Bachon Mein Dast (Loose Motions): ORS by Age and Dehydration Signs
Teething does not cause diarrhoea. That belief costs children every summer, because “it’s just the teeth” delays the one thing that matters, which is replacing the water and salt going out the other end. Here is how to manage bachon mein dast (loose motions) by age, with ORS amounts, what to keep feeding, and the signs of dehydration that mean a hospital, not a wait.
In brief
- What it usually is: a stomach virus, or a food or water germ. It runs its course in 3 to 7 days. Medicine does not shorten it.
- The job: keep fluids going in. ORS after every loose stool, small sips, and keep breastfeeding or feeding.
- ORS after each loose stool: under 2 years, 50 to 100 ml; 2 to 10 years, 100 to 200 ml; over 10, as much as they want.
- Do not give: anti-diarrhoea tablets or syrups, cola, juice, sugary or glucose drinks, leftover antibiotics.
- Zinc: is part of standard treatment in young children in many countries, but the dose and the decision are a doctor’s or pharmacist’s, not a guess.
- Hospital now: no urine for 6 to 8 hours, no tears, sunken eyes or soft spot, drowsy or floppy, blood in the stool, green vomit, vomiting everything, or any diarrhoea in a baby under 3 months.
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What counts as diarrhoea in a child
Three or more loose or watery stools in a day, or a clear change from the child’s usual. A breastfed baby’s normal stool is soft, yellow, seedy and frequent, sometimes after every feed, and that is not diarrhoea; diarrhoea in a baby is watery, more often than usual, and comes with a change in behaviour or feeding. Loose stools from too much fruit or juice stop when the juice does.
Most episodes are viral in the cooler months and from contaminated water or food in the hot ones. Both are managed the same way at home.
Why the ORS matters more than anything else
A child with diarrhoea loses water, sodium and potassium in every stool, and plain water replaces only the first, while sugary drinks pull more water into the gut and make it worse. ORS is a measured mix of salt and sugar in the ratio the gut uses to pull water back into the body, and it is the single most useful thing in the house when a child has dast. A pharmacy sachet made up in exactly the volume of clean water on the packet is best. The home mix is 1 litre of clean (boiled and cooled) water, 6 level teaspoons of sugar and half a level teaspoon of salt, and the full method with the taste test and the mistakes to avoid is in our homemade ORS recipe. Make it fresh every 24 hours.
The amounts below replace what each loose stool takes out, on top of the usual milk and drinks, not instead of them.
| Age | ORS after each loose stool | How to give it |
|---|---|---|
| Under 6 months | 50 to 100 ml, only if a doctor has advised it | Spoon or dropper between breastfeeds; breast milk remains the main fluid |
| 6 months to 2 years | 50 to 100 ml | Teaspoon every 1 to 2 minutes, or small sips from a cup |
| 2 to 10 years | 100 to 200 ml | Small sips from a cup, over 10 to 15 minutes |
| Over 10 | As much as they want | Cup, slowly |
Managing bachon mein dast by age
Under 6 months
A baby this age with diarrhoea is seen by a doctor the same day, and under 3 months, straight away. Babies dehydrate in hours. Keep breastfeeding, more often than usual and for as long as the baby wants. A formula-fed baby continues normal-strength formula; do not water it down. ORS in this band is given on medical advice, by spoon between feeds. Nothing else goes in the mouth: no water on its own, no gripe water, no ghutti, no herbal drops, no honey, no rice water.
6 to 12 months
Breast milk or formula continues as normal, plus ORS after each loose stool by spoon or cup. Solids continue if the baby will take them: khichdi, mashed banana, dahi (if already introduced), soft dalia. Nothing new is introduced during an illness. A baby in this band who is not keeping fluids down, or has any of the dehydration signs below, goes to a doctor today.
1 to 3 years
The commonest band for stomach bugs, and the one where dehydration sneaks up because toddlers refuse cups when they feel rotten, so offer ORS by teaspoon every minute or two, with a game if you have to, or frozen as an ice lolly. Keep feeding the normal diet in small amounts (rice, khichdi, roti, daal, dahi, banana, boiled potato, a little chicken), skip fried food and sweets for a few days, and continue cow’s milk if the child normally has it.
3 to 6, and older
Older children can drink from a cup and tell you if they feel dizzy, but they still need reminding every 15 minutes at first, and they stay home until 48 hours after the last loose stool. Food as above. Our article on moong dal khichdi for sick days is the recovery meal most families already know.
- Make up ORS: one sachet in exactly the volume of boiled, cooled water the packet states (usually 1 litre, some are 500 ml), or the home mix of 1 litre water, 6 level teaspoons sugar and half a level teaspoon salt. Taste it. It should be no saltier than tears.
- After each loose stool, give the amount for the child’s age from the table: a teaspoon at a time for a small child, sips for an older one. If the child vomits, wait 10 minutes and start again, slower.
- Keep the usual milk feeds going in full, undiluted.
