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Expert Q&A
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| By Dr. Vincent J. Kopp Pediatrician Pediatric Anesthesiologist | ||
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My 15-month-old is getting a new tooth and has had constant diarrhea. Is this related?
To my knowledge there is no firm connection between teething and episodic diarrhea. Think about it: teeth form over many years, and many teeth erupt without children having diarrhea. It makes no evolutionary sense for these events to be firmly linked. Otherwise, "teething" would result in dehydration more often than it does.
No, I suspect the diarrhea has another cause. Most cases of true diarrhea (as opposed to frequent but small-volume loose stools) are caused by viral illnesses, bacterial infections such as those cause by Salmonella, Shigellosis, Campylobacter or Yersinia; or protozoan infections, such as Giardia. True food allergies, lactose intolerance, malabsorption syndromes, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel syndromes and rare abnormalities of the autonomic nervous system can cause severe forms of diarrhea that impair health and growth. Occasionally, ear infections and urinary tract infections will be heralded by true diarrhea. Most often, though, these conditions are associated with loose stools that represent a deviation from normal bowel evacuation patterns.
If loose stools are the issue -- and your baby doesn't have an ear infection or UTI -- try cutting back on juices, substituting water and also increasing dietary fiber to absorb excess bowel water. If a new food has been introduced, stop it for five days and see if the symptoms resolve. Only after checking out these more serious problems should it be assumed that "diarrhea" is the result of "teething."
Dr. Kopp
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