Thursday, February 11, 2010

Toddler Diarrhea

last sunday we brought adam to Kedah Medical Centre (KMC) for his 1 year old jab. yup, dah 2 bulan delayed. masa bawak pegi kinik aritu doc cakap adam demam dalam 37.5c camtu. so, takleh jab la. kali ni kitorg redah jer bawak adam ke KMC, which is our 1st time there. tujuan asal nak pegi ke Putra Medical Centre (PMC) sebab dah biasa bawak adam kat situ. sibaik aku call dulu tanya paed ada ker tak. tup2 paed tu EL lak. kat PMC ada sorang jer kot paed. tu pasal yang kitorg redah jer cari med centre lain. sibaik terjumpa KMC coz aku ni takla familiar sangat dengan jalan2 kat Kedah nun. bobo apa tah lagi. hehe...

kat KMC ada 4 orang paed. kitorg pilih nak jumpa this new resident paed named Dr. Sharifah Khadijah sebab queue patient dia kurang sikit. lembut jer orangnya. tapi yang aku musykil dia kata nak check jugak mata adam sebab nampak 'lain sikit'. what do you mean by 'lain'? sebelum ni tak penah lak ada paed cakap kat adam camtu. hmmm....anyway, lepas check tu dia cakap mata adam normal jer. alhamdulillah....buat saspen aku jer doc nih!

masa nak jab tu adam tengah ralit main toy barney. dia tak sedar pon yang dia kena jab time tu. so, takder la sesi nangis2. eheheh....sibaik lagi. pastu aku tanya kat doc naper adam kerap 'ceri-beri' lepas dia masuk setahun. doc cakap condition ni is known as 'toddler diarrhea'. it's a normal thing and nothing to worry about if his gaining weight normally. sebabnya perut & usus baby tengah adjusting. so kalau nampak ada keluar balik carrot yang dia makan sebelum tu normal la. gitu rupanya...

here i'd like to share some infos that i found from pampers.com on toddler diarrhea...

All parents become frustrated when they must change their toddler's dirty diapers when diarrhea strikes. A child suffering from diarrhea may pass 5 to 10 stools per day. Those stools are loose or watery, often running down the child's leg (so true!) and soiling both carpeting and furniture. Diaper rash may appear. And medications seldom relieve the diarrhea. What a mess!

Recognizing Toddler Diarrhea
Fortunately, most diarrhea among children under 5 years old is due to mild viral infections that last no more than five to seven days. However, diarrhea can continue for weeks. When faced with this chronic diarrhea in their young children, parents need to know the features that separate serious infectious diarrhea from the common, mild, chronic, non-specific diarrhea of childhood, also called toddler
diarrhea or sloppy-stool syndrome.
Usually this problem begins at about 18 months to 2 years of age and lasts for weeks to even years. The child customarily passes three to five loose or mushy stools per day without blood or pus in them. You may see undigested food particles come straight through, and the child is gassy. The child continues to grow and to gain weight normally while remaining happy, playful, and free from abdominal pain.

What's the Reason?
The explanation for chronic diarrhea can be found in the child's diet. The child has been eating large quantities of fruit or drinking large quantities of liquid, mostly fruit juices or fruit drinks. Because her parents desire to offer "heart smart" foods, the diet contains large amounts of starch and fiber with only small quantities of fat and protein. Food travels through the intestines too fast for adequate water absorption, so the stool comes out too wet and sloppy, i.e. diarrhea-like.
An excess of dietary sugars or sugar-alcohols and starches in these foods produces this diarrhea. Fructose is the major fruit sugar, and sorbitol is the sweet-tasting alcohol found naturally in many fruits and juices. When large amounts of fructose or sorbitol are taken in, they are not absorbed completely. In the large intestine, the normal bacteria ferment these sugars and pull in more water. The outcome is sloppy, wet stools and a gassy, jet-propelled child.
What Can You Do?
The best treatment for
toddler diarrhea is to follow the ancient guideline to give your child "nothing in excess" to eat or drink. If the child is taking in too much starch and fiber, an increase in dietary fat and protein is needed. (You and your child shouldn't be getting the same diet; children need at least half of their calories from fat, not the 10 to 30 percent recommended for adults.) Also, stop the canned fruit, and limit fruit drinks to between four and eight ounces per day. Some experts believe that white grape juice, because of its lower fructose concentration, is better for toddlers. Clear apple juice has a lot of sorbitol, so put the brakes on that. Too much of any juice can cause diarrhea. Juice is often recommended for treatment of diarrhea, but reconsider this approach after a week of care if the poops are still watery. It could be a case of toddler diarrhea.
If the poops just keep coming, look carefully at what your toddler's putting in his or her mouth.

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