Read up on Diarrhea in children treatment options at Consumer Reports Health.

Diarrhea in children

Key points about treatments

If a child has diarrhea, the main danger is dehydration. It's important to prevent this and to treat it quickly if it happens.

We've listed below the things you can do to help prevent your child losing too much fluid (getting dehydrated). Doctors agree that this approach works best.

Source:
Armon K, Stephenson T, McFaul R, et al.
An evidence and consensus based guideline for acute diarrhoeal management.
Archives of Disease in Children. 2001; 85: 132-142.

Source:
World Health Organization.
The treatment of diarrhoea: a manual for physicians and other senior health workers (4th revision).
2005. Available at http://www.who.int/child_adolescent_health/documents (accessed on 25 September 2008).

If you are breastfeeding, continue this as usual. Offer your baby feeds more often and try to make the feeds longer. You can also give your baby extra fluids, such as water or rehydration drinks.
If your baby is bottle-fed, you can continue with their usual formula milk. Do not dilute their milk.
Make sure older children keep drinking fluids. Offer plenty of water. Giving small sips often is better than trying to get them to drink a lot at once.
Try to avoid sugary drinks, like fruit juice and squash, as they can increase the risk of a child becoming dehydrated. If you do use them make sure they are well diluted.
Rehydration drinks (such as Gerber Liquilyte, Pedialyte and Rehydralyte) work well to prevent and treat

dehydrated
When you're dehydrated, you don't have enough fluid in your blood. This could be because you're not drinking enough or because you're losing water by sweating or having diarrhea.

dehydration.
Offer your child food if they are hungry. It's important to keep up their energy.
Antibiotics don't usually help with diarrhea. Diarrhea is usually caused by a virus and antibiotics don't get rid of viruses. But antibiotics may be needed if your child's diarrhea is caused by bacteria.
A vaccine can help prevent diarrhea in children.

Sources for the information on this page:

Armon K, Stephenson T, McFaul R, et al.An evidence and consensus based guideline for acute diarrhoeal management.Archives of Disease in Children. 2001; 85: 132-142.

World Health Organization.The treatment of diarrhoea: a manual for physicians and other senior health workers (4th revision).2005. Available at http://www.who.int/child_adolescent_health/documents (accessed on 25 September 2008).

This information was last updated on Mar 06, 2009

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment.
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