Question
A friend’s child has been experiencing diarrhea recently. The parents are very worried. Can they stop breastfeeding now? What can they feed the child? I have a box of date paste for the child. Is it okay for them to eat it?
Answer
For breastfed infants, there is no need to stop breastfeeding during diarrhea. Instead, simply reduce the feeding quantity, shorten the feeding time, and extend the feeding intervals. The mother should also control her intake of high-fat foods. Before each feeding, you can give the child a large bowl of water to dilute the breast milk, which can help alleviate diarrhea symptoms. For formula-fed or mixed-fed infants, date paste can be given during diarrhea as it promotes gastrointestinal recovery. If the diarrhea is severe, temporarily stop feeding milk and other staple foods. The fasting period usually lasts for 6-8 hours, but should not exceed 12 hours at most.