My daughter got the "dire rear" every time she got a fever... Teething, colds, measles; every time without fail. Its useful to see a doctor (take a fresh sample) to make sure its nothing serious (like giardia). But theres not a lot they can do if its something your bub just does whenever he's sick. 30 yrs ago the treatment was to 'fast' them on boiled water until it went away.. Its a good thing I didn't do that; she'd have died of starvation. Instead I researched a heap of 'old wives' remedies. The safest of these for a little bub is barley water. Not the stuff in the supermarket (its got all kinds of other things in it that would make the problem worse). Just get some pearl barley & cook it up in plenty of water until its tender-ish. then strain it & put it in a bottle. Allow to come to blood-temp before giving to bub. If he doesn't like it much, put a tiny amount (less than half a teaspoon) of sugar in it.

My girl was sensitive to anything that had sorbitol in it too (a lot of baby vitamin drops, teething gels etc; have sorbitol in them) so check the fine print on the labels of those things b/c yours might be sensitive to some of the 'inert' ingredients in those things too.

If it turns out he's one like mine & you have to deal with (medically undiagnosable) runny poos all the time, send me an email (rosrayne@hotmail.com) & I'll tell you all the tricks I picked up.. (how to feed a kid who can have "dire rear" for 2 months solid). Watch out for nappy rash too; it can really hurt their little bums!

hugs

Rosalinda

It is quite common for a baby with a cold to get diarrhoea but I would personally take your little one to the doctors if the diarrhoea lasts longer then 6 hours as it doesn't take a very young baby long to dehydrate.

Having a cold can give an upset tummy, just part of the bug. As long as he isn't dehydrated (which you are keeping an eye on) he'll be fine. If he starts throwing up & gets temperatures then take him to doctor. Also take him if he's very unsettled to check his ears for infections.

If he's not dehydrated then I would not worry. When babies are small most of the snot gets swallowed and I understand this is why the poos go all runny.