Question
My baby will be five months old tomorrow, and is breastfed. Since coming out of the postpartum period, the baby has had a bowel movement once a day. However, on January 13th, the baby had diarrhea three times during the day, with normal stool color, as usual, not watery. On January 14th, the baby had one bowel movement in the morning and one in the evening, with a larger quantity. The morning stool was normal, but the evening stool turned pale yellow and had some watery diarrhea after defecation. The body temperature was slightly elevated at 37.9 degrees Celsius. The temperature remained between 37-38.1 degrees Celsius throughout the night. Despite eating and drinking heavily last night, the urine output was increased, with one bowel movement at around 4 am that was sticky but not very pale in color and not much in quantity. As of now, the body temperature is still 38 degrees Celsius. I have wiped the baby’s body several times and applied a fever-reducing patch. I would like to consult on what could be wrong with the baby and what measures can be taken to cope with this situation?
Answer
Based on the situation you described, the child may have enteritis, accompanied by diarrhea. In this case, it is recommended to go to the hospital for blood and stool routine tests and to use symptomatic anti-inflammatory medication for timely treatment to prevent the child from repeatedly having a fever. The above suggestions are for the question “What should I do when my 5-month-old baby suddenly has diarrhea and fever?” I hope this helps, and wish the baby a speedy recovery!