diarrhoea in a 2 and a half year-old

 
A bit of a background on my son. I had polyhydrominos (excess fluid level of 29) diagnosed at 30 weeks pregnant. My son now two and one month developed breathing problems at 2 months.  (sounded like a 60 yr old smoker with emphysema) This breathing difficulty including stopping breathing intermittently went on undiagnosed for 7 months despite doctors visits and hospital visits two to three times per week. Finally he was diagnosed with a trachea which is half the size it should be therefore restricting breathing when he gets cold etc. He also was diagnosed with pnemo virus?? Which is the reason he was actually admitted to hospital ( this virus only lasts two weeks though) During his hospital stay they discover he also had Hydrocephalus which has since been changed to "benign enlargement of the subarachnoid spaces" and he is seeing a neurosurgoen regarding this who is doing MRI's at 3 month intervals to watch the fluid levels.
 
My question is he has diarrhea nappies approx 6 times per day every day. I have told numerous doctors this and all but the last one a paediatrition ignored this and said it must be his 'normal'  The last one said he is maybe lactose or fructose intolerant and to put him on latcose free milk to see if that helps. We have done this now for 3 weeks and there has been no change if anything his poos are worse. They are a milky white slop and frequent overflow his nappy. He is off his food two out of three meals and even then we have to 'prime' him like a lawnmower and force the first bit into his mouth to get him to even start  to eat. As a baby he was a hungry little bub and ate 2 hourly. I am at a loss to understand what to do for him. I end up cooking and offering a few different meals at each sitting hoping he will eat one with gusto. He if he had his chance would drink milk all day. I have decided to limit his milk to half a bottle to try to force him into eating solid food. I am open to all ideas and suggestions.

                       You and your son have had quite a time of it and I feel sorry for you.
As regards the diarrhoea and poor appetite, I think he should have a microurine and colony count done to look for a urinary tract infection. If that is excluded then I would try withdrawing fructose. This is done by stopping all fruit, including fruit juice for 3 weeks.
You might ask what is he going to drink and I would allow him a little milk and plenty of water. Hopefully this will improve is appetite for other solids.
How is he growing by the way? Please let me know what happens. If he has no urine infection and does not respond to the fruit withdrawal, there are other things that can be tested.
When did the diarrhoea start and did it have any relationship to dietary changes such as introducing cow's milk formula or adding solids to his diet?
David

Toddler frequently falling when walking and running

 
I have a 3 1/2 year old grandson who falls a lot when walking and running and he also has trouble stepping up on small steps without falling.  His younger brother who is 2 can run circles around him and has no problem stepping up on steps by himself at all.  He has seen a chiropractor 3 or 4 times and it helps some, but it doesn't last.  The chiropractor said his hip was out of place.  I am concerned about this and wondered of we should take him to an orthopedic specialist and have this checked out.  When he walks, it seems that his right hip is stiff and turns in a little as he steps.  He also walks flat footed.  I would appreciate your advice.  I tried sending this through your web page, but my internet connection wouln't let it go.  Thanks for your help.


                        I think he definitely ought to see an orthopedic surgeon who will probably want an ultrasound and/or X-ray of the hips. If nothing structural is found then a physiotherapist should be involved (the orthopod can arrange a referral) to check out the muscles in his legs.(what age was he when he started to walk independently?).
Please get back to me to tell me what is found and I can give you more information about the condition and I would be very interested to hear about the findings.

Tummy pain in an 8 -month-old

I am the mother of an eight mont old premature baby boy. He is so pleasant anf friendly. I’m just a bit worried that he’s not crawling and refuses to go on the floor but beside the crawling I have a question to ask.

 

On Sunday day morning he woke up with a fever of 38.64 degrees. He was crying and nothing helped sooth him. He refused to have his bottle and fell asleep on my breast. He cried every time he pasted a wind down there. It was loud, continuous and very smelly. He woke up again at 3am and then at 4.50am crying and also refused to drink from my breast.

I took him to a homeopath which couldn’t rely tell me what the problem was. He gave me something for the fever which helped bring the fever down to 38 degrees. The next evening he continued crying through the night and refused to drink the bottle and breast.

Last night he woke up every half an hour, nagging and pulling his legs up to his stomach.

Today we went to another GP for a second opinion. He advised that us that our baby has a viral infection. I couldn’t wait to leave the consulting rooms as my boy didn’t stop crying. It was as if someone was murdering him. Once we got the script for the pharmacy we were on our way.

I completely forgot to ask him, what actually causes the viral infection.

 

Please would you be able to give me advise.

   To answer your last question first, we all pick up many viral infections in our life, the commonest one is a cold (coryza). We nearly always catch these from some other human. It is often not realised that if someone sneezes or coughs onto a surface which your baby touches or you carry on your hands to the baby's face, then the baby becomes infected with a virus. I suspect your doctor saw a sore throat when s/he examined your baby.
It is possible that this virus will cause gastroenteritis and he will develop vomiting and diarrhoea. Your baby obviously has tummy pain from your description and I wonder whether he has chronic constipation. Both these conditions could explain the pain and foul wind.
Please write again and tell me what the bowel actions are like. Also has he ever had blood on his bowel action.
There is one serious condition that requires surgery called intussusception and I would go back to your doctor and enquire about this possibility if the pain has not settled by the time you get this e-mail. This is a rare condition but very important.
Finally I would not be concerned about a premature not crawling by 8 months.
David

