Choosing the Right Diarrhea Medication for Children

Diarrhea medication for children should be given after knowing the underlying cause of diarrhea. Diarrhea is generally characterized by watery stool, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, fever, and dehydration. Diarrhea can occur in a matter of days to weeks. In most cases, diarrhea does not require special treatment and can heal by itself. This is because the immune system in your child's body will react automatically to clean bacteria, viruses, or parasites that cause infections. Usually, healing lasts for about one week.

Treating Diarrhea in Children

Diarrhea that occurs in your child can be caused by several things, including:

• Viral infections, such as rotavirus, norovirus, astrovirus, adenovirus.
• Bacterial infections, such as Salmonella, Coli, Staphylococcus, Campylobacter.
• Parasitic infections, such as giardiasis.
• Consume too much juice.
• Food allergies.
• The use of antibiotic drugs.
• Food intolerance.
• Poisoning.

Basically, children under 12 years of age who have diarrhea are not recommended to take certain drugs, as long as the child is still able to eat and drink sufficiently and dehydration does not occur. If the diarrhea experienced by your child does not improve after a few days, it is better to immediately consult a doctor. Before prescribing medication, the doctor will first check the child's condition and ascertain the cause of diarrhea. After knowing the complaints that are experienced and their causes, the doctor can give medicines that suit the child's condition, including:

• Oral rehydration solution

This medicine works to prevent or overcome loss of fluid and electrolytes lost due to diarrhea. This oral rehydration solution containing electrolytes does not stop diarrhea but replaces body fluids and electrolytes lost with feces. Give oral rehydration fluids every time the child defecates or vomits.

• Antibiotics

This drug is actually not recommended because diarrhea is generally caused by a viral infection, or by other causes that are not infections. The doctor will only give antibiotics if your child has diarrhea caused by a bacterial infection.

• Antidiarrheal

Diarrhea medications such as loperamide and kaolin-pectin can reduce the frequency of bowel movements by slowing intestinal muscle work. However, this drug is not recommended to be given to children because of the risk of causing side effects such as nausea.

• Probiotics

This diarrhea medicine contains good bacteria that can help cure diarrhea. Provision of probiotics with monitored oral rehydration fluids can treat diarrhea in children due to inappropriate use of antibiotics. But in general, further research is still needed to ascertain the effectiveness of probiotics as pediatric diarrhea drugs.

• Paracetamol or ibuprofen

This medicine is only given if your child's diarrhea is accompanied by a fever and headache. Both of these drugs work to relieve the pain that arises from the symptoms of diarrhea.

Beware of Dehydration Due to Diarrhea in Children

Diarrhea can cause your child to become dehydrated or dehydrated. To avoid this, it is recommended that you provide more fluid intake than usual while your child has diarrhea. The appearance of dehydration is usually characterized by several symptoms such as the body feels weak, the face looks pale, the mouth, lips, and also the tongue looks dry, and sunken eyes. Infants under 6 months are more at risk of dehydration. If you find symptoms of dehydration in your child, try to always provide fluid intake, either through breast milk, water, or rehydration drinks that contain electrolytes. Rehydration drinks can be obtained based on a doctor's prescription or freely purchased. This drink serves to maintain the balance of water, sugar and salt levels in the body. During diarrhea, do not give children fruit juices and soft drinks because it will only make diarrhea worse. Beware if there are symptoms of severe dehydration which is marked by:

• Loss of consciousness
• Cold feet and hands
• Pale
• Rarely pee or not pee at all
• Hard to breathe
• The child feels very thirsty
• Gag

If the child shows symptoms of severe dehydration, immediately take him to the nearest hospital to get fluids through an IV. If your child's condition does not improve despite taking diarrhea medicine for children from a doctor, do not hesitate to consult with your doctor again to get the right treatment.