Infant diarrhea worries many parents and can harm a baby's health. There are numerous causes of infant diarrhea, so it's crucial to identify the cause promptly and seek active treatment. Additionally, once a baby develops diarrhea, attention must be paid to daily dietary care. So, what should babies eat when they have diarrhea? Below, experts introduce daily dietary care methods for infants with diarrhea. Let's take a look. What should babies eat when they have diarrhea? 1.Skim Milk: Prepare using store-bought skim milk powder mixed with water, or make it at home. Suitable for infants with fat malabsorption or mild diarrhea.
3. Carrot soup: Carrots are alkaline foods containing pectin, which helps form stool and adsorb bacteria and toxins. Suitable for infant diarrhea.
4. Apple puree: Apples have fine fibers that minimally irritate the intestines. Rich in alkalinity, pectin, and tannic acid, they provide adsorbent and astringent effects beneficial for treating diarrhea.
5. Toasted Rice Porridge: First, toast rice flour until golden brown. Add water and sugar to taste, then boil into a thin paste. When heated with water, rice flour forms easily digestible dextrin. The partial carbonization of rice grains during toasting creates an adsorbent effect that helps stop diarrhea. This option is suitable for severe cases.
6. Concentrated Fish Protein Powder: Rich in high-quality protein, its nutritional profile meets the needs of diarrhea patients, especially infants under one year old. Additionally, the trace elements in fish protein powder aid digestive recovery. Thus, it is particularly suitable for diarrhea caused by improper feeding.
Risks of Infant Diarrhea
1. Extragastrointestinal Infections
While these infections may cause diarrhea, they often occur due to lowered systemic immunity following diarrhea. Common examples include skin suppurative infections, urinary tract infections, otitis media, upper respiratory infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, phlebitis, and sepsis.Viral enteritis occasionally complicates with myocarditis.
2. Thrush Children with prolonged illness or pre-existing malnutrition are prone to thrush, especially after prolonged broad-spectrum antibiotic use. If medication isn't discontinued promptly, fungi may invade the intestines and even cause systemic fungal infections.
3. Toxic Hepatitis
Jaundice may develop during the course of diarrhea, most commonly in malnourished children. The condition rapidly worsens after diarrhea onset, with death occurring soon after jaundice appears. However, early detection and prompt treatment can lead to cure in most cases. Enteritis caused by Escherichia coli, complicated by E. coli sepsis, is prone to inducing toxic hepatitis.
4. Malnutrition and Vitamin Deficiency
Prolonged diarrhea, repeated fasting episodes, or chronic caloric insufficiency can lead to malnutrition, anemia, and vitamin A deficiency. Persistent diarrhea may impair liver function, reducing vitamin K absorption and decreasing prothrombin levels, thereby causing bleeding.
5. Other Complications
Severe dehydration from diarrhea may trigger acute renal failure. Additional risks include toxic intestinal paralysis, intestinal hemorrhage, perforation, intussusception, and gastric distension. Improper fluid administration can cause acute heart failure, hypernatremia, hyponatremia, or hyperkalemia.Improper care of infant vomiting may cause choking.
How to Prevent Infant Diarrhea
First, ensure the baby's environment is clean and tidy, and maintain thorough personal hygiene. Good sanitation is the primary prerequisite for disease prevention, including preventing infant diarrhea. To prevent disease transmission through the mouth, always sterilize baby utensils and thoroughly wash ingredients.
Second, breastfeeding offers numerous benefits. Its high nutritional value naturally boosts immunity. To safeguard your baby's health, avoid greasy or spicy foods during lactation to reduce fat content in breast milk.
Third, when introducing solid foods to your baby, avoid adding multiple new foods at once. Start with just one new food at a time. Crucially, focus on appropriate portions. To ensure your baby can absorb nutrients from the new foods, gradually increase the amount over time, allowing the digestive system an adjustment period.
Fourth, a baby's navel becoming chilled is one cause of diarrhea. Mothers should keep the baby's abdomen warm and clean the genital area daily. After each bowel movement, the anus should also be cleaned to comprehensively prevent diarrhea.
Foods to Avoid During Baby's Diarrhea
1. Spicy foods: Strongly stimulating foods like chili peppers, mustard, pepper, and garlic irritate the digestive tract lining. They can easily cause diarrhea or inflammation, hindering the recovery of digestive function.
2. Excessively greasy foods: Overly fatty meals burden the stomach and may cause diarrhea due to indigestion, known as fatty diarrhea. Those with loose stools should avoid greasy foods, as they only worsen the condition.
3. Extremely cold foods: Cold beverages, chilled dishes, and other excessively cold items stimulate the intestines, accelerating peristalsis and worsening diarrhea.
5. Eggs: As a high-protein food, eggs are difficult to digest. Eating them not only fails to nourish the body but may worsen the condition.
6. Garlic: While garlic has antibacterial properties, it is also highly irritating and can easily aggravate diarrhea.
Through the above information, do you now have a better understanding of infant diarrhea? Experts remind parents that once a baby develops diarrhea, prompt treatment is essential. Pay attention to dietary care in daily life; choosing the foods mentioned above can effectively alleviate symptoms. Simultaneously, parents should identify the causes of their baby's diarrhea and actively prevent its recurrence. We hope this information proves helpful.