Vomiting and diarrhea in a child are always symptoms of a disease. And in such cases, parents of young children are especially worried, who cannot explain what else, besides the named manifestations of the disease, worries them.
But it is especially dangerous that vomiting and diarrhea in a child of 2 years old cause severe dehydration of the baby's body, and the wrong actions of parents can lead to a deterioration in his condition.
We will talk about how to behave in case of diarrhea, vomiting and fever in children, as well as the causes of these symptoms later in the article.
Causes of diarrhea in a child
As pediatric practice shows, vomiting, fever and diarrhea in a child are most often signs of an acute infection. Here are just a few of the most common infectious diseases with similar symptoms.
- Adenoviral infection. Chairbecomes like gruel, there are attacks of nausea and vomiting. In addition, the child is worried about dry cough, runny nose and manifestations of conjunctivitis. The most severe infection occurs in babies under 6 months.
- Dysentery. With this infection, the child has green diarrhea, with an admixture of mucus and a lot of fluid. The tongue of the baby, as a rule, is covered with a white coating, there is a headache and pain in the abdomen. Appetite is markedly reduced. At the beginning of the disease, the baby is also worried about the high temperature (up to 39 ° C). By the way, quite often it turns out that about a day before the onset of the disease, the child consumed milk.
- Salmonellosis. With the development of this disease, the onset is usually violent. It is accompanied by repeated vomiting, severe abdominal pain and bloating. The stool becomes green, slimy and offensive. Infection comes from eating undercooked meat or eggs from ducks and geese.
- Escherichiosis. This infection is manifested by repeated vomiting, bloating, as well as a specific state of feces - it becomes mucous, orange, with whitish inclusions in the form of lumps. The child is severely dehydrated.
How does an infection get into a child's body?
If a child is a year old, diarrhea and vomiting become a serious test for his body. Yes, and older children have a hard time enduring this condition.
Most often, bacteria, viruses or fungi enter the body with unwashed vegetables and fruits or with raw water, which, for example, is in the baby's mouth at the time ofswimming in the pond. Teething babies generally try to drown out the severe itching in the gums with any object sent to the mouth.
As you can see, there is nothing new in this information. However, infectious diseases with diarrhea and vomiting are not becoming more rare. Yes, and hygiene has not yet become an unshakable rule.
Child year: diarrhea - what to do?
Depending on what caused the indigestion, diarrhea that appeared in one-year-old children and older ones looks different.
- It may be liquid stool, similar to gruel, interspersed with mucus, blood, pus and a strong unpleasant odor.
- Sometimes it becomes uneven in texture, and pieces of undigested food are visible in it.
- And sometimes the feces become greasy and shiny, poorly washed off the baby's skin and from the walls of the potty.
When referring to a specialist, be sure to tell him what the baby's feces looked like so that the doctor can make a correct diagnosis. After all, for example, if a child is a year old, fever and diarrhea mixed with blood can indicate the presence of a lesion of the large intestine with dysentery or Escherichia coli - which is very dangerous for the he alth of the crumbs.
Combination of symptoms can tell a lot
A one-year-old baby and older children usually have thick and well-formed stools. However, single manifestations of indigestion should not greatly disturb parents, especially if the baby does not have a temperature, and the diarrhea itself continues.no more than 3 days.
But if your child is a year old, diarrhea, vomiting, fever and abdominal pain are a reason for serious examination and treatment. After all, even just diarrhea in combination with abdominal pain can signal that the baby has appendicitis or renal colic. By the way, the same symptoms can also appear with pancreatitis or at an early stage of intestinal obstruction.
When it is essential to take action
The quick reaction of parents can sometimes drastically change the course of a baby's illness. In the event that diarrhea in a child 2 years of age or a little older manifests itself in the situations listed below, a visit to the doctor should be immediate:
- you suspect poisoning from spoiled food or mushrooms;
- along with diarrhea, the child's temperature rose above 38 °C;
- diarrhea accompanied by severe abdominal pain;
- diarrhea appeared while traveling to a country with a warm climate;
- she befell all family members;
- the child is very weak, it is difficult for him to breathe and swallow;
- significant dehydration is detected (sunken eyes, baby cries without tears, very dark urine or none at all);
- the skin and mucous membrane of the eyes turned yellow;
- diarrhea joined by weight loss.
Once again, the above signs are very serious symptoms that require immediate medical attention!
