My Son Constantly Has Diarhea

I will go to another dr and get a second opinion, its not normal for him to be with almost 2 months of diarhea

Hi T.. It may very well be the juice you are giving him. Dilute it with half water or try one juice at a time to find out which is giving him the diarrea.
M.

How much juice is he drinking. Fruit juice did that to my son. It totally blew out his system. So if he's getting to much juice that is going to do it. I always cut their juice 50/50.

Dear T.,

My first thought is that you could be right: juice could be more of a problem than a solution. Fruit juice is quite acidic, and too much of it, especially on an empty stomach, can cause diarrhea. You might try limiting the juice and giving your son a (non-dairy) calcium supplement. Certain green vegetables (broccoli, spinach, etc.) are also very rich in calcium. This doesn't have to be as kid-unfriendly as it sounds: try "green smoothies" with mango, banana, and spinach.

If you're able to rule out juice, here are a few other dietary culprits for diarrhea:

1. Look for "hidden milk." If your son does have a problem with milk protein, he shouldn't have any products that are cooked with milk powder, whey, caesin, etc.

2. At the molecular level, soy protein and milk protein are surprisingly similar. Try getting your son off soy; go with rice, oat, or almond milk instead.

3. Some people who are milk-protein-intolerant can't handle any cow anything; try getting beef out of his diet.

4. For reasons that elude me, some milk-protein-intolerant people also have difficulties with eggs and/or chicken. I don't understand it at a biochemical level, but my (well, my son's) brilliant naturopath swears by this.

Other moms will probably have more great advice; there's a lot more out there than my self-educated self has been able to learn. Best of luck with this!

My son was having diarhea as well when he would drink a particular juice. I took him to an allergist, which his pediatrician recommended. I finally found out what was wrong, he is allergic to apples and pears. Ask your Doctor if its best for him to see an allergist.

Awww! How old is he? Are you hydrating me w pedialyte?

Best foods are dr praegers fish and veggie pancakes, plain food like rice, pasta...no heavy sauces or potentially allergic ingredients...

Good luck!
Juice is so sugary...try diluting it more.

I give my baby probiotics daily for months now w his drinks...can't hurt and hopefully helps digestive system improve!!

Hi T.,
You didn't mention how old your son is - infant? Toddler? Preschooler? School aged? I'm wondering why he isn't having milk anymore - allergy? Juices are not a substitute for milk. Juices are a treat. The AAP recommends very little juice, the actual recommendations vary from age of child but he shouldn't be drinking juice throughout the day, it's a once a day treat if at all. Too much juice/fruit can cause extra pooping and all of that sugar isn't good for kids - can lead to obesity, loss of appetite, lack of nutrition (due to lack of appetite for food), tooth decay. If he's having multiple glasses of juice, I would eliminate those and discuss with your doctor non-milk, non-juice sources of calcium. If your son does not have a milk allergy, eating a few servings of dairy - yogurt, cheese, etc, can give him the calcium that he needs without drinking the milk
good luck

Hi T.,
You didn't mention how old your son is. I think that may help.

Anyway, cut down the juices. They are not good for his teeth, I found out the hard way. When you do give juices, make sure it is in a big kid cup, no cuppy or bottle (if he's that young and has a cuppy, water down the juice - 1/2 water, 1/2 juice), and only once or twice a day. Give drinks only at meal/snack time. Unless he's truly thirsty in between, try water. *If he's over 2 or 3, you may not be able to get away with watering down the juice so much, try 1/4 water to 3/4 juice, but then if he's that old, he shouldnt be using a cuppy anyway., just give small amounts with meals.

Give him milk and cheese products, to help bind him up a little. Grilled cheese, mac and cheese, pizza. If he is lactose intolerant, try soy. My kids liked Silk. I gave that because they didn't like regular milk. That lasted about a year or so.

Check online for foods that bind and loosen stools. That should help.

Make sure he eats heavier meals and less fruit for snack. (Fruit will loosen stools) that will take a little longer to digest and break down, it will also help with binding. Anything with rice or pasta is usually heavy.

And, of course, don't forget the pepto bismal or phillips. Ask your doctor which is best for your son's age.
Good luck

Hi T. --

Your son's diarhea can certainly be in response to the fruit juice even if it's 100% fruit juice. He could be sensitive to a particular juice (apple, grape, etc.) or even the quantity of juice can be an issue. You may want to cut back on the amount of juice by cutting it with water.

Since you've elimnated milk, probably due to a milk intolerance or allergy (if that's the case) you probably also need to avoid yogurt, cheese and many processed foods - look for milk, whey or cassein on the labels.

I think you Peds advice on the Probiotics is great, but I'd have expected to see some improvement even if your son is still having a reaction to certain foods. Your bottle of Probiotics could be old or perhaps were poorly stored and are no longer as potent as they were at manufacture.

After you cut back on the juice and eliminate all milk, give it a few days and if you don't see changes, I'd head back to the pediatrician - diarhea can cause dehydration which is a concern with young children.

