What is breastfeeding diarrhea?

  Breast milk diarrhea, which is not very common in real life, should be the first thing to rule out the possibility of disease when it occurs. In fact, breast milk diarrhea has distinctive features. This diarrhea is generally characterized by 3 – 7 stools per day, foamy and watery stools, with a peculiar sour odor, thin and slightly green stools, with foam and milk flaps, sometimes even with strips of clear mucus. There is no fever during diarrhea, no obvious pain and crying, no abnormalities in stool tests, no other symptoms in the degree of diarrhea in general, the infant is lively and has a good appetite, and although the diarrhea lasts longer, the weight gain is around 300 every 10 days and does not heal. If the diarrhea is prolonged, it may lead to growth stagnation, malnutrition and other serious consequences, and requires timely treatment.  In mild cases, the number of stools is about 10 times a day, with occasional vomiting, and the child’s spirit and complexion are normal, and the number and amount of urine are quite high.  In severe cases, the child will have 10-20 stools per day, the stools will be dilute and “egg-flake soup”-like, the child will have bouts of crying, little or no urine, dehydration, mental atrophy, lethargy or coma.  Delayed diarrhea disease duration of more than 1 month, the condition is sometimes light and sometimes heavy, when heavy vomiting, diarrhea frequent like heavy diarrhea. But often due to the delay in the course of the disease, the child is mainly chronic malnutrition manifestations, accompanied by various parts of the secondary infection, etc..  Diarrhea is a common and frequent disease in infants and young children, and needs to be treated promptly regardless of its severity. If left untreated for a long time, mild forms of the disease may develop into prolonged diarrhea. Severely ill children with water and electrolyte disorders must be sent to hospital promptly for treatment, as delays can be life-threatening.  Diarrhea caused by breastfeeding may be due to the high content of prostaglandins in breast milk, which promote the smooth muscle movement of the small intestine, increasing the secretion of water and electrolytes and producing loose stools. It may also be that the child is lactose intolerant and lactase is lacking in the body. Lactose intolerance is divided into two categories: primary and secondary, and can be confirmed by measuring the amount of lactose in the stool of the child by the lead acetate method for primary screening, and then rapidly after a de-lactose diet. In case of so-called physiological breast milk diarrhea, do not switch to milk for the sake of stool formation. The infant’s organism will gradually adapt to the prostaglandins in breast milk, and the lactase enzyme will gradually develop and mature, with increased enzyme activity, so that it can break down, digest and absorb lactose, and gradually improve with the addition of complementary foods. Also note that children should not cover their nipples, after each side of the breast is basically empty, if you continue to suck, the amount of fat in the milk will increase, which can easily cause lipid indigestion, and advocate to suck on sucking, do not suck on stopping. The full breast can be basically sucked empty in about 10 minutes each time. If the regular medical advice really needs “de-lactose diet” feeding, the diet includes: 1) 100 ml of fresh soy milk with 5 grams of glucose as milk substitute, diarrhea will stop, but soy milk feeding should not be applied alone for a long time, it is advisable to gradually add fish protein. 2) 180 ml of rice soup with 5 grams of fish protein, generally infants are fed 3 times a day. 3) Fermented milk is also available. Yogurt.  Secondary lactose intolerance; mainly due to individual children’s allergy to cow’s milk or certain food components, secondary to intestinal infection and intolerance to certain monosaccharides, disaccharides or carbohydrates.  When children have diarrhea, they not only excrete water and electrolytes, but also lose a lot of nutrients, which should be replenished in time. However, it is easy to vomit after eating and cannot achieve the purpose. The method of feeding should be adjusted according to the condition of the sick child. Regardless of the original method of feeding, the quality and quantity of diet should be reduced after diarrhea. The original breastfeeding, each nursing time should be shortened. The original mixed feeders, can stop feeding milk or other milk substitutes, single feeding mother’s milk. For those who were artificially fed, the amount of milk should be reduced and water or rice soup should be added to dilute it, or rice soup can be fed alone, because rice soup is easier to digest and absorb than milk. The original supplemental food has been added to feed, should also be reduced or temporarily not fed. After the treatment of diarrhea in sick children, the condition gradually gets better, but also not a short time to return to the original diet, to slowly add, so as not to cause diarrhea again. The “slow addition” mentioned here includes adding the quality of the diet from a small amount, not too fast or too much, and the amount cannot be added every day or every day, and cannot be expected to return to the original diet within 1-2 days. If diarrhea occurs again, treatment will be more difficult. [1] Go to the hospital in time for diagnosis and treatment. If your baby has a mild degree of diarrhea, the mother can handle it herself, but if the symptoms are serious, go to the hospital in time for diagnosis and treatment. Especially if your baby is depressed, pale, etc., you can use medication to relieve the symptoms if necessary. For example, like mommy’s love, it has the effect of improving the function of the intestinal tract, and there are no side effects, so the mother can be assured that her baby is taking it.