Causes and treatment of diarrhea in a 4 year old child

Doctor Komarovsky about diarrhea in a child

Diarrhea in a child can accompany a wide variety of diseases. However, this symptom is dangerous in itself, especially when it comes to young children. The famous doctor and author of books and articles on children's health, Evgeny Komarovsky, tells us what the danger of diarrhea is and what parents should do if such a “trouble” happens to their child.

A child has an upset stomach: what to do?

Modern food products do not always meet all quality and safety requirements. Therefore, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract took first place among all others.

Very often this problem occurs in young children and adolescents, especially if their parents do not particularly monitor their diet. So how to treat an upset stomach in a child? To eliminate the cause of this disease, doctors recommend using non-drug methods. Experts suggest the following:

• Normalization of diet. This includes the choice of high-quality and safe products, the presence of various hot dishes on the menu, regularity of meals, the absence of coffee, hot chocolate and sparkling water among the drinks consumed, as well as the complete exclusion of fried, spicy, fatty and salty foods.
• If an upset stomach in an adult is associated with harmful working conditions, then they must be eliminated. To do this, you should refuse to work at night, and also cancel frequent business trips.
• Healthy lifestyle. This method of eliminating the causes of gastric upset involves regular exercise and physical exercise, alternating work and rest, and giving up bad habits (for example, smoking or drinking alcohol).

In most cases of indigestion, such measures can not only significantly improve the patient’s condition, but also eliminate malfunctions in other internal organs.

Fever and stomach upset in a child can be observed not only in early childhood, but also in adolescence. By the way, in such children the signs of the pathology in question are very similar to gastritis. To make a more accurate diagnosis, morphological confirmation is required.

Medicines for stomach upset in children are used for more serious disorders, as well as for the presence of a huge number of symptoms of this disease. In addition, in this condition the patient is prescribed a special diet.

About the problem

Diarrhea is a manifestation of the body’s ability to get rid of bacteria and viruses, of which there are a great many around the child. Neither the water that the baby drinks, nor the food, nor the air is sterile. What can we say about playing in the sandbox, crawling on the grass, on the floor, etc. Humans have several such protective “systems”: saliva is designed to destroy microbes at the stage of entering the mouth, bronchial and nasal mucus protect the respiratory organs from getting into them bacteria and viruses, gastric juice effectively destroys those microorganisms that managed to enter the body through the mouth and reach the digestive organs unharmed. Bacteria, which are the indigenous inhabitants, await “uninvited guests” in the intestines. Their task is to prevent malicious agents from taking root.

Diarrhea in a child can be caused by an intestinal infection that enters the mouth through unwashed hands, poorly washed vegetables and fruits, through water, or with food. Often these are bacteria.

Some viruses, such as rotavirus, also cause diarrhea. The intestinal mucosa is an excellent breeding ground for their reproduction, and therefore digestion is disrupted, the intestinal mucosa is irritated and diarrhea occurs.

Nutrition tips

Diet plays an important role when a child has diarrhea. Meals should be frequent and portions small. During the acute period of diarrhea, it is better to skip several feedings; under no circumstances should you force the baby to eat.

Products included in the diet should be soft or they should be blended in a blender.

For the first 3–5 days, the diet should consist of cereals and be lean. Bread crumbs, vegetables and fruits are gradually introduced. Only after 4–5 days are meat products allowed.

We also recommend that you read: what can you feed a child with diarrhea?

Drinking plenty of fluids is important. During periods when bowel movements occur frequently, water should be given to the baby constantly. This way you can prevent dehydration. Parents give Regidron. The drug normalizes water-salt metabolism. If the medicine is not at hand, the baby is given salted water, alternating it with sweetened tea.

Danger of diarrhea

The most serious danger of diarrhea lies in the possibility of dehydration . The younger the child, the higher this risk. Potassium, calcium, and sodium salts, which are extremely important for life, are released with feces. Fluid is rapidly lost. Therefore, it is not as scary if a 3-year-old child goes to the toilet five times a day and does not show signs of dehydration as if five times diarrhea happened to a 6-month-old baby. After all, the baby’s reserves of water and mineral salts are much more meager, and he loses them at a faster rate.

