What to feed a baby who has diarrhea

When your child has diarrhea Information | Mount Sinai

Drinking Fluids

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.

Diet for Children With Diarrhea

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.

Things Your Child Should Avoid Eating or Drinking

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

When to Call the Doctor

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.

Last reviewed on: 12/10/2021

Reviewed 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.

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.

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 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

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.

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Date last updated: 0002 What can you eat if you have diarrhea?
What to drink with diarrhea?
What should I avoid if I have diarrhea?
What is diarrhea and how to treat it

It is very important to adjust your diet and diet in case of bowel disorder in order to help the body cope with the problem as effectively as possible. If you do not know what to eat with diarrhea, use our recommendations.

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What Can You Eat When You Have Diarrhea?

Diet for diarrhea should include foods high in pectin: applesauce, bananas, yogurt. Pectin - water-soluble fiber - helps to cope with indigestion.
Pay attention to foods rich in potassium - fruit juices, jacket potatoes, bananas. When the intestines are upset, the body actively loses potassium and its restoration is necessary.
Don't forget to add salt to your meals. Meals should include salty soups, broths, crackers, etc., which will help retain water in the body and stay hydrated.
Get enough protein. With an upset stomach, you can eat lightly fried beef, turkey, chicken, or hard-boiled eggs to avoid fatigue and fatigue.
Eat hot processed vegetables and fruits. Some raw vegetables and fruits can make diarrhea worse. When dieting, try a simple soup with asparagus, carrots, beets, zucchini, mushrooms or celery, mashed potatoes or jacket potatoes.

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What to drink with diarrhea?

Drink at least a glass of liquid after each bout of diarrhea to prevent dehydration. In case of intestinal upset, drink water, weak tea, apple juice, low-fat broth. A liquid diarrhea diet does not burden the digestive tract with heavy work and helps prevent irritation.

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What should I avoid if I have diarrhea?

Avoid caffeinated drinks and foods that are very hot or cold. It will irritate the gastrointestinal tract.
Avoid fatty, fried and heavy foods during the diet. Such a diet will only exacerbate intestinal upset.
Avoid foods that cause gas in the intestines - chewing gum, carbonated drinks. They irritate the digestive tract.
Limit milk and dairy products. They can be hard to digest.
Avoid nuts, raw fruits and vegetables, bran and whole grain breads in your diet. They irritate the digestive tract.

Try not to smoke or drink alcohol.

A complete list of what to eat with diarrhea is contained in the diet "Table No. 4".

Back to contents

What is diarrhea and how to treat it

Diarrhea is loose, loose stools accompanied by excessive loss of fluid and electrolytes. Intestinal upset occurs when the contents of the gastrointestinal tract move too fast, preventing fluid and nutrients from being absorbed.

For a quick cessation of diarrhea (within 1 hour), IMODIUM ^® Express lozenges are recommended, which will help normalize bowel function by restoring the natural rhythm of its work. Tablets dissolve directly on the tongue in 2-3 seconds, do not require drinking water and have a pleasant mint taste.

The information in this article is for reference only and does not replace professional medical advice. For diagnosis and treatment, contact a qualified specialist.

Read also articles about products that provoke diarrhea.

* Among products based on Loperamide. According to sales in money for February 2018 - January 2019, according to IQVIA.

Diet for diarrhea in a child of 1 year

When a child is sick, it is always a serious test for the 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.

The second significant issue facing the parents of a sick child is the issue of proper nutrition. Unfortunately, you can still find recommendations for stopping 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.

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 choose its own products and their 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.

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.

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.

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.

The third stage is the gradual expansion of the diet according to the age of the child.