Our Baby News

Diarrheal diseases are one of the major causes of infant and child deaths in the developing world. Annually, an estimated 2 million diarrhea-related deaths occur in developing countries.

Since the 1960s, USAID has been instrumental in developing, introducing, and expanding the use of oral rehydration salts (ORS) and oral rehydration therapy (ORT, which combines ORS with breastfeeding in infants and with fluids and supplemental feeding in older children) to combat diarrhea-related dehydration.

In the 1990s, home management of child diarrhea improved dramatically. In 33 countries containing almost half the world’s under-five population, use of ORS or recommended home fluids increased from about one-third of cases in 1990 to 85 percent of cases by mid-decade.

Diarrheal diseases can be spread from person-to-person via the fecal-oral route, with greater rates of disease found in daycare centers, hospitals and nursing homes. In addition, these diseases are frequently reported in food-borne and water-borne outbreaks.

Most of us have heard of Pedialyte for rehydration therapy.

If s a good time to be a baby. Pizza is no longer considered junk food, pretzels are A-list snacks, and Popsicles are acceptable treatment when your baby is sick.

A baby as young as eight or nine months should be able to physically handle a small Popsicle. In minor illnesses, it may be an ideal way to avoid dehydration.

When a baby has gastroenteritis, or the stomach flu, he will vomit frequently at first, followed by diarrhea. Fever is often present as well.

 Not only does he not have an interest in milk, but milk can prolong the diarrhea (during a bout of gastro, the enzyme that helps digest lactose is lost, and returns after three to five days.

During that time, undigested milk passes straight through and contributes to diarrhea).

Even a cold makes milk less palatable, and again, a Popsicle is the way to go. A store-bought Popsicle contains mainly sugar and water, both of which are OK over a short period of time.

Teething Doesn’t Cause Fever

1. Call your doctor and ask him or her if teething causes fever.

(He or she will say no, so you don’t need to actually perform this step.)

2. Ask nine other people.

3. Forget what the other nine people said.

If your baby has a fever and she happens to be teething, the fever is due to something else.

Teething babies are irritable, drool constantly,

rub their gums against hard objects, and develop a chin rash because of the drooling.

Starting Food: When

The big moment should come at about three to four months, when eight ounces in a bottle don’t satisfy her or she still seems hungry after nursing.

Developmental, she should also show readiness by virtue of being able to hold her head up, and by not reflexively thrusting her tongue out at the proffered food.

That’s all there is to it.

Starting solids too early runs the risk of inability to digest certain foods, which manifests itself as increased spitting up or frank vomiting, or lower intestinal signs of increased gassiness and diarrhea.

Don’t delay starting solids, either, because mastering the complex series of motor skills, which we take for granted as eating, is a major developmental process. In fact, the first several weeks of feeding are, nutritionally speaking, nearly irrelevant.

You’re in no hurry. The boundless delights of the culinary world await your baby’s palate, but until she’s old enough to describe the simple pleasures of duck-au-poivre, potatoes-au-gratin, or burger-au-fromage, stick to the simple stuff and go slow.

Allow a few days between new foods to minimize the chance of allergy and maximize the chance of recognizing a reaction to a new food. If you think your baby is having a reaction, back off and try again in a week. Symptoms of allergy include an eczematous rash (often red and scaly), diarrhea (with or without blood), wheezing, and hives. If she clearly reacts to a new food with hives, wheezing, or something else equally convincing, there’s no point in reintroducing it later.

Juice

Babies don’t need juice. Period. It ends up as a substitute for a feeding. Think empty calories. At mealtime, offer water. The more juice a baby drinks, the less food he will eat.

Babies like juice. They love juice. Juice is sweet. Juice is almost all sugar with a little flavoring but few other nutrients. Just look at . how much sugar there is in four ounces of:

Juice              Amount of sugar             Calories

Apple                           12 grams                  48
Orange                         11 grams                  44
Grape                            18                             72(H!)
Gatorade                        4                                16

The only time juice is an appropriate part of the diet is when babies get sick and won’t tolerate milk Particularly when they have a gastrointestinal virus, with vomiting and diarrhea, clear liquids are best so they can get their calories somehow. Even then, it’s a good idea to dilute it, because the tremendous inflow of sugar itself adds to the diarrhea.

Dehydration:

In a child with frequent loose bowel movements, the doctor will also want to check for dehydration.

Dehydration means that the child has lost—usually from diarrhea or vomiting—the fluid that his body requires. The doctor will look for dry mouth and lips, dull eyes, infrequent wet diapers or urination, darker urine, even dry skin and—in an infant—a sunken soft spot.

Diarrhea causes loss of fluid, making a child feel weak and dizzy. This needs to be taken care of promptly.

Usually a child can make up for fluid loss by drinking lots of soothing liquids (see page 85), but when the fluid loss is severe and the child is too ill to drink, hospitalization and intravenous liquids (given by a needle placed in a vein) may be necessary. If a young child is vomiting as well as having diarrhea, he will be even more likely to need prompt medical attention and treatment.

Hot weather, or a fever, can also increase a child’s risk of dehydration. The younger the child, the more vulnerable to dehydration he will be. The younger the child, the faster you will need to act to help him to take in gentle fluids that his body can hold onto, and to reach out to his doctor for help.