Severe dehydration can cause serious problems with the nervous system and can also be fatal for an infant.

Treatment

If diarrhea is caused by a viral infection, and in addition to frequent trips to the toilet, there are all the signs of a viral illness, you should not feed the child antiviral drugs, they do not help and their effectiveness has not been clinically proven. Antibiotics are also inappropriate because they have no effect on viruses. No special treatment is required; it is enough to provide the child with the right help and prevent dehydration. If diarrhea is the result of food poisoning or intestinal infection, the treatment approach should be the same.

First of all, you should make sure that the baby is not dehydrated.

If a child does not pee for 6 hours, if he cries with dry eyes, without tears, if he has blue circles under his eyes, sharpened facial features, dry lips, tongue, dry mucous membranes - these are very alarming symptoms. Immediate medical attention is required, you need to call an ambulance.

To prevent such a dangerous condition, parents’ actions in case of diarrhea must be coordinated and clear:

• The child definitely needs to drink. And drink a lot. All drinks should be warm, about 20 degrees, so that the liquid is absorbed and absorbed by the body as quickly as possible. If a child refuses to drink from a cup, he should be fed with a spoon, little by little but often. If he does not drink from a spoon, as children under 7-9 months often do, then you need to draw the liquid into a disposable syringe without a needle and drink from it drip-wise. If the baby resists this method, you should not wait and persuade, you should immediately call an ambulance so that you can administer liquid to the child by drip.
• The child needs to restore the balance of salts . To do this, Komarovsky advises using ready-made pharmaceutical sachets with oral rehydration products. "Smecta" is suitable, you can buy "Regidron" or "Humana-Electrolyte" . These drugs must be in every family's home medicine cabinet. If diarrhea has already occurred, and there are no such drugs, you can use a recipe that has received full approval from the World Health Organization: add a teaspoon of salt and the same amount of soda to a liter of water. You can also give your child this solution.
• Need control over secretions. What you drink should stand out. As long as the baby, who has not yet reached the age of one, wears diapers, the mother has nothing to worry about. At any time, she can measure the amount the child drinks, and after 3 hours weigh his used diaper on an electronic kitchen scale to understand whether the water is being excreted normally. If the child is already using the potty, control will also not be difficult. But a 2-year-old child, who has most likely already mastered the toilet, will have to follow on his heels.
• The child does not need food. You should not try to feed him at any cost. Diarrhea will go away much faster if the baby is hungry. You should give food only when he asks for it. If you have diarrhea, you should not eat fatty or sweet foods, drink carbonated drinks and milk. It is better to give porridge, mashed potatoes, crackers from yeast-free bread, vegetable soup with lean broth.
• Activated carbon - in the correct dosage. Another useful drug that should be in your home medicine cabinet. Parents should remember that activated carbon is dosed at 1 tablet for every 10 kilograms of body weight at a time. Thus, a child weighing 10 kilograms is given 1 tablet, and a baby whose weight is 15 kilograms is given 1.5 tablets. Modern medicine recommends modern enterosorbents, which are easier to take. If the financial capabilities of the family allow, you can buy and keep Enterosgel in the first aid kit for such cases.

Diarrhea in a 4 year old child

Diarrhea is a single or multiple bowel movement. The consistency of stool is usually liquid, with possible impurities and mucus. If diarrhea happens once, no need to worry. Single or short-term diarrhea will not affect the general condition of the baby. Frequent diarrhea in a child who is 4 years old, yellow, white or green, should cause concern. In this case, immediate consultation with a doctor is necessary, because diarrhea causes rapid dehydration of the body. A serious condition can be diagnosed in a 4-year-old child if diarrhea with mucus continues for several hours. After all, diarrhea is a consequence of a disease that can be very serious.

