Diarrhoea, or loose watery stool, is the body’s way of clearing viruses, bacteria or toxins from the digestive tract.
It is usually treated automatically by the body within a day or two without any medical help and is called acute diarrhoea but if loose motions last longer than four days, then it is chronic diarrhoea and you have to take your child immediately to the doctor after 36–48 hours of the condition.
Diarrhoea, dysentery or loose motions can make the baby dehydrated.
A child may experience seven to fifteen episodes of loose motions annually. The most common causes are viruses, antibiotics, medications, bacteria, parasites or dietary changes. And one of the most common reason could be teething in babies. It can also be caused by rotavirus which adversely affects the intestine and prevents absorption of nutrients from the food consumed. Therefore it’s important to vaccinate against Rotavirus and other diseases in a timely manner.
To Download and Save the Tips & Home Remedies for Loose Motion in Babies scroll till the end of the article.
Best Home Remedies For Loose Motion In Infants
1. Cleanliness & Hygiene
The first cure to loose motion is to ensure that whatever the baby puts in its mouth should be disinfected.
Wash all the toys, tether etc. in a mild soap solution or dip into a disinfectant. Wash the toys in running water and then you can give to your child. Also, check whether for the baby’s playing area. Do not allow shoes where the child crawls and plays. Disinfect the floor and make it safe for the baby to play.
2. Kunjee for Rehydration
You can go for making rehydration solution at home like rice kunjee which turns out to be an excellent baby loose motion home remedy. Cook a half a cup of rice powder with enough water for ten minutes. Add a teaspoon of salt and some more water to make it up to 1 liter. Give your baby some spoonful of this liquid to fill up any lost salts or fluids.
3. Oral Rehydration Solution (Homemade/Commercial)
You can also make a solution with half a small spoon of salt and six level small spoons of sugar dissolved in one liter of safe water(boiled & cooled). This is the method which has been used since ages and is very helpful in treating loose motions. This(ORS) is the best loose motion medicine and is even recommended by the World Health Organization.
You can also go for using a commercial oral rehydration solution if you are not able to make one at home. Don’t hesitate and do the best for your baby. Go to market and look for various solutions. Read more about ORS here.
4. More liquids but no force-feed
You do not have to force-feed the baby. A diarrhoea-stricken person needs more liquids than solids. Hence, allow your child to have feeds with his own desire. Remember that your child needs to eat or drink anything slowly. He should not gulp the food.
5. Healthy foods
Babies who eat solids should continue with their normal foods. In fact, doctors now recommend starchier foods like oatmeal, whole-wheat bread, and crackers so as to help restore all the lost sodium. Foods that are rich in soluble fiber like oats, carrots and bananas good during this time.
Bananas — Bananas are easily digestible and is rich in Potassium. During loose motions when the body loses liquids and electrolytes, it is one of the best foods that will help.
Oats — Being high in soluble fiber, oats help to firm up the stools and sweeps past the digestive tract, taking along with it the toxins and other waste materials.
6. Breastmilk for infants
Breastfed babies should be given breast milk only as it has anti-infective factors and all the necessary nutrients that will help your baby fight against bacterial or viral diarrhoea. And, also breastmilk will help ease the symptoms of the disease. Do not try any other remedies for your newborn baby or if your baby is below 6 months of age(without consulting your doctor first).
7. Light foods & semi-solids
- Dal ka paani (Dal water)
- Dahi or curd — Easy natural treatment
- Khichdi (cook with more water to make it soft)
- Bananas (Works great)
- Coconut water — helps in re-hydration too.
8. Probiotic foods (Curd & others)
Probiotics that are found in curd/yogurt can help restore the healthy bacteria in the digestive tract. Fresh curd is the best gut friendly food during the phase. Probiotics are also found in other homemade foods like curd, cheese, and lassi(Note: do not use sugar for your baby before 1 year of age).
9. A Strict NO to Antibiotics
Do not use any kind of antibiotics or stool binding medications for your baby by yourself. Loose motion in babies can be sometimes viral in nature and antibiotics would do more harm than help in the treatment. Antibiotics should not be given to the babies unless and until any bacterial infection is suggested.
If your doctor prescribes medicines, do ask for its side effects, if any. And, if the doctor has given you some anti-vomiting drugs, make sure that you do not feed your baby right after giving them, wait for at least one hour and then you can feed your baby.
Try home remedies for cold, cough & loose motion in babies before running to your doctor.
10. Need for doctor
Last, and the most important, you should take your kid to a pediatrician for proper diagnosis and treatment. Home remedies work, but when your child is suffering from loose motions for so long, self-medication is not an option that you should consider.
Make sure to keep your child hydrated as dehydration is more frequent in babies than adults.
11. Rest
It’s hard not to be anxious when the baby is suffering from loose motions but even after following all these remedies, it’s important to give your baby sufficient sleep and let her rest. If diarrhea still persists after 1 or 2 days, do not hesitate to take her to the doctor and get professional help.
Click here, to Download the Home Remedies for Loose Motion in Babies PDF and watch a video which explains the remedies in detail.
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Originally published at www.babygogo.in on June 4, 2016.
