What causes diarrhea in an infant?
Patient: hi, my 6 month old has had diarriea for over a week now and is having about 10 dirty nappys a day, they are very smelly and she seems to be in pain while she is doing one, she is on sma stay down formula milk, has she has reflux she has been on this milk about three months now, what could this be? Doctor: Let me assure you that it is normal for a child of this age to pass stool 10 times a day or even after each feed. It is not a cause for concern. Most formula milks are cow milk based and hence difficult to digest. Undigested food matter can be degraded by intestinal bacteria to give foul smelling stools. In case diarrhea actually occurs, it is generally due to a virus called rotavirus and is a self limiting condition. The reflux could be due to inadequate burping. You need to hold the bay upright for about 20 mins after each feed to prevent reflux from occurring.