Causes of diarrhea

In children over three years of age, abdominal pain and diarrhea sometimes occur after eating unripe fruit or overeating. In this case, the disorder and pain disappear within 24 hours. But there are situations when a baby who is not even a year old suffers from severe distress and abdominal pain with a high temperature. There is already an acute or chronic disease.

Illnesses that can be detected based on symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever in children over two years of age:

• appendicitis (inflammation of the appendage of the cecum) in combination with intestinal infections is manifested by frequent diarrhea, fever, children over 5 years old complain that the tummy hurts in the navel area, radiating to the right side. There may be some vomiting as well as nausea;
• inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) is increasingly common in children over 3 years of age. Symptoms of this disease are diarrhea, vomiting, fever, severe pain and turbulence in the stomach, pale skin and dry mouth;
• cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder), unfortunately, this disease can also affect children under five years of age. Cholecystitis is also manifested by fever, diarrhea, gas formation, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting with bile;
• Dysbacteriosis most often affects infants and children under 3 years of age. With dysbacteriosis, severe diarrhea appears, after eating the tummy hurts and rages;
• intestinal infection in young children causes vomiting, fever, diarrhea, and the feces have a foamy appearance and a pungent odor;
• dysentery causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, severe pain, and high fever.

All these diseases can lead to dire consequences and deterioration of health if you do not seek qualified help in a timely manner. If your baby has frequent bowel movements and abdominal pain that lasts more than 6 hours, you need to call a pediatrician or emergency care; diarrhea in young children under 3 years of age can cause rapid dehydration.

Food poisoning causes diarrhea and abdominal pain. During poisoning, the child vomits after eating and drinking, complains of cramps, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Allergies to medications in children aged 1 to 5 years can also cause diarrhea. In case of an allergic reaction, the child says that his tummy hurts a lot and his stomach is churning. The stool may contain a small amount of mucus because frequent bowel movements irritate the lining of the large intestine.

Loose stool in a 4 year old child: probable causes

Diarrhea can be caused by failure to follow basic hygiene rules. Dirty hands are carriers of germs and bacteria that enter the body along with food. The most common causes of diarrhea in children are:

• Infections, both viral and bacterial. Diarrhea occurs with the following diseases: salmonellosis, dysentery, cholera, rotavirus infections.
• The presence of helminths in the body.
• Some intestinal diseases: colitis, enterocolitis.
• Treatment with antibiotics without probiotics.
• Various digestive disorders, such as enzyme or bile deficiency.
• Neuralgic conditions: stress, feelings of restlessness and anxiety, severe anxiety.
• Poisoning with drugs or chemicals.
• Individual intolerance to certain foods. Especially exotic fruits, foods and spices.

Indirectly, the cause of diarrhea can be determined by the color of the stool:

• Green diarrhea is present with a staphylococcal infection.
• The presence of foam in the stool indicates an infection.
• Salmonellosis occurs if marsh-colored stool is present.
• With dysentery, blood clots are found in the stool.

Types of disease, their causes

Indigestion in children, or rather its type, is determined by several factors that cause an imbalance in its functioning. Primary disorders are independent diseases. The main reasons for their development are the following:

• non-compliance with the correct diet (including overeating, irregular food intake, abuse of smoked, fatty and spicy foods, lack of microelements and vitamins in the body, adherence to strict diets, poor quality of chewing food);
• emotional or mental disorders;
• allergic reactions to any food products;
• taking potent medications that negatively affect the functioning of the stomach;
• tobacco and alcohol intoxication, as well as harmful working conditions;
• parasitosis;
• atmospheric influences (including radiation, increased air temperature, various vibrations);
• heavy physical activity.

Why does stomach upset occur in children? Secondary causes of this pathology are accompanying factors or consequences of other diseases of the internal organs. These include the following:

• vascular and heart diseases;
• disruptions in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract;
• disturbances in the functioning of the endocrine system;
• chronic infections;
• organic or functional diseases of the central nervous system.

Most often, stomach upset in children occurs not because of one, but because of several factors that were mentioned above.

Diarrhea in a 4 year old child: how to treat it?

