A child with diarrhoea needs food. When a breastfed child has diarrhoea, it is important to continue breastfeeding A child who is recovering from diarrhoea needs an extra meal every day for at least two weeks. Trained help is needed if diarrhoea is more serious than usual, if it persists for more than two weeks, or if there is blood in the stool. Diarrhoea can kill children by draining too much liquid from the body. So it is essential to give a child with diarrhoea plenty of liquids to drink.
Diarrhoea is dangerous.
Roughly one in every two hundred children who get diarrhoea will die from it. Most often, diarrhoea kills by dehydration. This means that too much liquid has been drained out of the child's body. So as soon as diarrhoea starts, it is essential to give the child extra drinks to replace the liquid being lost. In almost all countries, special drinks for children with diarrhoea are available in pharmacies, shops, or health centres.