Good foods for babies with diarrhea

When your child has diarrhea: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

Diarrhea is the passage of loose or watery stools. For some children, diarrhea is mild and will go away within a few days. For others, it may last longer. It can make your child lose too much fluid (dehydrated) and feel weak.

The stomach flu is a common cause of diarrhea. Medical treatments, such as antibiotics and some cancer treatments can also cause diarrhea.

This article speaks of diarrhea in children over 1 year of age.

It is easy for a child with diarrhea to lose too much fluid and become dehydrated. Lost fluids need to be replaced. For most children, drinking the kinds of fluids they normally have should be enough.

Some water is OK. But too much water alone, at any age, can be harmful.

Other products, such as Pedialyte and Infalyte, may help keep a child well-hydrated. These products can be bought at the supermarket or pharmacy.

Popsicles and Jell-O can be good sources of fluids, especially if your child is vomiting. You can slowly get large amounts of fluids into children with these products.

You may also give your child watered-down fruit juice or broth.

Do not use medicines to slow down your child's diarrhea without talking to a doctor first. Ask your child's health care provider if using sports drinks is OK.

In many cases, you can continue feeding your child as usual. The diarrhea will normally go away in time, without any changes or treatment. But while children have diarrhea, they should:

Eat small meals throughout the day instead of 3 big meals.
Eat some salty foods, such as pretzels and soup.

When necessary, changes in the diet may help. No specific diet is recommended. But children often do better with bland foods. Give your child foods such as:

Baked or broiled beef, pork, chicken, fish, or turkey
Cooked eggs
Bananas and other fresh fruits
Applesauce
Bread products made from refined, white flour
Pasta or white rice
Cereals such as cream of wheat, farina, oatmeal, and cornflakes
Pancakes and waffles made with white flour
Cornbread, prepared or served with very little honey or syrup
Cooked vegetables, such as carrots, green beans, mushrooms, beets, asparagus tips, acorn squash, and peeled zucchini
Some desserts and snacks, such as Jell-O, popsicles, cakes, cookies, or sherbet
Baked potatoes

In general, removing seeds and skins from these foods is best.

Use low-fat milk, cheese, or yogurt. If dairy products are making the diarrhea worse or causing gas and bloating, your child may need to stop eating or drinking dairy products for a few days.

Children should be allowed to take their time returning to their normal eating habits. For some children, a return to their regular diet can also bring a return of diarrhea. This is often due to mild problems the gut has while absorbing regular foods.

Children should avoid certain kinds of foods when they have diarrhea, including fried foods, greasy foods, processed or fast foods, pastries, donuts, and sausage.

Avoid giving children apple juice and full-strength fruit juices, as they can loosen stool.

Have your child limit or cut out milk and other dairy products if they are making diarrhea worse or causing gas and bloating.

Your child should avoid fruits and vegetables that can cause gas, such as broccoli, peppers, beans, peas, berries, prunes, chickpeas, green leafy vegetables, and corn.

Your child should also avoid caffeine and carbonated drinks at this time.

When children are ready for regular foods again, try giving them:

Bananas
Crackers
Chicken
Pasta
Rice cereal

Call your child's provider if your child has any of these symptoms:

Much less activity than normal (not sitting up at all or not looking around)
Sunken eyes
Dry and sticky mouth
No tears when crying
Not urinated for 6 hours
Blood or mucus in the stool
Fever that does not go away
Stomach pain

Easter JS. Pediatric gastrointestinal disorders and dehydration. In: Bakes KM, Buchanan JA, Moreira ME, Byyny R, Pons PT, eds. Emergency Medicine Secrets. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 65.

Kotloff KL. Acute gastroenteritis in children. In: Kliegman RM, St. Geme JW, Blum NJ, Shah SS, Tasker RC, Wilson KM, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 21st ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 366.

Schiller LR, Sellin JH. Diarrhea. In: Feldman M, Friedman LS, Brandt LJ, eds. Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 11th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021:chap 16.

Updated by: Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

Browse the Encyclopedia

Baby Diarrhea Foods | Foods to Feed Baby with Diarrhea

Diarrhea in infants can be a very worrisome occurrence as most parents fear dehydration and the worsening of painful diaper rash. When baby has diarrhea, many parents wonder what foods may help “bind” baby up and stop the diarrhea.

What are the possible cause of diarrhea in babies?

