Q: My child is two months and ten days old, weighing 4 kg, birth weight was 2.750 kg. She is having persistent loose stools since birth, about 25 to 30 times a day. We had not given any treatment since then but 15 days back I gave her a course of normetrogyl x 5 days with little improvement. There is a nappy rash and anal wound, which is troubling her, which looked to resolve momentarily but has again become worse. I recently got a stool examination done, which shows stool for reducing substance positive and pus cells of 6 to 8/HPF.

A:What I gather from your mail is that your baby since birth, has been passing frequent stools. You have not mentioned what feeds your baby is on, and about the quantity of each stool. I also gather that she has shown a good weight gain. If your baby has been exclusively breast fed, then I would not be worried about frequent stools. These babies may pass many stools in a day, which may be a little loose, but otherwise are not very large in volume. These babies grow well, never get dehydrated and are totally normal. No treatment is recommended. Nappy rash in this situation shall often heal by keeping the baby dry, avoiding plastics sheets/nappies, exposing the area to air & applying coconut oil. However things may be different for a baby who is receiving top milk, in whom infection may cause diarrhoea. This may require treatment. In this situation, especially if diarrhoea is long standing as in your child, weight gain suffers which has not occurred in the case of your child. In this situation let a paediatrician evaluate your child. He may have lactose intolerance.What I gather from the details submitted is that your baby since birth, has been passing frequent stools. You have not mentioned what feeds your baby is on, and about the quantity of each stool. I also gather that she has shown a good weight gain. If your baby has been exclusively breast fed, then I would not be worried about frequent stools. These babies may pass many stools in a day, which may be a little loose, but otherwise are not very large in volume. These babies grow well, never get dehydrated and are totally normal. No treatment is recommended. Nappy rash in this situation shall often heal by keeping the baby dry, avoiding plastics sheets/nappies, exposing the area to air & applying coconut oil. However things may be different for a baby who is receiving top milk, in whom infection may cause diarrhoea. This may require treatment. In this situation, especially if diarrhoea is long standing as in your child, weight gain suffers which has not occurred in the case of your child. In this situation let a paediatrician evaluate your child. He could also have lactose intolerance.