Poo Everywhere!!!

[Jenifer]

I am at my wit's end! Joy has had diarrhea (sp) since midnight Wednesday and it will not stop. I have done everything I know of (BRAT diet, stopping milk, etc.) and nothing works. The pediatrician says it's a virus that has to "run" its course (no pun intended, right?) and he won't give her anything to stop it.

Her bottom is absolutely raw and she screams every time I have to wipe it. We've been using that Bodreaux's Butt Paste, which forms a barrier, but isn't real useful since we're wiping her butt hourly.

Every towel in my house is dirty, every pair of comfy pants Joy owns is dirty, and we've gone through almost 40 diapers since Wednesday. The only good thing that is coming out of this is that she's VERY aware of her bowels right now and has been telling us when she needs to go, so we've been getting her on the potty. Unfortunately, though, it's so liquidy that she manages to get some on the diapers so we have to pitch them.

I am so frustrated. All we can do is keep pushing fluids so she won't get dehydrated. I swear a brown cloud of stench is lingering in my house. Isn't motherhood grand?

[Pat]

So sorry Joy's sick We'll be praying for a quick recovery.
A teaspoon of apple cider vinager will stop diarrhea. It's natural so it's okay to take. The way you get it into a child is to mix it with apple juice and make a slushy. They have fun with the slushy and don't know they are getting it. It's okay to repeat it if needed. (For an adult pour a glass of juice ahead of time, take the teaspoon of apple cider vinager w/o breathing drink 1/2 your juice, breath, then finish your juice.) My Mom just had a virus like that and was too sick to get to the store. She finally listened to me, tried it and it worked!

[laurasnowbird]

Jenifer,

Sounds like rotavirus, ugh! According to what I read, virtually all kids get that particular virus by the age of three. The good news is that it is very rare to have a repeat ocurrence. Stick to avoiding all milk products, because the diarrhea temporarily damages the intestinal lining and makes it hard (if not impossible) to digest milk.

Ethan had ten days of the worst diarrhea I have ever seen, and I felt that we should be applying for a toxic waste permit to be disposing of his diapers. He never got a raw bottom though, we stuck him in the sink in a warm water baking baking soda bath after each nasty diaper, you don't have to make a big production out of it, just run water in the kitchen sink and dump in about a 1/2 cup of baking soda. Rinse her little bottom really well, and it will help normalize the skins pH. Ethan lost a ridiculous amount of weight, but he had both vomiting and diarrhea.

Good luck, I know that it's miserable, but take comfort in the fact that she is unlikely to contract it again. I swear by the baking soda thing, I hope it works for you!

[Chris]

I was going to tell you not to wipe her bottom but just rinse it in the sink but Laura had a better suggestion. Since she has liquid poop, you shouldn't have to wipe her, just wash her bottom.

I was told that you know it is a rotovirus when it smells REALLY bad. Sarah had a virus last spring and she would stink up the entire house. We had to open the windows to air the place out. It was horrible. We ended up in the ER because she was so dehydrated.

I hope Joy gets better soon. Poor baby.

Chris

[alisonzmom]

So sorry Joy is having to go through this! And you too!!!

After Alison had her colostomy reversed we battled diarrhea for about a month so I can totally relate to the raw bottom and constant diaper changes ( as well as the brown cloud!!! I swear that is what caused the wallpaper in the bathroom to start peeling off! ). One thing that seemed to help until her poop was less liquid, was to just rinse her bottom and then kind of just pour some maalox over her bottom. The surgeon told us that it helped to neutralize the acids in the poop. Once things took on a more "normal" consistency and her bottom was healed, the Boudreaux was my weapon of choice! I still coat that little bottom with it at every diaper change even though we now have more battles with constipation! Talk about going from one extreme to the other!

If Joy's bottom is really red and so raw that it is to the point of bleeding, I would suggest giving the doc a call and checking to make sure she hasn't developed a yeast infection. I know that when Alison gets really loose she will almost always develope a yeast diaper rash and that's a whole 'nother ballgame! Nystatin cream ( prescription stuff ) is the only thing that will take care of her bottom then!


Good Luck!

Barb

[Staci]

Ohhh, Jenifer, I'm so so sorry Joy is having to go through this! Aidan had rotovirus when he was about 6 months old, and it was so, so horrible! He got so dehydrated and had to be hospitalized...man...I was always so fearful of him getting it again after that. I swear, open heart surgery was easier on him than this rotovirus! Not kidding! Hugs to Joy...hopefully it will be over soon!

Staci

[rickismom]

My favorite cure for raw bottoms is to "sunbathe" the bottom in the sun. It helps. I agree with all the other stuff written above, too. Love your signiture!

[Robin]

Jennifer, I hope Joy is better today and the nasty brown stuff has stopped wrecking vengence on your home!!!!! Bless her sore little butt, it is awful, Chase had that stuff last fall and wow oh wow I still remember it like it was yesterday!!!! Hugs to you both!
Robin

[Betty & Ian's Mom]

When Ian had really bad diarrhea, we used "Julie's Butt Paste", it was created by one of the nurses at my childrens old doctors office, and it does work.

Ingredients needed for Butt Paste: 1 tube Bacitracin and 1 tube Desitin and Mylanta 30 cc mixed in slowly and apply to the skin as needed. Suggestion, and I'm sure its been mentioned, not to wipe the Butt, but soaked Butt in luke warm water for about 10 minutes to soothe the soreness, even baby powder will help to help keep skin from gettin all that moisture from the diarrhea to, do that in between the Butt Paste.

Hope all goes well !

Hope this works to

www.dssupport.net/buddywalk

[momofrussell]

OH POOR Joy!!!! How sad for her and her little bum! How is she today? I know at some hospitals they have some 3 part system with this foam stuff and "barrier" creams... Russell was in the hosp for RSV when he was an infant and the first hosp neglected him to the fact they didn't change his diapers.. so I took him out and to another hospital and they have this whole system they do.. because his diaper rash was SOOO bad, he was swollen and everything... bloody and red and just awful. So I don't know if maybe you are close to a children's hosp and maybe calling them could help?

We use to use the butt paste stuff, made from a family friend at a pharmacy.. and we LIVE by Bag Balm!!!

Good luck!!!! Maybe some baths would do?

A.

[Jenifer]

Joy is feeling better and the diarrhea has let up a bit. It is still pretty soft and frequent, but not as bad as Thur-Sun. That was horrible!

The really good part of the whole thing is that this has jump-started our potty training. She was going on the potty randomly, but when she got sick she realized she really didn't enjoy a diaper full of smelly goo, so she is consistently telling us when she needs to go. On Sunday she didn't poo in her diapers once, and she went about 8 times on the toilet. Hooray!!

Due to the ung-dly stench she produced, our ped determined she does have rotavirus, which surprised me because she had it when she was about 10 months old. I thought it was one of those one-time things, but the ped assured me kids can get it more than once. When she had it last time, it was mostly vomiting. I guess I get the best of both worlds. LOL!

Anyway, her bottom is healing, thanks to giving up the wipes for baking soda rinses, plus soaking in a homemade herbal bath and applying Boudreaux's Butt Paste (which should be called "Miracle Cream"). I appreciate all the good mommy wisdom everyone shared.

UnoMas rocks!! ;D

[Betty & Ian's Mom]

;DGlad to hear she doing better !! ;D

WTG with her going on the potty and no poop all day is awesome !! I wish Ian would poop in the potty at least once !!