If a child begins to have diarrhea at the age of 4, the doctor will tell you what to do. Consultation with a specialist is necessary. It is absolutely impossible to treat diarrhea on your own. It is only within the competence of a doctor to prescribe adequate and timely therapy. Parents should take care of proper nutrition during treatment. Dietary recommendations are as follows:

• Eating enveloping and slimy dishes: rice porridge with water or rice water, jelly.
• You can: mashed potatoes without milk, boiled vegetables, compote fruit, steamed cutlets, bread crumbs.
• You should not eat: fatty foods, fried foods, dairy products, raw fruits and vegetables.

Features of feces and causes of the problem

When deciding how to treat diarrhea, it is important to correctly determine the causes of the problem. Sometimes it’s enough just to look closely at the discharge.

Foamy stool indicates an infectious disease. If the discharge turns greenish, a staphylococcus culture should be done. The swampy color of stool warns of salmonellosis. If the stool turns white, urgent hospitalization is needed, as there is a high risk of liver damage from hepatitis.

If blood or mucus appears in the stool, it is important to consult a qualified doctor or call an ambulance as soon as possible.

What to do to properly treat diarrhea in a five-year-old child? It is important to clearly determine the cause of the problem.

Causes of diarrhea

If a child develops diarrhea at age 4, treatment will depend on the factors that caused the condition. The reasons are as follows:

• lack of hygiene;
• close communication with pets;
• excess sweets in the diet;
• excess vegetables and fruits, which weaken the intestines;
• binge eating;
• introduction of new products into the diet;
• individual intolerance to certain dishes.

Most factors do not cause serious concern, although sometimes consulting a doctor is necessary. It is important to determine which of the reasons that gave impetus to the development of diarrhea to work on.

Some parents find it difficult to decide what to give for diarrhea if the child is 4 years old. Although not all methods are good for children, there are several methods for treating intestinal distress at such an early age.

Diarrhea in a child aged 4 and 5 years

Stomach upset in children is always a very worrying factor for their parents. And it makes absolutely no difference whether the baby suffered from intestinal dysfunction or an older baby. Diarrhea in a 4-year-old child is almost always a protective reaction of the body, which is aimed at removing pathogenic microorganisms from the gastrointestinal tract that provoke the development of diarrhea, and toxins that are products of their vital activity. Experts usually advise young mothers not to panic prematurely if their child develops loose stools at 4 years of age. And especially not to take any measures on your own that can quickly save your baby from diarrhea. First of all, you should analyze all the cause-and-effect relationships and think about whether diarrhea is caused by eating a certain food. Short-term and mild disorders of the digestive organs have little effect on the general condition of children.

But if watery bowel movements are repeated, and abdominal pain and vomiting are added to them, this becomes very serious, since such symptoms are a signal of trouble in the child’s body, and may indicate the development of some kind of intestinal infection. Loose stools that do not stop for several days are a reason to contact a specialist. This should be done as soon as possible, because with diarrhea, a 4-year-old child can very quickly develop dehydration. With this development of events, the baby may fade before our eyes, and after a short time his condition will be classified as very serious, because at 4 years old the child’s body is still weak. Diarrhea in this case may be a consequence of some serious illness. Very often, young parents ask why exactly diarrhea may appear in a child who is 4 years old. There may be several reasons for this:

• Very often, loose stools in children occur due to “dirty hands disease”; in other words, diarrhea in this case is caused by the children’s failure to comply with hygiene rules. In this case, microbes enter the body through hands that are not washed in a timely manner;
• Diarrhea in a 4-year-old child may be the result of an infection, viral or bacterial. The main diseases of this type, which are accompanied by loose stools, are rotavirus infections, salmonellosis, viral hepatitis A and dysentery;
• Diarrhea is very often caused by helminthic infestations;
• A child aged 4-5 years may develop neurogenic diarrhea due to a tense environment at home or in kindergarten.

