Toddler Diarrhea: Causes, Treatment & When to See a Doctor

Question
Thank you in advance for your time and expertices.   I have a son who will be 2 in Nov.  Last Nov. through April Shaun repeatedly had pnommia (sorry for all the spelling mistakes.), and was on antibiotics throughout the whole ordeal. Shaun was at that time also dianosed as asthmatic, and is on QVAR and ventulan. Since Nov. '03, he has had diahrea, the doctor said it was the side affect of the antibiotcs.  Well it is now Sept.'04, in April the tested his stool for two things (bugs&bacteria), both came back negative. The doctor then sujested lactose milk and take all dairy away.  It's been about 6wks since then and no improvement.  Saw a pedirition (baby doctor)  to day, and he said that Shaun is a very happy healthy boy. Not to worry, probabley just Toddlers Diahrea, out grow it in a year or so.  He also sujested to realy cut down the Juice intake.  The doctor is also talking to Shauns asthmatic Dr. to see if he might need a blood test to check his immune system.
Question: What is Toddlers Diahrea?  What is causeing the diaper rashes(always needing medicated creams to treat? Shaun is always happy, but I've had almost a year of really stinky horrible dirty bums, how much longer?I want to start potty training(shaun is very eager to start), but I'm really afraid of the horrible mess if he has an accident.                                            Waiting for your response Michelle W  

Answer
Michelle,

I'm not a pediatrician, so I haven't heard of Toddler's diarrhea.  However, drinking a fair amount of juice can cause looser stools (because of the sugar).  Stick with water only.  It's very reasonable to try what the pediatrician suggested, as well as try and use the typical low fiber diet: rice, applesauce, toast, bananas (BRAT).

As far as the diaper rash, no matter how good you are at changing the diaper, if he is having loose stools they can be very irritating.  I have had the same issue with my youngest.  I found that once his bottom was healing, I really had to use a lot of petroleum jelly (cheap, and effective) as a moisture barrier for his bottom.  I would still need to use the medicated diaper cream daily to keep his bottom healed.

If the diarrhea doesn't seem to improve when you limit his juice, then he should probably see a pediatric gastroenterologist.