Loose motions are caused by rotavirus which affects a baby’s intestine and prevents it from absorbing the nutrients from the food that a baby consumes. In the season of monsoon, cases of diarrhea and dysentery in babies and kids increases manifold.
If a baby has loose motions, they start losing weight and also grow weak because of dehydration. Whether the loose motions accompany vomiting or not, frequent loose motions can cause the baby to become tired and weak.
How to know if your baby has loose motions?
For older kids, it is not difficult to know about diarrhea symptoms since it will cause an irritation in the stomach, stomach ache, and your kid will tell you about the frequent bowel movements. But in babies, parents have to keep an eye out for the consistency of the poop. Is it runny and has mucus and phlegm? That is when you need to start being worried.
Here are some of the remedies for ensuring your baby does not suffer much due to loose motions and gets better fast:
Hydration:
Keep the baby hydrated whether it is through breastfeeding or giving formula feeding. If your baby is over 6 months, you can give ORS mixed in with water. Home remedy is for you to add some sugar and salt in cooled boiled water and give it to your baby after they have pooped.
Food:
Since during this time, nutrients are not absorbed by the baby’s body, you have to feed them with some food that will block the loose motion and help in immunity build-up of the baby. You can feed your baby boiled potatoes, gruel water, pomegranate juice, steamed banana after mashing it properly, coconut water and soups. If your kid is a bit older and can take solid food, give him rice, make porridge with water/curd using arrowroot powder or feed him khichdi. Do not give your kid milk at this time, unless it is breastmilk. For older kids, avoid giving them cow or buffalo’s milk. Banana and Yogurt can be quite helpful in tackling loose motions.
Hygiene:
Kids get loose motions because of unhygienic surroundings, contaminated water or because of stomach infection from something they have eaten. Make sure that you sanitize the area where your baby or your kid plays. Use a strong floor disinfectant and ensure that you wash your kid’s hands, your baby’s hands and your own hands with anti-bacterial soap or hand wash.
Doctor:
It is better to consult a doctor early on during loose motions so proper medicine can be prescribed. But if the loose motion has blood stains or it accompanies vomiting, then your child may have an infection and you should head to a doctor immediately.