- Offer normal food in small portions as soon as the child will eat. Starving a child with diarrhoea makes recovery slower. Choose plain: rice, khichdi, roti, daal, dahi, banana, potato.
- Count nappies or toilet trips; a child should pass urine at least every 6 to 8 hours. Write the times down.
- Wash hands with soap after every nappy change and before every feed. This is how the rest of the household avoids it.
- Check the child against the red flags below morning, afternoon and bedtime. More than 7 days of diarrhoea needs a doctor however well the child looks.
What not to give
- Anti-diarrhoeal medicines such as loperamide. They are not for children under 12 and can be dangerous in small children; they stop the gut moving without stopping the infection.
- Cola, juice, glucose drinks, energy drinks, sharbat. Too much sugar, too little salt, and they draw water into the gut and make the diarrhoea worse; flat cola is an old habit with nothing behind it.
- Leftover antibiotics. Most childhood diarrhoea is viral. Antibiotics do nothing for it, upset the gut further, and the decision to use one for a bacterial cause belongs to a doctor who has seen the child.
- Diluted formula or a “rest” from milk. Cuts the calories a sick child needs.
- Herbal drops, ghutti, gripe water, honey water under 1 year, and nothing but milk under 6 months.
- Adult “stomach” tablets, ajwain or hing water for a baby. Ajwain for older children is covered in our article on a child’s stomach ache; it does nothing for diarrhoea.
Zinc: yes, but it is a doctor’s call
Zinc syrup or dispersible tablets for 10 to 14 days are part of the standard treatment of childhood diarrhoea in many countries, alongside ORS, because it shortens the episode a little and reduces the chance of another soon after. The dose depends on age and product, and too much makes children vomit. Ask the doctor or pharmacist for the product and dose for your child, and give the full course even after the stools have firmed up.
Chawal ka pani, thin khichdi, kela and dahi were the sick-child foods long before ORS sachets and are still good for the recovery days, but they are not a replacement for salt-and-sugar fluid, and rice water for young babies is out: under 6 months, milk only. The other tradition to drop is stopping food “to rest the stomach.” A child with dast needs to eat.
Dehydration: what you are looking for
Check these at each nappy change or toilet trip. Any one of them means a doctor today; the ones marked now mean hospital now.
- No urine for 6 to 8 hours (a dry nappy across that time in a baby). Now.
- Crying without tears, a dry mouth and tongue, sunken eyes, a sunken soft spot on a baby’s head. Now.
- Drowsy, floppy, hard to wake, or unusually irritable and impossible to console. Now.
- Breathing fast, or cold hands and feet with a mottled look. Now.
- Vomiting everything, including ORS, for more than a few hours; green vomit; blood in vomit or stool. Now.
- Any diarrhoea or fever in a baby under 3 months. Now.
- Fever over 39 °C with the child unwell, or any fever for more than 3 days. Today.
- Diarrhoea lasting more than 7 days, or 6 or more watery stools in a day in a toddler. Today.
- Severe stomach pain, a hard swollen belly, or a child who will not walk. Now.
Loose motions in a baby under 6 months need a doctor the same day, and under 3 months at once. Never give anti-diarrhoea tablets or syrups to a child, never give leftover antibiotics, and never sweeten ORS or replace it with juice, cola or glucose water. Nothing but breast milk or formula goes into a baby under 6 months, no honey under 1 year, and no herbal drops or ghutti at any age. Paracetamol for fever is dosed by the child’s weight from the pack or by a pharmacist, and ibuprofen is not given to a child who is dehydrated or vomiting. Zinc is worthwhile but the dose comes from a doctor or pharmacist. A child with a heart, kidney or metabolic condition, or a premature baby, needs medical advice at the first loose stool, not the tenth.
After it is over
Stools may stay loose for a week or two after a bad bug. Offer an extra meal a day for a week to make up the lost weight, wash bedding and toys, and keep a dated box of ORS sachets in the house so the next time is a spoon and a sachet rather than a midnight search. More children’s home-care guides are collected under Bachon Ki Sehat, and for the fever that sometimes comes with a stomach bug see a child’s fever by age.
Does teething cause loose motions?
No. Babies drool more and chew everything when teething, and they pick up germs from what they chew, so the two happen at the same age. The diarrhoea is an infection and needs ORS like any other. Blaming the teeth is how dehydration gets missed.
Can I give my baby plain water instead of ORS?
Under 6 months, no water at all; milk is the fluid. Over 6 months, sips of water are fine between ORS, but water alone does not replace the salt lost in diarrhoea. ORS does.
Should I stop milk while my toddler has diarrhoea?
No. Breast milk, formula and, for a child who normally has it, cow’s milk all continue. Stopping food and milk slows recovery.
How long does it last?
Most viral episodes settle in 3 to 7 days. Stools can stay softer than usual for another week or two. Beyond 7 days of true diarrhoea, see a doctor.
Is flat cola good for a child with loose motions?
No. It is mostly sugar and has almost no salt, so it pulls water into the gut and worsens the diarrhoea. ORS is the drink.