Baby speech not developing

Hello,
> We have a couple of concerns about our daughter who is 15 weeks old.
> She seems to be
> developing normally in most areas but there are a couple of things
> that we are seeing recently that
> don't seem quite right. Just as background... I had a normal
> pregnancy and delivery. She makes
> eye contact and smiles at us. She can reach for a toy but is not
> interested in rolling over at this
> point.
>
> The first issue is that she seems to be vocalizing less than she was
> a month ago. She used to
> repeat vowel sounds that we made and would say "ah-goo" when we said
> it, as well. She still
> makes noises, but they aren't the consonant sounds that we expect
> and the "ah-goos" are
> completely gone.
>
> Secondly, she has begun sucking on her fingers like there is no
> tomorrow! In fact, she sucks on
> them so much that she will lie in her very dark room looking at
> nothing (we don't have a mobile or
> any toys in her crib) for a long time (perhaps an hour?) so long as
> she is sucking on her fingers.
> For instance, last night I woke up at 2:30am because that's usually
> a time that she wakes at night
> to nurse. I just went in to turn down the heat in her room and
> realized that she was awake and
> lying there sucking on her fingers. I'm not really concerned about
> her weight gain right now; she
> eats plenty during the day. Our concern stems from the fact that we
> thought that babies her age
> were supposed to be soaking in the world around them while our
> little girl seems content to lie in
> darkness with her fingers in her mouth.
>
> We don't know if these issues warrant a trip to the pediatrician.
> She is our first child an we don't
> want to be overreacting, but at the same time we want to be the best
> advocates for her that we
> can be.
>
> Any advice that you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
>
I share your concern about your daughter's regression in speech and the possible disinterest in the world around her,
I think you should see your pediatrician and that s/he should arrange a formal hearing test.
From the way that you asked your question, it appears you are concerned about developmental retardation and/or autism. While these are possible, hearing loss is much more likely but you should raise these concerns with your pediatrician as well.
I hope I am wrong about all these things but, if they are present it is important to find out as early as possible so treatment can be put in place as soon as possible.
Please let me know what happens and don't hesitate to ask more questions.
Yours sincerely

Toddler diarrhoea

                       Nice to hear from you again, I am a bit of a heretic about 'flu immunization. The best study about the long term benefit of 'flu immunization in children was done in Britain many years ago in a boy's boarding school. Half of the boys were immunized each year and the other half received no immunization for 'flu. In the first year the non-immunized boys caught the 'flu much more frequently than those who had the immunization. However, after 3 the number of episodes of 'flu were equal over the 3 year period despite 1 group having annual shots. I think we can conclude that catching the'flu gives a better immunity than the immunization.
That said I think if I had neutropaenia, I would have them immunized -  not logical but I would feel terrible if they developed an ovewhelming secondary (to 'flu) bacterial infection which they could not fight very well.
If your 18 month old seems well and is gaining weight, I doubt that he has lactose intolerance - they are usually miserable with lactose intolerance. Your local doc can do a simple test on a fresh stool sample to exclude lactose intolerance. As regards the fruit, there is another sugar intolerance called fructose intolerance. Fructose abounds in fruit. It has the same stool pattern as lactose intolerance and as you describe it.
To exclude this condition there is a fancy test but you can know by excluding all fruit (don't forget the juice!) for 3 weeks and then put him back on fruit and keep a diary of his bowel actions throughout. If he is fructose intolerant he will improve markedly in the fruit-free period only to revert when fruit is reintroduced.
If he has neither lactose or fructose intolerance another 3 weeks off all milk products and no Soy! may be needed but we can discuss that when the time comes.
All the best.
David

>
> Dear David,
>
> Mum passed on your details to me because I was asking
> her a couple of questions. One is about the flu immunizations. Here
> in the USAit seems to be standard for all children and many adults
> to
> have a flu shot every year.Our children have had the other
> immunizations but I suppose since I never felt as though I needed a
> flu shot I wonder about them.They had it last year because we were
> moving to Colorado Springsand I just thought it might be helpful.
> Our children are now 3 and 18 months. Our 3 year old has chronic
> benign neutrapenia (I spoke to you about her previously)
) but apart from one cold and one 24 hour vomiting
> bug has been well throughout the year.
>
> I was also wondering if our 18 month old is lactose
> intolerant….although I’m not so sure now. He is healthy, putting
> on
> weight, and eats almost anything. The only thing is that he
> frequently wakes up with an overflowing pooey nappy in the morning
> and sometimes this happens during the day too. He would regularly
> have 3-4 pooey nappies per day. I have experimented with soy milk
> and sometimes it seems to make a difference and sometimes it
> doesn’t. We do eat quite a lot of fruit and vegetables and whole
> grain foods. I’ve cut back on him eating pears and mandarins but
> still think it’s important for him to have some fruit. What do you
> think?
>
> Thanks for your help

Red spotty rash in well 8 month-old

My 8 month old son having red spot rashes in face and arms and few
> in
> legs alone.
> No fever and the baby is active all the day.
> What could be this rashes as this is bothering m a lot?

As he is well, I would not be too concerned. There are a multitude of
possible causes but by far the most common are insect bites. As I don't know from where you are writing, it is hard to guess which is the most likely.
I would spray the mattress with a non-toxic (ie safe for humans) insect spray. If mosquitoes are likely then spraying the corners of the room where they meet the ceiling may help.
If the problem continues you should see your local doctor.
Please tell me what happens.