You may also want to check out the book "Is This Your Child?" by Dr. Doris Rapp M.D. Food allergies/sensitivities can present in atypical ways.

Best of health -
S.

Are you sure that you need doctors or medicine? First of all, change your water. You and your family need ionized, alkaline, micro-clustering Kangen water. Check www.kangen4everyone.com. It brings back health, energy, young look. It's amazing!

Has your son's doctor checked him for other allergies? It could be so many things. A friend of mine had her son checked to see if he was allergic to soy. They cut soy out of his diet and the diarrhea stopped. Maybe he is also allergic to soy? Or he could be allergic to the fruit in the juice.

The juice is not going to help at all. My daughter has the opposite problem as your son and the doctor told us to give her juice so she would get diarrhea. Now we are back to just milk and water. More water than milk and it has helped.

I would take him to an allergist and have him tested for everything. This way you can find out what he is or is not allergic to.

Hi T.
Sorry you are dealing with diarrhea with your son. It is tough because you don't know whether it is the foods or something with his system. I am assuming that you are thinking that he has an allergy, and that the MD has eliminated any other med. problems, and that he has a diagnosed milk allergy and is over 2 yo.
I have 4 children 3 of whom had severe diarrhea, from allergies, the other was constipated from allergies. The first elimination was milk, but it is odd to me that you are giving juices. Clear liquids then did not include juice because of its harshness to the system.
What has not changed is that our oldest was allergic to milk, but I thought not because we moved to apple juice and it did not help. Come to find out he was allergic to both milk and apple. So yes, allergies to fruit are possible.
Because our younger son was so young and needed the nutrition of formula, so he was put on pedialyte, and hospitalized. Today you can buy it at the grocery store. I suggest that you talk again to your MD, being honest with not only what he told you to do but also what you have done on your own to try to help your son's situation; what has worked or seemed to, & what has not worked or seemed not to. Perhaps keeping a food diary would help. When I couldn't figure out ours, I brought the food diary and asked the MD, he read it over with interest and said it was corn allergy. He could see where I had given corn in various forms, and it was worth trying to eliminate. Taking the 3 away worked wonders. Today all 3 are still a problem with our oldest.
I suggest you read "Is this your child?" by Doris Rapp
Praying a return to health for your son
God bless you
K. -- SAHM married 39 years -- adult children 38,33,and twins 19

Hi There,
My 18 month old son can not have straight juice or he gets diarrhea... he is fine with regular fruit, and loves it. We figured out it was the juice, because I rarely give him juice and when I do it is watered down (1/3 juice, 2/3 water). Anyway, at BBQ's, parties or on trips we would give him juice boxes... he would end up having bad diarrhea a couple of hours later. We finally figured it out and I read on-line, that many types of juice have a concentrated enzyme that is not easily digested for some kids, so the body tries to dilute it and uses fluid in the body to do this which causes the diarrhea (I think the juices are cherry (often found in fruit punch), pear, apple and several others. For some reason, the actual fruits don't cause this issue (as long as they are not eaten in excess). Anyway, if your son is drinking a lot of juice now, it could very well be the culprit. Try diluting it. Also, make sure he is getting enough calcium. Yogurt is great because it has health pro-biotics, and can usually be digested by those who can not tolerate milk. If he just doesn't like mild, try making smoothies or giving him flavored milk to get him to drink it.
If cutting back the juice doesn't help, check with a gastroenterologist.

Try replacing the juice with real fruit that has the fiber in it and use a different brand of probiotic. Have him eat food and drink water rather than using juices. Packaged juices are basically little more than junk food. No one needs flavored drinks. If it's because of the calcium, use a good quality barley grass instead that has naturally occurring calcium. The human body is rarely ever short on calcium, usually magnesium and silica which are needed for healthy bone growth. Dr. Vogel makes a tissue salt that's great for bones. Ask in your local health food store. It stopped growing pains in my daughter. If he eats enough fresh fruit and veggies (not sure of his age so it's kinda hard to give proper advice on amounts here) he will not be dehydrated. Are you sure it real diarrhea and not just soft stools?

If you're really concerned bring him to a naturopath and have him tested for allergies. I wouldn't use a doctor for this since the scratch tests are painful and not always accurate. Allergies and sensitivities are always changing as the immune system develops. If this started right after a MMR vaccine be sure you do your research before having a booster. Check out the ingredients. Many children develop severe gut problems from it.

It may not be an allergic reaction, but just a reaction to the acid/sugar in the juice. If my 5 yr old has too much of any type of juice in a day (plus her normal 3 meals & snacking) she ends up w/the runs. I think it's mostly what you put into our child as far as what's going to come out. How old is your son?

how old is your son? he needs milk....especially if he is young...have you tried lactaid? too much juice will give them loose bowels as well. i would check with another pediatrician...that's way too long for your son to have this problem.

My son had diarhea for over two months. We finally brought a stool sample to a lab and it showed he had a bacterial infection- C Diff (short for a long medical name)

Antibiotics were necessary and then probiotics to get his stomach chemistry back in line. You should definately get his stool checked...