Children can have acute and chronic forms of diarrhea. Infection with the rotavirus is the most common cause of acute childhood diarrhea. Rotavirus diarrhea usually resolves itself within 3 to 10 days. Children who are 6 to 32 weeks old can be vaccinated against the rotavirus with a vaccine called Rotateq. Here are a few of the common causes of diarrhea:

food sensitivities
bacteria
viruses
parasites
medications
functional bowel disorders

If your child has diarrhea, do not hesitate to call the doctor for advice. Diarrhea is especially dangerous in newborns and infants, leading to dehydration in just a day or two. A child can die from dehydration within a few days. The main treatment for diarrhea in children is rehydration to replace lost fluid quickly. NDDCHI

What foods should you feed a baby when he has diarrhea? What foods should you avoid when baby has diarrhea?

Please offer your baby small meals when he has diarrhea. Offering smaller meals will allow baby’s digestive system to work slowly. The tiny intestines and still fragile digestive system will take a bit of time to get back on track and healed. Don’t worry if it takes 3 to 4 days for your baby’s stools to get back to “normal”; healing takes time.

B.R.A.T – When baby has diarrhea, remember B.R.A.T.

Bananas – Rice – Applesauce – Toast

The foods that make up the B.R.A.T diet are those foods that will help cause the bulking and hardening of the stool. These foods include grains, and certain fruits. Below are more foods that will help firm-up and bind baby’s stools when diarrhea occurs.

Bananas
Rice and/or Homemade Rice Cereal
Breads – specifically toasted breads
Pastas
White potato
Yogurt
Applesauce

Foods to Avoid with Infant Diarrhea

Avoid any foods that are used to help alleviate constipation and certain fruits as well. Below is a list of foods to avoid when baby has diarrhea:

dairy products (yogurt is the exception due to its helpful bacteria – consult your baby’s pediatrician about feeding yogurt with diarrhea)
Fruits that begin with the letter “P” such as peaches, pears, prunes, and plums
apricots and other “Stone” fruits are typically known to help loosen stools so avoid those fruits as well
High Fiber foods

Applesauce vs. Diluted Apple Juice

As we mention on our page about Infant Constipation, please keep in mind that Applesauce is actually a binding food. Applesauce is the whole of the fruit. It contains a higher level of pectin – which firms up stools and may thus lead to constipation.

Apple juice contains more of the sugars found in the apple and it also contains more actual liquid; hence apple juice is a good remedy to help relieve constipation.

Learn More about Diarrhea at the National Institutes of Health

Remember, always consult with your pediatrician regarding introducing solid foods to your baby and specifically discuss any foods that may pose allergy risks for your baby.

Bring on the BRAT!

Bananas, rice cereals, applesauce and bread are some great foods to offer your baby when he has a bout of diarrhea!

It is important to always consult your baby’s pediatrician when baby has had diarrhea for 2 days(or longer) and his or her skin does not “spring-back” when gently pushed. The inability of the skin to “spring-back” suggests baby may be suffering from dehydration.

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Diet for diarrhea in a 1-year-old child

When a child is sick, it is always a serious test for a family. Moreover, if the baby has vomiting, frequent loose stools, fever, he refuses to eat. In such cases, parents naturally face the question: what to do?

The first thing to do is to see a doctor. In most cases, this condition is associated with an acute intestinal infection and can lead to serious consequences for the baby. And timely treatment allows you to quickly deal with the problem. nine0003

The second significant issue facing the parents of a sick child is the issue of proper nutrition. Unfortunately, you can still find recommendations to stop feeding a child during diarrhea, but this should not be done categorically.

Important!

It has been proven that "water-tea" breaks and starvation diets significantly weaken the protective functions of the child's body and lead to a delay in recovery processes in the intestines. Therefore, at present, most pediatricians insist on the mandatory continuation of the child's nutrition in case of acute intestinal infections, but with the obligatory consideration of the latest achievements in nutrition. nine0003

The main principles for managing the nutrition of a child with diarrhea should be:


Phased	The development of the disease has a staging, each stage must correspond to certain approaches to diet therapy
Accounting for the age of the child	Each age should have its own products and its own schemes for their purpose
Accounting for the severity of the disease

There are three main stages of diet therapy. The first stage corresponds to the acute period of the disease, when the maximum manifestations of the disease are noted (vomiting, loose stools, fever), and the child may refuse his usual diet. During this period, proper nutrition is an integral part of treatment. And the success of treatment largely depends on the correct organization of diet therapy in a child.

