Loose motions in children, probiotic and food during flu

Views — By on May 14, 2010 at 10:42 AM

Email

My world came to a stand still on15th Nov morning when my two boys were down with high body temperature. With swine flu making a comeback, we were very scared and kept our fingers crossed. Thankfully, there was no soreness in the throats or any cough. I gave them Ibugesic Plus and the fever came down. But those two nights were scary.

Next morning I rushed to Ruby Hall to consult our pediatrician Dr Neeta Hanumante. She was sure there was no swine flu as the respiratory tract was clear. I had started giving my boys Normet (Norfloxacin and Metronidazole) for loose motions but the medicine did not seem to work. So the doctor changed it to O2 (Ofloxacin and Ornidazole). Although Norloxacin is also a broad spectrum antibiotic and suppose to work on both gram +ve and gram -ve bacteria, it failed. Maybe, because it was used continuously for last 5 years, the bacteria seemed to have got accustomed to the medicine or may be the drug was not powerful enough.

Dr Hanumante also prescribed Zinc based multivitamin as Zinc is supposed to help the gut lining recovery. To replenish the good flora of the gut, I started ViBact which is a sachet of pre & probiotics. These good bacteria’s are very important for quick upset tummy recoveries. You must have seen the advertisement of Yakult endorsed by the actress Kajol. This small bottle costing Rs10/- has only lactobacillus casei strain (6.5 billion in one drink). But during gastro problems, it’s best to go for  pre and probiotic Vibact which has 50 million Lactobacillus spores, 30 million streptococcus faecalis, 2 million clostridium butyricum and 1 million bacillus mesentericus and costs Rs 8/ sachet. The advantage of Vibact is definitely more variety of good bacteria. Also one sachet can be mixed in one glass of water to be given during the whole day.

Kajol may be unknowingly recommending Yakult for daily consumption, but it is not advisable to take any probiotic on a daily basis. The body has its own way to culture the flora in our gut and if we provide anything extra, it will only be flushed down the drain.

The viral flu in the air now may be the “Rota virus” which causes gastroenteritis in kids, leading to loose motions and fever. The doctor told us that lots of kids with similar symptoms were calling in sick so no need to panic. Easy to say!

She also assured me that the motion should be fine by the 6th day. And look! On the 6th day; both were perfectly fine with normal motion. (Never have I felt so happy peeking into the pot before, than this time.)

A pathologist friend advised, now that the virus has gone, I should clear away any remaining microbes and worms with Zentel (Albendazole). One bottle per child and repeat it after a month to remove any traces of worms.

In the last 7 days, I gathered some important information which may be useful to some the mothers.

How to differentiate between Swine Flu and Normal Flu symptoms?

If fever comes down by any medicine, then it’s a common flu. In either case, reduce the exposure of your child to public places. Make sure they wash their hands frequently and also get a new scrubber for washing the dishes. Make sure you clean the floor; wipe the door knobs, handles, switches, phones, remotes with dettol at least once a week, as this will keep the germs out of your house.

Foods to be consumed during loose motion / stomach upset.

The ideal foods that will help your kids to recover fast during loose motions, is the  BRAT. A perfect acronym for our little ones! The BRAT stands for banana, rice (overcooked), apple and toast (no maida).

Add methi or fenugreek seeds into the boiling moong khichdi as they are excellent to stop loose motion.

Another sure shot home remedy I can swear by, is a half nutmeg boiled in 1 cup water till it is reduced to one fourth. Mix this water in normal water and give it to your kids. I used to give this even when they were on powder milk.

I make soup with vegetables that has loads of potassium as it helps to cure loose motions. I have come across this beautiful site which I have been referring to now over last 12 months and trust me it is a Bible of all food items. It is called nutritiondata.com.

Soup made of onion, tomato, carrot, potato and most important parsley with ginger, garlic helps a lot to recover fast. Chicken soup with same ingredients is also excellent.

Maida or white flour, sugar, oil and spices are the foods that must be completely avoided during loose motions. They are difficult to digest and will just pass out of the body causing more pain than any gain.

And if the child is not eating or drinking anything, then ORS is a must.

Also see:

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


  • ravi

    any one please give a remedies to stop loose motion “i have this problem for 4 years” please give some idea to stop this

  • http://www.superindiankid.com Madhurie Singh

    Dear Ravi, I think u may be suffering from irritable bowel syndrome, if its for 4 years!

