre helps but a natural hormone in both can help calm irritated digestive systems. Both are very effective at helping up diarrhea but also helping move things along if he's constipated.
posted by wwax at 12:19 PM on May 11, 2015

When I worked in a hospital and we had little ones with ordinary diarrhea, the docs would order a diet of rice and bananas, applesauce and toast - it's called the BRAT diet and it's pretty standard.

Hope your little one's better soon.
posted by aryma at 10:14 PM on May 11, 2015