I would get a referal to see a gastroenterologist first off.
My son who is 3 has had chronic loose bowels with intermitent diarhea(bouts that would last over a week) since he was born. I nursed him till he was 2 years old so I always assumed it was because of that. It wasn't until a couple of months after I stopped nursing him I became concerned. I took him to his doctor with a sample of the diahrea and pictures of his BMs that I took for a period of three weeks. They tested him for bacteria and found none. They also tested him for allergies and found none. They referred him to a specialist and after seeing the pictures she said she knew what it was immediately.
She said he had irritable bowel syndrome. I kinda fought this diagnosis at first but realize it's probably right on the money.
I should also say before we saw a doctor he had been on a gluten free diet and a dairy free diet. The elimination of dairy made a difference in the acidity of his bowels but not the texture. The gluten free diet made no difference at all. He was put back on gluten for a two months and was tested for celiacs but it came back negative.
Even though he is not allergic to either dairy or gluten the doctor said childre with IBS are usually intolerant to it so we do keep him away from the dairy.
She recommended a high fat diet and fruit nectars instead of juices. This has all helped. I have found that after a few fatty meals his bowels are a lot firmer.
He may always have IBS but the diarhrea should resolve by the time he's 5.
They are checking him soon for malabsorption issues just to be safe.
I too give my son probiotics three times a day and that has really helped too. I give him a multivitamin and an extra calcium pill because he doesn't eat dairy. I also give him cocnut milk for his cereal because it has a high fat content. The brand SO Delicious makes it and it's kept in the refrigerated isle. The same brand also makes a coconut yogurt. Nut butters are really good too because they are high in fat.
If they diagnose your son with toddler diahrea or IBS(same thing) and all other avenues have been exhausted then adding large amounts of fat really do make the difference. Knock on wood but since we started the high fat diet he hasn't had a bout of diarhea. Still working on firming up the BMS but we'll take that any day over the diahrea.
By the way, my son is small and has absolutely no fat on him so this helps in that area too.
I hope this helps.

a. too much juice = diarhea

b. aspertame (in many sugar free or reduced sugar juices) = diarhea

Hi T.,
I feel your pain! We had the same problem with my son. It got so bad he had blood in his stool a few times and nobody knew why.

Come to find out he is allergic to some fruits. He can pretty much have grapes and pineapple, but that's it. He is allergic to most fruits, and therefore juice too. He also has the milk allergy, but now that we are completely off fruits I'm starting to ween it back in and see how he does with it. My doctor had me take all fruits away for 2 weeks (and juice and milk) when that fixed it, we started introducing fruits back one at a time and figured out our culprits!

Good Luck!!

Been there, done this. Twice.
Cut the juices. One glass/box a day. I also give my daughters a fruit juice without too much fiber (i.e. no apple or grape) and give him at least one glass of 2% or more of milk. TRUST ME! He needs the fat. The healthy fat.
Pediatrician and Gastroenterologist watching both of my girls diets at two different times. Its what worked. (we tried everything) A banana or two a day doesnt hurt either. The pecitin will help bond the diarrhea.

Hi T.: I would go with cutting down and watering down his juice, chances are he is not allergic. If he's old enough, you might want look into vitamin supplements. My 3 yr. old takes anima parade brand "acidophi". Its to help regulate the digestion. Its kind of like a kid's version of activa in a chewable. My daughter also started drinking alot of juice when I took her bottle away so this supplement helps alot. She did not really have diarrhea, it was just real loose. Anyway its part of the Nature's Plus line and you can find in any organic health food store.

Fruit is a natural laxative. You don't have to have an allergy to fruit to get diarhea. All you have to do is drink too much fruit juice or eat too much fruit and your bowels will be very loose. Apple cider, apple juice, prune juice, and apples are really good at causing diarhea. You might want to lay off the fruit and juices for a few days and see if the situation improves. Once everything is ok, then slowly at fruit back in to the picture. Is he really allergic to milk, because you might be able to bring back the milk but do cheese first if you do. I remember one time when I was a kid, I just couldn't get enough apple cider and apples during apple season. Guess what? I learned very quickly not to eat more than 1 apple per day or 1 large cup of cider every other day.

Hi T.,

My daughter has had long bouts (nearly 2 months) of diarrhea in the past. In my experience, fruit juices have made the diarrhea worse because of the high sugar content; try Pedialyte or other electrolyte drink instead to make sure that your son is well hydrated.

Also, if you're concerned about your son getting enough calcium, yogurt is a good source of it and also contains probiotics which help to bring intestinal flora back into balance. Another thing that I did was cut dairy out of my daughter's diet (with the exception of breast milk and yogurt). I replaced regular cheese and other dairy products with their soy counterparts until the bout of diarrhea was over. She liked the soy products just as well and they also contain plenty of calcium. Hope this helps.

A little about me: WAHM of 9-year-old son and 22-month old daughter; married for almost 13 years.