Absorption disorders in the small intestine, lack of bile, lack of enzymes, and any other digestive disorders also lead to watery bowel movements. Unformed feces are also accompanied by both acute and chronic intestinal diseases - enterocolitis and colitis.

If a 4-year-old child has diarrhea caused by a serious gastrointestinal pathology or intestinal infection, he will not be able to cope with the developing dysfunction on his own. An urgent visit to a specialist is necessary to prevent the pathology from becoming chronic. To accurately determine the root cause that gave rise to the appearance of loose stools, it is necessary to conduct a differential diagnosis. This can only be done by a pediatrician, who, if necessary, will refer the baby to a specialist.

Methods for treating diarrhea in a child

Depending on the cause of diarrhea in a child, specific treatment is prescribed. In this case, not only medications are used, but also proper nutrition is prescribed. In addition, it is necessary to maintain the water-salt balance of the child’s body.

Preventing Dehydration

Diarrhea in a baby is accompanied by weakness. To prevent dehydration, parents should pay attention to safe products. In most cases, Regidron is used to restore electrolyte balance. The medicine is sold in powder form. Before use, it is diluted in water.

Regidron is prescribed not only for diarrhea, but also for nausea and vomiting. To prepare the solution, you need to dilute the medicine packet in 1 liter of water. During the day, the baby is given this amount in small portions.

Eliminate Toxins

In most cases, children are prescribed medications that help under any circumstances. Such drugs include sorbent agents. Medicines of this type are aimed at absorbing toxic substances in the body. Enterosorbents are used for food poisoning. In this case, you can give your child the following medications:

• Smecta;
• Activated carbon;
• Enterosgel.

Enterosorbents help both with poisoning from stale food and with intestinal infections.

Medicines for consolidation of stool

Doctors prescribe medications for children with diarrhea that reduce the contractile function of the digestive organ. Such medications have the ability to act quickly. To stop a child's diarrhea, you can give him Loperamide or Imodium. In this case, it is necessary to replenish the electrolyte balance with the help of Regidron. Loperamide tablets can be given to children from 2 years of age. In this case, the instructions indicate the dosage of half a pill.

These medications should not be given to children under 4 years of age. Children under 5 years of age use medications under the supervision of a physician.

If parents have given their baby one of the above medications, it is necessary to monitor his condition. Otherwise, side effects occur. When your baby develops skin rashes or pain in the abdomen, you should consult a doctor.

Dietary recommendations

For diarrhea in a 4-5 year old child, a diet is prescribed. In this case, parents should provide only approved products to their baby. Also pay attention to frequent meals. The diet includes the following products:

• drying;
• low-fat soups with added cereals;
• dietary types of meat;
• steamed dietary fish;
• skim cheese;
• steamed omelette;
• scrambled eggs;
• fruit juices.

During diarrhea in a child aged 4-7 years, dairy products should not be consumed. Avoid coffee from your diet. Fresh fruits and vegetables should not be consumed. Children with stool upset should not eat dishes with spices, fatty soups and instant foods from cafes. Parents need to ensure that the baby does not eat sweets or drink soda.

For the recovery process, a strict diet for diarrhea lasts up to 4 days. This is done to secure the chair. Food intake should be up to 5 times a day in small portions. The use of folk remedies for proper nutrition is of an auxiliary nature. If help is not provided to the baby in a timely manner, complications arise.

Diarrhea in a 5 year old child

In 5-year-old children, just like in 4-year-old children, watery bowel movements that last for several days occur due to quite serious reasons that are impossible to combat on your own. Therapeutic measures in this case should be targeted, and to do this, you should find out the reason that provoked the upset stomach:

• If diarrhea in a 4-5 year old child is caused by dysfunction of the pancreas, he is prescribed drugs that restore its activity;
• In case of dystrophy of the gastric mucosa, it is recommended to take digestive enzyme substitutes;
• Loose stools caused by hypovitaminosis in children aged 5 years are treated with a specific vitamin complex.

