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In the golden autumn season, the leaves begin to turn yellow, the weather gradually becomes cooler, and the temperature difference between day and night gradually increases. As the seasons change, babies are more likely to suffer from intestinal diseases, especially younger babies are more prone to diarrhea, known as “autumn diarrhea”. When the baby has vomiting and diarrhea, parents are very anxious, so they take various medicines for their children… However, many parents are not very clear: what color of stool is normal for the baby? How to deal with autumn diarrhea? How to prevent and deal with baby diarrhea?
Autumn is the season of high incidence of diarrhea for babies, mainly due to viral infections, of which 40%-70% are caused by rotavirus (named for its shape resembling a wheel). The disease is sporadic or small epidemic, fecal-oral and airborne. The disease has an acute onset, with an incubation period of 1 to 3 days. In the early stage, cold symptoms are often the main symptoms, such as cough, runny nose, fever (usually 38℃-40℃), sore throat, etc. A small number of children may be accompanied by vomiting or abdominal pain and other symptoms. Among them, infants and young children aged 6-11 months have the highest incidence rate, followed by malnutrition, rickets, anemia and frail infants and young children are more likely to get sick, and the disease is serious and the course of the disease is longer. In the early stage of autumn diarrhea, most of them will have fever, mainly low fever. Some children will vomit first, and then start diarrhea in the next step. The stool is watery or egg-like.
So, how can you tell if your baby has diarrhea?
The stools of newborns and small infants are shapeless, slightly thin and mushy, about three times a day; normal children’s stools should be yellow in color and moderately dry and wet, with a daily flow of 1- 2 times. When the baby’s stool changes in character (watery stool, mucus, pus and blood stool, etc.) and the number of stools increases (mostly more than 3 times), it indicates that the baby has diarrhea.
How to distinguish autumn diarrhea from ordinary diarrhea?
Autumn diarrhea is often preceded by fever, followed by vomiting, followed by diarrhea. The stool is watery or egg-like, and has no odor. Common diarrhea stools are usually mushy and have a putrefying odor. The frequency of bowel movements increased rapidly, accompanied by symptoms such as abdominal pain, fever, loss of appetite, and cold hands and feet.
Why is my baby having fall diarrhea?
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the root cause of diarrhea in autumn is the lack of spleen-yang in the baby, the spleen is trapped and damp, the rise and fall are lost, the water is wet, the valley is stagnant, and the clear and turbid are combined and descended. of. When the weather turns cold in autumn, cold pathogens are easy to invade the skin and muscles, or eat raw and cold food, and directly send cold air into the body, injuring the spleen and yang, and it is easy to have diarrhea.
What if I have fall diarrhea?
The treatment plan of the World Health Organization and the United Nations International Children’s Rescue Fund states that in the vast majority of cases, oral rehydration (ORS) can be safely and effectively treated regardless of the cause Acute diarrhea in children. Oral rehydration salts are only used to prevent and treat mild to moderate dehydration caused by diarrhea, and should be used under the guidance of a professional clinician.
“Children’s Play” has a saying that “the spleen and stomach are strong, the limbs are peaceful; the spleen and stomach are weak, and all kinds of diseases arise.” Therefore, the treatment of children’s autumn diarrhea in traditional Chinese medicine should start with the spleen and stomach, in order to transport the spleen and remove dampness , Restore the function of the spleen and stomach. When children have diarrhea, in addition to injections and medicines, they can choose other treatment methods that can not only help the disease recover as soon as possible but also reduce the pain of children, such as: pediatric massage, acupoint sticking method, and traditional Chinese medicine bathing method. In addition, parents can also use traditional Chinese medicine food therapy as an adjunct treatment, cooking yam porridge, ginger japonica rice porridge, coke rice soup, etc. to enhance the transport and transformation functions of the baby’s spleen and stomach. If the spleen and stomach are healthy, the dampness will be eliminated by itself, and the diarrhea will be cured.
Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes “prevention before illness” and “going to work to treat illness before illness”. For infants and young children with diarrhea, attention should be paid to prevention. Parents should let their babies pay attention to personal and environmental hygiene, and cultivate the habit of washing hands frequently from an early age. Parents should also carefully clean their hands before and after caring for their babies. Children have a body of “childish yin and childish yang”, and the spleen is often deficient. Parents should teach their children not to eat spoiled food, eat less or not to eat raw and cold food, and must not allow their children to overeat and overeat, so as not to cause damage to the child’s digestive system.
Author: Zong Mengyao, Department of Pediatrics, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, master student. Research direction: children’s spleen and stomach diseases and endocrine diseases.
Column editor and tutor: Shen Jian, Chief Physician, Teaching Director, Department of Pediatrics, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Doctor of Medicine, Master Supervisor. The National Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance and Innovation “Hundreds and Tens of Thousands” Talent Project of the Central Administration of China is the national backbone of traditional Chinese medicine innovation, the outstanding teacher of the standardized training of residents in Shanghai, and the winner of the May 4th Youth Medal in the Shanghai Health and Family Planning Industry.