What causes diarrhea in newborns? What can you eat to improve it?

The temperature is generally low in winter, and newborns have poor resistance and are very prone to diarrhea. So what is the cause of newborn diarrhea? What are the symptoms of newborn diarrhea? What should I do if I have newborn diarrhea? How to prevent newborn diarrhea? What is good for newborn diarrhea? The following editor will introduce you in detail.

Causes of diarrhea in newborns

1. Wrong way to prepare milk

A common mistake made by new mothers is to use the wrong method to prepare milk powder. The most common methods are:

If you use boiling water to mix milk powder, the baby will already be hungry, and the milk powder prepared at the beginning of school will not cool down for a long time. Not only will the baby not be able to drink it, but the high temperature will also destroy the nutrients in the milk powder, resulting in a decrease in the nutritional content of the milk powder.

Fearing that the child will not be full, the milk powder is too thick and is given to the child to drink, which can easily cause indigestion. The milk powder is too diluted, which can lead to malnutrition in the baby.

2. Improper addition of complementary food

The addition of complementary food should be gradual, from less to more, from one to multiple, from thinner and softer to coarser and harder. Do not take it for granted, otherwise it may cause gastrointestinal discomfort, indigestion, or abdominal distension and diarrhea. Babies usually start to add complementary food around 4 months old. Adding it too early will cause indigestion and be detrimental to the baby's health. It is not advisable to add too much complementary food at one time. It should be added slowly to allow the child's stomach to adapt.

3. Feeding allergenic foods

Some mothers don’t know which foods their babies will be allergic to. Some babies are allergic to foods such as milk, eggs, and soy milk. If mothers don’t notice this carefully, feeding their children these foods will cause allergic diarrhea in their children.

4. Not washing hands before meals or after defecation

Parents should develop a good habit of washing their hands before meals and after defecation, especially when preparing food for their children. Bacteria can easily enter the children's food through mothers' hands, and then enter the children's stomachs through the food, causing abdominal pain and diarrhea in the children.

Some mothers think that if something is not clean, they will not get sick from eating it. In fact, this is a wrong idea. If bacteria enter the body of a young baby, the baby's immunity and resistance will be weak, which will cause damage to health and be detrimental to healthy growth.

Symptoms of diarrhea in newborns

Mild cases: 5 to 8 bowel movements per day, possibly accompanied by a mild fever or vomiting. The stool is yellow-green, mucus-like and egg drop soup-like, accompanied by mild abdominal distension and hyperactive bowel sounds.

Moderate diarrhea: Ten bowel movements a day, loose watery stools, sour and foul odor, and possible moderate fever.

Severe cases: frequent diarrhea, eight to fifteen bowel movements per day, watery and large in volume, with a sour odor, irritability, drowsiness, listlessness, and even coma and convulsions, bloody and mucous stools, sunken anterior fontanelle, dry skin and lips, etc.

Some patients may experience obvious dehydration, acidosis, and electrolyte imbalance, such as hypokalemia or hypomagnesemia.

What to do if your newborn has diarrhea

Observe and record the frequency of diarrhea: Physiological diarrhea is more common in children who are exclusively breastfed or when changing milk powder. It will get better with proper care. However, if it is pathological diarrhea, parents must pay attention to observe and record the changes in the frequency, properties, color and volume of stool. If the baby has symptoms such as frequent watery stools, thirst, and a significant decrease in urine volume, the baby should be taken to the hospital for further treatment.

Use bowls and spoons instead of bottles: Breastfeeding can prevent diarrhea. Take warm baths frequently, maintain good hygiene habits, and disinfect eating utensils, cups, and bottles regularly. Bottles, especially rubber nipples, are not easy to clean and disinfect, and are easily contaminated, causing diarrhea in children. Bowls and spoons can be used instead of bottles to feed babies, which have less chance of contamination than bottles. In addition, babies should avoid getting their abdomen cold when sleeping at night.

Wash the buttocks with warm water: You don't need to fast when you have diarrhea. You should drink more water, especially nutritious liquid or semi-liquid food, such as rice porridge, noodles, milk, broth, etc. You can choose skim yogurt, scorched rice soup, applesauce and carrot juice. Children with diarrhea have more frequent bowel movements, so diapers should be changed frequently. After each bowel movement, wipe the buttocks with warm water (girls should rinse from front to back), and then dry with a soft cloth. You can apply tannic acid ointment or compound copper zinc sulfate ointment to prevent red buttocks.

How to prevent diarrhea in newborns

Adjust diet: For mild diarrhea, breastfeeding can continue, but the frequency and duration of breastfeeding should be reduced as appropriate. For severe diarrhea, it is necessary to temporarily fast for 6 to 12 hours, and then gradually resume breastfeeding after the diarrhea and vomiting improve. Babies who are bottle-fed can first be fed rice soup and diluted milk (one part milk plus two parts water or rice soup), from less to more, from thin to thick, and gradually transition to a normal diet.

Prevent dehydration: Diarrhea causes vomiting and frequent bowel movements. Severe dehydration causes decreased skin elasticity and little or no urine. At this time, the baby should be given oral rehydration salts immediately to replenish the lost water and salt, and dehydration will not occur. It should be taken in small amounts and multiple times to facilitate gastrointestinal absorption. Do not give the baby too much at once. Severely dehydrated people should be sent to the hospital immediately for intravenous infusion.

Provide good home care: Parents should carefully observe the nature, color, frequency and amount of the baby's stool. If there is any abnormality, they should go to the hospital for examination in time; pay attention to keeping the abdomen warm to reduce intestinal peristalsis, and you can wrap the abdomen with a towel or apply a hot water bottle to the abdomen; make sure the baby gets more rest, wash the buttocks with warm water after defecation to prevent diaper rash; diapers should be cleaned, boiled and disinfected, and dried before use.

Do not abuse antibiotics: Many mild diarrhea can be cured without antibiotics or other drugs; or taking microecological preparations such as Mommy Love, and water-absorbing drugs such as Smecta can also quickly cure the disease. Autumn diarrhea is mostly caused by viral infection. The use of antibiotics is not only ineffective, but also harmful. Antibiotics can be used for bacterial dysentery or other bacterial diarrhea, but it must be treated under the guidance of a doctor.

What to eat for newborn baby with diarrhea

Rice soup. This is very useful. You can add more water when cooking porridge, or you can cook it specifically by putting a little rice in the pot and cooking until it becomes a thin paste.

Egg yolk. You can eat one egg yolk every day to harden the stool, and it can also replenish energy for children when combined with rice soup.

Drink more sugar water. When children have diarrhea, in order to prevent dehydration, they should drink more sugar water, which is boiled water with sugar. It is very important to replenish water and sugar.

Apples are the best fruit to choose. You can eat the apples directly without peeling them, or you can make applesauce and eat them. It is said that this is because apples are alkaline foods and the pectin they contain helps in the formation of stool.

Carrot soup. The principle is the same as that of the apple in the first step. Carrot soup is an alkaline food and contains pectin, which helps the formation of stool.

If the diarrhea is caused by a cold, the most important thing is to take the medicine prescribed by the doctor on time and strictly follow the doctor's instructions.