Page 49 - GreenBook

^ doctor's attention.

6. If your child is having difficulty breathing and is sitting fonn/ard to breathe
more easily and is drooling because he cannot swallow his saliva, this may

m be epiglotitis and is a medical emergency.

7. If you are advised to go to the Emergency Room late at night because of
rapid respirations, always recheck your child's breathing rate before entering

^ the Emergency Room. It is quite common for the night air to dramatically
improve your child's croup. If his rate is now less than 40 breaths per
minute you may consider taking him home and congratulating yourselves on
a job well done.

L. Diarrhea
Every child has occasional loose stools. A sudden change in the stools to a

loose, watery or mucousy consistency with increased frequency is "diarrhea".
f«!i| The main concern for children with diarrhea is dehydration or drying out,

especially if vomiting and fever are also present.

1. Vomiting and Diarrhea - Follow instructions for vomiting See section U.
NZomiting.

2. Mild Diarrhea - If your child is having less than 5-6 episodes of diarrhea a
day, is not vomiting, does not have a high fever, and is active and hungry,

m continue with a normal diet. Breast milk or formula may be continued. You
should NOT give a clear liquid diet with sugary juices or sodas because it
may make the diarrhea worse. If you give a variety of fluids you can't go
wrong (some juice, some water, some milk). If after 5 days the diarrhea is

^ not improving, please call usduring office hours.

3. Significant Diarrhea - Waterv bowel movements every 1-2 hours may cause
dehydration. If any symptoms of dehydration occur - significant decrease in
urination (less than twice in 24 hours), absent tears when crying, dry mouth
(not lips), excessive drowsiness or fussiness, sunken eyes, cool and
discolored hands and feet or wrinkled skin, please call us. The best way to
prevent dehydration is to give prepared electrolyte solutions such as
Pedialyte or Infalyte. There are also powdered rehydration packets such as
ORS (Oral Rehydration Salts) that can be mixed with water. Liquids that are
high in sugar Qell-o, soft drinks, full strength fruit juices), high in salt
(packaged broth) or very low in salt (water, tea) can make the diarrhea
worse and possibly increase the likelihood of dehydration. If your child is
hungry solid foods that he or she normally likes can be given. Increasing fat
in the diet will sometimes help to decrease diarrhea. This can be done by
continuing to feed formula or breast milk to infants under 1 year of age. For
children older than 1 year of age bacon, peanut butter or eggs can be given.
It is felt that though solid foods may seem to cause your child to have a bout
of diarrhea, in the long run the children do better and lose less weight if they
continue to eat solid foods through the illness.

m If your child refuses to drink the prepared electrolyte solutions try serving it cold

48