    Your stomach lining must be allergic to some food that is causing indigestion problem. Try keeping away from milk and milk products for a week as they are most common cause.

    Infact proteins are found to be the main reason for IBS. 

    After trying each week of avoiding one class of protein, you must restart the next week to make sure, that was the cause. 

    An endoscopy is a good idea to rule out any physical reason. 
    I think better consult a good endoscopist.

  • Ritu

    Madhurie, I read your article with great deal of interest. Can you also advise please when should a 1 year old be given Bacigyl N. My little daughter had some runny stools – interspersed with normal ones (6 in a day with 4 being lesser quantity than ususal but normal. However, the doc promptly asked to have Bacigyl N while still waiting for a stool test report. She – touch wood – has no fever and is otherwise active and accepting food ok. Now I have been researching the net and found that Bacigyl N is hardly the first lien of defence. And is known to have convulsions in some cases! Do you have any experience with this drug/medicine?

  • Mrs. Sheeja Eldo

    I wanted to thank you for the very informative article posted on this site regarding flu . As I have also kids the topic is very useful

  • nikhil

    nice article

  • http://www.superindiankid.com Madhurie Singh

    Ritu, sorry I did not see your comment earlier. I am not qualified to suggest about drugs. I read a lot and when experience something worth while to be shared, I blog it on my blogs. 
    I always use common sense with good reviews to arrive at a decision. 
    I have found boiled water with laung (cloves) and ajwain( seeds of oregano plant) are very good remedy for kids as small as 6 months. Both ajwain and cloves are  antibiotics and anti microbial and kill unwanted microbes. So in a normal conditions when the kids are not sick, it is good practice to boil these two ingredients in water and give them once a fortnight.
    Also since oregano leaves and papaya leaves are great for recovery from dengue, its good that on and off kids are administered these as dengue and malaria are hard to detect.

  • http://na Arslan Faisal Awan

    Well Work

  • http://www.madhuriesingh.com Madhurie Singh

    I would like to add that sometimes after waiting for maximum 2 days of recurrent vomits n diarrhea, first give Ondansetron to stop vomiting and then start antibiotics.

    If watery and very frequent stools right after any liquid taken by the child, best to give half tablet of loperamide to stop the stool.

    Water is most important to retain first. All other treatments will work only after vomiting and stools are stopped.

  • shweta

    how to get rid of loose motions?any simple remedy?please reply fast

  • Amol Paranjpe

    HI Doctor,
    I am suffereing from Loose Motions for last 1 month.. The First Treatment i did Imnodium was recommended which worked very well but after 1 week again loose motion started. Now i am consulting a Doctor from Ruby Clinic who sits inside our infosys Campus he has recommended Nortel which when i take even half works well for me but again afte 3 days i am facing the problem of loose motion. I am eatingn Normal rice and Moong Daal some times chapati and vegitables with less oil and Spice. I do ate Coconut Burfi and a SLice of Pickel could these be causes for me??

  • Sudha

    when a child has loose motions it is not right to blindly give anti-biotics without testing the stool sample. unless there is a bacterial infection the anti-biotics will not work against any viruses! rotavirus is a virus and needs no medicine. just give fluids and as author suggested BRAT diet and they will get normal in a weeks time. unnecessary giving of anti biotics is what is making the bacteria resistant to these medicines.and we are ending up giving higher and higher doses to our kids! always ask your doctor to test the sample and then only give medicine to your child.

  • Bharathi.N

    My son is 2.8yrs, he get cough and cold very frequently. I one main problem with my is he doesnt eat any fruits, not even a banana. how much every we or teacher forces to eat he wont eat fruits, always prefers to eat only curd rice without curd he wont even eat anything. doesnot know wat to do for this. I always get him treated with our child specialist, but he give some tablets for six months i dont remember the name of the tablet every night before going to bed i use to give him at that point of time he never use to get cough or cold or any other small infections. but after when we stopped it again started with same thing. please give me the solution for this problem for my kid.

  • Reshma

    Hi Doc

    The info tht u update is very knowledageable thank u.
    I have got little angel Zubiya she has completed 6mnths on the 10th of feb nw probably she is teething coz she is bcmvery crancky otherwise she is a playful girl, I knw its very common bt is thr ne way tht she cn gt d teeth easyly. Pls let me knw.

    Thanks & Regards