The second stage is the recovery period. There are no longer those manifestations of the disease that were noted in the baby in the acute period, the child has an appetite, he becomes more active, but it must be remembered that any acute intestinal infection leads to significant changes in the child's body. This is a violation of the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract, and dysfunction of enzyme systems, bile secretion and other digestive processes. It takes time to restore the correct functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, which requires a sparing diet at this stage. Violation of the diet during this period can lead to the formation of a chronic pathology of the gastrointestinal tract. nine0003

The third stage of diet therapy is aimed at a gradual transition to the usual diet for this baby. Breastfed babies should continue to breastfeed. If the baby is bottle-fed, the doctor will prescribe a formula that matches the baby's condition. In children older than one year, it is necessary to exclude whole milk from the diet, they are also shown the appointment of fermented milk products as a diet therapy, the favorable properties of which are due to a number of positive qualities: the presence of lactic acid gives the product pronounced bactericidal properties and inhibits the growth of pathogenic microflora, the positive effect of these products on intestinal microbiocenosis, the secretory function of the digestive glands and intestinal motility, and they also have immunomodulatory properties. nine0003

One of the important components of diet therapy is the use of dairy-free cereals with pro- and synbiotics. Clinical studies have shown that the appointment of this diet therapy contributes to a more rapid relief of the main symptoms of intestinal dysfunction, as well as the restoration of intestinal microflora.

Choose foods for the diet

It is most correct to start with rice porridge, as it has pronounced sorption properties and helps to stop diarrhea. As the child recovers, oatmeal and buckwheat porridge can be included in the diet. nine0003

Vegetables and fruits are an important component in the first stage of diet therapy. Preference should be given to products that contain pectin (baked apple, boiled carrots), as they contribute to the sorption of pathogens and their toxins. At the first stage of diet therapy, the use of fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as juices, is not shown.

The second stage - the patient's condition improves, the child becomes active, appetite improves, and in some children it even becomes elevated, which is often perceived by parents as a signal for increased nutrition. It is absolutely impossible to do this, since the child's body has not yet recovered from the disease. During this period, it is necessary to continue eating sour-milk, lactose-free and low-lactose products. An obligatory component of diet therapy is the use of nutrition with probiotics. nine0003

The third stage is the gradual expansion of the diet according to the age of the child. At this stage, the most justified is the widespread use of probiotic foods in order to restore and maintain the function of the gastrointestinal tract and its microbiocenosis.

What to feed a child with diarrhea at first?

freshly cooked rice;
bananas;
natural apple juice;
boiled potatoes;
boiled chicken meat; nine0066
crackers and stale bread;
lean fish;
weak tea.

what can you eat with diarrhea

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Table of contents

Causes of diarrhea in children
Symptoms
Viral infection
How to feed a child with diarrhea?
Functional diarrhea
Food allergy diarrhea
Antibiotic diarrhea
Nutrition for diarrhea in children
Drinking regimen
Diet after diarrhea
Prevention

Photo source: shutterstock.com

All mothers sooner or later face such a phenomenon as childhood diarrhea, or simply diarrhea. The cause can be both banal poisoning, which passes quickly and does not carry serious consequences, or various infections. They can lead to exhaustion, dehydration and beriberi in the child's body. nine0003

Therefore, parents should be vigilant and closely monitor the condition of the child.

Causes of diarrhea in children

First of all, let's figure out what condition of the chair is considered a deviation from the norm. With diarrhea, the discharge is liquid, may contain remnants of undigested food and mucus. The number of bowel movements increases and sometimes reaches 10-12 times a day.

The most common causes of diarrhea in children are: nine0003

Too fast passage of food through the intestines as a result of impaired peristalsis.
Inflammatory processes in the intestines.
Isolation of too much inflammatory secretion.
Violation of water absorption by the intestinal walls.

Symptoms

The main symptoms of diarrhea are loose stools and an increased frequency of bowel movements. In addition, you may find bloating and rumbling in the child. If the baby complains of pain and pain in the intestinal area, his temperature rises sharply - this may be a sign that an infection has appeared in the body.

Viral infection

Her most common triggers are:

nine0123 rotavirus;
enterovirus;
astrovirus.

They enter the child's body through dirty fruits and vegetables, unwashed hands, products that have not undergone the necessary heat treatment.

The incubation period is 7-10 days, in some cases it can stretch up to 2-3 weeks. nine0003

Photo source: shutterstock.com

The main symptoms of a viral infection:

If you suspect your child has a similar infection, do not self-medicate. Be sure to consult with a pediatrician who will make an accurate diagnosis, and then prescribe treatment.

What to feed a child with diarrhea?

Diet for a viral infection includes: nine0003

Drink plenty of water.