Accompanying signs

Unlike infants, children 4-7 years old are able to report discomfort. When diarrhea occurs, pain occurs in the abdominal area. The stool has a liquid, watery or mushy appearance. Symptoms are influenced by factors that are related to the causes of mucus or other impurities.

However, there are the main signs that accompany diarrhea in a child under 7 years of age:

• excessive accumulation of gases in the intestines;
• pain in the abdominal area;
• increase in body temperature up to 38°C;
• attacks of nausea;
• vomit.

Viral diarrhea in children under 7 years of age provokes gastroenteritis. At the same time, the symptoms of the disease do not manifest themselves clearly, as in children under 2 years of age.

Diarrhea in a 4 year old child

Diarrhea is a single or multiple bowel movement. The consistency of stool is usually liquid, with possible impurities and mucus. If diarrhea happens once, no need to worry. Single or short-term diarrhea will not affect the general condition of the baby. Frequent diarrhea in a child who is 4 years old, yellow, white or green, should cause concern. In this case, immediate consultation with a doctor is necessary, because diarrhea causes rapid dehydration of the body. A serious condition can be diagnosed in a 4-year-old child if diarrhea with mucus continues for several hours. After all, diarrhea is a consequence of a disease that can be very serious.

Loose stool in a 4 year old child: probable causes

Diarrhea can be caused by failure to follow basic hygiene rules. Dirty hands are carriers of germs and bacteria that enter the body along with food. The most common causes of diarrhea in children are:

• Infections, both viral and bacterial. Diarrhea occurs with the following diseases: salmonellosis, dysentery, cholera, rotavirus infections.
• The presence of helminths in the body.
• Some intestinal diseases: colitis, enterocolitis.
• Treatment with antibiotics without probiotics.
• Various digestive disorders, such as enzyme or bile deficiency.
• Neuralgic conditions: stress, feelings of restlessness and anxiety, severe anxiety.
• Poisoning with drugs or chemicals.
• Individual intolerance to certain foods. Especially exotic fruits, foods and spices.

Indirectly, the cause of diarrhea can be determined by the color of the stool:

• Green diarrhea is present with a staphylococcal infection.
• The presence of foam in the stool indicates an infection.
• Salmonellosis occurs if marsh-colored stool is present.
• With dysentery, blood clots are found in the stool.

Diarrhea in a 4 year old child: how to treat it?

If a child begins to have diarrhea at the age of 4, the doctor will tell you what to do. Consultation with a specialist is necessary. It is absolutely impossible to treat diarrhea on your own. It is only within the competence of a doctor to prescribe adequate and timely therapy. Parents should take care of proper nutrition during treatment. Dietary recommendations are as follows:

• Eating enveloping and slimy dishes: rice porridge with water or rice water, jelly.
• You can: mashed potatoes without milk, boiled vegetables, compote fruit, steamed cutlets, bread crumbs.
• You should not eat: fatty foods, fried foods, dairy products, raw fruits and vegetables.

Diarrhea medications for four-year-old children should not only be effective, but also safe. Therefore, drug therapy for diarrhea is focused on taking the following drugs:

• Enterosorbents – enterosgel, filtrum;
• Enzymes – pancreatin, mezim, creon;
• Probiotics and prebiotics;
• Antispasmodics – papaverine, no-spa;

An effective antidiarrheal remedy for diarrhea in children aged 4 years is nifuroxazide. This is a suspension that has a sweetish taste. The advantages of the drug are that it is not absorbed into the blood and is difficult to dissolve in water. Nifuroxazide does not suppress beneficial intestinal microflora, but only affects pathogenic microbes. When the cause of diarrhea is identified, the doctor may prescribe additional antihelminthic drugs, antibiotics or antiviral drugs.

Types of diarrhea

Diarrhea in a child aged 4-6 years can be of different types. Doctors distinguish different types of diarrhea. More details about each are described in the table below.

We recommend: Causes of diarrhea without fever in a child and first aid

If the diarrhea is short-lived or loose stools occur only a few times, you should not think about what to give your child for diarrhea with or without fever. It is better to monitor his diet and, perhaps, adjust the existing menu.