Diarrhea is the most common cause of digestive disorders in young children. Diarrhea itself is not a disease. This is a sign that in the child's body there is a malfunction, most often in the digestive system. When diarrhea occurs in a small child, the main thing is to determine the cause of this ailment.
The emergence of a loose stool in young children
There are many factors that can provoke diarrhea in children. Diarrhea in young children can be due to malnutrition. For example, when feeding heavy food. Diarrhea can occur when switching from breastfeeding to normal feeding. Often, the cause of diarrhea in children is a viral infection. In this case, the bowel activity is disturbed by harmful fungi or bacteria. Also, the cause of diarrhea in young children may be disorders of the immune system, congenital pathologies of the digestive system, metabolic disorders, etc.
Stress (fear, nerves, excitement) - can also provoke diarrhea in young children. This diarrhea is not dangerous, but it is necessary to pay attention to it. Such a diarrhea in a child can last quite a long time, if the baby has something to worry about. It is necessary for the parents in this case to identify the cause and solve it.
Diarrhea in intestinal infections in young children is usually accompanied by vomiting. Also, pain in the abdomen, fever, nausea. Treatment in this case boils down to copious drinking (to prevent dehydration), temporary starvation, replenishment of loss of salts and electrolytes. Parents with such symptoms should urgently call an ambulance. The child must be placed in a hospital for the placement of droppers.
Also diarrhea in children can cause an allergic reaction. In this case it is necessary to identify with the help of a specialist allergen. When eliminating the allergen, which caused the child to have an allergic reaction, diarrhea will pass.
Also in young children, diarrhea can be caused by intestinal dysbiosis, which is characterized by a violation of microflora. This diarrhea should usually be treated with antibiotics. The stool with this diarrhea has the smell of yeast and has a greenish color. It can be frothy. The baby has pain, and also abdominal pain. Dysbacteriosis in young children usually does not last long, but requires a special solution.
Chronic diarrhea in children
There are chronic diarrhea in young children with many diseases that disrupt intestinal motility. They can be divided into two groups.
Diseases, due to which in the small intestine digestion of nutrients is disturbed by the insufficiency of digestive enzymes. These are pancreatic diseases - cystic fibrosis, cystic pancreas, diabetes mellitus, enterokinase deficiency, cystic pancreas. Also chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic hypoplasia. This is a dysbacteriosis, as well as a deficiency of bile acids.
The second group includes diseases in which the absorption of substances in the small intestine is disturbed. This is a lesion in the food allergy of the intestinal tract. Lactase insufficiency, fructose deficiency, glucose-galactose insufficiency. Disease Celiac disease is a protein defeats the small intestine mucosa.
But do not brush off the parents of the problem. In case of diarrhea, the child should definitely consult a pediatrician. In each case, it is necessary to determine why diarrhea has appeared. Treatment is also individual for each case. Especially if the stool of the baby has changed color, became watery or frothy, there were spotting, help is needed. This can lead to dehydration of the body, which has the most undesirable consequences. If there is an increase in body temperature, severe pain in the abdomen, vomiting in a young child, it is necessary, without delay, to call an ambulance.