You can use both regular warm water and non-carbonated mineral water. They will save the baby from dehydration and help the body get rid of toxins.

Moderate nutrition for diarrhea in children.

Let's talk about what you can eat a child with diarrhea.

It is good if on the first day of illness the baby refrains from eating at all. If this is difficult to do, then carefully make sure that the diet for diarrhea in a child is followed. nine0003

Eliminate fried and fatty foods, as well as fruits and dairy products. Experts recommend feeding your baby small meals. It can be dietary meat broths, cereals, kefir and other fermented milk products.

Functional diarrhea

May appear if:

At the same time, the child's stool becomes more frequent, bloating, mild pain in the abdomen may appear. But the process is not accompanied by high fever or vomiting. nine0003

Treatment includes taking absorbent drugs and supplements that restore the intestinal microflora.

We talked a little higher about what a child can eat with diarrhea.

Diarrhea due to food allergy

This is a common occurrence when switching from breast/formula feeding to complementary foods.

The most common causative agent is cow's milk. Other foods that can cause diarrhea include eggs, nuts, chicken, and fish. nine0003

With a food allergy, a child develops diarrhea, bloating, and sharp pains in the intestinal area. In some cases, vomiting, swelling and urticaria may occur.

If you experience these symptoms, contact your pediatrician. He will conduct an examination, and also appoint additional consultations with an allergist and a gastroenterologist, if he deems it necessary.

Antibiotic diarrhea

If a child uses antibiotics and has diarrhea, the microflora of his intestines most likely suffers. nine0003

In this case, you should not stop taking the medication on your own. It is best to change the diet to include fermented milk products, dietary broths and jelly. Also consult with your doctor.

Photo source: shutterstock.com

Nutrition for diarrhea in children

During diarrhea, fried, spicy and salty foods should be excluded from the children's menu. nine0003

Remove sausages and other smoked meats, mushrooms, heavy meat and fish from the diet. Give preference to turkey and rabbit.

Do not give your baby fresh fruits and vegetables as they can cause bloating.

Temporarily exclude fresh bread and other pastries, milk and dairy products, eggs.

Canned food, sweets, fast food, soda, fresh juices are also prohibited.

Drinking mode

Regardless of the type of diarrhea, a child loses a lot of water during a bowel movement, the balance of which must be replenished.

You can drink lightly salted or mineral water. You can use Regidron.

It is necessary to exclude sweet drinks, soda, strong tea, juices, cow's milk from the menu for diarrhea in a child. nine0003

If the child is small, he is given 50-70 ml of liquid after each trip to the toilet "in a big way." Children older than 1 year usually already know how to drink on their own. Let them drink as much liquid as they want.

Diet after diarrhea

After the signs of diarrhea have passed, it is worth returning the child to his usual diet, but gradually. It is important to help the body fully recover.

Let the meals be frequent, and the portions small. Do not introduce fried and salty foods into your diet yet. The best option would be steamed and boiled dishes. nine0003

Food should be light and healthy.

Temporarily exclude soda, mushrooms, artificial sweets, smoked meats, fast food and heavy meals.

The menu can include light soups, lean meats and fish. They are rich in fiber and nutrients, but do not overload the intestines.
Rice and oatmeal have an excellent restorative effect: they envelop the intestinal walls and restore digestion. nine0003
Do not give your baby fresh bread and rolls, stock up on breadcrumbs or yesterday's pastries.
Eliminate scrambled eggs, instead prepare a dietary steamed omelet for your child.
Boiled / stewed potatoes, pumpkin, carrots and zucchini are allowed. Perfectly normalize the chair baked apples. Useful bananas.

Jelly and fermented milk products will become an assistant in restoring the body.

Prophylaxis

The main and most common cause of diarrhea is poor hygiene. Therefore, it is important:

Teach your child to wash their hands thoroughly. The process should take about 15-20 seconds. Show him by example what to do and how to do it. Use soap, treat the entire surface of the hands, including the surface between the fingers and their tips. nine0003
Teach your child to wash their hands immediately after the street, before each meal and after using the toilet.
Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly. You can use special tools for this. Soak greens in water before using them in salads and other dishes.
Subject the products to a thorough heat treatment. nine0003
Make sure that the child does not put everything in his mouth while walking and playing at home.
Boost your baby's immunity by giving him vitamins and minerals. Let his diet be complete and balanced.

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This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute scientific material or professional medical advice. For diagnosis and treatment, please contact your doctor. See rating of doctors. nine0003

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