General rules for indigestion
No matter who is afflicted,1-year-old, 2-year-old baby or 3-year-old child, diarrhea, vomiting and other symptoms of malaise require the same actions on the part of parents.
The first thing you should worry about is the fight against dehydration, especially dangerous for babies in the first years of life. And keep in mind that the smaller the weight of the crumbs, the faster it comes. So, be sure to ensure the flow of fluid into the body. To do this, use ready-made solutions available in pharmacies ("Regidron" or "Gastrolit"). Or make them at home.
To do this, pour a teaspoon without a slide of s alt into a liter of boiled water and add 4 to 6 tsp. sugar (this solution is stored no more than a day).
Before the doctor arrives, do not give the child a remedy for vomiting, so as not to distort the manifestation of the disease and prevent an accurate diagnosis.
What should not be given to a child with diarrhea?
Diarrhea in a child of 2 years or other age does not allow him to drink sweet tea, fruit juices, soda. Boiled milk and chicken broth are also unacceptable.
Never give enzyme preparations like "Festal". This can make the diarrhea worse, especially if the child has a viral infection. Do not give him potassium permanganate - under its influence, a plug of feces forms, which prevents the contents of the intestine from leaving, which can be dangerous.
Diarrhea can also be caused by taking antibiotics
Modern mothers have long understood that it is not worth giving a child antibiotics without a particularly good reason. Since they, bringingundoubted benefit, can cause many unpleasant consequences. After all, together with pests, they destroy beneficial bacteria, for example, those that are involved in the process of digestion. This leads to manifestations of dysbacteriosis.
Diarrhea that appears in a child after antibiotics becomes a new test for the body, preventing it from recovering properly after an illness and weakening it more and more.
The fact is that in such cases a lot of minerals, vitamins and other useful compounds are excreted with feces, which cannot but affect the child's metabolism. By the way, dysbacteriosis in response to taking antibiotics in children develops much more often than in adults, and this is due to the immaturity of their digestive system.
How to deal with the problem?
What to do if the child has diarrhea after antibiotics? A few simple rules will help in the fight against this symptom.
- Keep your baby he althy by avoiding carbonated drinks, raw fruits and vegetables, fatty foods, sweets and milk.
- Give him as much fluid as possible to replace his loss.
- Decoctions of St. John's wort, fennel, mint or immortelle can also be of great help to you. They will stop diarrhea and help relieve inflammation of the intestinal mucosa.
And for the future, you need to remember that it is unacceptable to start taking antibiotics, as well as abruptly stop it or change one medication for another without the advice of your doctor! By the way, the combination of taking antibiotics with probiotics ("Hilak-forte","Linex", etc.) will help to avoid dysbacteriosis and populate the intestines with beneficial microorganisms.
What does green baby stool mean?
But if your baby has not taken antibiotics, and his stool is liquid, and even greenish, what to do in such a situation? What are the causes of diarrhea in a child in this case?
Quite often, such a state is not fraught with any danger. As mentioned above, in young children the process of digestion is not yet sufficiently developed, and this leads to the fact that any change in the usual diet can cause intestinal upset. Its color often depends on the products included in the baby's menu. So, nettles, lettuces, sorrel, spinach, broccoli can stain your child's feces, at the same time changing its consistency. And if the baby is calm and cheerful, you should not worry.
If a child has green diarrhea accompanied by whims, refusal to eat, restless sleep, you definitely need to be examined by a doctor. Especially dangerous is the condition in which blotches of blood appear in the feces, and the smell of it becomes putrid.
How do I know if the prescribed treatment is helping?
Diarrhea in a child of 2 years or other younger age, as you have already understood, requires a visit to a doctor. But the treatment he's given requires your oversight.
If the baby becomes more active, his appetite improves, and vomiting and diarrhea appear much less often or completely disappear, then treatment helps.
If there are no signs of a decrease in diarrhea and vomiting during the day, and the baby has become lethargic and sleepy, the treatment does not work for him.
Once again about how to beat diarrhea in a baby
I would like to repeat once again that the manifestations of the disease that a child (1 year old) suffers from - diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting, are always a reason to see a doctor. In this situation, parents of both the one-year-old crumbs and older babies should remain calm and prudent.
- Don't try to treat it yourself (especially with antibiotics), don't stop the diarrhea at all costs.
- Diarrhea is the body's response to get rid of harmful substances, and the main thing is not to let the body lose fluid.
- Stop only especially liquid and watery diarrhea, but only after consulting a doctor.
Be he althy!
