14days of diarrhea with my 9mth old, what's going on?

Question

After a week we went to the doctors and were put on Isomil DF (a soy formula for diarrhea) she continued having it for another 7days and then it ended (she started having very hard bowel movements). I put her back on her regular formula (milk based). Now she has REALLY hard bowel movements. What the heck do I do!? We're playing with the idea of just dropping formula in general and giving her Whole Milk. She's nine months old but the height and weight of a 18mth old. Anyone have any ideas on what's going on?

Answer 1

Extended diarrhea results in serious dehydration.  A change in dietary habits can cause diarrhea and subsequent dehydration.  The child should have been put on Pedialyte to replenish the electrolytes lost from the dehydration.  You can buy the Pedialyte off any store shelf.

Starting the Pedialyte might restore normal bowel movements.  In any case, a follow up with the child's pediatrician is in order.  It's one thing to have a day or two of constipation and quite another to suffer through it for an extended period of time.  If you do go to whole milk, using the bottle, the old practice (before they made store bought formula) was to mix in a tablespoon of dark Karol syrup to give the milk a taste and consistency similar to natural breast milk.  The store bought formulas have a lot of anomolies that effect how the body reacts and so you should work with your pediatrician when making changes on the assumption that the doc is up to speed with the feed!  

Answer 2

changing her formula too much can cause issues like you have described.. her little body is trying to adapt to everything you are giving her.. I would keep her on the formula she has been on for the past 9 months and try giving her some juice and cut down on the amount of bottles she gets she should be on some table foods now and not drinking as much formula.  

Answer 3

You are saying that your child is twice the size she should be?  I would put her on a diet of fruit and veggies for the main portion of her meal and the meat and proteins the lesser portion.  I would try going to 1% milk.  Whole milk has a lot of calories and I don't think your child needs that.  The 1% milk should loosen the bowel movements.  I would also try giving her water once a day.  Most importantly, I would take her back to the doctor.  I would would be very concerned about her size.  I would be thinking that there has to be some underlying issue.  Are you and your husband large people?  If its not genetic, then I would look for other answers.